Browsing by Author "Lin, Alex Tong-Long"

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Diagnosing Bladder Outlet Obstruction Assessed By Computational Fluid Dynamics and Medical Imaging Technique
(2010-06-01)
Yang, Cheng-Hsiu
;
Chen, Wei-Ju
;
Chen, Wen-Lih
;
Lin, Chao-An
;
Ching, Yu-Tai
Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) suggestive benign prostatic hyperplasia is a common disease in elder men. The present golden standard diagnostics, however, is an invasive method, named pressure-flow studies. The aim of the study is to develop a non-invasive procedure, which combines computational fluid dynamics and the medical imaging techniques, as a new approach for diagnosing bladder outlet obstruction. Based on the computed tomography images, the lower urinary tract system is reconstructed. The flow resistance within the urinary tract is predicted using the computational fluid dynamics. It is shown that this quantity displayed a high correlation (r = 0.86) with the golden standard parameter, BOO index, i.e. clinically measured data for patients with BOO. This indicates that the present method may be potentially valid substitute for invasive BOO index.
Enhanced Antioxidant Capacity of Dental Pulp-Derived iPSC-Differentiated Hepatocytes and Liver Regeneration by Injectable HGF-Releasing Hydrogel in Fulminant Hepatic Failure
(2015-01-01)
Chiang, Chih-Hung
;
Wu, Wai-Wah
;
Li, Hsin-Yang
;
Chien, Yueh
;
Sun, Cho-Chin
Acute hepatic failure (AHF) is a severe liver injury leading to sustained damage and complications. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may be an alternative option for the treatment of AHF. In this study, we reprogrammed human dental pulp-derived fibroblasts into iPSCs, which exhibited pluripotency and the capacity to differentiate into tridermal lineages, including hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps). These iPSC-Heps resembled human embryonic stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells in gene signature and hepatic markers/functions. To improve iPSC-Heps engraftment, we next developed an injectable carboxymethyl-hexanoyl chitosan hydrogel (CHC) with sustained hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) release (HGF CHC) and investigated the hepatoprotective activity of HGF CHC-delivered iPSC-Heps in vitro and in an immunocompromised AHF mouse model induced by thioacetamide (TAA). Intrahepatic delivery of HGF CHC iPSC-Heps reduced the TAA-induced hepatic necrotic area and rescued liver function and recipient viability. Compared with PBS-delivered iPSC-Heps, the HGF CHC-delivered iPSC-Heps exhibited higher antioxidant and antiapoptotic activities that reduced hepatic necrotic area. Importantly, these HGF CHC-mediated responses could be abolished by administering anti-HGF neutralizing antibodies. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that HGF mediated the enhancement of iPSC-Hep antioxidant/antiapoptotic capacities and hepatoprotection and that HGF CHC is as an excellent vehicle for iPSC-Hep engraftment in iPSC-based therapy against AHF.