Tzu Chi Foundation

About: Tzu Chi Foundation is a nonprofit organization based out in Hualien City, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Haplotype & Transplantation. The organization has 98 authors who have published 121 publications receiving 1728 citations.

Discovery of HLA-B*480102 in Taiwanese.

Abstract: Summary Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B48, an antigen within 7C CREG (cross-reacting group) (Steiner et al, 2001) that cross-reacts frequently with HLA-B40 (ie HLA-B60 and -B61) group of antibodies serologically, can be found in Alaskan Natives (Leffell et al, 2002), Amerindians (Martinez-Naves et al, 1997), African Americans, Caucasians, and Oriental ethnicities (Mori et al, 1997; Schipper et al, 1997; Cao et al, 2001; Middleton et al, 2004; Hong et al, 2005; Itoh et al, 2005; Lee et al, 2005; Ogata et al, 2007) Sequencing investigations demonstrated that the common allele encoding the B48 antigen is B*4801 (Belich et al, 1992) To date, there are at least 16 WHO recognized B*48 alleles according to the most recent report from the WHO nomenclature committee (Marsh et al, 2005) Here we report a newly discovered allele B*480102, a variant of B*4801, detected in a 55-year-old Taiwanese patient of Minan origin (southern China)

Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of metabolic profiles between vegetarian and non-vegetarian subjects: a matched cohort study

Abstract: Several previous cross-sectional studies have shown that vegetarians have a better metabolic profile than non-vegetarians, suggesting that a vegetarian dietary pattern may help prevent chronic degenerative diseases. However, longitudinal studies on the impact of vegetarian diets on metabolic traits are scarce. We studied how several sub-types of vegetarian diets affect metabolic traits, including waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), HDL, LDL, TAG and TC:HDL ratio, through both cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs. The study used the MJ Health Screening database, with data collected from 1994 to 2008 in Taiwan, which included 4415 lacto-ovo-vegetarians, 1855 lacto-vegetarians and 1913 vegans; each vegetarian was matched with five non-vegetarians based on age, sex and study site. In the longitudinal follow-up, each additional year of vegan diet lowered the risk of obesity by 7 % (95 % CI 0·88, 0·99), whereas each additional year of lacto-vegetarian diet lowered the risk of elevated SBP by 8 % (95 % CI 0·85, 0·99) and elevated glucose by 7 % (95 % CI 0·87, 0·99), and each additional year of ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet increased abnormal HDL by 7 % (95 % CI 1·03, 1·12), compared with non-vegetarians. In the cross-sectional comparisons, all sub-types of vegetarians had lower likelihoods of abnormalities compared with non-vegetarians on all metabolic traits (P<0·001 for all comparisons), except for HDL and TAG. The better metabolic profile in vegetarians is partially attributable to lower BMI. With proper management of TAG and HDL, along with caution about the intake of refined carbohydrates and fructose, a plant-based diet may benefit all aspects of the metabolic profile.

Taiwanese vegetarians and omnivores: dietary composition, prevalence of diabetes and IFG.

Abstract: Introduction Vegetarian diets have been shown to improve glucose metabolism and reduce risk for diabetes in Westerners but whether Chinese vegetarian diets have the same benefits is unknown. Methods We evaluated the association between diet and diabetes/impaired fasting glucose (IFG) among 4384 Taiwanese Buddhist volunteers and identified diabetes/IFG cases from a comprehensive review of medical history and fasting plasma glucose. Results Vegetarians had higher intakes of carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, magnesium, total and non-heme iron, folate, vitamin A, and lower intakes of saturated fat, cholesterol, and vitamin B12. Besides avoiding meat and fish, vegetarians had higher intakes of soy products, vegetables, whole grains, but similar intakes of dairy and fruits, compared with omnivores. The crude prevalence of diabetes in vegetarians versus omnivores is 0.6% versus 2.3% in pre-menopausal women, 2.8% versus 10% in menopausal women, and 4.3% versus 8.1% in men. Polytomous logistic regression adjusting for age, body mass index, family history of diabetes, education, leisure time physical activity, smoking and alcohol, showed that this vegetarian diet was negatively associated with diabetes and IFG in men (OR for diabetes: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.28–0.89; OR for IFG: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.46–0.95); in pre-menopausal women (OR for diabetes: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.06–1.21; OR for IFG: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.35–1.04); and in menopausal women (OR for diabetes: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.15–0.42; OR for IFG: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56–0.95). Conclusion We found a strong protective association between Taiwanese vegetarian diet and diabetes/IFG, after controlling for various potential confounders and risk factors.