Hui-Ting Yang

Taipei Medical University | TMU · food safety

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and major depressive disorder (MDD) are the two most disabling diseases. Patients with CVDs comorbid depression had somatic and fatigue symptoms and were associated with chronic inflammation and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) deficits. However, there have been limited studies on the effec...

The effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activators D-serine, D-alanine, and sarcosine against schizophrenia and depression are promising. Nevertheless, high doses of D-serine and sarcosine are associated with undesirable nephrotoxicity or worsened prostatic cancer. Thus, alternatives are needed. DAAO inhibition can increase D-serine as wel...

l-rhamnose-binding lectin (RBL), which is a class of animal lectins independent of Ca2+, can specifically bind l-rhamnose or d-galactose. Although several lectins in zebrafish have been reported, their functional mechanisms have not been fully uncovered. In this study, we discovered a novel l-rhamnose binding lectin (DrRBL) and studied its innate i...

C-type lectins (CTLs) are important immune-related molecules in crustaceans. However, the immunologic mechanism by which CTLs eliminate invading pathogens is still unclear. In this study, we studied the antimicrobial mechanism of a CTL containing two carbohydrate recognition domains (DClec). After Aeromonas hydrophila challenge, several antimicrobi...

Background d-glutamate, which is involved in N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor modulation, may be associated with cognitive ageing. Aims This study aimed to use peripheral plasma d-glutamate levels to differentiate patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from healthy individuals and to evaluate its prediction ability...

Objective: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are associated with poorer prognosis of dementia. A 24-week study demonstrated that sodium benzoate, a D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) inhibitor, surpassed placebo in improving cognitive function in early-phase Alzheimer's disease; however, benzoate did not excel placebo in another 6-...

No studies have examined the relationship between endogenous polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) levels and treatment response to PUFAs. We conducted a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing the effects of high-dose eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 1.2 g) and placebo on cognitive function (continuous performance test) in n = 92 youth...

pLG72, named as D-amino acid oxidase activator (although it is not an activator of D-amino acid oxidase demonstrated by later studies), in mitochondria has been regarded as an important modulator of D-amino acid oxidase that can regulate the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). Both oxidative stress in mitochondria and NMDAR neurotransmission pla...

Background: D-amino acids have been recognized as bioactive substances in humans. d-Serine and D-alanine are co-agonists of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors. Glutamate has been suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to explore the roles of amino acids, particularly D-amino acids, in cognitive de...

Objectives: Studies suggested that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with multiple dietary factors. Earlier studies addressed issues related to dietary allergens and toxicants. Recent attention has turned to nutrient imbalance resulted from unhealthy dietary habit. This study aims to investigate dietary and nutritional...

Thymosin hormones, which were shown to be involved in immune system development and differentiation in previous studies, have antimicrobial functions in different animals. Zebrafish are a useful model for immunology research. Although thymosin has been reported to be involved in the embryonic development of zebrafish, it is necessary to uncover the...

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and major depressive disorder (MDD) will be the two most disabling diseases by 2030. Patients with CVDs comorbid depression had lower levels of total omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. However, there have been limited studi...

A content analysis was used to investigate the marketing strategies, serving size, and nutrition quality in Taiwan popular children’s snacks and drinks. A total of 361 snacks and 246 drinks were collected. It was found that 38.6% of snacks and 25.3% of drinks were child-targeted (CT) foods, and 78.1% and 85.4% of the snacks and drinks had health an...

This study aims to investigate dietary and nutritional biochemistry profiles of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to explore their potential relationship by path analysis. We enrolled 216 children with ADHD and 216 age-, height-and gender-matched controls from 31 elementary schools in Taiwan. Dietary intake of the participants was...

Background: Clozapine is the last-line antipsychotic agent for refractory schizophrenia. To date, there is no convincing evidence for augmentation on clozapine. Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, including inhibition of D-amino acid oxidase that may metabolize D-amino acids, has been reported to be beneficial for patients receiving anti...

Feasible peripheral biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is lacking. Dysregulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is implicated in the pathogenesis of AD. D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) and amino acids can regulate the NMDA receptor function. This study aimed to examine whether peripheral DAO and amino acids levels are characteristic of age-...

Numerous bacteria are harbored in the animal digestive tract and are impacted by several factors. Intestinal microbiota homeostasis is critical for maintaining the health of an organism. However, how pathogen invasion affects the microbiota composition has not been fully clarified. The mechanisms for preventing invasion by pathogenic microorganisms...

Scavenger receptors (SRs) comprise a large family of structurally diverse glycoproteins located on the cell membrane and function as pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) participating in innate immunity in different species. Class C scavenger receptor (SRC) has been only identified in invertebrates and its biological functions still need to be rese...

Introduction: Prenatal depression (PND) is a common psychiatric disorder in pregnant women and leads to psychosocial dysfunction, high suicidal rate, and adverse childcare. Patients with PND have omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (omega-3 or n-3 PUFAs) deficits, which might link to chronic low-grade inflammatory process and the pathophysiological...

Scavenger receptors are an important class of pattern recognition receptors that play several important roles in host defense against pathogens. The class C scavenger receptors (SRCs) have only been identified in a few invertebrates, and their role in the immune response against viruses is seldom studied. In this study, we firstly identified an SRC...

pBlueScript II SK+ with VP28 sequence was used to generate standard curve by qRT-PCR for WSSV quantification. (A and B) Amplification curves (A) and melting curves (B) generated by qRT-PCR to amplify VP28 fragments using different quantified plasmids as templates. The value of melting temperature was 85°C. (C) Standard curve generated using above q...

Mjβ-arrestin2 was upregulated in hemocytes of shrimp challenged by WSSV. (A and B) Tissue distribution of Mjβ-arrestin1 (A) and Mjβ-arrestin2 (B) in shrimp. The mRNA expression level was analyzed by qRT-PCR. β-Actin was used as an internal reference. (C and D) mRNA expression patterns of Mjβ-arrestin1 (C) and Mjβ-arrestin2 (D) in hemocytes of shrim...

Phylogenetic analysis of clathrins from M. japonicus and other species. The neighbor-joining tree was produced by MEGA 5.05, using bootstraps of 1000 to test the reproducibility. Mjclathrin is labeled with a black triangle. The GenBank accession number of each sequence is shown in the figure. A. echinatior: Acromyrmex echinatior; B. mori: Bombyx mo...

Schematic representation of SRCs. Several SRCs are from Bombyx mori (NP001128387), Spodoptera frugiperda (ABB92836), Aedes aegypti (AAEL006361), Anopheles darlingi (ETN63673), Drosophila melanogaster (AGA18734) and Marsupenaeus japonicus (KU213605). The functional modules were predicted in SMART (http://smart.embl-heidelberg.de/). (TIF)

Phylogenetic analysis of SRCs from M. japonicus and other species. The neighbor-joining tree was constructed by MEGA 5.05, using bootstraps of 1000 to test the reproducibility. MjSRC is labeled with a black triangle. The GenBank accession number of each sequence is shown in the figure. A. darlingi: Anopheles darlingi; B. mori: Bombyx mori; C. quinq...

The expression profiles of MjSRC in gills and intestine of shrimp challenged by WSSV. (A and B) The mRNA expression patterns of MjSRC in gills (A) and intestine (B) of shrimp after WSSV challenge detected by qRT-PCR with β-actin gene as a reference. Results were expressed as the mean ± SD and analyzed statistically by student’s t-test. (C) The prot...

Serial photographs of hemocyte phagocytosis of WSSV observed under the flow cytometry after dsGFP (A) or dsMjSRC (B) injection. Ch 01: channel 01, bright field images of hemocytes; Ch 02: channel 02, FITC-labeled WSSV images; Ch 03: channel 03, the merged images of Ch 01 and Ch 02, indicating WSSV located in hemocytes. (TIF)

MjSRC restricts WSSV replication in shrimp. (A) Efficiency of MjSRC RNAi in hemocytes at different time points, as detected by RT-PCR (upper two panels) and western blotting (lower two panels). The β-actin gene served as the reference. (B) Efficiency of MjSRC overexpression in hemocytes, as detected by western blotting with anti-MjSRC sera. Trx-His...

Hemocyte phagocytosis of WSSV observed under a fluorescence microscope. After knockdown or overexpression of MjSRC, FITC labeled WSSV (green) were injected into shrimp. Hemocytes were collected at 1 h after WSSV injection. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar = 100 μm. The last column showed local amplification of parts in the box. dsGFP...

Oligomerization of MjSRC in hemocytes of shrimp infected by WSSV. (A) A trimer of MjSRC was detected in vivo using western blotting after treatment with crosslinker (BS3). Western blotting was performed using anti-MjSRC sera. β-Actin served as loading control. (B) Hemocytes were collected from WSSV-infected shrimp and treated with different concent...

Impaired phosphatase activity leads to the persistent activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat). In mammals, Stat family members are often phosphorylated or dephosphorylated by the same enzymes. To date, only one Stat similar to mammalian Stat5a/b has been found in crustaceans and there have been few studies in Stat si...

Soy isoflavones (SI) are phytochemicals with various biological activities. Acetaminophen can cause acute liver injury when overdosed. In this study, to investigate the effects of SI on the metabolism and toxicity of acetaminophen in liver, rats were fed a controlled diet with or without 120 mg/kg SI-rich product for 2 weeks and were then intraperi...

The metazoan gut lumen harbors numerous microbial communities. Tolerance for high bacterial counts and maintenance of microbiota homeostasis remain insufficiently studied. In this study, we identified a novel dual oxidase (MjDUOX2) involved in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus. MjDUOX2 is a transme...

Objectives: Somatic symptoms are common in depressive disorder and are similar to sickness behaviors due to inflammatory activation after cytokine administration. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are natural anti-inflammatory agents and may reduce inflammation-induced behavioral changes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role...

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant catechin with various biological activities found in tea. In this study, the effects of EGCG on the metabolism and toxicity of acetaminophen in rat liver were investigated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a controlled diet without or with EGCG (0.54 %, w/w) for 1 week and were then intrap...

Intestinal innate immune response is an important defense mechanism of animals and humans against external pathogens. The mechanism of microbiota homeostasis in host intestines has been well studied in mammals and Drosophila. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antimicrobial peptides have been reported to play important roles in homeostasis. Howe...

The anti-glycative and anti-oxidative effects from Houttuynia cordata leaves aqueous extract (HCAE) in heart and kidney of diabetic mice were examined. HCAE, at 1 or 2 %, was supplied in drinking water for 8 weeks. Plasma glucose and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity were measured. The production of oxidativ...

Cardiac protective effects of asiatic acid (AA) and maslinic acid (MA) in diabetic mice were examined. These triterpenoids at 0.1 or 0.2% of the diet were supplied to diabetic mice for 12 weeks. AA or MA treatments decreased plasma glucose and HbA1c levels, creatine phosphokinase and lactate dehydrogenase activities in diabetic mice (p<0.05). AA or...

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are commonly comorbid with depression and vice versa. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been suggested to mediate in CVDs and depression in cross-sectional and observational studies. With the patients of CVDs, we investigated the role of depression on the effect of PUFAs. Methods: Forty-four pati...

Protective effects of maslinic acid (MA) at 10, 15 or 20 mg/kg body weight/day against alcohol-induced acute hepatotoxicity in mice were examined. Mice were administrated by MA for 3 weeks, and followed by alcohol treatment. Results showed that MA pre-intake at three doses resulted in its accumulation in liver; and dose-dependently lowered cytochro...

Background Interferon (IFN)-α therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequently associated with depression. The routine prophylaxis with antidepressants might expose patients to adverse effects, hence the need for alternative preventive interventions. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are safe and effective essential nut...

Fibrinogen-related proteins (FREPs) in invertebrates have important functions in innate immunity. In this study, the cDNA of FREP was identified from the kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus (MjFREP2). The full-length cDNA of MjFREP2 is 1138 bp with an open reading frame of 954 bp that encodes a 317 amino acid protein comprising a signal peptide an...

Background: Amelioration effect of Auricularia polytricha water extract (AP) on hepatic injury in an animal model of NAFLD was investigated. Methods: Forty six-week-old Wistar rats were housed and thirty-two fed ten percent lard high-fat diet to induce NAFLD. After eight weeks of induction, animals were divided into five groups of eight rats each:...

The effect of commercially available green tea (GT) and black tea (BT) drinks on drugmetabolizing enzymes (DME) and oxidative stress in rats was investigated. Male Wistar rats were fed a laboratory chow diet and GT or BT drink for 5 weeks. Control rats received de-ionized water instead of the tea drinks. Rats received the GT and BT drinks treatment...

Effects of asiatic acid (AA) at 10 or 20 mg/kg/day upon hepatic steatosis in mice consuming high fat diet (HFD) were examined. AA intake decreased body weight, water intake, feed intake, epididymal fat, plasma and hepatic triglyceride levels in HFD-treated mice (P<0.05). HFD enhanced 2.85 folds acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC1), 3.34 folds fatty...

This study investigated the effect of dietary fish oil on systemic inflammation and hepatic injury in mice with polymicrobial sepsis. Male ICR mice were assigned to a control group (C, n=30) and a fish oil group (FO, n=30). Mice in the C group were fed a semi-purified diet with 10% soybean oil, and those in the FO group were fed a fish oil diet (2....

Various epidemiological studies have shown that type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome are highly correlated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we sought to assess the impact of metabolic syndrome characteristics on the progression of AD. Five-week-old male, spontaneously hypertensive (n = 32) and Wistar Kyoto (abbreviated WKY; n = 8) rats were d...

  The influence of riboflavin (vitamin B(2) ) upon growth, invasion, and migration in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines was evaluated. Riboflavin at 1, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400 μmol/L was added into A549, H3255, or Calu-6 cells. The effects of this compound upon level and/or expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammatory cytokine...

The neuroprotective effects of s-allyl cysteine, s-ethyl cysteine, and s-propyl cysteine in D-galactose (DG)-treated mice were examined. DG treatment increased the formation of Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42), enhanced mRNA expression of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and β-site APP cleavage enzyme 1 (BACE1), and reduced neprilysin expression in brain (P...

Chitosan is sold worldwide as a lipid-lowering functional food and may be taken with certain medications. To investigate the effect of chitosan on drug-metabolizing enzymes and oxidative stress in the liver, male Wistar rats were fed a low- or high-fat diet with cellulose or chitosan for 4 weeks. A significant decrease in cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A-c...

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in brain sulfur-containing amino acid (SCAA) metabolism to determine whether taurine intervened under continuous alcohol intake. We fed 80 male Sprague-Dawley rats 30% alcohol-containing water for 4 weeks. Eighty animals were divided into two groups (with or without 2 g/kg body weight taurine s...

Based on the findings of epidemiological data and recent clinical trials, omega-3 fatty acids seem to have a preventive and therapeutic effect on depression. We examined the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on the forced-swimming test (FST) in two groups of Sprague-Dawley rats after a six-week treatment with two different diets. Behavioral responses w...

Chronic arsenic exposure is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has a strong correlation with hypertension. Oxidative stress may be one of the major contributors to arsenic-induced hypertension. To investigate the antioxidative and CYP systems through which inorganic arsenic compounds may contribute to blood pressure elevation in rat...

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in brain sulfur-containing amino acid (SCAA) metabolism to determine whether taurine intervened under continuous alcohol intake. We fed 80 male Sprague–Dawley rats 30% alcohol-containing water for 4 weeks. Eighty animals were divided into two groups (with or without 2 g/kg body weight taurine s...

It is believed that soy isoflavone has much potential effectiveness on the postmenopausal status; however, the optimal dose for preventing postmenopausal bone loss still remains unclear. This open-labeled, self-controlled pilot study was undertaken to determine the effect of 1-year supplementation of different high dosages of soy isoflavone in post...

In this study, we attempted to evaluate changes in sulfur-containing amino acid (SCAA) metabolism after short-term high-dose alcohol ingestion. At the beginning of the study, six animals were sacrificed as the baseline group and then other animals in the experiment were consecutively gavaged with alcohol (30%, 3 g/kg) for 7 days. Animals (n=6 each)...

In this study, we attempted to evaluate the effect of administration of a high quantity of red yeast rice on coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) synthesis in the tissues of ICR mice. Eighty-eight adult male ICR mice were housed and divided into control and experimental groups for red yeast rice treatment. Animals were gavaged with a low (1 g/kg body weight) or a...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the Monascus rice powder on coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), vitamin E, and plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) fatty acid profiles in male hamsters. Seventytwo male hamsters (110 g) were divided into six treatment groups (C, control diet; L, low-dose 0.5% Monascus rice powder diet; H, high-dose 4% Monascus r...

This study evaluated the cholesterol-lowering effectiveness and plasma antioxidative enzymes produced by Monascus rice powder and soysterols in hamsters. Fifty-four weanling male hamsters were divided into six treatment groups (C, control diet; S, 2.5% soysterol diet; M, 1.0% monacolin diet; MS1, combines with 2.5% soysterol and 2.0% monacolin diet...

The proposed study evaluated the cholesterol-lowering effectiveness and the plasma total antioxidative status produced by Monascus rice powder in hamster. Seventy-two weanling male hamsters were housed and divided into three groups and fed a cholesterol diet (1 g/kg diet) to induce hypercholesterolemia for this study. Various doses (4 g/kg diet for...