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Interferon-beta (IFN-β) treatment may not be effective in neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Whether the poor response to IFN-β is related to long spinal cord lesions (LSCL) or the NMO disease entity itself is unclear. We evaluated the spinal cord involvement of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and NMO, as well as the response after receiving IFN-β. Forty-nine MS and 21 NMO patients treated with IFN-β for at least 2 years from 2002-2008 were enrolled in this study and the treatment response was analyzed 2 years post-treatment. In the study, spinal cord lesions were present in 57.1% (28/49) of the MS patients, of which 16.3% (8/49) presented spinal cord lesions longer than 3 vertebral segments (LSCL). Responses to IFN-β treatment were seen in 69.3% (34/49) of all the MS cases, of which the appropriate response rates were 76.1% (16/21) in MS patients without spinal cord lesions and 37.5% (3/8) in patients with LSCL. Only 14.2% (3/21) of NMO patients responded to IFN-β treatment. In conclusion, spinal cord lesion is common in MS patients in Taiwan. Both NMO and MS patients with LSCL had a poor response to IFN-β treatment. NMO patients had a worse response to IFN-β treatment than MS patients with LSCL, which shows that the crucial structural defect is something other than LSCL such as the elevated serum IL17 level in NMO compared to MS.

The consumption of cetacean meat is geographically common and often of undetermined sustainability. Besides, it can expose humans to contaminants and zoonotic pathogens. The illegality of possessing cetacean meat was likely under-reported in some countries due to lack of attention paid by the officials although DNA analysis of market products helped to show such practices. We developed two monoclonal antibodies against synthetic peptides of myoglobin (Mb) for constructing a rapid immune colloidal gold strip. Only cetacean Mb is capable of binding to both antibodies and presents positive signal while the Mb from other animals can bind only 1 of the antibodies and presents negative result. The strip for cetacean meat would be an applicable and cost-effective test for field inspectors and even the general public. It contributes to increase the reporting capacity and coverage of illegal cetacean meat possession, which has implications for global cetacean conservation and public health.

Rue belongs to a perennial herb of the Sapindale order. Rue has been reported with many pharmacological properties, such as anti-cancer, anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, primarily because of large amounts of indole alkaloids and harmine in its seeds. It has been documented that the plant has been cultivated endogenously in Taiwan as a medicinal plant since the Dutch occupancy period; however, due to its long history of discontinuity and the popularity of modern medicine, the local large-scale cultivation and its corresponding downstream industries seem to have lost sight. Therefore, we collected seeds from the field and markets in the city of Chiayi as the starting materials in the present study. The seeds were germinated in a solid medium containing MS (Murashige & Skoog 1962) basic salts, and then the germinated shoot apex and cotyledons were cut out from the seedlings as explants. Subsequently, 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) was used to induce multiple shoots. The resulting shoots were cut into single pieces and cultured in the media of 1/2 MS basic salts supplemented with 4-(indol-3-yl) butyric acid for root formation. Finally, the whole plant was transplanted out of the bottle for soil-based growth. Seeds were harvested and semi-purified by acid extraction. The content of harmine was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results indicate that productive rue plants can be successfully preserved using tissue culture technology, and the presence of harmine alkaloids can also be confirmed from the seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]