Browsing by Author "Cheng, Yu-Pin"

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Increased Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with Cardiovascular Complications - A National Population-Based Cohort Study
(2015-09-25)
Chiu, Hsien-Yi
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Huang, Hui-Ling
;
Li, Chien-Hsun
;
Chen, Hung-An
;
Yeh, Chia-Lun
Background and Objectives There have been few large population-based studies of the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and glomerulonephritis. This nationwide cohort study investigated the risks of developing CKD and glomerulonephritis in patients with RA, and the associated risks for cardiovascular complications. Methods From the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified a study cohort of 12,579 patients with RA and randomly selected 37,737 subjects without RA as a control cohort. Each subject was individually followed for up for 5 years, and the risk of CKD was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results During the follow-up period, after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors RA was independently associated with a significantly increased risk of CKD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-1.40) and glomerulonephritis (aHR 1.55; 95% CI 1.37-1.76). Increased risk of CKD was also associated with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cyclosporine, glucocorticoids, mycophenolate mofetil, and cyclophosphamide. Patients with comorbidities had even greater increased risk of CKD. Moreover, RA patients with concurrent CKD had significantly higher likelihood of developing ischemic heart disease and stroke. Conclusions RA patients had higher risk of developing CKD and glomerulonephritis, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Their increased risk of CKD may be attributed to glomerulonephritis, chronic inflammation, comorbidities, and renal toxicity of antirheumatic drugs. Careful monitoring of renal function in RA patients and tight control of their comorbid diseases and cardiovascular risk factors are warranted.
Wound Healing in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats Using Atmospheric-Pressure Argon Plasma Jet
(2018-08-15)
Cheng, Kuang-Yao
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Lin, Zhi-Hua
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Cheng, Yu-Pin
;
Chiu, Hsien-Yi
;
Yeh, Nai-Lun
In this study, we used an argon-based round atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) for enhancing wound healing in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. The APPJ was characterized by optical emission spectroscopy. We induced Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in rats with different amounts of STZ combined with normal and high-fat diets, respectively. The wound area ratio of all the plasma-treated normal and diabetic groups was greatly reduced (up to 30%) compared with that of the untreated groups during healing. Histological analysis revealed faster re-epithelialization, collagen deposition, less inflammation, and a complete skin structure in the plasma-treated groups was found as compared with the untreated control groups. In addition, the new blood vessels of plasma-treated tissues decreased more than untreated tissues in the middle (Day 14) and late (Day 21) stages of wound healing. The plasma-treated wounds demonstrated more transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) expression in the early stage (Day 7), whereas they decreased in the middle and late stages of wound healing. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase (CAT) increased after plasma treatment. In addition, plasma-treated water had a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate when the plasma treatment time was longer. In summary, the proposed argon APPJ based on the current study could be a potential tool for treating diabetic wounds.
Wound Healing in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats Using Atmospheric-Pressure Argon Plasma Jet (vol 8, 12214, 2018)
(2018-08-29)
Cheng, Kuang-Yao
;
Lin, Zhi-Hua
;
Cheng, Yu-Pin
;
Chiu, Hsien-Yi
;
Yeh, Nai-Lun