Hericium erinaceus Mycelium and Its Isolated Compound, Erinacine A, Ameliorate High-Fat High-Sucrose Diet-Induced Metabolic Dysfunction and Spatial Learning Deficits in Aging Mice

Yun-Chieh Tsai,Yu-Chen Lin,Chun-Chih Huang,Oliver B. Villaflores,Tzong-Yuan Wu,Shih-Ming Huang,Ting-Yu Chin 한국식품영양과학회 2019 Journal of medicinal food Vol.22 No.5

Aging and lifestyle factors, including high-sugar and high-fat diets, promote a systemic metabolic imbalance that promotes neurodegeneration. Hericium erinaceus has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, its functional activities, such as antimetabolic dysfunction, antineuroinflammatory activities, and stimulation of nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis, have been revealed. This study demonstrated that Hericium erinaceus mycelium (HEM) and an isolated diterpenoid derivative, erinacine A (EA), may reverse spatial learning disabilities in aging mice (15 months old) fed with a high-fat and high-sucrose diet (HFSD). Aging mice were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: (1) a chow diet (control), (2) an HFSD, and an HFSD supplemented with either (3) HEM or (4) EA for 18 weeks. The Morris water maze (MWM) and Y-maze were used for behavioral assessments. Both HEM- and EA-treated mice had shorter mean daily escape latencies than HFSD-treated mice in the MWM. In addition, HEM-treated mice had a slightly increased exploratory time and frequency in the novel arm in the Y-maze. Quantitative PCR revealed that both HEM- and EA-treated mice exhibited reduced messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and HEM-treated mice exhibited increased mRNA expression of NGF and NeuN in the hippocampus. Moreover, HEM and EA also decreased body weight, abdominal fat, plasma glucose, serum and liver total cholesterol, and liver triacylglycerol. Thus, HEM may be a potential health-promoting supplement for minimizing the progression of aging and obesity-induced neurodegeneration by reducing metabolic abnormalities and neuroinflammatory cytokines and increasing neurogenesis factors.

Huge Left Atrial Myxoma Obstructs the Mitral Valve and Causes Massive Pleural Effusion

Wei-Chieh Lee,Jhih-Yuan Shih,Nan-Chun Wu 전남대학교 의과학연구소 2024 전남의대학술지 Vol.60 No.2

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The Presence of Borrelia valaisiana-Related Genospecies in Ticks and a Rodent in Taiwan

Chun-Man Huang,Hsi-Chieh Wang,Ying-Chun Lin,Shih-Hui Chiu,Ying-Shun Kao,Pei-Lung Lee,Hsiu-I Wang,Ruei-Chen Hung,Huang-I Chan,Ho-Sheng Wu,Chuen-Sheue Chiang,Jung-Jung Mu 한국미생물학회 2010 The journal of microbiology Vol.48 No.6

A field survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in six counties of Taiwan. Spirochetes were successfully isolated from one rodent ear sample out of 485 rodent ears and 53live, fed tick (Ixodes granulatus) samples. The spirochetes were confirmed to be B. burgdorferi s.l. by real-time PCR. In addition, 23 of 113 tick samples were tested positive for Borrelia DNA according to real-time PCR. The Borrelia isolate from the rodent and the 23 Borrelia DNA samples from the ticks were identified as B. valaisiana-related genospecies by phylogenetic analysis based on flagellin gene sequences. These findings suggest that the Borrelia valaisiana-related strains are maintained in a zoonotic cycle between tick vectors and reservoir hosts in Taiwan.

3-D NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS FOR AIRFLOW WITHIN A PASSENGER COMPARTMENT

Chia-Hung Chien,Yung-Hsin Chen,Shih-Chieh Wu,Jiin-Yuh Jang 한국자동차공학회 2008 International journal of automotive technology Vol.9 No.4

People use cars so frequently that they always consider the air-conditioning, and thermal comfort of the driver and passenger when buying a new car. Therefore accurate simulation of the thermal performance of automobile air conditioners to improve human comfort has become increasingly important. In order to improve the thermal comfort of passengers, 3-D flow motion and thermal behavior within vehicles must be analyzed. In this paper, a numerical simulation was used to investigate thermal behavior in a vehicle. Because air temperature at an air vent is related to the cooling capacity of the air conditioner, the cooling capacity was calculated using ε -NTU (effective number of transfer unit) theoretical equations. Using the air temperature relationship between inlet and outlet vents as boundary conditions, a 3-D unsteady κ -ε turbulent model was used to give a transient analysis simulation of the temperature field and flow conditions in a vehicle’s passenger cabin. Cooling cycle analysis and conjugate heat transfer analysis at the inside surface of the cabin’s ceiling, floor and sides were also considered. The predicted temperature distributions in the vehicles passenger cabin were in good agreement with those obtained experimentally.

Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy between Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists

Tzu-Yi Lin,Eugene Yu-Chuan Kang,Shih-Chieh Shao,Edward Chia-Cheng Lai,Sunir J. Garg,Kuan-Jen Chen,Je-Ho Kang,Wei-Chi Wu,Chi-Chun Lai,Yih-Shiou Hwang 대한당뇨병학회 2023 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.47 No.3

Background: To compare risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) between patients taking sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and those taking glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) in routine care.Methods: This retrospective cohort study emulating a target trial included patient data from the multi-institutional Chang Gung Research Database in Taiwan. Totally, 33,021 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using SGLT2is and GLP1-RAs between 2016 and 2019 were identified. 3,249 patients were excluded due to missing demographics, age <40 years, prior use of any study drug, a diagnosis of retinal disorders, a history of receiving vitreoretinal procedure, no baseline glycosylated hemoglobin, or no follow-up data. Baseline characteristics were balanced using inverse probability of treatment weighting with propensity scores. DR diagnoses and vitreoretinal interventions served as the primary outcomes. Occurrence of proliferative DR and DR receiving vitreoretinal interventions were regarded as vision-threatening DR.Results: There were 21,491 SGLT2i and 1,887 GLP1-RA users included for the analysis. Patients receiving SGLT2is and GLP-1 RAs exhibited comparable rate of any DR (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79 to 1.03), whereas the rate of proliferative DR (SHR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.68) was significantly lower in the SGLT2i group. Also, SGLT2i users showed significantly reduced risk of composite surgical outcome (SHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.70).Conclusion: Compared to those taking GLP1-RAs, patients receiving SGLT2is had a lower risk of proliferative DR and vitreoretinal interventions, although the rate of any DR was comparable between the SGLT2i and GLP1-RA groups. Thus, SGLT2is may be associated with a lower risk of vision-threatening DR but not DR development.

Comprehensive profiles and diagnostic value of menopausal-specific gut microbiota in premenopausal breast cancer

Hou Ming-Feng,Ou-Yang Fu,Li Chung-Liang,Chen Fang-Ming,Chuang Chieh-Han,Kan Jung-Yu,Wu Cheng-Che,Shih Shen-Liang,Shiau Jun-Ping,Kao Li-Chun,Kao Chieh-Ni,Lee Yi-Chen,Moi Sin-Hua,Yeh Yao-Tsung,Cheng Chi 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

In Western countries, breast cancer tends to occur in older postmenopausal women. However, in Asian countries, the proportion of younger premenopausal breast cancer patients is increasing. Increasing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in breast cancer. However, studies on the gut microbiota in the context of breast cancer have mainly focused on postmenopausal breast cancer. Little is known about the gut microbiota in the context of premenopausal breast cancer. This study aimed to comprehensively explore the gut microbial profiles, diagnostic value, and functional pathways in premenopausal breast cancer patients. Here, we analyzed 267 breast cancer patients with different menopausal statuses and age-matched female controls. The α-diversity was significantly reduced in premenopausal breast cancer patients, and the β-diversity differed significantly between breast cancer patients and controls. By performing multiple analyses and classification, 14 microbial markers were identified in the different menopausal statuses of breast cancer. Bacteroides fragilis was specifically found in young women of premenopausal statuses and Klebsiella pneumoniae in older women of postmenopausal statuses. In addition, menopausal-specific microbial markers could exhibit excellent discriminatory ability in distinguishing breast cancer patients from controls. Finally, the functional pathways differed between breast cancer patients and controls. Our findings provide the first evidence that the gut microbiota in premenopausal breast cancer patients differs from that in postmenopausal breast cancer patients and shed light on menopausal-specific microbial markers for diagnosis and investigation, ultimately providing a noninvasive approach for breast cancer detection and a novel strategy for preventing premenopausal breast cancer.