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The coronary slow-flow (CSF) phenomenon is a condition characterized by delayed coronary opacification during diagnostic angiography without the presence of epicardial coronary artery disease. This mini-review explores various emerging predictors and biomarkers associated with CSF, aiming to address the potential diagnostic tools. A comprehensive analysis of recent studies has investigated different biomarkers, including growth differentiation factor 15, galectin 3, microRNA (miRNA)-22, miRNA-155, interleukin 34, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, long non-coding RNA, plasma choline, adropin, and lipid markers non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)/HDL-C ratio to enhance understanding and predict CSF. Additionally, we have summarizes the major findings and significant limitations observed in various studies on CSF biomarkers. The implications of these findings suggest significant advancements in personalized treatment strategies and improved prognostic outcomes for patients exhibiting CSF., Competing Interests: All the authors declare no conflict of interest.

In this study, the successful synthesis of bimetallic nickel/cobalt phosphide nanosheets (Ni-Co-P NSs) via the hydrothermal method and the subsequent high-temperature phosphorization process were both confirmed. Ni-Co-P NSs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the electrochemical non-enzymatic DA sensing. The surface morphologies and physicochemical properties of Ni-Co-P NSs were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), field-emission scanning (FESEM), field-emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Further, the electrochemical performance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The metallic nature of phosphide and the synergistic effect of Ni/Co atoms in Ni-Co-P NSs provided abundant catalytic active sites for the electrochemical redox reaction of DA, which exhibited a remarkable consequence with a wide linear range from 0.3~50 μM, a high sensitivity of 2.033 µA µM -1 cm -2 , a low limit of detection of 0.016 µM, and anti-interference ability. As a result, the proposed Ni-Co-P NSs can be considered an ideal electrode material for the electrochemical non-enzymatic DA sensing.

Diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, and cardiac dysfunction are the hallmarks of the cardiometabolic syndrome. Pathogens include hypercoagulability, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress. Increased white fat, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are caused by obesity. Depression increases the risk of future obesity, a surprising link between obesity and neuropathology. High glucose levels, abnormal lipids, and metabolic syndrome are the root causes of CVD associated with diabetes. Diets high in fat induce insulin resistance and liver fat. Inflammation, diminished insulin signaling, and ectopic lipid accumulation are the causes of ectopic lipid accumulation. Polyunsaturated fatty acids with eicosapentaenoic acid and docohexasonoic acid inhibit the synthesis of triglycerides and increase their clearance. Omega-3 regulates the nervous system, blood pressure, hematic clotting, glucose tolerance, and inflammation. However, anxiety and depression can cause cardiovascular disease. It has been shown that PUFAs found in fish oil can improve glucose and lipid metabolism, cardiac membrane composition, and inflammation in the body. By repairing the dysregulation of metabolic syndrome, fish oil is a potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases., (Copyright © 2023 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Brown planthopper (BPH), a monophagous phloem feeder, consumes a large amount of photoassimilates in rice and causes wilting. A near-isogenic line ‘TNG71-Bph45’ was developed from the Oryza sativa japonica variety ‘Tainung 71 (TNG71) carrying a dominant BPH-resistance locus derived from Oryza nivara (IRGC 102165) near the centromere of chromosome 4. We compared the NIL (TNG71-Bph45) and the recurrent parent to explore how the Bph45 gene confers BPH resistance. We found that TNG71-Bph45 is less attractive to BPH at least partially because it produces less limonene. Chiral analysis revealed that the major form of limonene in both rice lines was the L-form. However, both L- and D-limonene attracted BPH when applied exogenously to TNG71-Bph45 rice. The transcript amounts of limonene synthase were significantly higher in TNG71 than in TNG71-Bph45 and were induced by BPH infestation only in the former. Introgression of the Bph45 gene into another japonica variety, Tainan 11, also resulted in a low limonene content. Moreover, several dominantly acting BPH resistance genes introduced into the BPH-sensitive IR24 line compromised its limonene-producing ability and concurrently decreased its attractiveness to BPH. These observations suggest that reducing limonene production may be a common resistance strategy against BPH in rice.

This study proposed a conceptual framework and explored the influence of personal-level variables such as cognition, affection, conation, and attitude, as well as the theory of planned behavior, on tenant loyalty using situational influence as a moderator variable. Structural equation modeling was employed for parameter estimation. A total of 315 questionnaires were administered to housing tenants residing in Kaohsiung City, of which 300 were recovered, a recovery rate of 95.2%. The results are as follows: Tenants' cognition, affection, and conation positively influenced their attitude toward their tenancy; tenants' attitude significantly and positively influenced their satisfaction and loyalty; tenant satisfaction significantly and positively influenced tenant loyalty; perceived behavioral control significantly and positively influenced tenant loyalty; and subjective norms significantly and positively influenced tenant loyalty. Regarding the influence of attitude on tenant loyalty, the inclusion of a situational influence-based moderator variable-i.e., whether a tenant has friends or relatives living nearby-revealed that the presence of this variable significantly diminishes the influence of attitude on loyalty. The findings indicate that landlords could improve the quality of their services by implementing sustainable management measures to strengthen tenant satisfaction and, consequently, tenant loyalty., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lee, Yeh, Chang, Yu and Tsai.)

In order to efficiently facilitate various research works related to power converter design and testing for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation systems, it is a great merit to use advanced power-converter-based and digitally controlled PV emulators in place of actual PV modules to reduce the space, cost, and time to obtain the required scenarios of solar irradiances for various functional tests. This paper presents a flexible PV emulator based on gallium nitride (GaN), a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor, and a based synchronous buck converter and controlled with a digital signal processor (DSP). With the help of GaN-based switching devices, the proposed emulator can accurately mimic the dynamic voltage-current characteristics of any PV module under normal irradiance and partial shading conditions. With the proposed PV emulator, it is possible to closely emulate any PV module characteristic both theoretically, based on manufacturer's datasheets, and experimentally, based on measured data from practical PV modules. A curve fitting algorithm is used to handle the real-time generation of control signals for the digital controller. Both simulation with computer software and implementation on 1 kW GaN-based experimental hardware using Texas Instruments DSP as the controller have been carried out. Results show that the proposed emulator achieves efficiency as high as 99.05% and exhibits multifaceted application features in tracking various PV voltage and current parameters, demonstrating the feasibility and excellent performance of the proposed PV emulator.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several vaccines were developed and rolled out at unprecedented speed, and notwithstanding this rapid pace of development, the results from initial clinical trials involving tens of thousands of adult subjects generally indicated that most vaccines were remarkably effective and safe, with no major safety warnings noted. However, with more than 2 billion vaccination doses administered to date, reports of rare adverse events following immunization (AEFI) are beginning to emerge. In late February 2021, atypical thrombotic events following immunization with the adenoviral vector-based ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccine were first reported, and similar events have also been observed in recipients of the adenoviral vector-based Ad26.COV2.S vaccine and the mRNA-based BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines. These manifestations of atypical thrombosis and thrombocytopenia following COVID-19 vaccine immunization are now collectively referred to as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Although the reported incidence remains very low and does not affect the overall benefit of immunization, it is also true that if left untreated, VITT can be debilitating or even fatal. Therefore, this review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview regarding the incidence, pathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of VITT, as well as considerations for special populations, based on the currently available evidence in the literature. It is hoped that this will enhance awareness of this vaccine side effect, so that cases of VITT may be identified and treated in a timely and appropriate manner.

Objective: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute form of febrile vasculitis that occurs in early childhood. The multisystemic vasculitis common in patients with KD may influence blood perfusion in the brain, and thus caregivers of children with KD may feel stress with regard to caring for them. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusion is the standard treatment for acute KD, and the most serious complication of KD is coronary artery aneurysms (coronary artery lesion (CAL)). This study aimed to investigate the relationships between KD heterogeneity and the risk of patients' cognitive impairment or caregivers' parenting stress., Design: A case-control study with consecutive sampling., Setting: A medical centre (Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan)., Participants: This study consisted of 176 patients with KD (mean age: 5.5 years, 60.8% boys) and 85 healthy children (mean age: 6.4 years, 54.1% boys)., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Based on the children's age, each patient with KD and control subject was administered an assessment using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, and parenting function of their caregivers was assessed using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI)-Short Form., Results: We observed no significant differences in any developmental index, cognitive function or parenting stress between patients with KD and controls. Among the children with KD, IVIG administration nor CAL was associated with children's cognitive scores. However, the caregivers of patients who had CAL suffered from greater PSI total scores than those of patients without CAL. Furthermore, the caregivers who had education levels of a master's degree or above showed less parenting stress than those who had an education level of college or lower., Conclusion: Caregivers' education is associated to parenting stress, and caregivers of patients with KD who developed CAL may feel stress about the unpredictable sequela caused by CAL for their children. Such caregivers may require support to fulfil their parenting roles., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

A radio frequency microelectromechanical system switch (MSS) manufactured by the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process is presented. The MSS is a capacitive shunt type. Structure for the MSS consists of coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines, a membrane, and springs. The membrane locates over the CPW lines. The surface of signal line for the CPW has a silicon dioxide dielectric layer. The fabrication of the MSS contains a CMOS process and a post-process. The MSS has a sacrificial oxide layer after the CMOS process. In the post-processing, a wet etching of buffer oxide etch (BOE) etchant is employed to etch the sacrificial oxide layer, so that the membrane is released. Actuation voltage for the MSS is simulated using the CoventorWare software. The springs have a low stiffness, so that the actuation voltage reduces. The measured results reveal that actuation voltage for the MSS is 10 V. Insertion loss for the MSS is 0.9 dB at 41 GHz and isolation for the MSS is 30 dB at 41 GHz.

This study aimed to investigate whether children with atopic diseases exhibited different neurodevelopment function from healthy controls and whether their caregivers had differential parental stress. In total, we recruited 109 patients with atopic diseases (mean age 6.8 years, 54.1% male) and 82 healthy children (mean age 6.3 years, 54.9% male). Based on the children's age, they underwent developmental, cognitive evaluations and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. The parenting stress of children's caregivers was evaluated using the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) and Family APGAR. Of the children with atopic diseases, 87.2%, 74.3%, 29.4%, and 8.3% of them had allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and urticaria, respectively. None of these conditions were associated with children's cognitive profiles or ADHD symptoms. However, the caregivers of patients who had asthma suffered from higher CHQ-12 scores than those of patients without asthma. Furthermore, the number of atopic diseases had a dose-response effect on caregivers' CHQ-12 scores. In conclusion, allergic diseases did not impair the cognitive development of children. However, caregivers of patients with asthma or multiple atopic diseases may suffer a greater mental health burden with regard to caring for their children. Such caregivers may require support to effectively fulfill their parenting roles.

Background: The etiology of Kawasaki disease (KD) is still unknown; perinatal factors may have role with few studies. This study was aim to survey the perinatal factors and clinical outcome of KD, including coronary artery lesion (CAL) formation and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment response., Methods: We enrolled a total of 185 KD patient-caregiver dyads in this study using questionnaires. The questionnaire included two categories: children's characteristics, which consisted of age at disease onset, gender, gestational age at delivery, birth body weight, delivery methods, and breastfeeding status, and caregivers' characteristics, which consisted of parents or not, education levels, maternal age at giving birth, total number of offspring, and family income. We analyzed the association of these factors with CAL formation and IVIG treatment response of KD., Results: KD patients with CAL formation had a higher maternal age than non-CAL patients (32.49 ± 3.42 vs. 31.01 ± 3.92 years, p = 0.016). We also found that maternal age ≥ 32 years group had a higher rate of having KD patients with CAL (39/81 vs. 24/74, odds ratio 1.935, 95% confidence interval [1.007, 3.718], p = 0.047). The maternal age ≥ 35 years group had a higher rate of having KD patients with IVIG resistance (6/31 vs. 6/116, odds ratio 4.400, 95% confidence interval [1.309, 14.786], p = 0.01). There was no significant difference in either CAL formation or IVIG resistance in KD with regard to patient's age at disease onset, gestational age, birth body weight, delivery methods, breastfeeding, caregiver type, caregivers' education level, total number of offspring, or family income (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: This study is the first to report that maternal age is significantly associated with CAL formation and IVIG resistance in KD. We hypothesize that a maternal age less than 32 years would benefit KD offspring.

Human embryonic stem (hES)-T3 (T3ES) cells were spontaneously differentiated into autogeneic fibroblast-like T3DF cells, as feeder cells with the capacity to support the growth of undifferentiated hES cells. The proteomes of undifferentiated T3ES cells and their differentiated T3DF fibroblasts were quantitatively compared. Several heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins and glycolytic enzymes, including l-lactate dehydrogenase A (M), were found to be abundantly and differentially expressed in T3ES cells and T3DF fibroblasts, respectively. Both miRNA and mRNA profiles from the undifferentiated T3ES cells and their differentiated T3DF fibroblasts had been previously determined. In this investigation, 206 genes were found to be targets of the four hES cell-specific miRNAs of miR-302d, miR-372, miR-200c, and/or miR-367 by using two-fold differential expression and inverse expression levels (highly negative correlations) of miRNAs to their target mRNAs. That YWHAZ (14-3-3 zeta) is a target of miR-302d and miR-372 was further confirmed by proteomic comparison between T3ES cells and their differentiated T3DF fibroblasts. According to GeneOntology analyses, almost 50% of these 206 target proteins are nuclear and are involved in gene transcription. Identifying the target mRNAs of hES cell-specific miRNAs will provide a better understanding of the complex regulatory networks in hES cells. Furthermore, these miRNA-targeted proteins play important roles in differentiation of hES cells and during embryo development., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune destruction of pancreatic islet beta cell disease, making it important to find a new alternative source of the islet beta cells to replace the damaged cells. hES (human embryonic stem) cells possess unlimited self-renewal and pluripotency and thus have the potential to provide an unlimited supply of different cell types for tissue replacement. The hES-T3 cells with normal female karyotype were first differentiated into EBs (embryoid bodies) and then induced to generate the T3pi (pancreatic islet-like cell clusters derived from T3 cells), which expressed pancreatic islet cell-specific markers of insulin, glucagon and somatostatin. The expression profiles of microRNAs and mRNAs from the T3pi were analysed and compared with those of undifferentiated hES-T3 cells and differentiated EBs. MicroRNAs negatively regulate the expression of protein-coding mRNAs. The T3pi showed very high expression of microRNAs, miR-186, miR-199a and miR-339, which down-regulated the expression of LIN28, PRDM1, CALB1, GCNT2, RBM47, PLEKHH1, RBPMS2 and PAK6. Therefore, these microRNAs and their target genes are very likely to play important regulatory roles in the development of pancreas and/or differentiation of islet cells, and they may be manipulated to increase the proportion of beta cells and insulin synthesis in the differentiated T3pi for cell therapy of type I diabetics.

Background: Human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines were derived from the inner cell mass of human blastocysts, and were cultured on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeder to maintain undifferentiated growth, extensive renewal capacity, and pluripotency. The hES-T3 cell line with normal female karyotype was previously used to differentiate into autogeneic fibroblast-like cells (T3HDF) as feeder to support the undifferentiated growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/HDF) for 14 passages., Results: A feeder-free culture on Matrigel in hES medium conditioned by the autogeneic feeder cells (T3HDF) was established to maintain the undifferentiated growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/CMHDF) for 8 passages in this investigation. The gene expression profiles of mRNAs, microRNAs and proteins between the undifferentiated T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF cells were shown to be very similar, and their expression profiles were also found to be similar to those of T3/MEF and T3/CMMEF cells grown on MEF feeder and feeder-free Matrigel in MEF-conditioned medium, respectively. The undifferentiated state of T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF as well as T3/MEF and T3/CMMEF cells was evidenced by the very high expression levels of "stemness" genes and low expression levels of differentiation markers of ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm in addition to the strong staining of OCT4 and NANOG., Conclusion: The T3HDF feeder and T3HDF-conditioned medium were able to support the undifferentiated growth of hES cells, and they would be useful for drug development and toxicity testing in addition to the reduced risks of xenogeneic pathogens when used for medical applications such as cell therapies.

We determined the expression of both mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) from human mesenchymal stem cells BM19, FM30, and AM3, which is derived from breast, face, and abdominal adipose tissues, respectively. BM19, FM30, and AM3 cells exhibited considerably similar mRNA profiles, and their 1,038 abundantly common genes were involved in regulating six cell adhesion and three cytoskeleton remodeling processes among the top ten GeneGo canonical pathway maps. The 39 most abundant miRNAs in AM3 cells were expressed at very similar levels in BM19 cells. However, seven abundant miRNAs (miR-19b, miR-320, miR-186, miR-199a, miR-339, miR-99a, and miR-152) in AM3 cells were expressed at much lower levels than that in FM30 cells, and 38 genes targeted by these miRNAs were consequently upregulated more than 3-fold in FM30 cells compared with AM3 cells. Therefore, autologous abdominal adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells are suitable for tissue engineering of breast reconstruction because of very similar expression profiles of mRNAs and miRNAs between AM3 and BM19 cells. Conversely, abdominal AM3 cells might not be suitable for facial rejuvenation, since the 38 highly expressed genes targeted by miRNAs in FM30 cells might play an important role(s) in the development of facial tissue., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have the capacities to propagate for extended periods and to differentiate into cell types from all three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. These characteristics of self-renewal and pluripotency enable hES cells having the potential to provide an unlimited supply of different cell types for tissue replacement, drug screening, and functional genomics studies. The hES-T3 cells with normal female karyotype cultured on either mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) in hES medium (containing 4 ng/ml bFGF) (T3MF) or feeder-free Matrigel in MEF-conditioned medium (supplemented with additional 4 ng/ml bFGF) (T3CM) were found to express very similar profiles of mRNAs and microRNAs, indicating that the unlimited self-renewal and pluripotency of hES cells can be maintained by continuing culture on these two conditions. However, the expression profiles, especially microRNAs, of the hES-T3 cells cultured on Matrigel in hES medium supplemented with 4 ng/ml bFGF and 5 ng/ml activin A (T3BA) were found to be different from those of T3MF and T3CM cells. In T3BA cells, four hES cell-specific microRNAs miR-372, miR-302d, miR-367, and miR-200c, as well as three other microRNAs miR-199a, miR-19a, and miR-217, were found to be up-regulated, whereas five miRNAs miR-19b, miR-221, miR-222, let-7b, and let-7c were down-regulated by activin A. Thirteen abundantly differentially expressed mRNAs, including NR4A2, ERBB4, CXCR4, PCDH9, TMEFF2, CD24, and COX6A1 genes, targeted by seven over-expressed miRNAs were identified by inverse expression levels of these seven microRNAs to their target mRNAs in T3BA and T3CM cells. The NR4A2, ERBB4, and CXCR4 target genes were further found to be regulated by EGF and/or TNF. The 50 abundantly differentially expressed genes targeted by five under-expressed miRNAs were also identified. The abundantly expressed mRNAs in T3BA and T3CM cells were also analyzed for the network and signaling pathways, and roles of activin A in cell proliferation and differentiation were found. These findings will help elucidate the complex signaling network which maintains the self-renewal and pluripotency of hES cells.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides in length that negatively regulate the post-transcriptional expression by translational repression and/or destabilization of protein-coding mRNAs. The impact of miRNAs on protein output was recently shown that although some targets were repressed without detectable changes in mRNA levels, those translationally repressed by more than a third also displayed detectable mRNA destabilization, and, for the more highly repressed targets, mRNA destabilization usually comprised the major component of repression. Thus, comparative profilings of miRNAs and mRNAs from the same samples of different cell types may identify the putative targets of miRNAs. In this investigation, both miRNA and mRNA profiles from the undifferentiated human embryonic stem cell line hES-T3 (T3ES), hES-T3 derived embryoid bodies (T3EB), and hES-T3 differentiated fibroblast-like cells (T3DF) were compared, and 58 genes were found to be targets of four hES cell-specific miRNAs miR-302d, miR-372, miR-200c and/or miR-367 by inverse expression levels (highly negative correlation) of miRNAs to their target mRNAs. Approximately half of these 58 targets are involved in gene transcription. Three common target genes TRPS1, KLF13 and MBNL2 of three highly expressed miRNAs miR-302d, miR-372, and miR-200c were identified, and the target sites of both miR-302d and miR-372 in the 3'UTR of TRPS1, KLF13, and MBNL2 genes were confirmed by the luciferase assay. The highly expressed mRNAs and miRNA target mRNAs involved in KEGG pathways among T3ES, T3EB, and T3DF cells were also compared, and the expression levels of target mRNAs predicted by abundantly expressed miRNAs were found to be three- to sixfold lower than those of non-target mRNAs involved in the same signaling pathways., (Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Aim: To investigate the effects of fermented soy milk powder on the antioxidative status and lipid metabolism in the livers of CCl4-injected rats., Methods: Forty-five healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to five groups according to five different diets: control (AIN-76), AIN-76+high-dose fermented soy milk powder, AIN-76+low-dose fermented soy milk powder, AIN-76+high-dose milk yogurt powder and AIN-76+low-dose milk yogurt powder. The experiment lasted for 8 wk. After 4 wk, all the rats received intraperitoneal administration of CCl(4)(0.2 mL/100 g body weight) every week. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), TBARS, ALP, and antioxidative enzymes in the liver were evaluated., Results: There was also no significant difference in TBARS and antioxidative enzymes in the liver. TC and TG in the groups fed with fermented soy milk powder were generally lower than those fed with casein powder., Conclusion: Consumption of fermented soy milk was positive in lowering total cholesterol and TG accumulation in the liver under CCl(4)-induced oxidative stress.

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) and its influencing factors in the treatment of anemia in hemodialysis (HD) patients, 17 chronic stable HD patients (10 males, 7 females; mean age: 46.0 +/- 2.6 years) with severe anemia were enrolled in this study. The study period (ranging from 5 to 11 months) was divided into the initial 12 weeks of correction phase and the subsequent maintenance phase. EPO, 1500 U initially, was administered intravenously twice weekly (BIW group, n = 10) or thrice weekly (TIW group, n = 7) at the end of each HD. Dose was doubled every 4 weeks until up to a maximum dose of 6000 U if increment of hematocrit (Hct) was less than 3%. At the end of correction phase, anemia was markedly improved. Hct and hemoglobin (Hb) increased from 19.3 +/- 0.8 to 28.7 +/- 1.1% and from 6.5 +/- 0.3 to 9.6 +/- 0.4 g/dl, respectively. Fifteen patients (88%) reached to the target Hct of 30% at 13.7 +/- 1.2 weeks. At the end of study, Hct and Hb was maintained at 29.1 +/- 0.7% and 9.6 +/- 0.3 g/dl, respectively. Requirement of EPO dose to reach the target and maintain the stable Hct (greater than or equal to 28%) was 99 +/- 14 and 62 +/- 11 U/kg/week, respectively. Laboratory parameters showed that serum iron, transferrin saturation, sugar and triglyceride decreased significantly and uric acid and aluminum (Al) increased significantly. There was no significant change in predialysis blood pressure, body weight, cardiac ratio, and ECG. Quality of life was markedly improved with the better subjective feelings, physical activity and Karnorfsky index. Common adverse effects included exacerbated hypertension (23%), hyperphosphatemia (18%), hyperkalemia (18%), and flu-like syndrome (12%). All of them could be managed by medical and dialysis treatment. Investigation of influencing factors on response to EPO suggests that 1) TIW group had a better response than BIW group 2) Response was better in patients with more adequate iron status and less severe Al burden. 3) Time to target Hct correlated approximately with basal serum Al levels but did not correlate with basal serum parathyroid hormone levels. In conclusion, low dose of EPO therapy corrects anemia effectively with minimal adverse effects in HD patients. Dosing regimen, iron status, and serum Al will influence the response to EPO.