No abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that the plasma soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE) play a major role in developing macrovascular complications of type 2 diabetes, including peripheral arterial occlusion disease (PAOD). Cilostazol is an antiplatelet, antithrombotic agent, which has been used for the treatment of PAOD. We hypothesized that cilostazol attenuates the severity of PAOD in patients with type 2 diabetes through the augmentation of plasma sRAGE. Ninety type 2 diabetic patients with PAOD defined as intermittent claudication with ankle-brachial index (ABI) ≦0.9 were recruited for an open-labeled, placebo-controlled study for 52 weeks with oral cilostazol 100 mg twice daily (n = 45) or placebo (n = 45). Fasting plasma sRAGE, endothelial variables of E-selectin, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and inflammatory markers of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were determined. After completely the 52-week treatment program, the ABI values were elevated in cilostazol group (P < 0.001). The plasma sRAGE was significantly increased (P = 0.007), and hsCRP, sVCAM, and E-selectin concentrations were significantly decreased (P = 0.028, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively) with cilostazol treatment. In a partial correlation analysis with adjustments for sex and age, the net change of sRAGE significantly correlated with the change of ABI in the cilostazol group (P = 0.043). In a stepwise multiple regression model, only the change with regards to sRAGE was significantly associated with the change of ABI (P = 0.046). Our results suggest that cilostazol may effectively attenuate the severity of PAOD in patients with type 2 diabetes. Plasma sRAGE plays a role as an independent predictor for improving the index of PAOD.

Objectives: Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis and was found to be independently associated with incident dementia in the elderly. However, the associations between anti-gout preparations and dementia were not well-studied.Methods: Data were collected from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). A 2005–2013 retrospective cohort study was conducted, and all investigated subjects were identified by International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the odds ratio of dementia in relation to different gout preparations (benzbromarone, allopurinol, sulfinpyrazone, probenecid) and number of days of anti-gout preparation use, after adjustment for potential confounding variables.Results: A total of 3,242 gout patients with and without dementia were selected from the NHIRD and included in the final analysis after 1:1 matching for age, gender, and diagnosis year of gout. In the anti-gout preparations, only use of Benzbromarone decreased the risk of dementia (adjusted OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.68–0.97). The result of the subgroup analysis revealed a trend toward a lower risk of dementia with longer use of benzbromarone. Use of benzbromarone for ≥180 days showed a significantly lower risk of dementia (adjusted OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58–0.89). Moreover, the protective effect was more pronounced in males compared with females.Conclusion: This cohort study reveals that gout patients taking benzbromarone are at a decreased risk of developing incident dementia, especially with longer use and in male. Further prospective trials are warranted to confirm our findings.

No abstract

No abstract

Appendicitis is the most common abdominal disease that requires surgery in the emergency ward. It usually presents as right lower quadrant pain, but may rarely present as left upper quadrant (LUQ) pain due to congenital anatomical abnormalities of the intestine. We report a patient who complained of persistent LUQ abdominal pain and was finally diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) as congenital intestinal malrotation complicated with acute appendicitis. It is important to include acute appendicitis in the differential diagnosis of patients who complain of LUQ abdominal pain. Abdominal CT can provide significant information that is useful in preoperative diagnosis and determination of proper treatment.

No abstract

Introduction: Gout is the leading cause of inflammatory arthritis and is also correlated with multiple comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), whose future risk can be lowered by urate-lowering therapy (ULT) in gout patients. It is, however, still not clear whether its effect is associated with the days of usage and the adherence rate of ULT.Methods: Data were collected from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. The study period was from 1999/1/1 to 2013/12/31. In addition, patients with newly diagnosed gout from 2000 to 2012 and usage of antigout preparations (allopurinol or benzbromarone) within half a year among age ≥20 years old were enrolled in the study. The outcome of interest is CVD. New diagnosis of CVD after half a year of diagnosis of gout was included in the CVD group. Moreover, conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the odds ratio of CVD in relation to the days of usage and to the adherence rate of ULT after the adjustment for potentially confounding variables.Results: A total of 3,706 gout patients with and without CVD have been included in the final analysis after a 1:1 propensity score that matched for age, sex, comorbidities, aspirin, and statin. The days of usage of allopurinol was &lt;180 days and benzbromarone, in its turn, presupposed a higher risk of CVD. The adherence rate of allopurinol and benzbromarone at ≥ 0.7 both have a lower CVD risk: allopurinol (adjusted OR: 0.66 95% CI: 0.46–0.96), benzbromarone (adjusted OR: 0.68 95% CI: 0.50–0.91). The subgroup analysis revealed an adherence rate of ≥0.7 of ULT with a lower CVD was only found to be present in males and at age &lt;65. Furthermore, the correlations were more pronounced in the ischemic heart disease subgroup than in the cerebrovascular disease group.Conclusion: This study reveals that gout patients taking ULT (allopurinol and benzbromarone) with an adherence rate of ≥0.7 are at a lower risk of developing CVD, especially with a younger age (&lt;65) and if they are male. On top of this, the benefit is more pronounced in ischemic heart disease. Despite further prospective trials needing to be warranted to confirm our findings, health care providers may, bearing these conclusions in mind, emphasize the importance of adherence to ULT in gout patients.