Fu Jen Catholic University

About: Fu Jen Catholic University is a education organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Hazard ratio. The organization has 6842 authors who have published 9512 publications receiving 171005 citations. The organization is also known as: FJU & Fu Jen.

The Paradoxical Role of Uric Acid in Osteoporosis

Abstract: Because of its high prevalence worldwide, osteoporosis is considered a serious public health concern. Many known risk factors for developing osteoporosis have been identified and are crucial if planning health care needs. Recently, an association between uric acid (UA) and bone fractures had been explored. Extracellular UA exhibits antioxidant properties by effectively scavenging free radicals in human plasma, but this benefit might be disturbed by the hydrophobic lipid layer of the cell membrane. In contrast, intracellular free oxygen radicals are produced during UA degradation, and superoxide is further enhanced by interacting with NADPH oxidase. This intracellular oxidative stress, together with inflammatory cytokines induced by UA, stimulates osteoclast bone resorption and inhibits osteoblast bone formation. UA also inhibits vitamin D production and thereby results in hyper-parathyroidism, which causes less UA excretion in the intestines and renal proximal tubules by inhibiting the urate transporter ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2). At normal or high levels, UA is associated with a reduction in bone mineral density and protects against bone fracture. However, in hyperuricemia or gout arthritis, UA increases bone fracture risk because oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines can increase bone resorption and decrease bone formation. Vitamin D deficiency, and consequent secondary hyperparathyroidism, can further increase bone resorption and aggravated bone loss in UA-induced osteoporosis.

Increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C patients with new onset diabetes: a nation-wide cohort study.

Abstract: Summary Background The impact of diabetes for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients remains controversial. Aim To investigate the risk of HCC in CHC patients who develop new onset diabetes. Methods We conducted a nation-wide cohort study by using Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database, which comprised of data from >99% of entire population. Among randomly sampled one million enrollees, 6251 adult CHC patients were identified from 1997 to 2009. Diabetes was defined as new onset in the patient who was given the diagnosis in the years 1999–2009 but not in 1997–1998. The cohorts of CHC with new onset diabetes (n = 1100) and 1:1 ratio age-, gender-, and inception point (onset date of diabetes) matched nondiabetes (n = 1087) were followed up from the inception point until the development of HCC, withdrawal from insurance, or December 2009. Results After adjustment for competing mortality, patients with new onset diabetes had a significantly higher cumulative incidence of HCC (Relative Risk = 1.544, 95% CI = 1.000–2.387, modified log-rank test, P = 0.047) as compared to those without. After adjustment for age, gender, cirrhosis, hyperlipidaemia, CHC treatment, diabetes treatment, comorbidity index, obesity and statins therapy by Cox proportional hazard model, diabetes was still an independent predictor for HCC (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.906, 95% CI = 1.102–3.295, P = 0.021). The risk for HCC was increased in those who were 40–59 years old, independent of other variables (HR = 3.086, 95% CI = 1.045–9.112, P = 0.041), and after adjustment for competing mortality (modified log-rank test, P = 0.009). Conclusion Chronic hepatitis C patients who develop diabetes are at an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma over time.

Placenta-derived multipotent cells differentiate into neuronal and glial cells in vitro.

Abstract: Stem cells have great potential for clinical application because of their self-renewal property and ability to differentiate into many types of cells, but because there are ethical and biological limitations with current sources of stem cells, the search continues for more suitable sources of multipotent cells. We have reported previously on a population of multipotent cells isolated from the human term placenta, an ethically unproblematic and easily available source of tissue. These placenta-derived multipotent cells (PDMCs) can differentiate into lineages of mesenchymal tissues, including osteoblasts and adipocytes, as well as non-mesenchymal tissue of neuron-like cells. We further examined the ability of PDMCs to differentiate into all 3 types of neural cells—neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes—under various induction conditions, including retinoic acid (RA), 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (IBMX), and co-culture with neonatal rat brain cells. PDMCs exhibited outgrowth of processes and the expression...

Risk factors for ischemic stroke and its subtypes in Chinese vs. Caucasians: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: BackgroundChinese populations are reported to have a different distribution of ischemic stroke subtypes compared with Caucasians.AimsTo understand this better, we aimed to evaluate the differences ...