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ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate the clinical significance of GP. Mur antigen-negative blood selection for transfusion in patients with anti-'Mia' records. Background The GP. Mur RBC phenotype is prevalent (7·3%) in Taiwan. Antibodies against GP. Mur (anti-'Mia') are identified in 1·24% of our population, and anti-'Mia' screening using GP. Mur RBC has been routine for Taiwan's blood banks. However, due to the lack of commercial antibodies, only cross-matching was used to prevent transfusion of GP. Mur-positive blood to patients with anti-'Mia' in most hospitals. There is still a risk of GP. Mur-positive RBC exposure and subsequent anti-'Mia'-related transfusion reactions. Methods Since February 2014, GP. Mur antigen-negative RBCs identified by reaction with anti-'Mia'-positive serum were selected for blood recipients with anti-'Mia' records. The transfusion reactions between January 2013 and January 2014 were compared with those that occurred between February 2014 and July 2015. Results The transfusion reaction rate was significantly higher in anti-'Mia'-positive blood recipients compared to total subjects receiving an RBC transfusion before GP. Mur-negative donor RBC selection. After antigen-negative RBC selection, the transfusion reaction frequency in subjects with anti-'Mia' became similar to total blood recipients. IgG form anti-'Mia' antibodies were present in all cases of probable anti-'Mia'-related transfusion reactions. The time required for anti-'Mia' boosting after transfusion was around 4-21 days. Conclusion Selection of GP. Mur-negative RBC for transfusion to patients with anti-'Mia' records could decrease the rate of transfusion reaction and antibody boosting. This procedure should be incorporated into blood bank routines in areas where anti-'Mia' is prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundTo investigate the risk of completed suicide in offspring during adolescence in relation to prior history of the same-sex parent's death by suicide and other causes.MethodA total of 500 adolescents who died by suicide at age 15–19 years between 1997 and 2007 were identified from the Taiwan Mortality Registration (TMR). For each case, 30 age- and time-matched controls were selected randomly from all adolescents registered in the Taiwan Birth Registry (TBR). A multivariate conditional logistic regression model was used to assess the risk of adolescent completed suicide in relation to their same-sex parent.ResultsAdolescent suicide risk was positively associated with both paternal [odds ratio (OR) 5.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.17–13.33] and maternal suicide (OR 6.59, 95% CI 1.82–23.91). The corresponding risk estimates associated with paternal and maternal deaths from non-suicidal causes were much lower, at 1.88 and 1.94 respectively. The risk of suicide in male adolescents was significantly associated with prior history of paternal death by suicide (OR 8.23, 95% CI 2.96–22.90) but not of maternal death by suicide (OR 3.50, 95% CI 0.41–30.13). On the other contrary, the risk of suicidal death in female adolescents was significantly associated with prior history of maternal suicide (OR 9.71, 95% CI 1.89–49.94) but not of paternal suicide (OR 2.42, 95% CI 0.30–19.57). However, these differences did not reach statistical significance.ConclusionsAlthough limited by sample size, our study indicates that adolescent offspring suicidal death is associated with prior history of their same-sex parent's death by suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Recent genome-wide association studies have shown associations between multiple genetic variants and primary restless legs syndrome ( RLS). Their roles in end stage renal disease ( ESRD) related secondary RLS are not clear and studies in Asian populations are scarce. The association between candidate genetic variants and uremic RLS was investigated in a large cohort of Taiwanese dialysis patients. Methods Sixteen RLS-related genetic variants at six loci, including MEIS1, BTBD9, MAP2K5/ SKOR1, PTPRD, TOX3/ BC034767 and the intergenic region of chromosome 2p14, in a total of 993 ESRD patients (259 subjects with and 734 subjects without RLS) were genotyped using TaqMan® genotyping assays. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to test for associations between the genotypes and RLS in ESRD. Power calculations were completed using the CATs Genetic Power Calculator with settings of a multiplicative genetic model. Results A modest association between the PTPRD variant rs4626664 and uremic RLS (odds ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.03-2.23, P = 0.03) and a trend that TOX3/ BC034767 variant rs3104767 may associate with the occurrence of RLS were observed in our dialysis population (odds ratio 1.74, 95% CI 0.97-3.11, P = 0.06). No associations between other genetic variants and risk and severity of RLS were observed in our ESRD cohort. Conclusions The genetic variants of primary RLS candidate genes did not play a major role in our uremic RLS populations. The ethnic difference and heterogeneous etiologies underlying renal failure may partly explain the minor genetic contribution to uremic RLS in our populations. Further studies for other ethnicities will be of worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Restless legs syndrome ( RLS) is an underestimated movement disorder in patients with end-stage renal disease ( ESRD). Several clinical and laboratory factors were inconsistently reported to associate with RLS. We aim to perform a large-scale multicenter study to investigate the possible associated risk factors of RLS in patients with ESRD in Taiwan, a country with the highest incidence of uremia in the world. Methods From October 2009 to October 2011, we constitutively recruited 1130 patients with ESRD from 17 hemodialysis centers. Demographic, laboratory data, presence and severity of RLS were collected. Odds ratios ( ORs) were estimated by logistic regression models. Results We found the prevalence of RLS to be 25.3% in patients with ESRD. Having type 2 diabetes [OR = 3.61 (2.27-5.77), P < 0.01], low serum transferrin saturation [OR = 1.42 (1.01-2.03), P < 0.05] and duration of dialysis [OR = 1.09 (1.03-1.14), P < 0.01] were associated with RLS. In contrast, high serum hemoglobin level was inversely associated with RLS [OR = 0.61 (0.40-0.89), P < 0.05]. RLS has a significant impact on sleep quality in dialysis patients. Among patients with RLS, history of type 2 diabetes [OR = 4.04 (1.65-10.79), P < 0.05], low serum hemoglobin level [OR = 5.41 (2.43-13.12), P < 0.01] and duration of dialysis [OR = 1.01 (1.01-1.02), P < 0.01] were associated with increased severity of RLS. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated that RLS is common in Taiwanese dialysis patients. Clinicians should have a high suspicion for the presence of RLS symptoms in patients with ESRD, especially those with type 2 diabetes, anemia, low serum iron status and long duration of dialysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalance of positive specific IgE antibodies to house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus: D. farinae was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 5097 (61%) volunteers of 8345 school children aged between 7 and 14 yr from two government schools. All of them filled out a questionnaire concerning allergic symptoms. Among them, 412 (8.1%) children showed a positive reaction to at least one of the two mite allergens, the range varying between 56 and 11.2% according to the child's age. Boys had higher prevalence of positive male specific IgE than girls (9.8% vs. 6.4% P< 0.01), with the overall male to female ratio 1.5: 1 . The prevalence of bronchial asthma in boys and girls was 5.3% and 3.3% respectively. The positive mite specific IgE antibody in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis was 52% (103 of 198) and 28.7% (193 of (673) respectively. The mean levels: of mite specific IgE were not significantly related to the age of onset and severity of asthmatic symptoms (P>0.1) but were significantly different among subjects with current and past asthma (P<0.001). It is suggested that the mite-specific IgE may play a role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coccidiosis of chickens caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (Coccidia: Eimeriidae) is an enteric disease that results in great economic losses throughout the world, including Taiwan. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers specific for the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA), three species of Eimeria, E. tenella, E. maxima, and E. acervulina have been successfully characterised from chickens in Taiwan. The sizes of PCR products from various isolates representing these three species were between 370 and 580 base pairs (bp). After cloning and sequencing of the PCR products, high nucleotide sequence identity (96.8-100%) was observed within a species. In addition, ITS-2 nucleotide sequences for E. tenella had higher homology (98.5-99.3%) than E. maxima (81.6-96.5%) when compared with appropriate sequences deposited in GenBank. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a 412-bp ITS-2 sequence for E. acervulina from chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]