343 results on '"Wei, Ying"'
Search Results
2. Predicting early mortality and severe intraventricular hemorrhage in very-low birth weight preterm infants: a nationwide, multicenter study using machine learning
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Yun-Hsiang Yang, Ts-Ting Wang, Yi-Han Su, Wei-Ying Chu, Wei-Ting Lin, Yen-Ju Chen, Yu-Shan Chang, Yung-Chieh Lin, Chyi-Her Lin, and Yuh-Jyh Lin
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Our aim was to develop a machine learning-based predictor for early mortality and severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in very-low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants in Taiwan. We collected retrospective data from VLBW infants, dividing them into two cohorts: one for model development and internal validation (Cohort 1, 2016–2021), and another for external validation (Cohort 2, 2022). Primary outcomes included early mortality, severe IVH, and early poor outcomes (a combination of both). Data preprocessing involved 23 variables, with the top four predictors identified as gestational age, birth body weight, 5-min Apgar score, and endotracheal tube ventilation. Six machine learning algorithms were employed. Among 7471 infants analyzed, the selected predictors consistently performed well across all outcomes. Logistic regression and neural network models showed the highest predictive performance (AUC 0.81–0.90 in both internal and external validation) and were well-calibrated, confirmed by calibration plots and the lowest two mean Brier scores (0.0685 and 0.0691). We developed a robust machine learning-based outcome predictor using only four accessible variables, offering valuable prognostic information for parents and aiding healthcare providers in decision-making.
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- 2024
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3. Predictors of HbA1c treatment response to add-on medication following metformin monotherapy: a population-based cohort study
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Wei Ying Tan, Wynne Hsu, Mong Li Lee, and Ngiap Chuan Tan
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Evidence on the influence of patient characteristics on HbA1c treatment response for add-on medications in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is unclear. This study aims to investigate the predictors of HbA1c treatment response for three add-on medications (sulfonylureas (SU), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor) in metformin monotherapy treated patients with T2D. This retrospective cohort study was conducted using the electronic health record data from six primary care clinics in Singapore. A total of 9748 adult patients with T2D on metformin monotherapy receiving SU, DPP-4 or SGLT-2 add-on were 1:1 propensity score matched to patients receiving other add-on medications. Patient demographics, laboratory results, diabetes related complications, comedications, and treatment response at two endpoints (HbA1c reduction ≥ 1% at 6th month, HbA1c goal attainment
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- 2023
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4. Diabetes medication recommendation system using patient similarity analytics
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Wei Ying Tan, Qiao Gao, Ronald Wihal Oei, Wynne Hsu, Mong Li Lee, and Ngiap Chuan Tan
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a medical condition in which oral medications avail to patients to curb their hyperglycaemia after failed dietary therapy. However, individual responses to the prescribed pharmacotherapy may differ due to their clinical profiles, comorbidities, lifestyles and medical adherence. One approach is to identify similar patients within the same community to predict their likely response to the prescribed diabetes medications. This study aims to present an evidence-based diabetes medication recommendation system (DMRS) underpinned by patient similarity analytics. The DMRS was developed using 10-year electronic health records of 54,933 adult patients with T2DM from six primary care clinics in Singapore. Multiple clinical variables including patient demographics, comorbidities, laboratory test results, existing medications, and trajectory patterns of haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were used to identify similar patients. The DMRS was evaluated on four groups of patients with comorbidities such as hyperlipidaemia (HLD) and hypertension (HTN). Recommendations were assessed using hit ratio which represents the percentage of patients with at least one recommended sets of medication matches exactly the diabetes prescriptions in both the type and dosage. Recall, precision, and mean reciprocal ranking of the recommendation against the diabetes prescriptions in the EHR records were also computed. Evaluation against the EHR prescriptions revealed that the DMRS recommendations can achieve hit ratio of 81% for diabetes patients with no comorbidity, 84% for those with HLD, 78% for those with HTN, and 75% for those with both HLD and HTN. By considering patients’ clinical profiles and their trajectory patterns of HbA1c, the DMRS can provide an individualized recommendation that resembles the actual prescribed medication and dosage. Such a system is useful as a shared decision-making tool to assist clinicians in selecting the appropriate medications for patients with T2DM.
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- 2022
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5. DefectTrack: a deep learning-based multi-object tracking algorithm for quantitative defect analysis of in-situ TEM videos in real-time
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Rajat Sainju, Wei-Ying Chen, Samuel Schaefer, Qian Yang, Caiwen Ding, Meimei Li, and Yuanyuan Zhu
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract In-situ irradiation transmission electron microscopy (TEM) offers unique insights into the millisecond-timescale post-cascade process, such as the lifetime and thermal stability of defect clusters, vital to the mechanistic understanding of irradiation damage in nuclear materials. Converting in-situ irradiation TEM video data into meaningful information on defect cluster dynamic properties (e.g., lifetime) has become the major technical bottleneck. Here, we present a solution called the DefectTrack, the first dedicated deep learning-based one-shot multi-object tracking (MOT) model capable of tracking cascade-induced defect clusters in in-situ TEM videos in real-time. DefectTrack has achieved a Multi-Object Tracking Accuracy (MOTA) of 66.43% and a Mostly Tracked (MT) of 67.81% on the test set, which are comparable to state-of-the-art MOT algorithms. We discuss the MOT framework, model selection, training, and evaluation strategies for in-situ TEM applications. Further, we compare the DefectTrack with four human experts in quantifying defect cluster lifetime distributions using statistical tests and discuss the relationship between the material science domain metrics and MOT metrics. Our statistical evaluations on the defect lifetime distribution suggest that the DefectTrack outperforms human experts in accuracy and speed.
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- 2022
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6. Application of ensemble machine learning algorithms on lifestyle factors and wearables for cardiovascular risk prediction
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Weiting Huang, Tan Wei Ying, Woon Loong Calvin Chin, Lohendran Baskaran, Ong Eng Hock Marcus, Khung Keong Yeo, and Ng See Kiong
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract This study looked at novel data sources for cardiovascular risk prediction including detailed lifestyle questionnaire and continuous blood pressure monitoring, using ensemble machine learning algorithms (MLAs). The reference conventional risk score compared against was the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). The outcome variables were low or high risk based on calcium score 0 or calcium score 100 and above. Ensemble MLAs were built based on naive bayes, random forest and support vector classifier for low risk and generalized linear regression, support vector regressor and stochastic gradient descent regressor for high risk categories. MLAs were trained on 600 Southeast Asians aged 21 to 69 years free of cardiovascular disease. All MLAs outperformed the FRS for low and high-risk categories. MLA based on lifestyle questionnaire only achieved AUC of 0.715 (95% CI 0.681, 0.750) and 0.710 (95% CI 0.653, 0.766) for low and high risk respectively. Combining all groups of risk factors (lifestyle survey questionnaires, clinical blood tests, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate monitoring) along with feature selection, prediction of low and high CVD risk groups were further enhanced to 0.791 (95% CI 0.759, 0.822) and 0.790 (95% CI 0.745, 0.836). Besides conventional predictors, self-reported physical activity, average daily heart rate, awake blood pressure variability and percentage time in diastolic hypertension were important contributors to CVD risk classification.
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- 2022
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7. The effect of oral diabetes medications on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in Asians in primary care: a retrospective cohort real-world data study
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Hao Sen Andrew Fang, Qiao Gao, Wei Ying Tan, Mong Li Lee, Wynne Hsu, and Ngiap Chuan Tan
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Diabetes mellitus ,Glycated hemoglobin ,Antidiabetic agent ,Asian ,Primary care ,Medicine - Abstract
Abstract Background Clinical trials have demonstrated that initiating oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) significantly reduce glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. However, variability in lifestyle modifications and OAD adherence impact on their actual effect on glycemic control. Furthermore, evidence on dose adjustments and discontinuation of OAD on HbA1c is lacking. This study aims to use real-world data to determine the effect of OAD initiation, up-titration, down-titration, and discontinuation on HbA1c levels, among Asian patients managed in primary care. Methods A retrospective cohort study over a 5-year period, from Jan 2015 to Dec 2019 was conducted on a cohort of multi-ethnic adult Asian patients with clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) managed by a network of primary care clinics in Singapore. Nine OADs from five different classes (biguanides, sulphonyurea, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 [DPP-4] inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 [SGLT-2] inhibitors, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors) were evaluated. Patients were grouped into “No OAD”, “Non-titrators,” and “Titrators” cohorts based on prescribing patterns. For the “Titrators” cohort, the various OAD titrations were identified. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis of HbA1c values before and after each titration was performed to compute a mean difference for each unique titration identified. Results Among the cohort of 57,910 patients, 43,338 of them had at least one OAD titration, with a total of 76,990 pairs of HbA1c values associated with an OAD titration. There were a total of 206 unique OAD titrations. Overall, initiation of OADs resulted in a reduction of HbA1c by 3 to 12 mmol/mol (0.3 to 1.1%), respectively. These results were slightly lower than those reported in clinical trials of 6 to 14 mmol/mol (0.5 to 1.25%). The change of HbA1c levels due to up-titration, down-titration, and discontinuation were −1 to −8 mmol/mol (−0.1 to −0.7%), +1 to 7 mmol/mol (+0.1 to +0.6%), and +2 to 11 mmol/mol (+0.2 to +1.0%), respectively. The HbA1c lowering effect of initiating newer OADs, namely DPP-4 inhibitors and SGLT-2 inhibitors was 8 to 11 mmol/mol (0.7 to 0.9%) and 7 to 11 mmol/mol (0.6 to 1.0%), respectively. Conclusion The real-world data on Asians with T2DM in this study show that the magnitudes of OAD initiation and dose titration are marginally lower than the results from clinical trials. During shared decision-making in selecting treatment options, the results enable physicians to communicate realistic expectation of the effect of oral medications on the glycemic control of their patients in primary care.
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- 2022
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8. Design and Implementation of Taizhou Integrated Prostate Screening
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Fei-Ping Li, Mei-Xian Zhang, Li-Jun Wang, Xiao-Liang Zhu, Liang-Xue Sun, Zhi-Xia Chen, Wei-Ying Chen, Ding-Yi Liu, Hai-Ping Li, Yu-Ying Jiang, and Tao-Hsin Tung
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Medicine - Abstract
A community-based prostate cancer screening program was conducted to assess the morbidity and associated factors for prostate cancer among the subpopulation of men aged ≥50 years in Taizhou, China. Taizhou Integrated Prostate Screening (TIPS) is a large, observational, population-based study of prostate cancer screening data based on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations. A pilot census of all male residents aged 50 years or older was conducted in Luqiao District, one of the field sites of the TIPS cohort in the city of Taizhou, Zhejiang. The interviewer-administered questionnaire evaluated demographic characteristics and environmental exposure factors. A total of 1,806 out of 3,516 participants completed the questionnaire. The overall prevalence of PSA ≥4 ng/mL was 11.5%, and included participants at low risk (9.2%), moderate risk (1.7%), and high risk (0.6%). Participants aged 60–69, 70–79, and ≥80 years had a 2.7-fold, 4.2-fold, and 6.5-fold higher risk of elevated PSA, respectively, in comparison with those aged 50 to 59 years ( p < .001). Eighteen patients were diagnosed with prostate cancer, of whom 11 (61.1%) underwent radical surgery. This community-based PSA screening program indicated the results for early detection of prostate cancer among men aged ≥50 years. Early screening and appropriate clinical therapy for the management of prostate cancer are essential in this subpopulation.
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- 2022
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9. Eradicating mesothelin-positive human gastric and pancreatic tumors in xenograft models with optimized anti-mesothelin antibody–drug conjugates from synthetic antibody libraries
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Hung-Ju Hsu, Chao-Ping Tung, Chung-Ming Yu, Chi-Yung Chen, Hong-Sen Chen, Yu-Chuan Huang, Pei-Hsun Tsai, Su-I Lin, Hung-Pin Peng, Yi-Kai Chiu, Yueh-Liang Tsou, Wei-Ying Kuo, Jhih-Wei Jian, Fei-Hung Hung, Chiao-Yun Hsieh, Michael Hsiao, Simon Shih-Hsien Chuang, Chia-Ning Shen, Yong Alison Wang, and An-Suei Yang
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Mesothelin (MSLN) is an attractive candidate of targeted therapy for several cancers, and hence there are increasing needs to develop MSLN-targeting strategies for cancer therapeutics. Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting MSLN have been demonstrated to be a viable strategy in treating MSLN-positive cancers. However, developing antibodies as targeting modules in ADCs for toxic payload delivery to the tumor site but not to normal tissues is not a straightforward task with many potential hurdles. In this work, we established a high throughput engineering platform to develop and optimize anti-MSLN ADCs by characterizing more than 300 scFv CDR-variants and more than 50 IgG CDR-variants of a parent anti-MSLN antibody as candidates for ADCs. The results indicate that only a small portion of the complementarity determining region (CDR) residues are indispensable in the MSLN-specific targeting. Also, the enhancement of the hydrophilicity of the rest of the CDR residues could drastically increase the overall solubility of the optimized anti-MSLN antibodies, and thus substantially improve the efficacies of the ADCs in treating human gastric and pancreatic tumor xenograft models in mice. We demonstrated that the in vivo treatments with the optimized ADCs resulted in almost complete eradication of the xenograft tumors at the treatment endpoints, without detectable off-target toxicity because of the ADCs’ high specificity targeting the cell surface tumor-associated MSLN. The technological platform can be applied to optimize the antibody sequences for more effective targeting modules of ADCs, even when the candidate antibodies are not necessarily feasible for the ADC development due to the antibodies’ inferior solubility or affinity/specificity to the target antigen.
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- 2021
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10. A novel thermostable beetle luciferase based cytotoxicity assay
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Sunju Choi, Hittu Matta, Ramakrishnan Gopalakrishnan, Venkatesh Natarajan, Songjie Gong, Alberto Jeronimo, Wei-Ying Kuo, Bryant Bravo, and Preet M. Chaudhary
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Cytotoxicity assays are essential for the testing and development of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. We recently described a novel cytotoxicity assay, termed the Matador assay, which was based on marine luciferases and their engineered derivatives. In this study, we describe the development of a new cytotoxicity assay termed ‘Matador-Glo assay’ which takes advantage of a thermostable variant of Click Beetle Luciferase (Luc146-1H2). Matador-Glo assay utilizes Luc146-1H2 and D-luciferin as the luciferase-substrate pair for luminescence detection. The assay involves ectopic over-expression of Luc146-1H2 in the cytosol of target cells of interest. Upon damage to the membrane integrity, the Luc146-1H2 is either released from the dead and dying cells or its activity is preferentially measured in dead and dying cells. We demonstrate that this assay is simple, fast, specific, sensitive, cost-efficient, and not labor-intensive. We further demonstrate that the Matador-Glo assay can be combined with the marine luciferase-based Matador assay to develop a dual luciferase assay for cell death detection. Finally, we demonstrate that the Luc146-1H2 expressing target cells can also be used for in vivo bioluminescence imaging applications.
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- 2021
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11. Fabrication of A Folic Acid-Modified Arsenic Trioxide Prodrug Liposome and Assessment of its Anti-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Activity
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Zhu Jing-Jing, Chen Xiao-Jie, Yao Wen-Dong, Wei Ying-Hui, Zheng Hang-Sheng, Zheng Hong-Yue, Zhu Zhi-Hong, Wang Bin-Hui, and Li Fan-Zhu
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Target-controlled drug delivery system ,Liver cancer ,Arsenic trioxide ,Calcium arsenite ,Liposomes ,pH-sensitive ,Medicine ,Other systems of medicine ,RZ201-999 - Abstract
Objective: To reduce the toxicity and side effects of arsenic trioxide (ATO) and provide a new approach for the treatment of primary liver cancer, a folic acid-modified calcium arsenite liposomal “target-controlled” drug delivery system (FA-LP-CaAs) was fabricated using the reverse microemulsion method. Methods: A Malvern particle size analyzer and a transmission electron microscope were employed to determine the particle size, distribution, zeta potential and morphology of FA-LP-CaAs. Further, inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry was employed to determine the drug loading capacity, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro release behavior of FA-LP-CaAs. To determine its toxicity in human hepatoma cells (HepG2) and human normal hepatocytes (LO2) and its effect on HepG2 cell cycle and apoptosis, the MTT method was used. Laser confocal and flow cytometry were also employed to determine the uptake of FA-LP-CaAs by cells. After establishing a mouse liver cancer model, the in vivo distribution of the drug included in the formulation was investigated using in vivo fluorescence. To evaluate the liver cancer targeting and anti-tumor effects of FA-LP-CaAs in vivo, the distribution of ATO in tissues and changes in tumor volume and body weight after liposomal administration were investigated using hematoxylin-eosin (HE)-stained tumor sections. Results: The particle size, zeta potential and PDI of FA-LP-CaAs were (122.67 ± 2.18) nm, (12.81 ± 0.75) mV and 0.22 ± 0.01, respectively, while its drug loading capacity was 18.49% ± 1.14%. In vitro experimental results revealed that FA-LP-CaAs had a strong killing effect on HepG2 cells. Further, the cell uptake capacity of this formulation was found to improve. Based on in vivo assessments, FA-LP-CaAs could significantly increase the distribution of ATO in tumor sites and inhibit tumor growth. Conclusions: Herein, an FA-LP-CaAs formulation was successfully fabricated. This liposomal drug delivery system had a round appearance, uniform particle size, good polydispersity coeffi-cient, evident “core-shell” structure, high drug loading capacity and pH response, tumor targeted drug delivery and sustained drug release. These findings support further research and the application of ATO as an anti-liver cancer prodrug and provide a new method for the treatment of liver cancer.
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- 2020
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12. Remote monitoring of marginalised populations affected by COVID-19: a retrospective review
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Stephanie Q Ko, Benjamin M Y Hooi, Chieh-Yang Koo, Daniel W P Chor, Zheng Jye Ling, and Wei-Ying Jen
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Medicine - Abstract
Objectives The COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore has largely centred around migrant worker dormitories, comprising over 90% of all cases in the country. Dormitories are home to a culturally and linguistically distinct, low-income population, without on-site healthcare after-hours. The primary objective of this study was to assess the engagement and utilisation of a simple, low-cost, accessible, mobile health solution for remote self-reporting of vital parameters in dormitory residents with COVID-19.Design Retrospective review of medical care.Setting Two large migrant worker dormitories with a combined population of 31 546.Participants All COVID-19-affected residents housed in dormitories during the study period.Intervention All residents were taught to use a chat assistant to self-report their temperature, heart rate and oxygen saturations. Results flowed into a dashboard, which alerted clinicians of abnormal results.Outcomes The primary outcome measure was engagement rate. This was derived from the total number of residents who registered on the platform over the total number of COVID-19-affected residents in the dormitories during the study period. Secondary outcome measures included outcomes of the alerts and subsequent escalations of care.Results 800 of the 931 COVID-19-affected residents (85.9%) engaged with the platform to log a total of 12 511 discrete episodes of vital signs. Among 372 abnormal readings, 96 teleconsultations were initiated, of which 7 (1.8%) were escalated to emergency services and 18 (4.9%) were triaged to earlier physical medical review on-site.Conclusions A chat-assistant-based self-reporting platform is an effective and safe community-based intervention to monitor marginalised populations with distinct cultural and linguistic backgrounds, living communally and affected by COVID-19. Lessons learnt from this approach may be applied to develop safe and cost-effective telemedicine solutions across similar settings.
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- 2020
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13. Male non-insulin users with type 2 diabetes mellitus are predisposed to gastric corpus-predominant inflammation after H. pylori infection
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Yao-Jong Yang, Chung-Tai Wu, Horng-Yih Ou, Chin-Han Lin, Hsiu-Chi Cheng, Wei-Lun Chang, Wei-Ying Chen, Hsiao-Bai Yang, Cheng-Chan Lu, and Bor-Shyang Sheu
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H. Pylori ,Type 2 diabetes mellitus ,Gastric cancer ,Gender ,Insulin ,Medicine - Abstract
Abstract Background Both H. pylori infection and diabetes increase the risk of gastric cancer. This study investigated whether patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and H. pylori infection had more severe corpus gastric inflammation and higher prevalence of precancerous lesions than non-diabetic controls. Methods A total of 797 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were screened for H. pylori, of whom 264 had H. pylori infection. Of these patients, 129 received esophagogastroduodenoscopy to obtain topographic gastric specimens for gastric histology according to the modified Updated Sydney System, corpus-predominant gastritis index (CGI), Operative Link on Gastritis Assessment, and Operative Link on Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia Assessment. Non-diabetic dyspeptic patients who had H. pylori infection confirmed by esophagogastroduodenoscopy were enrolled as controls. Results The male as well as total T2DM patients had higher acute/chronic inflammatory and lymphoid follicle scores in the corpus than non-diabetic controls (p
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- 2017
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14. Combination of chemical fingerprint and bioactivity evaluation to explore the antibacterial components of Salvia miltiorrhizae
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Wei-Jun Kong, Shan-Shan Zhang, Yan-Ling Zhao, Ming-Quan Wu, Ping Chen, Xiao-Ru Wu, Xin-Ping Ma, Wei-Ying Guo, and Mei-Hua Yang
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the possible antibacterial components of Salvia miltiorrhizae on Pseudomonas aeruginosa using a combination of chemical fingerprint and bioactivity evaluation. The chemical fingerprints of 32 batches of S. miltiorrhizae samples from different sources were developed using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection, and then were evaluated by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. Anti-P. aeruginosa activity was determined by microcalorimetry. Some crucial thermokinetic parameters obtained from the heat-flow power-time curves of P. aeruginosa growth in the absence or presence of these S. miltiorrhizae samples were evaluated using principal component analysis. Thereafter, multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the fingerprint-activity relationship between the chemical fingerprints and anti-P. aeruginosa activity. This established the related equation between the inhibition ratio (I, %) of S. miltiorrhizae samples on P. aeruginosa and the peak areas of the common peaks. The results showed that the 32S. miltiorrhizae samples could be grouped into three clusters according to their chemical fingerprints and anti-P. aeruginosa activities. Protocatechualdehyde, salvianolic acid B, together with three unidentified compounds might be the major components that contributed largely to the antibacterial properties of S. miltiorrhizae and should be the focus of S. miltiorrhizae quality control. Thus, this study provided a preferred way for exploring the bioactive components of medicinal plants.
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- 2017
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15. Case Reports of a Giant Cell Reparative Granuloma and a Giant Cell Tumor on Temporal Bone
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Wei-Ying Dai, Chao Tian, and Li Liu
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Medicine - Published
- 2018
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16. Immune Status and Chemokine C Receptor 7 Expression in Primary in Patients with Immune Thrombocytopenia
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Lin Zhang, Dan Li, Guo-Zhong Zhou, and Wei-Ying Feng
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Receptors, CCR7 ,Chemokine ,chemical and pharmacologic phenomena ,C-C chemokine receptor type 7 ,CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ,T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ,Pathogenesis ,Immune system ,immune system diseases ,hemic and lymphatic diseases ,Humans ,Medicine ,IL-2 receptor ,Interleukin-7 receptor ,Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ,biology ,business.industry ,hemic and immune systems ,Hematology ,Treatment Outcome ,Case-Control Studies ,Immunology ,biology.protein ,Antibody ,business ,CD8 - Abstract
Objectives The present study investigated immune disorders and CCR7 expression in primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients and analyzed their changes and clinical significance before and after treatments. Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of different immune cell subsets in the peripheral blood of 42 patients with ITP and 20 normal controls at different time points. Treatments included first-line drugs, such as glucocorticoids and intravenous immunoglobulin, and second-line therapy, such as interleukin-11 and Thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RA). Results An elevated CD4/CD8 ratio and a decreased NK cells and CD4+CD25+CD127 low regulatory T cells (Tregs) were found in pretreatment ITP patients compared to healthy controls. The newly diagnosed group had a higher CD4/CD8 ratio and more NK cells than in the relapsed group. Tregs of the remission group were higher than those of the recurrence group. The CD4+CCR7+, CD8+CCR7+, CCR7+ subset of B cells and NK cells showed higher increases in the newly diagnosed and the relapsed group compared to controls and remission group.CD4+CCR7+ and CD8+CCR7+ subset in the relapsed group were slightly higher than the newly diagnosed. The CCR7+ subsets of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, NK cells and B cells were lower in the remission group compared to the relapsed group. Higher level of the CD8+CCR7+ subset and lower NK cells were found in the remission group compared to the controls. The ratio between the CD4+CCR7+ subset and CD8+CCR7+ subset was lower in the ITP patients than in normal controls. There was a negative correlation between the CD8+CCR7+ subset and platelet count in the ITP patients. Conclusion ITP patients with CCR7 had immune disorders and high heterogeneity, and CCR7 was found to be involved in the pathogenesis of ITP. Further studies are needed to investigate the effective treatment for ITP by targeted regulation of CCR7.
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- 2022
17. Remyelination-Promoting DNA Aptamer Conjugate Myaptavin-3064 Binds to Adult Oligodendrocytes In Vitro
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Mahboubeh Fereidan-Esfahani, Wei Ying Yue, Brandon Wilbanks, Aaron J. Johnson, Arthur E. Warrington, Charles L. Howe, Moses Rodriguez, and Louis J. Maher
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multiple sclerosis ,DNA aptamer ,human oligodendroglial cell line ,oligodendrocytes ,oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) ,Medicine ,Pharmacy and materia medica ,RS1-441 - Abstract
We previously applied Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX) technology to identify myelin-specific DNA aptamers, using crude mouse central nervous system myelin as bait. This selection identified a 40-nucleotide aptamer (LJM-3064). Multiple biotinylated LJM-3064 molecules were conjugated to a streptavidin core to mimic a multimeric immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody, generating 3064-BS-streptavidin (Myaptavin-3064). We previously showed that Myaptavin-3064 induces remyelination in the Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) model of chronic spinal cord demyelination. While details of target binding and the mechanism of action remain unclear, we hypothesized that Myaptavin-3064 induces remyelination by binding to oligodendrocytes (OLs). We now report the results of binding assays using the human oligodendroglioma (HOG) cell line, applying both flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry (IC) to assay aptamer conjugate binding to cells. IC assays were applied to compare aptamer conjugate binding to primary embryonic mouse mixed cortical cultures and primary adult rat mixed glial cultures. We show that Myaptavin-3064 binds to HOG cells, with increased binding upon differentiation. In contrast, a negative control aptamer conjugate, 3060-BS, which did not promote central nervous system (CNS) remyelination, does not bind to HOG cells. Myaptavin-3064 did not bind to lung (L2) or kidney (BHK) cell lines. Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) imaging indicates that Myaptavin-3064 binds at the cell membrane of live cells. In addition to HOG cells, Myaptavin-3064 binds to adult rat OLs, but not to embryonic mouse mixed cortical cultures. These data support the hypothesis that Myaptavin-3064 binds to a surface molecule on both rodent and human OLs in a manner that triggers a remyelination signal pathway.
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- 2020
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18. Quality and safety of Telemedicine in acute ischemic stroke: Early experience in Taiwan
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Kwo-Whei Lee, Ke-Ru Liaw, Jian-Hui Lin, Wei-Ying Tsai, Chun-Hsiang Lin, Ta-Cheng Chen, Pi-Ju Hsiao, and Mu-Chien Sun
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Telemedicine ,Medicine (General) ,Stroke patient ,Taiwan ,Brain Ischemia ,R5-920 ,Modified Rankin Scale ,Humans ,Medicine ,Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator ,Acute ischemic stroke ,Nihss score ,Ischemic stroke ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Emergency department ,United States ,Tissue Plasminogen Activator ,Telestroke ,Emergency medicine ,Female ,business ,Thrombolytics - Abstract
Background Telemedicine helps to provide the safe management of stroke patients in the emergency department (ED) and has been used worldwide. However, we had limited experience of telestroke in Taiwan. We aimed to identify the quality of telestroke and compare it with the original face-to-face consultation model. Methods Among 178 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IVtPA) from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, we compared two different consultation methods: face-to-face consultation and telestroke consultation. We collected data on demographics, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores, time measurements (onset-to-arrival time, onset-to-telestroke activation time, and time of IVtPA administration (Door-to-Needle; DTN)). Results The mean age to receive a telestroke consultation was 66.6 years, 36% were female, and the median NIHSS score was 9. The median time from patient arrival to telestroke consult activation was 40 min, and the median DTN time was 11 min longer than for face-to-face consults (62 min versus 51 min, p = .01). Telestroke consultation, similar to a face-to-face consultation, resulted in safe IVtPA eligibility assessments and administration with post-thrombolysis ICH in 4% overall (4% telestroke, 3% face-to-face consultation; p = .851). The 90-day outcomes were not different for mRS score, dichotomized 0–2 (60% telestroke 59% face-to-face consultation; p = .961), or for mortality (16% telestroke, 9% face-to-face consultation; p = .292). Conclusion In the ED, consultation via the telestroke program provides equal quality to the original face-to-face consultation model to manage ischemic stroke.
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- 2022
19. Age, male sex, smoking and metabolic syndrome as risk factors of advanced colorectal neoplasia for fecal immunochemical test negative patients
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Wei Ying Chen, Jui-Wen Kang, Wei Chun Cheng, Bor Shyang Sheu, and Po Jun Chen
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Male ,Medicine (General) ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adenoma ,Colonoscopy ,Colorectal adenoma ,Logistic regression ,Asymptomatic ,03 medical and health sciences ,R5-920 ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Smoking ,Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Advanced neoplasia ,medicine.disease ,Metabolic syndrome ,Fecal Immunochemical Test ,Occult Blood ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Adenocarcinoma ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,medicine.symptom ,Colorectal Neoplasms ,business - Abstract
Background Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is worldwide strategy for colorectal cancer screening. The subjects with negative FIT still have the risk of an advanced colorectal neoplasia (AN), including adenoma with villous histology, high grade dysplasia or larger than 1 cm in size, or adenocarcinoma. The study determined the risk factors associated with AN in FIT-negative subjects. Methods The study included asymptomatic subjects who received health checkup colonoscopy and have provided FIT study within 6 months prior to colonoscopy. The risk factors to have AN in cases with negative FIT were analyzed. The numbers of colonoscopies needed to detect one AN were calculated for the subjects with different risk factors. Results There were 1411 cases, 85 with positive FIT and 1326 with negative FIT within 6 months before colonoscopy. In FIT positive and FIT negative cases, 45.9% and 34.6% were found to have colorectal adenoma, while 20.2% and 4.6% had AN, respectively. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that age more than 50 years old, male sex, smoking history and metabolic syndrome were the significant risk factors to have AN in the FIT negative cases. For cases with negative FIT to have these risk factors, the number of colonoscopies needed to detect one AN was 3.7, lower than 4.5 of the cases with positive FIT. Conclusion For the cases with negative FIT, colonoscopy screening should be considered for those male patients over 50 years old, with a history of smoking and metabolic syndrome to detect AN.
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- 2022
20. Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of HER2 Gene Phenotype in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
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Cheng-Long Ding, Wei-Ying Diao, Na Sun, Huang Jiabin, Yuan Boyang, and Zan Li
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HER2 genotype ,business.industry ,afatinib ,International Journal of General Medicine ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Phenotype ,Cancer research ,Medicine ,In patient ,Non small cell ,CT signs ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,business ,Lung cancer ,neoplasms ,Gene ,non-small cell lung cancer ,Original Research - Abstract
Wei-Ying Diao,1,* Cheng-Long Ding,1,* Bo-Yang Yuan,2 Zan Li,3 Na Sun,4 Jia-Bin Huang5 1Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University, Jimusi City, Heilongjiang Province, 154002, Peopleâs Republic of China; 2Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University, Jimusi City, Heilongjiang Province, 154002, Peopleâs Republic of China; 3Department of Analytical Chemistry Teaching and Research, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, 154002, Peopleâs Republic of China; 4Graduate Department, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, 154002, Peopleâs Republic of China; 5Department of Geratology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, 154002, Peopleâs Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jia-Bin Huang Email jiadupinglu54972@163.comIntroduction: We aim to investigate the relationship between HER2 gene phenotype and clinical characteristics, distribution and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.Methods: A total of 249 NSCLC patients admitted to the oncology department of our hospital from January 2015 to January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinicopathological information, CT signs, clinical efficacy and long-term prognosis were collected and compared.Results: A total of 249 NSCLC patients underwent HER2 gene testing, 21 of them (8.43%) complied with HER2 alterations [HER2 (+)], and there were significant differences in tumor stages among patients with different HER2 phenotypes (P< 0.05). Among 21 NSCLC patients with HER2 (+), HER2 gene mutation was found in 17 patients (81%), and HER2 gene amplification in 4 patients (19%). Among the HER2 mutations, 12 cases (57%) were 20 exon mutations, and 5 cases (19%) were other mutations. Analysis of CT signs showed that border lobulation/burr, necrosis sign and pleural depression were correlated with HER2 gene mutation (P< 0.05). The incidence of EGRF mutation in HER (+) patients was significantly lower than that in HER (-) patients (P< 0.05), but there was no significant difference in the incidence of ALK gene mutation among different HER phenotypes (P> 0.05). The disease control rate of HER2 (+) patients was significantly lower than that of HER2 (-) patients, and the 12-month progression-free survival rate and survival rate of HER2 (+) patients were significantly higher than those of HER2 (-) patients (P< 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of ADR among HER2 patients with different phenotypes, but the incidence of ADR (adverse drug reaction) in HER2 (+) patients with Grade 3 or 4 was significantly higher than that in the control group (P< 0.05).Discussion: The incidence of HER2 gene mutations in NSCLC patients is relatively low, but it is far commoner in patients with stage IIIBâ¼IV, among which exon 20 mutations are the most prevalent. In CT signs, the lesion lobulated sign/spiculated sign, necrosis signs, and pleural depression signs are related to HER2 gene mutations. In addition, HER2 gene mutations play a crucial role in the clinical prognosis and treatment safety of patients.Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, HER2 genotype, CT signs, afatinib
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- 2021
21. Effects of topical application of different molecular weight marine fish skin collagen oligopeptides on UVB‐induced photoaging rat skin
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Lei Fang, Bi Yuan, Xiu-Yuan Qin, Ruizeng Gu, Rui-Xue Zhang, Xu Yaguang, Wei Ying, and Zhang Haixin
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Antioxidant ,Ultraviolet Rays ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Photoaging ,Peptide ,Dermatology ,Antioxidants ,Mice ,Hydroxyproline ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Hyaluronic acid ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Food science ,Skin ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Mice, Hairless ,integumentary system ,biology ,Molecular mass ,medicine.disease ,Elastin ,Rats ,Skin Aging ,Hairless ,Molecular Weight ,chemistry ,biology.protein ,Female ,Collagen ,Peptides ,Oligopeptides - Abstract
Objective The objective of this work was to develop a peptide production process of the exact molecular weight propitious to topical application for cosmetics and to investigate the effects of enzymolysis-derived peptide on UVB-induced photoaging rat skin. Methods The chum salmon fish skins were hydrolyzed by alkaline protease and neutral protease and spray-dried at different conditions, and three kinds of molecular weight peptide (MFSOP) were obtained. A total of 66 ICR rats (female, 20 ± 1 g) were randomly divided into eleven groups, including the normal, model, and experimental groups. The three kinds of MFSOP were dissolved at different dosages (5‰, 2.5%, and 5%) and then applied on the ICR hairless back skins prior to exposing UVB irradiation of 3000mJ/cm2 to them 4 h later. After 8 weeks, the rats were killed and the hair-shaved skins were tested for skin moisture, hyaluronic acid, hydroxyproline, antioxidant activity, and RNA expression. Results Three kinds of MFSOP were obtained, with the average molecular weights of 495.16, 1194.00, and 2032.46 Dalton, respectively. The MFSOPs, especially the MFSOP of average molecular weight of 1194.00 Dalton, played an important role in the recovery of the UVB-injured skin tissue in lock in moisture, in antioxidant activity and in promotion in collagen and elastin protein to some extent. Conclusion MFSOPs, especially MFSOP of average molecular weight of 1194.00 Dalton, derived from enzymolysis are potential materials to apply in cosmetics for the UVB9-induced anti-photoaging activity (lock in moisture, antioxidant activity, and promotion in collagen and elastin protein).
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- 2021
22. Falsely elevated serum vitamin B12 levels in a case of pernicious anemia
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Yen-Lin Chee, Edwin W S Thong, Wei-Ying Jen, Sunil Sethi, and Shaun S Tan
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Elevated serum ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Hematology ,business.industry ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,General Medicine ,Vitamin B12 ,business ,medicine.disease ,Gastroenterology ,pernicious anemia - Published
- 2021
23. Hepatocyte-derived exosomes from early onset obese mice promote insulin sensitivity through miR-3075
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Kameswari Ananthakrishnan Manda, Yudong Ji, Zhongmou Jin, Meixiang Yang, Roi Isaac, Felipe C.G. Reis, Jerrold M. Olefsky, Zhenlong Luo, Wenxian Fu, Wei Ying, Gautam Bandyopadhyay, and Hong Gao
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Small interfering RNA ,business.industry ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Cell Biology ,medicine.disease ,Microvesicles ,Proinflammatory cytokine ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Endocrinology ,Insulin resistance ,In vivo ,Physiology (medical) ,Hepatocyte ,Internal medicine ,microRNA ,Internal Medicine ,medicine ,Metabolic syndrome ,business - Abstract
In chronic obesity, hepatocytes become insulin resistant and exert important effects on systemic metabolism. Here we show that in early onset obesity (4 weeks high-fat diet), hepatocytes secrete exosomes that enhance insulin sensitivity both in vitro and in vivo. These beneficial effects were due to exosomal microRNA miR-3075, which is enriched in these hepatocyte exosomes. FA2H is a direct target of miR-3075 and small interfering RNA depletion of FA2H in adipocytes, myocytes and primary hepatocytes leads to increased insulin sensitivity. In chronic obesity (16–18 weeks of a high-fat diet), hepatocyte exosomes promote a state of insulin resistance. These chronic obese hepatocyte exosomes do not directly cause impaired insulin signalling in vitro but do promote proinflammatory activation of macrophages. Taken together, these studies show that in early onset obesity, hepatocytes produce exosomes that express high levels of the insulin-sensitizing miR-3075. In chronic obesity, this compensatory effect is lost and hepatocyte-derived exosomes from chronic obese mice promote insulin resistance. Ji and Luo et al. show that miR-3075 in hepatocyte-derived exosomes from mice at early stages of obesity improves insulin sensitivity in chronically obese mice, while hepatocyte exosomes from chronically obese mice induce insulin resistance.
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- 2021
24. High mobility group box-1 serves a pathogenic role in spinal cord injury via the promotion of pro-inflammatory cytokines
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Min-Min Chang, Yong-Xin Li, Hong Wang, Yi-Xi Wang, Zhi-Guang Xu, Ke-Bing Chen, Sheng-Li Wang, Bing-Cheng Zhao, and Wei-Ying Ma
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Spinal neuron ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Immunology ,chemical and pharmacologic phenomena ,Inflammation ,Biology ,HMGB1 ,Proinflammatory cytokine ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,medicine ,Animals ,Immunology and Allergy ,HMGB1 Protein ,Spinal cord injury ,Spinal Cord Injuries ,Microglia ,Cell Biology ,medicine.disease ,Rats ,Cytokine ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,biology.protein ,Cytokines ,Female ,Tumor necrosis factor alpha ,medicine.symptom - Abstract
Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition marked by permanent motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunction, in which the inflammatory response serves an important and preventable role. High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is a potent regulator of inflammation in numerous acute and chronic inflammatory conditions.; however, the role of HMGB1 in SCI remains unclear. The present study aimed to characterize the temporal dynamics of HMGB1 release after SCI, to investigate the role of spinal microglia activation in mediating the effects of HMGB1 on SCI, and to explore the therapeutic potential of intrathecal anti-HMGB1 polyclonal antibody on alleviating SCI. The present study demonstrated that HMGB1 expression was increased immediately after traumatic injury of a primary spinal neuron culture. It was found that neutralizing HMGB1 significantly ameliorated SCI pathogenesis and hind limb paralysis. Moreover, the levels of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the SCI lesion were reduced when local HMGB1 was blocked by anti-HMGB1 antibody. In addition, the injured neuron-derived conditioned medium increased TNF-α secretion and the NF-κB pathway in the BV2 microglia cell line via HMGB1. Collectively, these results indicated that HMGB1 served an important role in SCI inflammation and suggested the therapeutic potential of an anti-HMGB1 antibody for SCI.
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- 2021
25. Upregulation of BIRC5 plays essential role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
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Guang-Mei Qin, Jian-Jun Li, Li-Hua Yang, Guo-Sheng Li, He-Chuan Liu, Ting-Qing Gan, Wei-Ying He, Zu-xuan Chen, and Lang Shen
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Esophageal Neoplasms ,Microarray ,Survivin ,CDC20 ,Pathogenesis ,Downregulation and upregulation ,medicine ,QA1-939 ,Humans ,rna sequencing ,Stage (cooking) ,Lymph node ,neoplasms ,Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 ,business.industry ,Applied Mathematics ,General Medicine ,Cell cycle ,digestive system diseases ,Up-Regulation ,esophageal squamous cell carcinoma ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,Computational Mathematics ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Modeling and Simulation ,Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ,Cancer research ,baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat containing 5 ,prognosis ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,business ,microarray ,TP248.13-248.65 ,Mathematics ,Biotechnology - Abstract
BackgroundEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world, the detection and prognosis of which are still unsatisfactory. Thus, it is essential to explore the factors that may identify ESCC and evaluate the prognosis of ESCC patients. ResultsBoth protein and mRNA expression levels of BIRC5 are upregulated in ESCC group rather than non-ESCC group (standardized mean difference > 0). BIRC5 mRNA expression is related to the age, tumor location, lymph node stage and clinical stage of ESCC patients (p < 0.05). BIRC5 expression makes it feasible to distinguish ESCC from non-ESCC (area under the curve > 0.9), and its high expression is related to poor prognosis of ESCC patients (restrictive survival time difference = -0.036, p < 0.05). BIRC5 may play an important role in ESCC by influencing the cell cycle pathway, and CDK1, MAD2L and CDC20 may be the hub genes of this pathway. The transcription factors-MAZ and TFPD1 -are likely to regulate the transcription of BIRC5, which may be one of the factors for the high expression of BIRC5 in ESCC. ConclusionsThe current study shows that upregulation of BIRC5 may have essential clinical value in ESCC, and contributes to the understanding of the pathogenesis of ESCC.
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- 2021
26. Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome Among Employees in Northeast China
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Xin Wang, Fang Yang, Michiel L Bots, Wei-Ying Guo, Bing Zhao, Arno W Hoes, and Ilonca Vaartjes
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China ,Metabolic Syndrome ,Prevalence ,Medicine - Abstract
Background: The metabolic syndrome is a clustering of metabolic abnormalities and has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among employees in Northeast China. Methods: Totally, 33,149 employees who received health screening in the International Health Promotion Center in the First Hospital of Jilin University were enrolled. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein were recorded. Three definitions for the metabolic syndrome were applied, revised National Cholesterol Education Program′s Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria, and the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) criteria. Results: Overall, the age-standardized prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 22.9%, 20.6%, and 15.3% based on definitions of revised NCEP ATP III criteria, the IDF criteria, and the CDS criteria, respectively. Men had higher age-standardized prevalence than women in all three definitions (P < 0.05). The prevalence was 27.1%, 24.5%, and 20.4% for men; 17.1%, 15.4%, and 8.3% for women, respectively. The most common metabolic component with the metabolic syndrome was overweight (54.7% of men had an elevated body mass index, and 35.9% of women had central obesity). Conclusions: A large proportion of employees among Northeast China have the metabolic syndrome. These findings place emphasis on the need to develop aggressive lifestyle modification for patients with the metabolic syndrome and population level strategies for the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular risk.
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- 2015
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27. Eradicating mesothelin-positive human gastric and pancreatic tumors in xenograft models with optimized anti-mesothelin antibody–drug conjugates from synthetic antibody libraries
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Michael Hsiao, Jhih-Wei Jian, Chiao-Yun Hsieh, Yong Alison Wang, Yueh-Liang Tsou, Chia-Ning Shen, Yu Chung-Ming, Hung-Ju Hsu, Hong-Sen Chen, Kuo Wei-Ying, Fei-Hung Hung, Tung Chao-Ping, Chi-Yung Chen, Hung-Pin Peng, Pei-Hsun Tsai, Simon Shih-Hsien Chuang, An-Suei Yang, Chiu Yi-Kai, Su-I Lin, and Yu-Chuan Huang
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Immunoconjugates ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Mice, SCID ,Protein Engineering ,Targeted therapy ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,Mice, Inbred NOD ,Pancreatic tumor ,Molecular Targeted Therapy ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Chemistry ,Tumor Burden ,Synthetic antibody ,Treatment Outcome ,Mesothelin ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Injections, Intravenous ,Heterografts ,Medicine ,Antibody ,Science ,Drug development ,GPI-Linked Proteins ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Stomach Neoplasms ,In vivo ,Cell Line, Tumor ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Mesothelin Positive ,Molecular engineering ,Cancer ,medicine.disease ,Complementarity Determining Regions ,Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ,Pancreatic Neoplasms ,body regions ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,Immunoglobulin G ,Cancer research ,biology.protein - Abstract
Mesothelin (MSLN) is an attractive candidate of targeted therapy for several cancers, and hence there are increasing needs to develop MSLN-targeting strategies for cancer therapeutics. Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting MSLN have been demonstrated to be a viable strategy in treating MSLN-positive cancers. However, developing antibodies as targeting modules in ADCs for toxic payload delivery to the tumor site but not to normal tissues is not a straightforward task with many potential hurdles. In this work, we established a high throughput engineering platform to develop and optimize anti-MSLN ADCs by characterizing more than 300 scFv CDR-variants and more than 50 IgG CDR-variants of a parent anti-MSLN antibody as candidates for ADCs. The results indicate that only a small portion of the complementarity determining region (CDR) residues are indispensable in the MSLN-specific targeting. Also, the enhancement of the hydrophilicity of the rest of the CDR residues could drastically increase the overall solubility of the optimized anti-MSLN antibodies, and thus substantially improve the efficacies of the ADCs in treating human gastric and pancreatic tumor xenograft models in mice. We demonstrated that the in vivo treatments with the optimized ADCs resulted in almost complete eradication of the xenograft tumors at the treatment endpoints, without detectable off-target toxicity because of the ADCs’ high specificity targeting the cell surface tumor-associated MSLN. The technological platform can be applied to optimize the antibody sequences for more effective targeting modules of ADCs, even when the candidate antibodies are not necessarily feasible for the ADC development due to the antibodies’ inferior solubility or affinity/specificity to the target antigen.
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- 2021
28. The splenial angle: a novel radiological index for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus
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Sumeet Kumar, Nicole C Keong, Robert Chun Chen, Amanda J Y Lee, Nagaendran Kandiah, Christine Lock, Eng-King Tan, Adeline S.L. Ng, Weiling Lee, Huihua Li, Wei Ying Go, Ling Ling Chan, and Louis C.S. Tan
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Hydrocephalus, normal pressure ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Diagnosis, differential ,Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt ,Corpus Callosum ,Lateral ventricles ,Magnetic resonance imaging ,Fractional anisotropy ,medicine ,Humans ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,Neuroradiology ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Receiver operating characteristic ,business.industry ,Neurodegenerative diseases ,Reproducibility of Results ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,ROC curve ,Diffusion Tensor Imaging ,Radiology ,Neuro ,Nuclear medicine ,business ,Splenial ,Ventriculomegaly ,Diffusion MRI - Abstract
Objectives To evaluate the utility of the splenial angle (SA), an axial angular index of lateral ventriculomegaly measured on diffusion tensor MRI color fractional anisotropy maps, in differentiating NPH from Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and healthy controls (HC), and post-shunt changes in NPH, compared to Evans’ index and callosal angle. Methods Evans’ index, callosal angle, and SA were measured on brain MRI of 76 subjects comprising equal numbers of age- and sex-matched subjects from each cohort of NPH, AD, PD, and HC by two raters. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and multivariable analysis were used to assess the screening performance of each measure in differentiating and predicting NPH from non-NPH groups respectively. Temporal changes in the measures on 1-year follow-up MRI in 11 NPH patients (with or without ventriculoperitoneal shunting) were also assessed. Results Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were excellent for all measurements (intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.9). Pairwise comparison showed that SA was statistically different between NPH and AD/PD/HC subjects (p < 0.0001). SA performed the best in predicting NPH, with an area under the ROC curve of > 0.98, and was the only measure left in the final model of the multivariable analysis. Significant (p < 0.01) change in SA was seen at follow-up MRI of NPH patients who were shunted compared to those who were not. Conclusions The SA is readily measured on axial DTI color FA maps compared to the callosal angle and shows superior performance differentiating NPH from neurodegenerative disorders and sensitivity to ventricular changes in NPH after surgical intervention. Key Points • The splenial angle is a novel simple angular radiological index proposed for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, measured in the ubiquitous axial plane on DTI color fractional anisotropy maps. • The splenial angle quantitates the compression and stretching of the posterior callosal commissural fibers alongside the distended lateral ventricles in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) using tools readily accessible in clinical practice and shows excellent test-retest reliability. • Splenial angle outperforms Evans’ index and callosal angle in predicting NPH from healthy, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease subjects on ROC analysis with an area under the curve of > 0.98 and is sensitive to morphological ventricular changes in NPH patients after ventricular shunting.
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- 2021
29. CRIg+ Macrophages Prevent Gut Microbial DNA–Containing Extracellular Vesicle–Induced Tissue Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
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Ya-ju Chang, Yudong Ji, Dinghong Zhang, Felipe C.G. Reis, Crystal Ly, Deepak Kumar, Wei Ying, Zhongmou Jin, Gautam Bandyopadhyay, Zhenlong Luo, and Hong Gao
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Hepatology ,Microbial DNA ,Chemistry ,Insulin ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Gastroenterology ,Inflammation ,Extracellular vesicle ,Complement receptor ,medicine.disease ,Cell biology ,Antibody opsonization ,03 medical and health sciences ,030104 developmental biology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Insulin resistance ,Real-time polymerase chain reaction ,medicine ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,medicine.symptom - Abstract
Background & Aims Liver CRIg+ (complement receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily) macrophages play a critical role in filtering bacteria and their products from circulation. Translocation of microbiota-derived products from an impaired gut barrier contributes to the development of obesity-associated tissue inflammation and insulin resistance. However, the critical role of CRIg+ macrophages in clearing microbiota-derived products from the bloodstream in the context of obesity is largely unknown. Methods We performed studies with CRIg–/–, C3–/–, cGAS–/–, and their wild-type littermate mice. The CRIg+ macrophage population and bacterial DNA abundance were examined in both mouse and human liver by either flow cytometric or immunohistochemistry analysis. Gut microbial DNA–containing extracellular vesicles (mEVs) were adoptively transferred into CRIg–/–, C3–/–, or wild-type mice, and tissue inflammation and insulin sensitivity were measured in these mice. After coculture with gut mEVs, cellular insulin responses and cGAS/STING-mediated inflammatory responses were evaluated. Results Gut mEVs can reach metabolic tissues in obesity. Liver CRIg+ macrophages efficiently clear mEVs from the bloodstream through a C3-dependent opsonization mechanism, whereas obesity elicits a marked reduction in the CRIg+ macrophage population. Depletion of CRIg+ cells results in the spread of mEVs into distant metabolic tissues, subsequently exacerbating tissue inflammation and metabolic disorders. Additionally, in vitro treatment of obese mEVs directly triggers inflammation and insulin resistance of insulin target cells. Depletion of microbial DNA blunts the pathogenic effects of intestinal EVs. Furthermore, the cGAS/STING pathway is crucial for microbial DNA–mediated inflammatory responses. Conclusions Deficiency of CRIg+ macrophages and leakage of intestinal EVs containing microbial DNA contribute to the development of obesity-associated tissue inflammation and metabolic diseases.
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- 2021
30. Clinical significance and molecular mechanism of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues
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Gang Chen, Wei-Zi Wu, Wei-Jian Huang, Da-Tong Zeng, Jian-Di Li, Wei-Ying He, Zhi-Guang Huang, Jian-Jun Li, Yi-Wu Dang, Rong-Quan He, Ji-Tian Chen, and Xian-Guo Zhou
- Subjects
Liver Cirrhosis ,Male ,Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ,Cirrhosis ,Datasets as Topic ,Bioengineering ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,Databases, Genetic ,Protein Interaction Mapping ,medicine ,Humans ,Clinical significance ,neoplasms ,Survival analysis ,Aged ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Mechanism (biology) ,business.industry ,Proportional hazards model ,Liver Neoplasms ,Age Factors ,Area under the curve ,ace2 ,General Medicine ,hepatocellular carcinoma ,Middle Aged ,Protective Factors ,medicine.disease ,Survival Analysis ,digestive system diseases ,Neoplasm Proteins ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,ROC Curve ,covid-19 ,Area Under Curve ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 ,Cancer research ,Receptors, Virus ,Female ,Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 ,alpha-Fetoproteins ,business ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,TP248.13-248.65 ,Research Article ,Research Paper ,Biotechnology - Abstract
During the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019, there exist quite a few studies on angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and SARS-CoV-2 infection, while little is known about ACE2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The detailed mechanism among ACE2 and HCC still remains unclear, which needs to be further investigated. In the current study with a total of 6,926 samples, ACE2 expression was downregulated in HCC compared with non-HCC samples (standardized mean difference = −0.41). With the area under the curve of summary receiver operating characteristic = 0.82, ACE2 expression showed a better ability to differentiate HCC from non-HCC. The mRNA expression of ACE2 was related to the age, alpha-fetoprotein levels and cirrhosis of HCC patients, and it was identified as a protected factor for HCC patients via Kaplan–Meier survival, Cox regression analyses. The potential molecular mechanism of ACE2 may be relevant to catabolic and cell division. In all, decreasing ACE2 expression can be seen in HCC, and its protective role for HCC patients and underlying mechanisms were explored in the study., Graphical Abtstract
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- 2021
31. MRI examination teaching system by using virtual reality (VR)
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Jyh-Wen Chai, Wei-Ying Li, Yi-Ying Wu, Clayton Chi-Chang Chen, Ming-Rong You, and Tzu-Chuen Lu
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Numerical Analysis ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Control and Optimization ,General Chemical Engineering ,media_common.quotation_subject ,General Engineering ,Questionnaire ,Virtual reality ,Affect (psychology) ,Mild anxiety ,Feeling ,Perception ,Heart rate ,medicine ,Anxiety ,Medical physics ,medicine.symptom ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Psychology ,media_common - Abstract
This study proposes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) virtual reality system and uses a pulse oximeter measuring device to reduce patient’s anxiety. The research investigates the radiation of the patient’s heart rate when using the virtual reality system and degree of the individual’s perception of anxiety. In the end, a questionnaire survey is conducted to understand the patient’s views of this system.This study uses Beckett Anxiety Scale to measure the degree of patient’s anxiety. The experimental results show that the patient’s anxiety level decreased from moderate anxiety to mild anxiety and the performance of heartbeat rate is very different between before and after using VR system. According to the results of the questionnaire, how easy the system is will affect the willing of the patient to use the system. Besides, the opinion of others will affect the patient’s feeling of the useful of the system.
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- 2021
32. The underlying molecular mechanism and identification of transcription factor markers for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
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Yue Liang, Bin-Yu Mo, Zhu-Xin Wei, Li Yang, Guo-Sheng Li, Lin Ruan, Ya-Si Su, Li-Yuan Xie, Cheng Ye, Wen-Bin Dai, Su-Ning Huang, and Wei-Ying He
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Bioengineering ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,homeobox b13 ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Databases, Genetic ,Biomarkers, Tumor ,Humans ,Medicine ,rna sequencing ,Protein Interaction Maps ,Transcription factor ,transcription factor ,Homeodomain Proteins ,Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma ,030104 developmental biology ,laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma ,Head and Neck Neoplasms ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cancer research ,Molecular mechanism ,Female ,Identification (biology) ,prognosis ,business ,TP248.13-248.65 ,Transcription Factors ,Research Article ,Research Paper ,Biotechnology - Abstract
The screening and treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) still perplexes clinicians, making it necessary to explore new markers. To this end, this research examined the underlying molecular mechanism of LSCC based on high-throughput datasets (n = 249) from multiple databases. It also identified transcription factors (TFs) independently associated with LSCC prognosis. Through Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses, differential expression genes of LSCC were deemed relevant to the extracellular matrix and its related structures or pathways, suggesting that the extracellular matrix plays an important role in LSCC. At the same time, several hub genes that may also have important roles in LSCC were identified via protein–protein interaction analysis, including CDC45, TPX2, AURKA, KIF2C, NUF, MUC1, MUC7, MUC4, MUC15, and MUC21. Eight unreported LSCC prognostic TFs – BCAT1, CHD4, FOXA2, GATA6, HNF1A, HOXB13, MAFF, and TCF4 – were screened via Kaplan–Meier curves. Cox analysis determined for the first time that HOXB13 expression and gender were independently associated with LSCC prognosis. Compared to control tissues, elevated expression of HOXB13 was found in LSCC tissues (standardized mean difference = 0.44, 95% confidence interval [0.13–0.76]). HOXB13 expression also makes it feasible to screen LSCC from non-LSCC (area under the curve = 0.77), and HOXB13 may play an essential role in LSCC by regulating HOXB7. In conclusion, HOXB13 may be a novel marker for LSCC clinical screening and treatment.
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- 2021
33. Identifying the Prognostic Risk Factors of Synaptojanin 2 and Its Underlying Perturbations Pathways in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
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Wei-Zi Wu, Lanshan Huang, Wei-Ying He, Ji-Tian Chen, Wei-Jia Mo, Rui Zhang, and Zhen-Bo Feng
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0301 basic medicine ,Male ,Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ,Bioengineering ,Synaptojanin ,Biology ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,differentially coexpressed genes ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,medicine ,Humans ,synaptojanin 2 ,Neoplasm Staging ,Cell growth ,Liver Neoplasms ,General Medicine ,Metabolism ,hepatocellular carcinoma ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,nomogram predicting ,Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases ,Up-Regulation ,030104 developmental biology ,Apoptosis ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Cancer research ,Female ,metabolism ,TP248.13-248.65 ,Research Article ,Research Paper ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Synaptojanin 2 (SYNJ2) regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis via dephosphorylating plasma membrane phosphoinositides. Aim of this study is to first seek the full-scale expression levels and potential emerging roles of SYNJ2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We systematically analyzed SYNJ2 mRNA expression and protein levels in HCC tissues based on large-scale data and in-house immunohistochemistry (IHC). The clinical significance and risk factors for SYNJ2-related HCC cases were identified. A nomogram of prognosis was created and its performance was validated by concordance index (C-index) and shown in calibration plots. Based on the identified differentially coexpressed genes (DCGs) of SYNJ2, enriched annotations and potential pathways were predicted, and the protein interacting networks were mapped. Upregulated SYNJ2 in 3,728 HCC and 3,203 non-HCC tissues were verified and in-house IHC showed higher protein levels of SYNJ2 in HCC tissues. Pathologic T stage was identified as a risk factor. Upregulated mRNA levels and mutated SYNJ2 might cause a poorer outcome. The C-index of the nomogram model constructed by SYNJ2 level, age, gender, TNM classification, grade, and stage was evaluated as 0.643 (95%CI = 0.619–0.668) with well-calibrated plots. A total of 2,533 DCGs were extracted and mainly functioned together with SYNJ2 in metabolic pathways. Possible transcriptional axis of CTCF/POLR2A-SYNJ2/INPP5B (transcription factor-target) in metabolic pathways was discovered based on ChIP-seq datasets. In summary, transcriptional regulatory axis CTCF/POLR2A-SYNJ2 might influence SYNJ2 expression levels. Increased SYNJ2 expression level could be utilized for predicting HCC prognosis and potentially accelerates the occurrence and development of HCC via metabolic perturbations pathways., Graphical abstract
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- 2021
34. Anaerobic Transformation and Detoxification of Sulfamethoxazole by Sulfate-Reducing Enrichments and Desulfovibrio vulgaris
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Wei-Ying Ouyang, Jan Birkigt, Hans H. Richnow, and Lorenz Adrian
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education.field_of_study ,biology ,Chemistry ,Sulfamethoxazole ,Population ,General Chemistry ,010501 environmental sciences ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,urologic and male genital diseases ,biology.organism_classification ,01 natural sciences ,female genital diseases and pregnancy complications ,Transformation (genetics) ,Wastewater ,medicine ,Constructed wetland ,Environmental Chemistry ,Sewage treatment ,Food science ,education ,Desulfovibrio vulgaris ,Effluent ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is a veterinary antibiotic that is not efficiently removed from wastewater by routine treatment and therefore can be detected widely in the environment. Here, we investigated whether microbial anaerobic transformation can contribute to the removal of SMX in constructed systems. We enriched SMX-transforming mixed cultures from sediment of a constructed wetland and from digester sludge of a wastewater treatment plant. Transformation of SMX was observed in both sulfate-reducing and methanogenic cultures, whereas nitrate-reducing cultures showed no SMX transformation. In sulfate-reducing cultures, up to 90% of an initial SMX concentration of 100-250 μM was removed within 6 weeks of incubation, and the experiments demonstrated that the transformation was microbially catalyzed. The transformation products in sulfate-reducing cultures were identified as the reduced and isomerized forms of the isoxazole SMX moiety. The transformation products did not spontaneously reoxidize to SMX after oxygen exposure, and their antibacterial activity was significantly decreased compared to SMX. Population analyses in sequential transfers of the sulfate-reducing cultures revealed a community shift toward the genus Desulfovibrio. We therefore tested a deposited strain of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough for its capacity to transform SMX and observed the same transformation products and similar transformation rates as in the enrichment cultures. Our work suggests that an initial anaerobic step in wastewater treatment can reduce the concentration of SMX in effluents and could contribute to decreased SMX concentrations in the environment.
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- 2020
35. Deletion of miR-150 Exacerbates Retinal Vascular Overgrowth in High-Fat-Diet Induced Diabetic Mice.
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Liheng Shi, Andy Jeesu Kim, Richard Cheng-An Chang, Janet Ya-An Chang, Wei Ying, Michael L Ko, Beiyan Zhou, and Gladys Yi-Ping Ko
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness among American adults above 40 years old. The vascular complication in DR is a major cause of visual impairment, making finding therapeutic targets to block pathological angiogenesis a primary goal for developing DR treatments. MicroRNAs (miRs) have been proposed as diagnostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for various ocular diseases including DR. In diabetic animals, the expression levels of several miRs, including miR-150, are altered. The expression of miR-150 is significantly suppressed in pathological neovascularization in mice with hyperoxia-induced retinopathy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functional role of miR-150 in the development of retinal microvasculature complications in high-fat-diet (HFD) induced type 2 diabetic mice. Wild type (WT) and miR-150 null mutant (miR-150-/-) male mice were given a HFD (59% fat calories) or normal chow diet. Chronic HFD caused a decrease of serum miR-150 in WT mice. Mice on HFD for 7 months (both WT and miR-150-/-) had significant decreases in retinal light responses measured by electroretinograms (ERGs). The retinal neovascularization in miR-150-/--HFD mice was significantly higher compared to their age matched WT-HFD mice, which indicates that miR-150 null mutation exacerbates chronic HFD-induced neovascularization in the retina. Overexpression of miR-150 in cultured endothelial cells caused a significant reduction of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) protein levels. Hence, deletion of miR-150 significantly increased the retinal pathological angiogenesis in HFD induced type 2 diabetic mice, which was in part through VEGFR2.
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- 2016
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36. Divide and Conquer: Strategies in Singapore to Manage a Nuclear Medicine Department During COVID-19
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Aaron Kian Ti Tong, Kelvin Siu Hoong Loke, Wei Ying Tham, Gabriel Kee Yung Lim, Winnie Wing Chuen Lam, Xin Yi Seah, Sean Xue Xian Yan, David Chee Eng Ng, and Liyi Chio
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Hospital Departments ,MEDLINE ,Covid Commentaries ,epidemic ,World health ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,03 medical and health sciences ,Patient safety ,0302 clinical medicine ,Occupational Exposure ,Pandemic ,medicine ,Humans ,Infection control ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,General hospital ,Pandemics ,Infection Control ,Singapore ,Radiological and Ultrasound Technology ,business.industry ,Public health ,COVID-19 ,General Medicine ,COVID-19 infection ,Patient Safety ,Nuclear Medicine ,Coronavirus Infections ,Nuclear medicine ,business - Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on January 30, 2020. Since then, the virus has spread to affect more countries worldwide. During this period, our nuclear medicine department at Singapore General Hospital segregated our staff and patients by time, by space, or both, to minimize contact and prevent spread of the virus. Necessary changes to our clinical practices and stricter infection control measures were also enforced. We share our personal experience in managing a nuclear medicine department during this epidemic.
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- 2020
37. Assessing the Impact of a Pulmonary Embolism Response Team and Treatment Protocol on Patients Presenting With Acute Pulmonary Embolism
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Yen Lin Chee, Jason Phua, Graeme MacLaren, William Kristanto, Pipin Kojodjojo, Kristine Leok-Kheng Teoh, Tiong Beng Sim, Lynette Ls Teo, Joshua Loh, Hwee Seng Yip, Wei-Ying Jen, and Ching Ching Ong
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Adult ,Male ,Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Time Factors ,Treatment protocol ,Pulmonary angiogram ,Computed tomography ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,Disease-Free Survival ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Clinical Protocols ,Intensive care ,Health care ,Humans ,Medicine ,Thrombolytic Therapy ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies ,Adult patients ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Angiography ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Pulmonary embolism ,Survival Rate ,Right heart ,Emergency medicine ,Female ,Pulmonary Embolism ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business - Abstract
Pulmonary embolism (PE) care has traditionally been fragmented. The newly introduced Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) model provides streamlined care based on expedient, multi-disciplinary decision-making. This study aimed to quantify the impact of PERT, as part of a hospital-wide PE treatment protocol, on clinical outcomes.Consecutive adult patients with acute PE diagnosed via computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) were included. The PERT and treatment protocol were introduced in January 2015. Patient characteristics, therapies, quality measures of CTPA reporting, and clinical outcomes of PE patients treated for 2 years before and after implementation of these changes were evaluated. Primary endpoints were median length of stay in intensive care (ICU) and survival to discharge.A total of 321 consecutive PE patients were enrolled, of which 154 (treated in 2013-2014) and 167 (2015-2016) patients formed the historical control and study groups, respectively. Implementation of the algorithm was associated with less variance in anticoagulation and improved reporting of right heart strain parameters on CTPA. The ICU stay was reduced from a median of 5 to 2 days (p 0.01). Eligible massive PE patients receiving reperfusion increased from 30% to 92% (p = 0.01), with mean delay from diagnosis to reperfusion decreasing from 763 to 181 minutes (p 0.01). Bleeding complications were not increased, but overall survival to discharge remained unchanged.Introducing a PERT and treatment protocol reduced ICU stay, enhanced quality measures, and improved access of massive PE patients to reperfusion therapies, without increasing bleeding complications or health care costs.
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- 2020
38. Juglanin improves lipid metabolism disorder, liver injury, and intestinal integrity in nonalcoholic fatty liver mice
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Jia Lin, Ling-Yan Yu, and Wei-Ying Li
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Liver injury ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Endocrinology ,Lipid Metabolism Disorder ,business.industry ,Internal medicine ,Fatty liver ,medicine ,medicine.disease ,business - Published
- 2020
39. Qualitative Study of Factors Affecting Patient, Caregiver and Physician Preferences for Treatment of Myeloma and Indolent Lymphoma
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Joanne Yoong, Xin Liu, Yen-Lin Chee, Melinda Si Yun Tan, Wee Joo Chng, and Wei-Ying Jen
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medicine.medical_specialty ,business.industry ,Health Policy ,05 social sciences ,Stakeholder ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Treatment options ,Affect (psychology) ,Patient preference ,Treatment characteristics ,0506 political science ,Indolent lymphoma ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Family medicine ,050602 political science & public administration ,medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Thematic analysis ,business ,Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous) ,Social Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Qualitative research - Abstract
Introduction The number of treatment options for myeloma and indolent lymphoma are expanding at an exponential rate, with few direct head-to-head comparisons on which to base efficacy measures. We sought to understand how patients, their caregivers and physicians weigh treatment characteristics in order to come to a decision on which treatment option to pursue. Methods Patients, their caregivers and physicians were recruited and interviewed until data saturation was reached. A qualitative, thematic analysis was done to identify themes important to each stakeholder. Results We found that, while all three groups valued efficacy the most, the consideration of other secondary characteristics of the treatment, such as cost, toxicity and logistical issues all differed subtly between the different groups. Patients valued minimising cost and toxicity, even at small trade-offs in efficacy. Caregivers and physicians valued efficacy foremost. Conclusion Acknowledging and managing these differences is paramount because they influence shared decision-making and may affect patient outcomes in the short term, as well as their more general well-being in the long term.
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- 2020
40. Antidiabetic Properties of the Red Belt Conk Medicinal Mushroom Fomitopsis pinicola (Agaricomycetes) Extracts on Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats
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Iram Abdullah, Haiying Bao, Wei Ying, Muhammad Zahid, Asmaa Hussein Zaki, and Muhammad Idrees
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Blood Glucose ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Antioxidant ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Fomitopsis pinicola ,Diet, High-Fat ,medicine.disease_cause ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,Antioxidants ,Streptozocin ,law.invention ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,law ,Internal medicine ,Diabetes mellitus ,Drug Discovery ,Diabetes Mellitus ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Hypoglycemic Agents ,Insulin ,Hypolipidemic Agents ,Pharmacology ,Kidney ,biology ,Plant Extracts ,Chemistry ,Streptozotocin ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Rats ,Metformin ,Cholesterol ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Endocrinology ,Liver ,Hyperglycemia ,Coriolaceae ,Phytotherapy ,Oxidative stress ,medicine.drug - Abstract
The antidiabetic effect of different doses of water extract (WE) and ethanol extract (EE) was tested on a high-fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Parameters were evaluated with normal control (NC), diabetes mellitus control (DM), and metformin (M) groups. In the experiment, nine groups were used with eight rats in each group and three doses of each WE and EE were used, with low, medium, and high doses. The results revealed that the DM group lost a significant amount of weight, whereas the NC group's weight increased throughout the experiment. After treatment with Fomitopsis pinicola, the EE group's weight increased gradually. Liver, kidney, and pancreas weight decreased after STZ injection and returned to normal in EE treated groups. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were observed to be significantly lower after F. pinicola treatment. Serum insulin levels were also restored to normal after mushroom extracts supplementation. Specifically, STZ-induced hyperglycemia was inhibited by high dose EE administration. The biochemical analysis revealed that high-dose EE treatment increased HDL-C and decreased TC, TG, and LDL-C. Results demonstrated that high-dose EE administration protected the organ tissues from oxidative stress by normalizing the antioxidant levels, and CAT, SOD, and GSH-Px suppressed the lethal effect of MDA. The study concluded that F. pinicola EE at the dose 300 mg/kg has a more hypoglycemic, hyperinsulinemic, antioxidant, and antihyperlipidemic effect than NC, DM, and M, and regulates hyperglycemia by increasing insulin secretion.
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- 2020
41. The gut microbiota confers the glucose-and lipid-lowering effect of Laurolitsine in db/db mice
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Ning Ma, Fang Zhang, Lin Dong, Ya-nan Yang, Wei-Ying Lu, Xiao-po Zhang, Yong Zhang, Chongming Wu, Yinfeng Tan, and Rui-qi Wang
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Endocrinology ,biology ,Chemistry ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Laurolitsine ,Lipid lowering ,Gut flora ,biology.organism_classification - Abstract
Background Modulations on gut microbiota by traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and their active components are emerging as potential therapeutic agents on diabetes. Litsea glutinosa is a TCM used in clinic to treat diabetes with alkaloids as the active constituents, and the Laurolitsine is the richest one. Purpose Based on that, this study was designed to identify the potential capability of Laurolitsine on alleviating Type 2 diabetes and the changes of the composition of intestinal flora related to this disease. Methods In present study, Laurolitsine was administered to diabetic mice (db/db) by daily oral gavage at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks. The body weight, fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT), lipid metabolism of serum and liver and liver function were measured to assess the anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects of Laurolitsine. The liver pathological changes were observed by HE staining. Meanwhile, the effects of Laurolitsine on the changes of the composition of gut microbiota in mice were investigated via metagenomic analysis. Results Experimental results show that different doses of Laurolitsine have varying degrees of hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects. Among them, the treatment effect of 200mg·Kg-1 is the most obvious. In addition, Laurolitsine changes the structure of intestinal microflora significantly at various taxonomical levels in the diabetic db/db mice. Conclusions These results demonstrate that Laurolitsine may regulate glucose and lipid metabolism and improve diabetes through modulating intestinal microflora of Parabacteroides and Mucispirillum, which may be acknowledged as the iconic bacteria of diabetes.
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- 2021
42. Early Death and Survival of Patients With Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in ATRA Plus Arsenic Era: A Population-Based Study
- Author
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Hong-Hu Zhu, Ya-Fang Ma, Kang Yu, Gui-Fang Ouyang, Wen-Da Luo, Ren-Zhi Pei, Wei-Qun Xu, Hui-Xian Hu, Shu-Ping Mo, Xiao-Hua Xu, Jian-Ping Lan, Jian-Ping Shen, Li-Hong Shou, Shen-Xian Qian, Wei-Ying Feng, Pu Zhao, Jin-Hong Jiang, Bei-Li Hu, Jin Zhang, Su-Ying Qian, Gong-Qiang Wu, Wen-Ping Wu, Lei Qiu, Lin-Jie Li, Xiang-Hua Lang, Sai Chen, Li-Li Chen, Jun-Bin Guo, Li-Hong Cao, Hui-Fang Jiang, Yong-Ming Xia, Jing Le, Jian-Zhi Zhao, Jian Huang, Yue-Feng Zhang, Ya-Li Lv, Jing-Sheng Hua, Yong-Wei Hong, Cui-Ping Zheng, Ju-Xiang Wang, Bin-Fei Hu, Xiao-Hui Chen, Li-Ming Zhang, Shi Tao, Bing-Shou Xie, Yue-Min Kuang, Wen-Ji Luo, Ping Su, Jun Guo, Xiao Wu, Wei Jiang, Hui-Qi Zhang, Yun Zhang, Chun-Mei Chen, Xiao-Feng Xu, Yan Guo, Jin-Ming Tu, Shao Hu, Xiao-Yan Yan, Chen Yao, Yin-Jun Lou, Jie Jin, and the APL Cooperative Group of Zhejiang Province
- Subjects
Oncology ,Acute promyelocytic leukemia ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Population ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Early death ,survival ,law.invention ,Randomized controlled trial ,law ,early death ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,ATRA ,education ,Survival rate ,Arsenic ,RC254-282 ,Original Research ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,arsenic ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,acute promyelocytic leukemia ,medicine.disease ,Clinical trial ,Population based study ,chemistry ,business - Abstract
Most randomized trials for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) have investigated highly selected patients under idealized conditions, and the findings need to be validated in the real world. We conducted a population-based study of all APL patients in Zhejiang Province, China, with a total population of 82 million people, to assess the generalization of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic as front-line treatment. The outcomes of APL patients were also analyzed. Between January 2015 and December 2019, 1,233 eligible patients were included in the final analysis. The rate of ATRA and arsenic as front-line treatment increased steadily from 66.2% in 2015 to 83.3% in 2019, with no difference among the size of the center (≥5 or p = 0.12) or age (≥60 or p = 0.35). The early death (ED) rate, defined as death within 30 days after diagnosis, was 8.2%, and the 3-year overall survival (OS) was 87.9% in the whole patient population. Age (≥60 years) and white blood cell count (>10 × 109/L) were independent risk factors for ED and OS in the multivariate analysis. This population-based study showed that ATRA and arsenic as front-line treatment are widely used under real-world conditions and yield a low ED rate and a high survival rate, which mimic the results from clinical trials, thereby supporting the wider application of APL guidelines in the future.
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- 2021
43. Improving the predictive capability of Framingham Risk Score for risk of myocardial infarction based on coronary artery calcium score in healthy Singaporeans
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Siew Ching Kong, John Carson Allen, Weiting Huang, Wei Ying Tan, Ching Yee Ivory Yeo, and Khung Keong Yeo
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Framingham Risk Score ,Receiver operating characteristic ,business.industry ,Surrogate endpoint ,General Medicine ,Disease ,medicine.disease ,Logistic regression ,Health care ,Emergency medicine ,medicine ,Myocardial infarction ,business ,Agatston score - Abstract
Introduction: Cardiovascular disease emerged as the top cause of deaths and disability in Singapore in 2018, contributing extensively to the local healthcare burden. Primary prevention identifies at-risk individuals for the swift implementation of prevention or corrective measures. This has been traditionally done using the Singapore-adapted Framingham Risk Score (SG FRS). However, its most recent recalibration was done more than a decade ago. Recent changes in patient demographics and risk factors have undermined the accuracy of SG FRS, and the rising popularity of wearable health metrics have given rise to new data types with the potential to improve risk prediction. Methods: In healthy Singaporeans enrolled in the SingHEART study (in the absence of any clinical outcomes), we investigated potential improvements in the SG FRS to predict myocardial infarction risk based on high/low classifications of the Agatston score (surrogate outcome). Logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic and net reclassification index (NRI) analyses were conducted. Results: We demonstrated a significant improvement in the area under curve (AUC) of the SG FRS (AUC=0.641) after recalibration and incorporation of additional variables (fasting glucose and wearable-derived activity levels) (AUC=0.774) (p
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- 2021
44. Clinical Implication of E2F Transcription Factor 1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissues
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Hui-Ping Lu, Rong-Quan He, Qiu-Yu Pang, Wang-Yang Ye, Yu-Yan Pang, Gang Chen, Li-Hua Yang, Shang-Ling Pan, Huayu Wu, Xian-Guo Zhou, Yi-Wu Dang, Minhua Rong, Jian-Di Li, and Wei-Ying He
- Subjects
Pharmacology ,endocrine system ,Cancer Research ,Tissue microarray ,Cancer ,General Medicine ,Cell cycle ,Biology ,medicine.disease ,digestive system diseases ,Oncology ,Hepatocellular carcinoma ,Cancer research ,medicine ,Immunohistochemistry ,E2F1 ,Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging ,biological phenomena, cell phenomena, and immunity ,E2F ,Transcription factor - Abstract
Background: To date, the clinical management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients remains tough and the mechanisms of E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1) underlying HCC are obscure. Materials and Methods: Our study integrated datasets mined from several public databases to comprehensively understand the deregulated expression status of E2F1. Tissue microarrays and immunohistochemistry staining was used to validate E2F1 expression level. The prognostic value of E2F1 was assessed. In-depth subgroup analyses were implemented to compare the differentially expressed levels of E2F1 in HCC patients with various tumor stages. Functional enrichments were used to address the predominant targets of E2F1 and shedding light on their potential roles in HCC. Results: We confirmed the elevated expression of E2F1 in HCC. Subgroup analyses indicated that elevated E2F1 level was independent of various stages in HCC. E2F1 possessed moderate discriminatory capability in differentiating HCC patients from non-HCC controls. Elevated E2F1 correlated with Asian race, tumor classification, neoplasm histologic grade, eastern cancer oncology group, and plasma AFP levels. Furthermore, high E2F1 correlated with poor survival condition and pooled HR signified E2F1 as a risk factor for HCC. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes, coexpressed genes, and putative targets of E2F1 emphasized the importance of cell cycle pathway, where CCNE1 and CCNA2 served as hub genes. Conclusions: We confirmed the upregulation of E2F1 and explored the prognostic value of E2F1 in HCC patients. Two putative targeted genes (CCNE1 and CCNA2) of E2F1 were identified for their potential roles in regulating cell cycle and promote antiapoptotic activity in HCC patients.
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- 2021
45. Anti-fatigue effects of fermented soybean protein peptides in mice
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Wei Ying, Ling Kong, Pan Xingchang, Lu Lu, Mu-Yi Cai, Wang Jing, Lei Fang, and Ruixue Zhang
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medicine.medical_treatment ,Gut flora ,Pharmacology ,Blood Urea Nitrogen ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Mice ,Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ,medicine ,Myocyte ,Animals ,Muscle, Skeletal ,Protein kinase B ,Blood urea nitrogen ,Swimming ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,Protease ,biology ,Glycogen ,biology.organism_classification ,Lactic acid ,chemistry ,Liver ,biology.protein ,Soybean Proteins ,Creatine kinase ,Fermented Foods ,Peptides ,Agronomy and Crop Science ,Food Science ,Biotechnology - Abstract
BACKGROUND Bioactive protein hydrolysates and peptides are believed to help counteract and ameliorate physical fatigue. Fermented soybean protein peptides (FSPPs) were prepared by protease hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-fatigue properties of FSPPs. RESULTS The forced swimming time in the FSPP group was 35.78% longer than the control group, the oxygen-resistant survival time of the FSPP group was significantly prolonged and the prolongation rate was 31.00%. In addition, FSPPs decreased the lactic acid (LD), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatine kinase (CK) concentration by 27.47%, 25.93% and 21.70%, respectively, after treatment, while increasing the levels of liver glycogen and muscle glycogen by 93.35% and 67.31%, respectively. FSPPs can significantly increase gut microbiota diversity and regulate the species richness of gut microbiota. The results of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting showed that FSPPs activate p-AMPK/PGC1-α and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways. CONCLUSION These results indicate that treatment with FSPPs induces anti-fatigue effects, which may be due to the mediating muscle protein synthesis and participation in skeletal muscle hypertrophy, providing energy for muscle cells. FSPPs may have potential applications in the food industry as functional material additives. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
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- 2021
46. Sex Differences in Adverse Reactions to an Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Among Medical Staff in China
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Hai-Xiao Chen, Mei-Xian Zhang, Wei-Ying Yang, Tao-Hsin Tung, Gui-Feng Shi, Jian-Sheng Zhu, Shulin Qiu, and Ching-Wen Chien
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Medicine (General) ,Medical staff ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,sex difference ,Confounding ,adverse reaction ,COVID-19 ,General Medicine ,inactivated vaccine ,Brief Research Report ,Vaccination ,R5-920 ,Internal medicine ,Inactivated vaccine ,Medicine ,Worry ,business ,Adverse effect ,media_common - Abstract
Objective: We investigated whether there were sex differences in adverse reactions to an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among medical staff in China.Methods: From 24 February to 7 March 2021 an online cross-sectional survey was conducted with a self-administered COVID-19 vaccine questionnaire among medical staff in Taizhou, China. In total, 1397 interviewees (1,107 women and 290 men) participated in the survey.Results: In our study, 178 (16.1%) women and 23 (7.9%) men reported adverse reactions following their first vaccination, and 169 (15.3%) women and 35 (12.1%) men reported adverse reactions following their second vaccination. After adjusting for confounding factors, adverse reactions to other vaccines, worry about adverse reactions, knowledge of the inactivated vaccine being used in the hospital, taking the vaccine for one's family proactively and receiving an influenza vaccination were significantly related to adverse reactions to both injections in women. In contrast, in men, concerns about adverse reactions independently increased the risk of adverse reactions following either vaccination, and a history of adverse reactions to other vaccines also increased the risk of adverse reactions to both injections.Conclusions: Sex differences in the frequency of reported adverse reactions to an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and potential factors were demonstrated in a sample of medical staff.
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- 2021
47. Reducing Time to Chemotherapy Administration in the Outpatient Setting of a Tertiary Cancer Centre Using a Design Thinking Approach
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Constance Teo, Mary Chong, Siew Woon Lim, Yen-Lin Chee, Ednajoy Ngo, Meng Tuck Lee, Yee Mei Lee, Cheng Ean Chee, Yuet Peng Wong, Judith Lee, Mariana Ibrahim, Wei-Ying Jen, Melinda Khoo, Rui Xian Tay, Zhi Yao Chan, Noel Ng, and Belinda Tan
- Subjects
business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Immunology ,Workload ,Cell Biology ,Hematology ,medicine.disease ,Biochemistry ,Triage ,Care provision ,Test (assessment) ,Punctuality ,Patient experience ,Health care ,Medicine ,Medical emergency ,Workgroup ,business ,media_common - Abstract
Introduction Chemotherapy is a dynamic, complex process involving cross-functional healthcare teams and comprises dosing, scheduling, safety checks, compounding and administration. Coupled with team silos, legacy systems, escalating workload and cost, efficient chemotherapy delivery is increasingly challenging, resulting in negative staff and patient experience. A design thinking methodology focused on end-users is ideal for addressing complex problems with no clear best practices. Aim We hypothesized that a multidisciplinary team using a data-driven, design thinking approach to redesign chemotherapy workflows can reduce time to treatment, improve operational efficiency and staff and patient experience. Methods A process mapping exercise was undertaken to understand the chemotherapy process. Patients and staff from different job groups were shadowed. The problem statement was "60% of patients are waiting more than an hour from their appointment time to start treatment". The following examples of "how might we" questions were used for the ideation phase: 1. How might we increase advanced chemotherapy preparations (premakes) for patients? 2. How might we ensure only premakes are listed in the mornings? Separately, we also designed an anonymized database to track chemotherapy delivery and care provision outcomes by writing an algorithm to link data extracted from appointment, queue management and chemotherapy systems. New workflows were drafted, iterated, and implemented from 1 May 2020 with the following major changes: 1. No same day blood tests and chemotherapy, with physicians reminded to complete chemotherapy orders by 3pm the day before to allow advance compounding. 2. All chemotherapy regimens were consolidated into a directory containing properties like infusion duration, premake eligibility (based on drug stability and cost) and other scheduling characteristics. This was made searchable via an Excel (Microsoft, USA) algorithm, which also recommended ideal booking slots for the scheduling team. Premakes were prioritized for morning (0830 - 1030) slots. 3. Outcome targets were agreed on and tracked daily. These were made accessible to all staff via a dashboard. The workgroup met weekly to discuss targets, barriers and iterate workflows. Daily, intra-group communication was facilitated by TigerConnect (TigerConnect, USA). We included consecutive outpatients treated at our institution from 1 Jan - 27 Jul 2020. Patients were split into two groups: a historical control group (1 Jan - 30 Apr) and a post-intervention study group (1 May - 27 Jul). The primary outcome measure was the difference between appointment time and time treatment started. Secondary outcome measures included (a) proportion of premade chemotherapy; (b) number of patients starting treatment within an hour of appointment time; and (c) number of patients finishing treatment after 6pm. Continuous data are reported as median (25th-75th centile) and analysed with the Mann-Whitney U test, while categorical data were assessed with the chi-square test. Analysis was done with SPSS v22 (IBM, USA). Results Results are summarized in Table 1. From 1 Jan - 27 July 2020, 14314 treatments were completed. Of these, 5946 (41.5%) were in the 0830 - 1030 slots prioritized for premade chemotherapy. 18.8% of patients arrived after their appointment time. The proportion of premade chemotherapy increased to 70.8% from 30.6% (p The median time to start treatment decreased from 83 (51-128) minutes in the control to 49 (27-87) minutes in the study group (p The proportion of patients with morning appointments starting treatment within 1 hour of their appointment time increased to 58.4% from 31.7% (p Conclusion We have shown that a multidisciplinary group using a data-driven, design thinking approach to address team silos, reorganize and track work processes can improve the time taken to start treatment. Changes were made at no added cost to the healthcare system and using accessible software. Potential cost savings in terms of less overtime claims for staff have yet to be factored in. Addressing patient punctuality and registration and triage processes will help further decrease time to treatment. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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- 2020
48. The effect of oral diabetes medications on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in Asians in primary care: a retrospective cohort real-world data study
- Author
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Hao Sen Andrew Fang, Qiao Gao, Wei Ying Tan, Mong Li Lee, Wynne Hsu, and Ngiap Chuan Tan
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Adult ,Blood Glucose ,Glycated Hemoglobin ,Primary Health Care ,Asian ,Antidiabetic agent ,General Medicine ,Primary care ,Diabetes mellitus ,Asian People ,Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ,Medicine ,Humans ,Hypoglycemic Agents ,Retrospective Studies ,Research Article - Abstract
Background Clinical trials have demonstrated that initiating oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) significantly reduce glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. However, variability in lifestyle modifications and OAD adherence impact on their actual effect on glycemic control. Furthermore, evidence on dose adjustments and discontinuation of OAD on HbA1c is lacking. This study aims to use real-world data to determine the effect of OAD initiation, up-titration, down-titration, and discontinuation on HbA1c levels, among Asian patients managed in primary care. Methods A retrospective cohort study over a 5-year period, from Jan 2015 to Dec 2019 was conducted on a cohort of multi-ethnic adult Asian patients with clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) managed by a network of primary care clinics in Singapore. Nine OADs from five different classes (biguanides, sulphonyurea, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 [DPP-4] inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 [SGLT-2] inhibitors, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors) were evaluated. Patients were grouped into “No OAD”, “Non-titrators,” and “Titrators” cohorts based on prescribing patterns. For the “Titrators” cohort, the various OAD titrations were identified. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis of HbA1c values before and after each titration was performed to compute a mean difference for each unique titration identified. Results Among the cohort of 57,910 patients, 43,338 of them had at least one OAD titration, with a total of 76,990 pairs of HbA1c values associated with an OAD titration. There were a total of 206 unique OAD titrations. Overall, initiation of OADs resulted in a reduction of HbA1c by 3 to 12 mmol/mol (0.3 to 1.1%), respectively. These results were slightly lower than those reported in clinical trials of 6 to 14 mmol/mol (0.5 to 1.25%). The change of HbA1c levels due to up-titration, down-titration, and discontinuation were −1 to −8 mmol/mol (−0.1 to −0.7%), +1 to 7 mmol/mol (+0.1 to +0.6%), and +2 to 11 mmol/mol (+0.2 to +1.0%), respectively. The HbA1c lowering effect of initiating newer OADs, namely DPP-4 inhibitors and SGLT-2 inhibitors was 8 to 11 mmol/mol (0.7 to 0.9%) and 7 to 11 mmol/mol (0.6 to 1.0%), respectively. Conclusion The real-world data on Asians with T2DM in this study show that the magnitudes of OAD initiation and dose titration are marginally lower than the results from clinical trials. During shared decision-making in selecting treatment options, the results enable physicians to communicate realistic expectation of the effect of oral medications on the glycemic control of their patients in primary care.
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- 2021
49. Protection effects of rice protein hydrolysate on UVB-irradiated photodamage in Hartley guinea pigs skin and human skin fibroblasts
- Author
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Ruizeng Gu, Lei Fang, Jiangtao Zhang, Muyi Cai, Wei Ying, Lu Lu, Ruixue Zhang, and Xiuyuan Qin
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0301 basic medicine ,Antioxidant ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Human skin ,SMAD ,Pharmacology ,Hydrolysate ,Skin protection ,03 medical and health sciences ,Hydroxyproline ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Rice protein hydrolysate ,0404 agricultural biotechnology ,medicine ,Leu-Leu-Lys (LLK) ,TX341-641 ,Leu-Pro-Lys (LPK) ,030109 nutrition & dietetics ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,pyroGlu-Lys (pEK) ,Chemistry ,Signaling pathway ,Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,040401 food science ,Rice protein ,Signal transduction ,Type I collagen ,Food Science - Abstract
This study examined the ameliorative effects of rice protein hydrolysate (RPH) on UVB irradiation-induced photodamage in Hartley guinea pigs, particularly its influence on antioxidant indicators, moisture content, hydroxyproline (HYP) content and skin histopathology. The molecular mechanisms of RPH characteristic peptides Leu-Leu-Lys (LLK), Leu-Pro-Lys (LPK), and pyroGlu-Lys (pEK) were explored, and the results showed that RPH improved antioxidant capacity, prevented the loss of both water and HYP, and provided effective protection to the skin tissue. LPK and pEK increased the expression of type I collagen by regulating the AP-1/MMP-1 (pEK) and TGF-β/Smad (LPK) signaling pathways, with the LPK exhibiting the most significant effect. These findings indicate that RPH and its characteristic peptides can play vital roles in skin protection and, thus, this study provides a theoretical basis for RPH to become a novel, functional cosmetic ingredient.
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- 2021
50. Using Domain Knowledge and Data-Driven Insights for Patient Similarity Analytics
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Hao Sen Andrew Fang, Ronald Wihal Oei, Mong Li Lee, Wynne Hsu, Ngiap Chuan Tan, and Wei-Ying Tan
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Decision support system ,hypertension ,dyslipidaemia ,020205 medical informatics ,Computer science ,Feature vector ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,02 engineering and technology ,Similarity measure ,Machine learning ,computer.software_genre ,Article ,Data-driven ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Similarity (psychology) ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,030212 general & internal medicine ,diabetes ,business.industry ,distance metric learning ,Analytics ,Domain knowledge ,Medicine ,Artificial intelligence ,Construct (philosophy) ,business ,computer ,patient similarity - Abstract
Patient similarity analytics has emerged as an essential tool to identify cohorts of patients who have similar clinical characteristics to some specific patient of interest. In this study, we propose a patient similarity measure called D3K that incorporates domain knowledge and data-driven insights. Using the electronic health records (EHRs) of 169,434 patients with either diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidaemia (DHL), we construct patient feature vectors containing demographics, vital signs, laboratory test results, and prescribed medications. We discretize the variables of interest into various bins based on domain knowledge and make the patient similarity computation to be aligned with clinical guidelines. Key findings from this study are: (1) D3K outperforms baseline approaches in all seven sub-cohorts, (2) our domain knowledge-based binning strategy outperformed the traditional percentile-based binning in all seven sub-cohorts, (3) there is substantial agreement between D3K and physicians (κ = 0.746), indicating that D3K can be applied to facilitate shared decision making. This is the first study to use patient similarity analytics on a cardiometabolic syndrome-related dataset sourced from medical institutions in Singapore. We consider patient similarity among patient cohorts with the same medical conditions to develop localized models for personalized decision support to improve the outcomes of a target patient.
- Published
- 2021
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