[Construction of TRAF6 ubiquitin site 331 mutant colorectal cancer cell stable line and its effect on biological behavior of colorectal cancer cells].

Objective: To investigate the effect of ubiquitin mutation at position 331 of tumor necrosis factor receptor related factor 6 (TRAF6) on the biological characteristics of colorectal cancer cells and its mechanism. Methods: lentivirus wild type (pCDH-3×FLAG-TRAF6) and mutation (pCDH-3×FLAG-TRAF6-331mut) of TRAF6 gene expression plasmid with green fluorescent protein tag were used to infect colorectal cancer cells SW480 and HCT116, respectively. The infection was observed by fluorescence microscope, and the expressions of TRAF6 and TRAF6-331mut in cells was detected by western blot. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and plate cloning test were used to detect the proliferation ability of colorectal cancer cells in TRAF6 group and TRAF6-331mut group, cell scratch test to detect cell migration, Transwell chamber test to detect cell migration and invasion, immunoprecipitation to detect the ubiquitination of TRAF6 and TRAF6-331mut with ubiquitinof lysine binding sites K48 and K63. Western blot was used to detect the effects of TRAF6 and TRAF6-331mut over expression on the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and mitogen activated protein kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/activating protein-1(AP-1) signal pathway. Results: The successful infection of colorectal cancer cells was observed under fluorescence microscope. Western blot detection showed that TRAF6 and TRAF6-331mut were successfully expressed in colorectal cancer cells. The results of CCK-8 assay showed that on the fourth day, the absorbance values of HCT116 and SW480 cells in TRAF6-331mut group were 1.89±0.39 and 1.88±0.24 respectively, which were lower than those in TRAF6 group (2.09±0.12 and 2.17±0.45, P=0.036 and P=0.011, respectively). The results of plate colony formation assay showed that the number of clones of HCT116 and SW480 cells in TRAF6-331mut group was 120±14 and 85±14 respectively, which was lower than those in TRAF6 group (190±21 and 125±13, P=0.001 and P=0.002, respectively). The results of cell scratch test showed that after 48 hours, the percentage of wound healing distance of HCT116 and SW480 cells in TRAF6-331mut group was (31±12)% and (33±14)%, respectively, which was lower than those in TRAF6 group [(43±13)% and (43±7)%, P=0.005 and 0.009, respectively]. The results of Transwell migration assay showed that the migration numbers of HCT116 and SW480 cells in TRAF6-331mut group were significantly lower than those in TRAF6 group (P<0.001 and P<0.002, respectively). The results of Transwell invasion assay showed that the number of membrane penetration of HCT116 and SW480 cells in TRAF6-331mut group was significantly lower than those in TRAF6 group (P=0.008 and P=0.009, respectively). The results of immunoprecipitation detection showed that the ubiquitin protein of K48 chain pulled by TRAF6-331mut was lower than that of wild type TRAF6 in 293T cells co-transfected with K48 (0.57±0.19), and the ubiquitin protein of K63 chain pulled down by TRAF6-331mut in 293T cells co-transfected with K63 was lower than that of wild type TRAF6 (0.89±0.08, P<0.001). Western blot assay showed that the protein expression levels of NF-κB, p-NF-κB and p-AP-1 in TRAF6-331mut-HCT116 cells were 0.63±0.08, 0.42±0.08 and 0.60±0.07 respectively, which were lower than those in TRAF6-HCT116 cells (P=0.002, P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). The expression level of AP-1 protein in TRAF6-HCT116 cells was 0.89±0.06, compared with that in TRAF6-HCT116 cells. The difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The protein expression levels of NF-κB, p-NF-κB and p-AP-1 in TRAF6-331mut-SW480 cells were 0.50±0.06, 0.51±0.04, 0.48±0.02, respectively, which were lower than those in TRAF6-SW480 cells (all P<0.001). There was no significant difference in AP-1 protein expression between TRAF6-331mut-SW480 cells and TRAF6-SW480 cells. Conclusion: The ubiquitin site mutation of TRAF6 gene at 331 may prevent the binding of TRAF6 and ubiquitin lysine sites K48 and K63, and then affect the expressions of proteins related to downstream NF-κB and MAPK/AP-1 signal pathways, and inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells.

Risk of osteoporosis and fracture in victims with burn injury.

Osteoporosis is a well-known bone disorder affecting people worldwide. Patients with osteoporosis have an increased risk of bone fracture. This study provides new information on the risk of developing osteoporosis post burn injury and the risk of fracture among those with osteoporosis developed. INTRODUCTION: The relationship between burn injury and hip fracture risk is unclear. Population-based evaluation on relationships between burn injury and osteoporosis development and subsequent fractures is limited. We conducted a retrospective cohort study as the investigation. METHODS: From the insurance data of Taiwan, we established a cohort of 43,532 patients with a burn injury in 2000-2012 and a comparison cohort of 174,124 individuals without such an injury, frequency matched by sex, age, and diagnosis date. Both cohorts were followed up to the end of 2013 to evaluate the occurrence of osteoporosis and hip fracture. RESULTS: The incidence of osteoporosis was greater in the burn cohort than in the comparison cohort (6.40 vs. 4.75 per 1,000 person-years) with an adjusted IRR of 1.35 (95% confidence interval = 1.32-1.39). The incidence rates in both cohorts were greater in women than in men, increased with age, income, and Charlson comorbidity index. Patients with burns involving 20%-49% of total body surface area and with burns confined to the lower/upper limbs had the greatest incidence rates, 8.32 and 8.58 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Osteoporosis incidence increased further to 22.7 per 1,000 person-years for burn victims with comorbid diabetes. The risk of fracture was over five-fold greater for burn victims with osteoporosis developed than for comparisons without osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: Patients who have a burn injury deserve prevention intervention to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fracture.

Association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and gout: a nationwide population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a common skin disease that has been recently found to be associated with various systemic inflammatory disorders. However, the association between psoriasis and gout has not been well defined. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether there is an association between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and gout in a large population of patients in Taiwan. METHODS: A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study was performed using the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). A total of 114 623 patients with gout and 114 623 patients without gout (1 : 1 propensity score-matched according to age, sex, income category and urbanization level) were identified. The prevalence of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and other comorbid diseases in these two groups of patients was compared. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: There was an increased prevalence of psoriasis in patients with gout compared with patients without gout (1.6% vs. 1.1%, P < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis showed an increased prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (0.3% vs. 0.1%, P < 0.0001) in patients with gout compared with patients without gout. In addition, multiple conditional logistic regression analysis showed that gout was significantly associated with psoriasis (adjusted OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.20-1.42) and psoriatic arthritis (adjusted OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.95-3.22). After stratification by age and sex, it was found that the strength of the association between gout and psoriasis was similar among males and females but varied according to age group, with patients aged 41-50 years having the strongest association. CONCLUSION: Gout is significantly associated with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in the Taiwanese population, and the strength of the association varies with the patient's age. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying this association.

Quantum Anomaly and Thermodynamics of One-Dimensional Fermions with Three-Body Interactions.

We show that a system of three species of one-dimensional fermions, with an attractive three-body contact interaction, features a scale anomaly directly related to the anomaly of two-dimensional fermions with two-body contact forces. We show, furthermore, that those two cases (and their multispecies generalizations) are the only nonrelativistic systems with contact interactions that display a scale anomaly. While the two-dimensional case is well known and has been under study both experimentally and theoretically for years, the one-dimensional case presented here has remained unexplored. For the latter, we calculate the impact of the anomaly on the equation of state, which appears through the generalization of Tan's contact for three-body forces, and determine the pressure at finite temperature. In addition, we show that the third-order virial coefficient is proportional to the second-order coefficient of the two-dimensional two-body case.

CHA2DS2-VASc score for prediction of ischemic stroke in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus without atrial fibrillation.

Objective We conducted this study to assess the role of CHA2DS2-VASc score in predicting ischemic stroke among systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients without atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods We selected the SLE patients from the Registry of Catastrophic Illnesses Patient Database in Taiwan. We excluded the SLE patients with AF or atrial flutter. The patients were followed up until the occurrence of ischemic stroke, censored for death or withdrawal from the dataset, or the end of follow-up. Cox models were performed to obtain the hazard ratios (HRs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of ischemic stroke associated with the CHA2DS2-VASc score. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the predictive ability of CHA2DS2-VASc score for ischemic stroke in SLE patients without AF. Results A total of 11,962 study participants were included in this study. The incidence of ischemic stroke increased from 4.00 per 1000 person-years (PYs) for patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 to 87.4 per 1000 PYs for those with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of ≧6. Moreover, patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of ≧2 were 3.98-fold (95% CI 3.15-5.04) more likely to develop ischemic stroke than those with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of <2 (14.0 vs. 2.99 per 1000 PYs). ROC curve analysis of the CHA2DS2-VASc score demonstrated a moderate discrimination power for ischemic stroke development with a c-statistic of 0.65(95% CI 0.62-0.69). Conclusions We found that a CHA2DS2-VASc score greater than or equal to 2 in SLE patients without AF is associated with a significantly higher rate of ischemic stroke.

Risk of age-related macular degeneration in patients with prostate cancer: a nationwide, population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) can be related to increased systemic oxidative stress and dihydrotestosterone level, which are also reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We conducted a cohort study to determine whether patients with PC have an increased risk of AMD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were collected from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database for the 1999-2010 period. The study PC cohort comprised 22 084 patients aged ≥18 years with a first diagnosis of PC. The comparison cohort consisted of age-, occupation-, and urbanization level-matched patients at a ratio of 1 : 1. The primary outcome was the incidence of AMD, which was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and proportional hazards modeling. RESULTS: The mean follow-up periods (standard deviation) for the patients with AMD in the age-, occupation-, and urbanization level-matched PC cohort and non-PC cohorts were 4.69 (2.90) and 5.51 (2.82) years. The mean age of the PC cohort was 73.9 years and that of the non-PC cohort was 73.2 years, with approximately 85.9% of the patients aged >65 years. The PC cohort had a higher risk of AMD than did the propensity score-matched non-PC cohort with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.25 (95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.39). Compared with PC cohort receiving no injection hormone therapy, the PC cohort receiving injection hormone therapy had a lower risk of AMD (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.76). CONCLUSION: PC is associated with an increased risk of AMD. Patients with PC receiving injected form of androgen deprivation therapy had a lower risk of AMD than patients with PC not receiving injected form of androgen-deprivation therapy.

Hip fracture risk in patients with burn injury: a retrospective cohort study in Taiwan.

This work aimed to evaluate the hip fracture risk for patients with burn injury. A total of 16,430 patients with burn injury had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.54 to encounter a hip fracture, compared with controls without the injury. These results encourage future studies focusing on mechanisms leading to fracture associated with burn injury. INTRODUCTION: The relationship between burn injury and hip fracture risk is unclear. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate this relationship. METHODS: From insurance data of Taiwan, we identified a cohort with 16,430 burn patients in 2000-2010 and a comparison cohort of 65,716 persons without the history of burn, frequency matched by sex, age, and diagnosis date. Both cohorts were followed up to the end of 2011 to evaluate the risk of hip fracture. RESULTS: Patients with burn injury were 1.62-fold more likely than comparisons to encounter a hip fracture (6.95 vs. 4.28 per 1000 person-years), with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.40-1.68). The fracture incidence increased with age and is slightly greater for women than for men in both cohorts. The fracture risk was greater for patients with burn in the eyes, face, and head with an incidence of 7.14 per 1000 person-years, or an aHR of 2.09 (95% CI = 1.53, 2.86). Diabetes and osteoporosis were also associated with an increased hip fracture risk. CONCLUSION: Burn injury is associated with an increased risk of hip fracture. Diabetes and osteoporosis are associated with an enhanced risk.

Increased risk of chronic osteomyelitis after hip replacement: a retrospective population-based cohort study in an Asian population.

The correlation between hip replacement (Hip-Repl) and chronic osteomyelitis (COM) has not been studied in Asian populations. Thus, we assessed Hip-Repl-related risk of developing COM via a population-based, nationwide, retrospective cohort study. The Hip-Repl cohort was obtained from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, and included patients who underwent Hip-Repl between 2000 and 2010; the control cohort was also selected from this database. Patients with a history of COM were excluded in both cohorts. We used univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) by age, sex, and comorbidities for developing COM. A total of 5349 patients who received a Hip-Repl and 10,372 matched controls were enrolled. In the Hip-Repl group, the risk for COM was 4.18-fold [95 % confidence interval (CI) = 2.24-7.80] higher than that in the control group after adjustment. For patients aged ≤65 years, the risk was 10.0-fold higher (95 % CI = 2.89-34.6). Furthermore, the risk was higher in the Hip-Repl cohort than in the non-Hip-Repl cohort, for both patients without comorbidity (aHR = 16.5, 95 % CI = 2.07-132.3) and those with comorbidity (aHR = 3.49, 95 % CI = 1.78-6.83). The impact of Hip-Repl on the risk for COM was greater among patients not using immunosuppressive drugs, and occurred during the first postoperative year. Patients who received Hip-Repl have an increased risk of developing COM. This risk was higher among males and patients aged 65 years or younger, and during the first postoperative year.

Association of dementia in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a cohort study to investigate whether benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is correlated with an increased risk of dementia. METHODS: We established a case cohort comprising 7818 patients aged over 20 years who were diagnosed with BPPV from 2000 to 2010. In addition, we formed a control cohort by randomly selecting 31,272 people without BPPV and matched them with the BPPV patients according to gender, age, and index year. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to compute the hazard ratio (HR) of dementia after we adjusted for demographic characteristics and comorbidity. RESULTS: The prevalence of comorbidity was higher among patients with BPPV than among those without BPPV. In addition, patients with BPPV exhibited a 1.24-fold (95% confidence interval, CI 1.09-1.40; P < 0.001) higher risk of dementia than those without BPPV after we adjusted for age, gender, and comorbidity. An analysis stratified according to demographic factors revealed that women with BPPV exhibited a 1.36-fold (95% CI 1.16-1.59; P < 0.001) higher risk of dementia. Patients with BPPV aged over 65 years exhibited a significantly higher risk of dementia (adjusted HR: 1.26; 95% CI 1.10-1.43; P < 0.001) than those without BPPV. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BPPV exhibited a higher risk of dementia than those without BPPV.

Risk of Parkinson disease after organophosphate or carbamate poisoning.

AIMS: Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of PD in patients with organophosphate (OP) or carbamate (CM) poisoning by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study involving a cohort of 45 594 patients (9128 patients with a history of OP or CM poisoning and 36 466 control patients) who were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The patients were observed for a maximum of 12 years to determine the rates of new-onset PD, and a Poisson regression model was used to identify the predictors of PD. The cumulative incidence of PD between the two cohorts was plotted through Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: During the study period, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of PD in the OP or CM poisoning patients was 1.36-fold [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.26-1.47] higher than that in the control patients in the multivariable model. The absolute incidence of PD was the highest for the group aged ≥75 years in both cohorts (77.4 vs 43.7 per 10 000 person-years). However, the age-specific relative risk was higher for the group aged <50 years (adjusted IRR=3.88; 95% CI=3.44-4.39). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the likelihood of developing PD is greater in patients with OP or CM poisoning than in those without poisoning. OP or CM poisoning may be an independent risk factor for PD.

Peptic Ulcer Disease in Living Liver Donors: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study.

The objective of this nationwide cohort study was to investigate the risk of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) in living liver donors (LDs). A total of 1333 LDs and 5332 matched nondonors were identified during 2003-2011. Hospitalized patients identified as LDs were assigned to the LD cohort, and the non-LD comparison cohort comprised age- and sex-matched nondonors. Cumulative incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated. The overall incidence of PUD was 1.74-fold higher in the LD cohort than in the non-LD cohort (2.14 vs. 1.48 per 1000 person-years). After adjustment for age, sex, monthly income and comorbidities, we determined that the LD cohort exhibited a higher risk of PUD than did the non-LD cohort (adjusted HR 1.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45-2.09). The incidence of PUD increased with age; the risk of PUD was 2.53-fold higher in patients aged ≥35 years (95% CI 2.14-2.99) than in those aged ≤34 years. LDs with comorbidities of osteopathies, chondropathies and acquired musculoskeletal deformities exhibited a higher risk of PUD (adjusted HR 3.93, 95% CI 2.64-5.86) compared with those without these comorbidities. LDs are associated with an increased risk of PUD after hepatectomy.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease with proton pump inhibitor use is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis: a nationwide population-based analysis.

UNLABELLED: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. The risk of hip fracture is not increased in GERD patients with PPI use. INTRODUCTION: The relationship between GERD with PPI treatment and the risk of osteoporosis is unclear. We aimed to determine the risk of developing osteoporosis in patients diagnosed with GERD. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with GERD and received PPI treatment between 2000 and 2010 were identified from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database as the study cohort (n = 10,620), which was frequency matched with the comparison cohort (n = 20,738) sampled from the general population according to age, sex, index year, and comorbidities. Both cohorts were followed until the end of 2011. The risk of osteoporosis was evaluated in both groups by using Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: The GERD patients with PPI treatment had a greater incidence (31.4 vs 20.7 per 1000 person-year; crude hazard ratio [cHR] 1.51; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.40-1.63) and a higher risk (adjusted HR [aHR] 1.50; 95 % CI 1.39-1.62) of osteoporosis than that of the comparison cohort. However, the overall incidence of hip fracture was not different between the GERD with PPI use and the control cohorts (aHR 0.79; 95 % CI 0.53-1.18). CONCLUSION: GERD with PPI use is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. The findings of our study do not support an increased risk of hip fracture in GERD patients treated with a PPI.

Childhood type 1 diabetes may increase the risk of atopic dermatitis.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological investigations have examined the association between type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and atopic disease, but have obtained conflicting results. OBJECTIVES: To analyse the association between T1DM and atopic dermatitis (AD) in a population-based, retrospective cohort study that investigated the hypothesis that childhood T1DM is a risk factor for subsequent AD. METHODS: From claims data of the National Health Insurance programme of Taiwan, we identified 3386 patients with T1DM newly diagnosed from 1998 to 2011 and 12 725 randomly selected controls without T1DM. These were frequency matched by age, sex and year of diagnosis. Both cohorts were followed up until the end of 2011 to evaluate the AD risk. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to analyse the risk of AD. RESULTS: The overall incidence rate of AD was 1·40-fold (significantly) higher in the T1DM cohort than in the non-T1DM cohort (3·31 vs. 2·35 per 1000 person years). After adjustment for potential risk factors, the overall risk of AD remained higher in the T1DM cohort [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1·76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·29-2·39] than in those without T1DM. Compared with the non-T1DM cohort, the patients with T1DM with more emergency room visits (adjusted HR 30·1, 95% CI 18·7-48·5) or hospitalizations (adjusted HR 70·3, 95% CI 45·6-114·5) had a higher risk of subsequent AD. CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide, retrospective cohort study demonstrates that childhood T1DM may increase the risk of AD.

Association of systemic lupus erythematosus and sleep disorders: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Using a population-based cohort study, we investigated whether sleep disorders (SDs) increase the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified patients with SDs and a control cohort from 1998-2001 by using the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. Two controls for each patient with an SD were selected and randomly frequency-matched according to age, gender, and index year. The follow-up person-years were estimated for the patients from the index date to SLE diagnosis, loss to follow-up, or the end of 31 December 2011. We used the Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate how SDs influence the risk of SLE after adjustments for demographic factors and comorbidities. RESULTS: A total of 144,396 subjects (48,132 SD cases and 96,264 controls) were followed for 1,477,055 person-years. The patients with SDs displayed higher incidence density rate of developing SLE than did the controls (1.03 vs. 0.46 per 10,000 person-years). After adjustment for covariates, the patients with SDs exhibited a 2.20-fold higher adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of developing SLE than the controls (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.44-3.36). Women exhibited a greater prevalence of SDs and SLE compared to men. Patients with SDs aged 49 years and younger exhibited a significantly increased risk of SLE compared to the controls (aHR=2.30, 95% CI = 1.33-3.98). Patients with SDs living in urban areas exhibited a significantly increased risk of SLE. CONCLUSION: This large population-based cohort study revealed that SDs increase the risk of SLE development.

A new HLA-B*39 allele, HLA-B*39:01:15, discovered in a Taiwanese rheumatoid arthritis patient.

The new allele B*39:01:15 differs from B*39:01:01 by a point mutation at position 315 (G>T) of exon 2.

Increased risk of stroke among hip fracture patients: a nationwide cohort study.

SUMMARY: Our study indicates that hip fracture is independently associated with increased risk of developing stroke. In addition, the risk of stroke following the incidence of hip fracture is more prominent in younger patients, men, those with cardiovascular comorbidities, and in patients using specific medication, such as diuretics and ABRs. INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are associated with increased risk of major morbidity. However, few data are available on the risk of stroke after hip fracture. Therefore, we investigated whether hip fracture increases the risk of stroke in a large nationwide cohort study. METHODS: Using universal insurance claims data, we identified a study cohort comprising of 6013 newly diagnosed with hip fracture patients from 2000 to 2010 and a non-hip fracture cohort of 23,802 participants. Incidence and risk of stroke were estimated for both cohorts until the end of 2011. RESULTS: Stroke incidence was 1.69-fold (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.56-1.83) higher in the hip fracture cohort than in the comparison cohort with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.54 (95% CI=1.42-1.67) for the hip fracture cohort. The hip fracture patients were at higher risk of developing ischemic stroke (HR=1.55, 95% CI=1.42-1.69) and hemorrhagic stroke (HR=1.55, 95% CI=1.16-1.89), respectively. At an incidence of 64.6 per 1000 person-years, the adjusted HR of stroke increases to 3.10 (95% CI=2.47-3.90) for patients with coexisting diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure compared with those without these three conditions. At an incidence of 60.4 per 1000 person-years, the adjusted HR of stroke increases to 2.92 (95% CI=2.43-3.51) for hip fracture patients prescribed with diuretics and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) compared with those without hip fracture or prescriptions for diuretics or ARBs. CONCLUSIONS: Hip fracture is independently associated with a subsequent risk of stroke.

Increased risk of coronary heart disease in patients with hip fracture: a nationwide cohort study.

UNLABELLED: The study indicates that hip fracture is independently associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. In addition, the highest risk of coronary heart disease following hip fracture appeared within the first year after hip fracture, indicating the need for multidisciplinary care for the patients. INTRODUCTION: Bone and vasculature are modulated through numerous common pathways. However, data on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) after hip fracture are scarce. Therefore, we investigated whether hip fracture increased the risk of CHD by conducting a large nationwide cohort study. METHODS: Using universal insurance claims data from 2000 to 2010, we identified a study cohort of 6013 participants newly diagnosed with hip fracture and a control cohort of 23,802 participants. Both cohorts were followed up to the end of 2011 to evaluate the risk of CHD. RESULTS: The overall incidence of CHD was 1.69-fold higher in the hip fracture cohort than it was in the control cohort (29.2 vs. 17.1 per 1000 person-years) with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.51 (95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.39-1.65). Sex-, age-, and comorbidity-specific analyses showed a higher relative risk of CHD for both women and men, all age groups, those with and without comorbidities, and patients with hip fracture compared with the control cohort. The highest risk of CHD was within the first year after hip fracture (adjusted HR = 1.72, 95 % CI = 1.45-2.04), and the risk remained high in the following years. CONCLUSION: Hip fracture was independently associated with a subsequent risk of CHD.

Increased risk of cardiovascular events in end-stage renal disease patients with osteoporosis: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

SUMMARY: We investigated the cardiovascular disease risk and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. A total of 12,535 patients with ESRD undergoing incident dialysis were enrolled, 4,153 (33.13 %) of whom had osteoporosis. The osteoporosis group was associated with a significantly higher risk of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and mortality. INTRODUCTION: In this study, we aimed to investigate the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in a sample of end-stage renal disease patients with osteoporosis. METHODS: We conducted this retrospective cohort study of incident dialysis patients with and without osteoporosis to evaluate the risk of overall mortality and cardiovascular complications including stroke, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure between the two groups. A total of 12,535 patients with ESRD undergoing incident dialysis were enrolled, 4,153 (33.13 %) of whom had osteoporosis, from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan for the years 1998 through 2011. The osteoporosis group had more comorbidities than the group without osteoporosis including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, mental disorders, and hepatitis C infection. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, gender, and related comorbidities, the osteoporosis group was associated with a significantly higher risk of coronary artery disease (hazard ratio (HR)=1.32, 95 % confidence interval (CI)=1.20-1.45) which was significant in both genders (women, HR=1.35, 95% CI=1.20-1.50; men HR=1.27, 95% CI=1.06-1.52) and all age groups (≤49 years HR=1.41, 95% CI=1.16-1.70; >49 years HR=1.30, 95% CI=1.16-1.45). Similar results were observed for the outcomes of congestive heart failure, stroke, and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that osteoporosis was significantly associated with the subsequent risk of cardiovascular events in patients with ESRD. When encountering patients with ESRD and osteoporosis, physicians should be alert to the subsequent cardiovascular risk in incident dialysis patients to prevent the subsequent occurrence of these adverse events.

Association between psoriasis and asthma: a population-based retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: Both psoriasis and asthma are chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the risk of developing asthma in patients with psoriasis compared with controls. METHODS: This cohort study was conducted using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with psoriasis (n = 10,288) and matched comparison patients without psoriasis (n = 41,152) were evaluated. A Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to determine the risk of asthma in patients with and without psoriasis. RESULTS: The risk of asthma was 1·38-fold higher [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·23-1·54] in the cohort with psoriasis than in the reference cohort, after adjusting for age, sex and comorbidities. The incidence of asthma in men and women with psoriasis exhibited nonsignificant differences. Among all patients aged > 50 years, psoriasis was associated with a higher risk of asthma compared with not having psoriasis [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1·49; 95% CI 1·18-1·88 (in patients aged 50-64 years); adjusted HR 1·63; 95% CI 1·34-1·99 (in patients aged > 65 years)]. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that patients with psoriasis are associated with a increased risk of developing asthma.

Increased risk of ischaemic stroke among patients with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Inflammatory processes including autoimmune diseases which ignite endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis may promote development of cardiovascular diseases including ischaemic stroke. This study aimed to evaluate whether multiple sclerosis (MS) increases stroke risk. METHODS: A national insurance claim data set of 22 million enrollees in Taiwan was used to identify 1174 patients with MS and 4696 randomly selected age- and gender-matched controls from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2010. Both cohorts were followed up until the occurrence of stroke or censor. Relevant covariates, such as age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure and pregnancy, were included for further survey. The hazard ratio (HR) of stroke was assessed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS: After adjusting for the relevant covariates, the MS cohort had an increased risk of stroke (adjusted HR = 12.1 for 1 year; adjusted HR = 4.69 for 2-5 years) compared with the control cohort within 5 years of follow-up. Amongst participants without comorbidities, the MS cohort was still at a greater stroke risk than the control cohort [HR 4.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.85-8.55]. Moreover, in the population aged ≤40, MS was associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke (HR 12.7, 95% CI 3.44-46.7). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple sclerosis is declared to be associated with an increased risk in developing stroke, which requires closer attention to this group of patients for stroke prevention, especially in the younger population.