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Background: Taiwan habu (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus), green bamboo viper (Viridovipera stejnegeri), and Taiwan cobra (Naja atra) are the most venomous snakebites in Taiwan. Patients commonly present with limb swelling but misdiagnosis rates are high, and currently available diagnostic tools are limited. This study explores the immune responses in snakebite patients to aid in differential diagnosis., Methods: This prospective observational study investigated the changes in cytokines in snakebite patients and their potential for diagnosis., Results: Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α were observed in all snakebite patients compared to the healthy control group. While no significant disparities were observed in humoral immune response cytokines, there were significant differences in IFN-γ levels, with significantly higher IL-10 levels in patients bitten by cobras. Patients with TNF-α levels exceeding 3.02 pg/mL were more likely to have been bitten by a cobra., Conclusion: This study sheds light on the immune responses triggered by various venomous snakebites, emphasizing the potential of cytokine patterns for snakebite-type differentiation. Larger studies are needed to validate these findings for clinical use, ultimately improving snakebite diagnosis and treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Chih-Chuan Lin reports financial support was provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (grant MOST 108-2314-B-182A-081). Chun-Hsiang Ou Yang reports financial support was provided by Chang Gung Medcial Foundation, Taoyuan, Taiwan. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan and Chang Gang Medical Foundation have no role in this study proposal design, experiment performance, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Role of lipid control in diabetic nephropathy. Patients with diabetic nephropathy are known to be associated with many lipoprotein abnormalities, including higher plasma levels of very low-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides, and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein. Many studies have reported that lipids may induce both glomerular and tubulointerstitial injury through mediators such as cytokines, reactive oxygen species, chemokines, and through hemodynamic changes. Clinical studies in patients with diabetic nephropathy showed that lipid control can be associated with an additional effect of reduction in proteinuria. Experimental studies demonstrated that lipid-lowering agents exerted a certain degree of renoprotection, through both indirect effects from lipid lowering and a direct effect on cell protection. Therefore, lipid control appears to be important in the prevention and treatment of diabetic nephropathy.Diabetic nephropathy has become the leading cause of end-stage renal failure in many countries, including Taiwan. One of the major risk factors for the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy is dyslipidemia. In this paper we will review the role of lipid in mediating renal injury and the beneficial effects of lipid control in diabetic nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The transition from childhood to teenaged years is associated with increased testosterone and a decreased iron status. It is not clear whether higher testosterone levels cause the decreased iron status, and to what extent, obesity-related inflammation influences the iron-testosterone relationship. The aim of the present study was to examine relationships of testosterone, iron status, and anti-/proinflammatory cytokines in relation to nutritional status in boys and young adolescent Taiwanese males. Methods: In total, 137 boys aged 7~13 yr were included. Parameters for obesity, the iron status, testosterone, and inflammatory markers were evaluated. Results: Overweight and obese (ow/obese) boys had higher mean serum testosterone, interleukin (IL)-1β, and nitric oxide (NO) levels compared to their normal-weight counterparts (all p<0.05). Mean serum ferritin was slightly higher in ow/obese boys compared to normal-weight boys, but this did not reach statistical significance. A multiple linear regression showed that serum ferritin (β = -0.7470, p = 0.003) was inversely correlated with testosterone, while serum IL-10 (β = 0.3475, p = 0.009) was positively associated with testosterone after adjusting for covariates. When normal-weight boys were separately assessed from ow/obesity boys, the association between testosterone and serum ferritin became stronger (β = -0.9628, p<0.0001), but the association between testosterone and IL-10 became non-significant (β = 0.1140, p = 0.4065) after adjusting for covariates. In ow/obese boys, only IL-10 was weakly associated with serum testosterone (β = 0.6444, p = 0.051) after adjusting for age. Conclusions: Testosterone and serum ferritin are intrinsically interrelated but this relationship is weaker in ow/obese boys after adjusting for age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Acupuncture has been used as a complementary medical treatment for arthralgia and other types of pain. The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of arthralgia in patients with breast cancer who were treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs). Methods: A literature search was performed, without language restrictions, of 10 databases from their inception through February 2014. The literature reviewed included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and clinical trials that compared real versus sham acupuncture for the treatment of AI-related musculoskeletal symptoms (AIMSS). The methodologic quality of these trials was assessed by using the modified Jadad Quality Scale. Meta-analytic software (RevMan 5.0) was used to analyze the data. Results: Five To compare the effects of real versus sham acupuncture, five RCTs were assessed by meta-analysis and quality analysis. Three of the RCTs reported favorable effects with regard to use of acupuncture in reducing pain and joint-related symptoms, while the other two RCTs did not. The meta-analysis showed trends toward reduced pain and stiffness in patients given acupuncture compared with those who received sham treatment ( n=82; pain, mean difference: −2.07 [95% confidence interval (CI), −4.72 to 0.57]; p=0.12; stiffness, mean difference: −86.10 [95% CI, −249.11 to 76.92]; p=0.30), although these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Acupuncture has been reported as a safe and promising treatment for AIMSS, but the present analysis indicated that the effects were not statistically significant. Other outcome measurements, such as imaging studies, would be worth including in future studies to further confirm the efficacy of acupuncture in AIMSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have suggested that cytokines are crucial mediators in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). The multifunctional cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 and its single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found to have an impact on the development of PD. However, different studies in associations of IL-6 genetic variants with PD showed inconsistent results and it has never been explored in a Taiwanese population. Both IL-1α and IL-8 contribute to the same inflammation pathway. IL-1α genetic polymorphism has an effect on late-onset PD in Taiwan, whereas the associations of IL-8 genetic variants with PD in Taiwan remain to be investigated. Methods: This study examined the frequencies of polymorphisms within the critical promoter areas of the proinflammatory cytokine genes: IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) and IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) in Taiwanese PD patients compared with age-and gender-matched healthy subjects. Comparisons were also made in genotype and allele frequencies of IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) and IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) among different populations in previous studies. Results: In total, 1120 subjects, including 509 PD patients (female/male: 259/250) and 511 control subjects (female/male: 252/259), were recruited. We found no statistically significant differences in IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) or IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) genotypic and allelic distribution between PD and controls, even after being stratified by age at onset and gender. Conclusions: The results did not demonstrate any association of IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) or IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) with PD in a Taiwanese population. Despite the negative results, this is the first study in associations of IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) and IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) with PD in Taiwan. The relevance of genetic variants of IL-6 G-174C (rs1800795) or IL-8 A-251T (rs4073) on PD susceptibility warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical presentations of dengue fever (DF) are diverse and non-specific, causing unpredictable progression and outcomes. Its progression and severity have been associated with cytokine levels alteration. In this study, dengue patients were classified into groups following the 2009 WHO dengue classification scheme to investigate the cytokine signature at different severity of the disease: dengue without warning sign symptoms (A); dengue with warning signs (B); severe dengue (C); other fever (OF) and healthy (Healthy). We analyzed 23 different cytokines simultaneously, namely IL-1b, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17A, IL-33, CD14, CD54, CD62E, CD62L, CD62p, CD106, CD121b, CD154, CD178, GM-CSF, IFN-g, MIF, ST2 and TNF from patients admitted to National Cheng Kung University Hospital during the 2015 Taiwan dengue outbreak. Cytokines TNF, CD54, CD62E, CD62L, CD62P, GM-CSF, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-17A, INF-g and MIF were elevated while CD106, CD154, IL-4 and L-33 were decreased when compared to the control. IL-10 demonstrated to be a potential diagnostic marker for DF (H and A group; AUC = 0.944, H and OF group; AUC = 0.969). CD121b demonstrated to be predictive of the SD (A and B group; AUC = 0.744, B and C group; AUC = 0.775). Our results demonstrate the cytokine profile changes during the progression of dengue and highlight possible biomarkers for optimizing effective intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]