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Biomedical subjects

Y Y Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Y Y Yang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Delusional disorder: retrospective analysis of 86 Chinese outpatients.

Patients who visited the psychiatric outpatient service of Chang Gung Medical Centre, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan during an 8-year period were studied retrospectively. Among the 10,418 outpatients, 86 (0.83%) were diagnosed as having DSM-IV delusional disorder (DD), including 61 (70.9%) with persecutory type, 12 (14.0%) with the mixed type, seven (8.1%) with jealous type, two (2.3%) with somatic type, two (2.1%) with unspecified type, one (1.2%) with erotomanic type, and another one with grandiose type. The ratio of women to men was 0.86. The mean age at onset was 42.4 +/- 15.41 years, with women being older than men. Thirty-seven cases (43.0%) presented with depressive symptoms at their first visit. Subjects were divided into four groups: persecutory type, jealous type, mixed type and others. There were no significant differences between the four groups in terms of gender, age at onset, time-lapse before seeking psychiatric help, the presence of hallucination or the presence of depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Depressive disorders in Chinese patients with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was to investigate the prevalence and potential risk factors of depressive disorders in Chinese patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHOD: A series of consecutive AD patients from the Memory Disorders Clinic of the Veterans General Hospital, Taipei were studied. Psychiatric diagnosis was made according to DSM-III-R criteria with the use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). The Chinese version of the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were also applied. Primary caregivers were interviewed for the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, the Barthel Index and the Alzheimer's Deficit Scale (ADS). RESULTS: Among 141 AD patients, seven (5.0%) were diagnosed with major depression, 11 (7.8%) with dysthymia and five (3.5%) with depressive disorder not otherwise specified. Women were at elevated risk for depressive disorders and had more severe symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of depressive disorders among Chinese AD patients is in the middle of the range of western findings. The risk factor for depression is female gender.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Reversible neurotoxicity induced by a combination of clozapine and lithium: a case report.

A combination of clozapine and lithium can be used in the treatment of refractory schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder with rapid cycling. We report a patient with refractory bipolar disorder who developed side-effects after combination therapy with clozapine and lithium at usual therapeutic dosages. Reversible neurotoxicity developed twice during the therapeutic course, once with the restarting of lithium, the other with increasing the dose of lithium, despite the lithium concentrations being less than 0.5 mEq/l. Neurotoxicity manifested as ataxia, coarse tremor, myoclonus, facial spasm and increased deep tendon reflex. While the mechanism causing toxicity is not clear, interaction between the serotonergic effect of clozapine and lithium may be the cause. This report is evidence that a combination of clozapine and lithium may increase the risk of neurotoxicity. We suggest the need to keep clozapine and lithium at lower dosages and closely monitor their side-effects as necessary when these drugs are used concomitantly.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Genital tuberculosis with peritonitis mimicking Meigs' syndrome: a case report.

A 19-year-old girl presented with genital tuberculosis (TB) complicated with peritonitis and pleural effusion. In addition to oligomenorrhea, her initial presentation included symptoms of intermittent high fever, exertional dyspnea, productive cough and body weight loss. Acid-fast bacilli were identified by sputum culture. She continued to suffer from persistent abdominal discomfort and body weight loss after eight months of anti-TB treatment. Finally, exploratory laparotomy was performed under the suspicion of Meigs' syndrome or TB peritonitis. Operative findings included diffusely granulomatous change over the peritoneum, ovaries, endometrium, intestine and liver. Histologic examination of the ovaries and endometrium showed caseous necrosis associated with Langhan's giant cells and epithelial cells. Acid-fast stain revealed numerous acid-fast bacilli. She was discharged after two months of anti-TB treatment. Anti-TB therapy was continued for one year after discharge. During 3 years of post-discharge follow up, she was free of abdominal discomfort and had given birth to two healthy children.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The neuronal RNA-binding protein Nova-2 is implicated as the autoantigen targeted in POMA patients with dementia.

Paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia (POMA) is a neurologic disorder thought to be mediated by an autoimmune attack against onconeural disease antigens that are expressed by gynecologic or lung tumors and by neurons. One POMA disease antigen, termed Nova-1, has been identified as a neuron-specific KH-type RNA-binding protein. Nova-1 expression is restricted to specific regions of the central nervous system, primarily the hindbrain and ventral spinal cord, which correlate with the predominantly motor symptoms in POMA. However, POMA antisera recognize antigens that are widely expressed in both caudal and rostral regions of the central nervous system, and some patients develop cognitive symptoms. We have used POMA antisera to clone a cDNA encoding a second POMA disease antigen termed Nova-2. Nova-2 is closely related to Nova-1, and is expressed at high levels in neurons during development and in adulthood, and at lower levels in the adult lung. In the postnatal mouse brain, Nova-2 is expressed in a pattern that is largely reciprocal with Nova-1, including high levels of Nova-2 expression in the neocortex and hippocampus. Functional characterization of Nova-2 in RNA selection and nitrocellulose filter-binding assays reveals that Nova-2 binds RNA with high affinity and with sequence specificity that differs from Nova-1. Our results demonstrate that the immune response in POMA targets a family of highly related sequence-specific neuronal RNA-binding proteins. The expression pattern of the Nova-2 protein is likely to underlie the development of cognitive deficits in some POMA patients.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Emotional symptoms are secondary to the voice disorder in patients with spasmodic dysphonia.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the emotional status and life quality of the patients with spasmodic dysphonia (SD) before and after botulinum toxin treatment, and to ascertain whether SD is a somatoform disorder. Ten patients with spasmodic dysphonia were injected unilaterally into the vocal cord with botulinum toxin. Before botulinum toxin treatment, two clinician's rating scales--Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and three self-rating psychometrics--Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Life Quality Scale (GHQ/QL-12), and Symptom Distress Checklist (SCL-90) were applied. Self-rating scales were also administered in 20 matched normal controls. The patients were reevaluated 1 month after botulinum toxin treatment. The Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) was also rated by the patients themselves and a speech pathologist. The mean scores of SD patients were significantly higher than that of controls in SDS, and subscales of somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism in SCL-90. The mean score of GHQ/QL-12 was significantly higher in the control group. The scores of HDRS, SDS, GHQ/QL-12 and subscales of somatization, depression, and anxiety in SCL-90 showed significant improvement after botulinum treatment. In CGI, seven patients were rated as improved by patients themselves and the speech pathologist. The patients with SD had more anxiety, depression and somatization symptoms, and poor life quality than normal controls. Their emotional status and life quality improved after botulinum toxin treatment. The results suggest that the emotional symptoms of patients with SD are mainly secondary to voice disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The increasing use of anticonvulsants in prophylactic treatment of bipolar disorder.

The medical records of patents with bipolar disorders who received prophylactic drug treatments during three time periods from January 1983 to December 1984, January 1988 to December 1989, and from January 1993 to December 1994, were reviewed retrospectively. The percentage of lithium monotherapy sharply decreased from 96% (51/53) in the first study period to 51.9% (83/160) in the third study period. Carbamazepine monotherapy and combination of lithium and carbamazepine increased from 3.8% in the first study period to 45.6% in the third study period. These results suggest that anticonvulsants may become one of the major drug treatment strategies for bipolar disorder in the future.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Correlations between scores on Chinese versions of long and short forms of the Geriatric Depression Scale among elderly Chinese.

A total of 187 elderly Chinese from the community were interviewed with the Chinese versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale-the long form and the short form. The scores on a proposed new version of the short form were also calculated. Cronbach alpha for the Geriatric Depression Scale-long form was .86. The correlations were significant between scores on the long and short forms (r = .94, p < .05) and between these on the long and new short forms (r = .91, p < .05). Cronbach coefficient alpha for the short form was .77 and for the new short form .81. Results of our study indicated that responding by these elderly persons on both short forms is acceptably internally consistent in comparison with those on the original Geriatric Depression Scale.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Single dose pharmacokinetic study of lithium in Taiwanese/Chinese bipolar patients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the single dose pharmacokinetics of lithium in Taiwanese/Chinese bipolar patients for future interracial comparisons. METHOD: Eight bipolar patients took 900 mg of lithium carbonate after overnight fasting. Blood samples of 5 mL were taken after 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 7 h, 9 h, 15 h, 25 h and 31 h after dosing. The computer programs CSTRIP and PCNONLIN were used for pharmacokinetic analysis. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetic parameters obtained were as follows: Cmax, 0.970 +/- 0.170 (SD) mmol/L; Tmax, 1.59 +/- 0.78 h; AUC31 h = 548.9 +/- 135.4 mmol x m/L; AUC to infinity = 722.6 +/- 262.7 mmol x m/L; beta-half-life = 16.3 +/- 7.18 h; kappa-half-life = 0.613 +/- 0.442 h; Cl(oral) = 1.13 +/- 0.39 mL/min/kg; Vd/F = 1.43 +/- 0.387 L/kg. Most of the pharmacokinetic parameters were within the ranges reported in investigations of Caucasian subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that racial differences in lithium pharmacokinetics might not exist. We suggest that methodological designs, including method of blood sampling, measurement of lithium, and pharmacokinetic and statistical calculations, be standardised if future cross-ethnic comparisons are to be conducted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Preparing for the third millennium: the views of life informatics.

The chief aspects of this paper are the condition of the birth of life informatics and its tasks, basic concepts, principles, and structure. There are three phases of combining informatics with medicine: product, technological, and theoretic application of which the goals are respectively the informatization of numerical and word processing, data of medical treatment, and the knowledge of medicine. While reached the third phase we have dealt with two types of biological information, physical and nonphysical, i.e., body information (i.e., the information about body's components and structure), and life information (i.e., the information about life codes and life programs). Life informatics is a main branch of bioinformatics. It is a new member of the medical informatics family, and as such is younger than health informatics, nursing informatics, and dental informatics. It's task is to assist biologists and medical doctors to recognize and interfere the human life information procedure just as they are doing well with human body's matter and energy system. Its basic concepts are life information, life information medicine, and life information therapy. Its most important principles are information materialism, general informatics, and information determinism. Its main branches are biomolecule, cellular, organic, individual, and social informatics. In the third millennium, the life informatics will be a leading discipline in biology, medicine and informatics, which will gradually influence modern philosophy and other humanities.

Biology↗
PubMed1998

Schizophreniform-like psychotic disorder induced by phentermine: a case report.

Phentermine is a central nervous system stimulant that can increase brain dopamine levels and has a structure similar to amphetamine. We report a case of schizophreniform-like psychotic disorder induced by phentermine in a young woman without a personal or family history of psychiatric disorders. The patient had taken phentermine 30 mg daily for more than three years. Psychotic symptoms developed acutely after she increased the phentermine dosage to 150-180 mg/day for one month due to an increase in work load. After discontinuation of phentermine and administration of neuroleptics, the psychotic symptoms subsided in two weeks. This is the first documented case of phentermine psychosis in Taiwan. This report will review the literature and discuss the prognosis of central nervous system stimulant-related psychotic disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Differential transactivation of human metallothionein-IIa in cisplatin-resistant and -sensitive cells.

Cells with acquired anticancer drug resistance frequently exhibited broad cross-resistance to other anticancer agents. Increased human metallothionein (hMT) IIa transcription has been found in some cells with acquired resistance to cisplatin (CP). A panel of 5'hMT-IIa promoter deletions linked to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase ((5'-hMT-IIaCAT) were used to demonstrate that certain cis-elements are important for the increased hMT-IIa transcription in CP-resistant cells (SCC25/CP) compared to CP-sensitive cells (SCC25). We further identified trans-acting factor differences between SCC25 and SCC25/CP cells using gel mobility shift assays. Significant increases in binding of specific factors to the -286 to -160 and -96 to -51 region were seen in CP-resistant SCC25/CP cells compared to sensitive SCC25 cells. Using cross-competition and super gel shift analyses, we identified enhanced Spl and AP-2 binding activity in SCC25/CP cells. By Western blot analysis and immunoprecipitation, we demonstrated that the level of Spl was unchanged between the two cells types whereas AP-2 was elevated twofold in SCC25/CP cells. Our results indicated that the selection of CP-resistant phenotype in SCC25/CP was accompanied by increased Spl and AP-2 DNA binding activities, which are likely not only to enhance hMT-IIa transcription but could also alter expression of other genes responsible for a broader anticancer drug cross-resistance. Thus, altered trans-acting factors could account for the complex cross-resistant phenotype found in some anticancer drug-resistant cells.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1998

A quantitative study of environmental asbestos exposure in Honolulu.

The increased use of asbestos in various industries in past decades has led to increases in environmental asbestos pollution. Incidental exposure to asbestos is inevitable, and has generated public concern. We performed the following study aimed at determining the level of environmental asbestos exposure in Honolulu, and our results indicate that the levels of environmental asbestos in Honolulu are the lowest in the nation.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

IgG rheumatoid factors isolated by the surface-displaying phage library technique.

Our analysis of IgG rheumatoid factors (RFs) from three patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) revealed that most contained significant numbers of skewed mutations per V region, suggesting that these RFs arose from antigen-driven responses. To further study IgG RFs in RA, we used pComb3 vector to construct an IgG1,lambda combinatorial antibody library from a synovial fluid sample. After panning against human IgG, Fab fragments from 71/96 phage clones bound to Fc-coated wells. Sequence analysis of 20 randomly chosen Fc-binders showed that 17 (85%) clones had identical heavy (H) and light (L) chain V regions, represented by Humha311 and Humla211, respectively. Of the remaining three clones, two had the same Humla211 L chain, but each with a different H chain V region. All the putative germline V genes for these RFs also encode RF in RA patients. However, none of these RF V regions are similar to those of the two IgG RFs derived by the hybridoma technique from the same synovial fluid. The Humha311 H chain has two frameshifts: a one-base insertion upstream of the JH region and a four-base deletion near the end of the CH1 region, resulting in a mainly unconventional amino acid sequence in the CH1 region. In the future, it will be important to study the presence of IgG molecules with such unconventional CH1 amino acid sequences, and the effects of these amino acid sequences on the structures and immunological properties of the IgG molecules.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

The correlation of depression with functional activity in Parkinson's disease.

We evaluated 109 Chinese patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in three ways: using a standardized psychiatric interview for depression and anxiety, using standardized neurological evaluation for motor disability, and using cognitive assessment for cognitive impairment. Six of the 109 patients who had dementia and another two afflicted with organic delusional disorder were excluded from further analysis. The remaining 101 PD patients were divided into the following three groups according to the DSM-III-R criteria: major depressive disorder (n = 18), other depressive disorders (n = 25) including dysthymic disorder and depressive disorder not otherwise specified, and no depression (n = 58). The frequency of major depressive disorder of the 109 PD patients was 16.5%, and the frequency of major and other depressive disorders, taken together, was 42.2%. Using the percentage points measured on the Schwab & England Activities of Daily Living Scale as the dependent variable to fit a multivariate regression model, we found the lower score significantly correlated with the diagnosis of depressive disorder and higher score of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, in addition to motor disability and disease severity of PD. Given the high frequency of depression and the significant correlation between depression and performance in daily functional activites, we believe that an evaluation of PD patients for coexisting depression is necessary for a better therapeutic outcome.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Depressive disorders among older residents in a Chinese rural community.

BACKGROUND: Two recent surveys of depression among Chinese elderly people sampled different populations, used different case ascertainment methods and resulted in a seven-fold difference in prevalence rates. The present study was conducted to compare prevalence rates obtained with two commonly used methods in the same population, and to examine the risk factors for depression. METHODS: The target population included all residents aged 65 years and over in a rural Chinese community. Participants were interviewed for demographic and medical information, examined by a neurologist and administered Chinese versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-S), the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) and an Activities of Daily Living (ADL) form. Individuals who screened positive on the GDS-S were also interviewed by a psychiatrist for diagnosis according to the DSM-III-R criteria. RESULTS: Among the 1313 participants, 26% screened positive on the GDS-S and 13% were diagnosed as having a depressive disorder, including 6.1% with major depression. Individuals with depressive disorders were more likely to have poor ADL scores, lower CASI scores, and chronic physical illnesses. They were also more likely to be female, older, illiterate and without a spouse, but adding these variables did not increase the overall association with the GDS-S score. CONCLUSIONS: Depression was quite common in this Chinese rural geriatric population. The prevalence rate was twice as high when judged by depression symptomatology rather than clinical diagnosis. The critical risk factors were functional impairments, poor cognitive abilities and the presence of chronic physical illnesses.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

The onconeural antigen Nova-1 is a neuron-specific RNA-binding protein, the activity of which is inhibited by paraneoplastic antibodies.

Nova-1, a protein expressed in tumors and neurons, is a target antigen in a human paraneoplastic motor disorder [paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus ataxia (POMA)]. We evaluated the relationship between the function of Nova-1 and its role as a disease antigen. We show that Nova-1 is a neuron-specific RNA-binding protein with sequence and functional similarities to FMR-1. Nova-1 mRNA is restricted to the subcortical nervous system, and the protein binds to RNA with high affinity. Nova-1 KH domains mediate this RNA binding, and point mutations within them abrogate binding. POMA disease antisera (6/6) recognize the third KH domain but not an inactive point mutant, and affinity-purified antibody blocks Nova-1 RNA binding. Thus, a cardinal feature of POMA is the production of antibodies that inhibit Nova-1-RNA interactions, suggesting such inhibition may cause the neurological disease.

Amino Acid Sequence↗