Jung-Su Chang

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Taipei Medical University

The objective of the present study was to assess the patterns of trace element and mineral accumulation in 21 medicinal plants collected in the Altai Mountains foothills. The levels of trace elements and minerals in Hippophae rhamnoides, Aronia melanocarpa, Sorbus aucuparia, Viburnum opulus, Rosa canina, Crataegus sanguinea (fruits), Chamaenerion a...

Pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity affects nutritional status and micronutrient imbalance such as folate and iron during pregnancy. We studied the relationships between micronutrient intake and dietary patterns with serum folate and iron biomarkers among pregnant population with pre-pregnancy overweightness or obesity. This cross-sectional stu...

Purpose Vitamin D supplementation positively impacts anemia, but the relationship between a ferritin-related dietary pattern, iron parameters, and vitamin D in anemia is unclear. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2017–2019 National Nutrition and Health Survey, including 1423 pregnant women over 15 years old. Dietary intake...

6,9,11 ✉ © The Author(s) 2024 Ferritin, comprising heavy (FTH1) and light (FTL) chains, is the main iron storage protein, and pancreatic cancer patients exhibit elevated serum ferritin levels. Specifically, higher ferritin levels are correlated with poorer pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) prognosis; however, the underlying mechanism and meta...

Background Controlling saturated fat and cholesterol intake is important for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Although the use of mobile diet-tracking apps has been increasing, the reliability of nutrition apps in tracking saturated fats and cholesterol across different nations remains underexplored. Objective This study aimed to examine...

Background: Recent studies indicated that bioactive lipids of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPCs) predict unhealthy metabolic phenotypes, but results remain inconsistent. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated whether essential trace elements affect PC-Lyso PC remodeling pathways and the risk of insulin resistance...

Summary A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relative effectiveness of different dietary macronutrient patterns on changes in resting energy expenditure (REE) in relation to weight loss, categorized as minimal (<5%) and moderate to high (>5%). Changes in REE were assessed using a DerSimonian and Laird random-effects m...

Objective: Middle-aged women with obesity are at increased risk of iron overload and iron disorder is known to disrupt n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid homeostasis. We evaluated relationships between pretreatment hemoglobin and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels, and tested whether retreatment hemoglobin contributed to inter-individual variability...

This cross-sectional study analyzes the accuracy of nutrition information from artificial intelligence (AI) in comparison with a nutritionist.

The objective of the present review was to summarize the molecular mechanisms associated with the effects of the vitamins A, C, E and K, and group B vitamins on bone and their potential roles in the development of osteoporosis. Epidemiological findings have demonstrated an association between vitamin deficiency and a higher risk of developing osteo...

Globally, anemia affects 56 million pregnant women, especially women with a low household income. Functional erythropoiesis requires a constant supply of micronutrients, and the demands significantly increase during fetal development. This study aims to identify dietary patterns for preventing gestational erythropoiesis-associated micronutrient def...

Vitamin D is involved in the pathophysiology of anemia. This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey in Pregnant Women in Taiwan database. We investigated associations among dietary patterns (DPs), vitamin D, and iron-related biomarkers in pregnant women. The principal component analysis revealed four DP...

Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a global micronutrient issue that commonly occurs in pregnant women, leading to adverse health outcomes. We examined the role of sunlight-related factors and dietary vitamin D intake on vitamin D concentrations among pregnant women in different climate zones. Methods: We conducted a nationwide cross-sect...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate potential similar patterns and interactive effects of obesity and hypertension on hair essential trace element and mineral content in adult women. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 607 adult women divided into controls (n = 101), groups with obesity without hypertension (n = 199), hypertens...

Iron deficiency (ID) remains the most common nutritional disorder worldwide. Although iron is biologically essential, tight regulation of iron balance is critical to prevent iron toxicity. Significant progress has been made on iron disorder diseases since the discovery of hepcidin in 2000. Hepcidin, a master iron regulator, controls iron balance th...

Purpose To assess whether polymorphisms of haptoglobin (Hp) modify the relationship between dietary iron and the risk of gestational iron-deficiency anemia (IDA). Methods This study analyzed 1430 singleton pregnant women aged 20 ~ ≤ 48 years from the 2017–2019 National Nutrition and Health Survey of Pregnant Women in Taiwan. Sociodemographic, bloo...

Background and aims: Digital food viewing is a vital skill for connecting dieticians to e-health. The aim of this study was to integrate a novel pedagogical framework that combines interactive three- (3-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) food models into a formal dietetic training course. The level of agreement between the digital food models (first sem...

Objective Dicer is an enzyme that processes microRNAs (miRNAs) precursors into mature miRNAs, which have been implicated in various aspects of cancer progressions, such as clinical aggressiveness, prognosis, and survival outcomes. We previously showed that high expression of Dicer is associated with gemcitabine (GEM) resistance in pancreatic ductal...

A promoter is a sequence of DNA that initializes the process of transcription and regulates whenever and wherever genes are expressed in the organism. Because of its importance in molecular biology, identifying DNA promoters are challenging to provide useful information related to its functions and related diseases. Several computational models hav...

Growing evidence indicates that metal exposure is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS); however, mixed results have been reported. The aim of this study was to clarify associations of exposure to essential and non-essential metals with body composition and risks of obesity and MetS. Anthropometry and blood biochemistry of metabolic parameters...

The purpose of the study is to determine the content of toxic metals in human adipose tissue and analyze the patterns of cumulation of toxic and essential trace elements in comparison with the liver parenchyma. Material and methods. Samples of pararenal fatty tissue on the right and right lobes of the liver were obtained during autopsies from 28 pa...

The objective of the present study was to review the existing data on the association between Zn status and characteristics of gut microbiota in various organisms and the potential role of Zn-induced microbiota in modulating systemic effects. The existing data demonstrate a tight relationship between Zn metabolism and gut microbiota as demonstrated...

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of an iron deficiency; however, a synergistic relationship between iron and lipid homeostasis was also observed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pharmacological doses of iron supplementation on omega 3 (n-3) and omega 6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Sprague-Dawley (SD...

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal diseases which lack an early diagnostic marker. We investigated whether serum ferritin (SF) reflects risk for pancreatic cancer and potential genes that may contribute ferritin and pancreatic cancer risks. We performed a meta-analysis of relevant studies on SF and pancreatic cancer risk by searching artic...

Hepcidin is a regulator of iron metabolism. Diet affects the body’s iron status, but how it influences hepcidin concentrations and the risk of gestational iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) remains unclear. We investigated relationships of food and nutrient intake with serum hepcidin levels in relation to the iron status at a population scale. A retrospe...

Background & aims Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are at high risk of malnutrition, and their doctors are part of a multidisciplinary team, including nutritionists. However, adherence to nutritional guidelines may be difficult in the context of capacity constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate hair toxic metal levels in patients with obesity and/or coronary heart disease (CHD). Following a 2 × 2 factorial design, subjects without CHD were grouped into normal weight control (n = 123) and obese groups (n = 140). Patients suffering from CHD were divided into normal weight (n = 180) and obes...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate hair essential and trace element levels and metabolic risk markers in overweight and obese subjects in relation to body mercury burden. According to 2 × 2 factorial design a total of 440 adults were distributed to four groups: (i) low-Hg normal-weight subjects (n = 114); (ii) high-Hg normal weight...

Vitamin D’s function in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is not consistent in the literature. We examined the association between maternal plasma 25(OH)D concentration and GDM risk. A national cross-sectional study (1497 pregnant women) was conducted between 2017 and 2019 across Taiwan. Blood samples were drawn at recruitment...

Objective The coexistence of underweight (UW) and overweight (OW)/obese (OB) at the population level is known to affect iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), but how the weight status affects erythropoiesis during pregnancy is less clear at a population scale. This study investigated associations between the pre-pregnancy body mass index (pBMI) and erythro...

Good nutritional support is crucial for the immune system to fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, in the context of a pandemic with a highly transmissible coronavirus, implementation of nutrition practice may be difficult. A multicenter electronic survey involving 62 dieticians was conducted, in order to understand barriers a...

Epidemiological studies demonstrated an association between heavy metal exposure and the incidence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, the particular effects of metal toxicity on adipose tissue functioning are unclear. Therefore, recent findings of direct influence of heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, and lead) and metalloid (arsenic) on adip...

The use of image-based dietary assessments (IBDAs) has rapidly increased; however, there is no formalized training program to enhance the digital viewing skills of dieticians. An IBDA was integrated into a nutritional practicum course in the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University Taiwan. An online IBDA platform was creat...

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 disease (COVID)-19 is having profound effects on the global economy and food trade. Limited data are available on how this pandemic is affecting our dietary and lifestyle-related behaviors at the global level. Google Trends was used to obtain worldwide relative search volumes (RSVs) cov...

Background & Aims Image-assisted or image-based dietary assessments (IBDAs) refer to the use of food images as the primary dietary record and have emerged as key methods for evaluating habitual dietary intake; however, the validity of image-assisted or IBDAs is still unclear, and no meta-analysis has been conducted. Our aim was to investigate the v...

Despite the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity and iron deficiency (ID), there are still no guidelines on how to treat and manage obesity‐related ID. The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to investigate whether weight loss can re‐establish iron homoeostasis among subjects with unhealthy weight (overweight [OW] or obesity)....

The literature suggests a bidirectional relationship between testosterone (T) and iron, but mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. We investigated effects of iron on advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in obesity-related androgen deficiency. In total, 111 men were recruited, and iron biomarkers and N(ɛ)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CM...

Background & aims: Haptoglobin (Hp) is associated with risks of obesity and cardiometabolic dysfunction; however, the role of the Hp phenotype in diet-induced weight loss remains to be elucidated. This study investigated whether the Hp phenotype contributes to inter-individual variations in body weight reduction as well as changes in the metabolic...

Background Findings concerning nitric oxide (NO) in children and adolescents with obesity are scant. Objective This study examined the links of NO with obesity and psychological traits (ie, self‐concept, anxiety, depression, anger and disruptive behaviour) in children and adolescents in Taiwan. Methods A total of 564 first, fourth and seventh gra...

Obesity has become a significant problem for developing countries, including Indonesia. High duration of sedentary activity and high intake of unhealthy foods were associated with high risk of overweight and obesity. The objective of this study was to compare the distributions of sedentary activity and dietary behavior with overweight/obesity risks...

Diet plays an important role in the development of obesity and may contribute to dysregulated iron metabolism (DIM). A cross-sectional survey of 208 adults was conducted in Taipei Medical University Hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). A reduced-rank regression from 31 food groups was used for a dietary pattern analysis. DIM was defined as at least four of t...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a cancer associated with chronic inflammation. Whole grains and probiotics play a protective role against CRC. Fermented grains are receiving increased attention due to their anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. Our previous study found that a combination of germinated brown rice (GBR) with probiotics suppressed...

Background: Iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) play a significant role in female reproduction and fetal development. At the same time, high levels of metals may exert toxic effects. Correspondingly, both excess and deficiency of essential trace elements were shown to be associated with female infertility and adverse pregnancy outcome, alth...

This study was motivated by clinical observations that dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome (DIOS) and an androgen deficiency are common features observed in obese adult men; however, the molecular mechanism underlying the effects of DIOS on androgen deficiency remains to be elucidated. We established a DIOS animal model by feeding Sprague-Dawley ra...

Objectives: Sedentary behaviors and unhealthy diets are reported to be risk factors of obesity. The present study aims to examine the role of high sedentary activity and low consumption of fruits and vegetables in increasing obesity in Indonesian adult people. Methods: The analysis presented in this study was based on the data from a population-...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an emerging health problem associated with the dysregulation of the intestinal immune system and microbiome. Probiotics are able to reduce inflammatory responses in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). However, entire signaling pathways and the interaction between different probiotics have not been well-documented...

Elevated soluble cluster of differentiation 163 (sCD163) concentrations, a marker of macrophage activation, are associated with obesity. Weight reduction decreases circulating CD163 levels, and changes in sCD163 levels are associated with improved metabolic dysfunction. Currently, the relationship between sCD163 and diet remains unclear. This study...

Obesity and low serum testosterone (T) levels are interrelated and strongly influenced by dietary factors, and their alteration entails a great risk of hypogonadism. Substantial evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between nutrient metabolism (e.g., glucose, lipids, and iron) and T levels in men; however, T-related dietary patterns remain...

Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation and iron status are interrelated and strongly influenced by dietary factors, and their alterations pose a great risk of dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Currently, RBC aggregation-related dietary patterns remain unclear. This study investigated the dietary patterns that were associated with RBC aggregatio...

Elevated soluble (s) CD163 and free hemoglobin (Hb) levels predict fatty liver progression; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying Hb metabolism and liver injury remain undefined. We investigated the effects of endoplasmic reticular (ER) stress on red blood cell (RBC) rheology and free Hb recycling pathways. ER stress was induced in Sprague-D...

Background & Aims This study explored whether moderate weight loss or a reduction in interleukin (IL)‐6 improve the serum iron status in overweight (OW) and obese adults supplemented with or without fish oil. Methods and Results In total, 93 OW /obese Taiwanese adults with ≥2 metabolic components were randomized to a 12‐week calorie‐restricted die...

Sedentary behaviors and dietary intake are independently associated with obesity risk. In the literature, only a few studies have investigated gender differences for such associations. The present study aims to assess the association of sedentary behaviors and unhealthy foods intake with obesity in men and women in a comparative manner. The analysi...

A higher sugar intake in infancy might result in a predisposition to a higher sugar intake in later childhood. In Taiwan, many commercial infant and toddler foods with nutrition claims have high sugar content. This study explored the influence of mothers’ knowledge and attitudes on their purchase intention for infant food with nutrition claims. Thi...

Composition claim, nutrition claim and health claim are often found on the commercial complementary food packaging. The introduction of complementary foods (CFs) to infants is a turning point in the development of their eating behavior, and their commercial use for Taiwanese infants is growing. In Taiwan, lots of the advertisements for CFs employed...

Minimal anonymized data set of food claims. (XLSX)

Diabetes is often associated with decreased melatonin level. The aim was to investigate the effects of different dosage of melatonin on glucose hemostasis, antioxidant ability and adipokines secretion in diabetic institute for cancer research (ICR) mice. Forty animals were randomly divided into five groups including control (C), diabetic (D), low-d...

Scope: In adults, >90% of the daily iron requirement is derived from macrophage-mediated heme iron recycling from senescent red blood cells (RBCs) or free hemoglobin (Hb). Currently, the effects of pharmacological doses of iron supplementation on RBCs and heme iron recycling in obesity are unclear. Methods and results: Sprague Dawley rats were f...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a high fat diet with experimental oil consisting of 60% MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) with a P/S ratio of 5 on fat deposition and lipid metabolism in obese hamsters. Hamsters were randomly assigned to a control group and a diet-induced obesity group for nine weeks. Then an additional eigh...

Dysregulated iron metabolism is associated with altered body composition and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, mechanisms underlying this association remain undefined. We investigated this association in 117 women. Middle-aged women (≥45 years old (y)) were heavier and had lower serum iron, higher serum hepcidin, ferritin, and seve...

Background and objectives: Fatigue is a critical occupational health risk among migrant workers. Globally, more than half of migrant workers are women. However, the prevalence rate and risk factors for fatigue in domestically employed migrant women are unknown. Methods and study design: In total, 194 Indonesian women migrants aged 20-50 years wh...

Background and objectives: Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is generally used for evaluating liver function, and its concentrations are closely associated with sex and nutritional status. This study investigates the relationships between dietary components and serum ALT activity in Taiwanese adolescents. Methods and study design: Data were collect...

Scope: Obesity is associated with elevated serum ferritin and increased macrophage activation and infiltration; however, the causal mechanisms underlying this relationship remain undefined. Methods and results: Serum ferritin and soluble P-selectin glycoprotein ligand (sPSGL)-1 level were higher in obese adolescents and patients with moderate no...

Scope: Diabetes is associated with increased risks of anemia and activation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the receptor for AGEs (RAGE). However, the effects of pharmacological doses of iron supplementation on AGE metabolism are less clear. The aim was to investigate the effect of ferric citrate supplementation on AGE metabolism. M...

It has been indicated that probiotics can be nourished by consuming prebiotics in order to function more efficiently, allowing the bacteria to stay within a healthy balance. In this study, we investigated the effects of xylooligosaccharides- (XOS-) enriched rice porridge consumption on the ecosystem in the intestinal tract of human subjects. Twenty...

Objective The transition from childhood to teenaged years is associated with increased testosterone and a decreased iron status. It is not clear whether higher testosterone levels cause the decreased iron status, and to what extent, obesity-related inflammation influences the iron-testosterone relationship. The aim of the present study was to exami...

Diabetic patients are at high risk of developing anemia; however, pharmacological doses of iron supplementation may vary greatly depending on diabetes-related complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the dose-dependent effect of iron on glucose disposal with a special focus on endoplasmic reticular (ER) stress, iron metabolism, and i...

Fe is an essential element for erythropoiesis and Hb synthesis. High Hb levels affect the blood's viscosity and are associated with cardiovascular dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to examine relationships of Hb and cardiometabolic abnormalities with the risk of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation in adolescents. A population-based...

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by wasting and chronic intestinal inflammation triggered by various cytokine-mediated pathways. In recent years, it was shown that T helper 17 (Th17) cells are involved in the pathogenesis of IBD, which makes them an attractive therapeutic target. Th17 cells preferentially produce interleukin (IL)...

The purpose of this study was to assess of calcium intervention on the effectiveness of a weight-loss program for obese people. All subjects had an initial BMI (body mass index) >24 kg/m 2 and low calcium diet (<500 mg/d). Forty-two healthy overweight or obese people were randomly and equally divided into two groups: a Hi-Ca group (female: 16, male...

Mothers who are exposed to formula advertisements (ads) are less likely to initiate breastfeeding and more likely to breastfeed for a shorter duration than other mothers. The purpose of this study was to examine infant and toddler food ads in pregnancy and early parenting magazines. A content analysis of infant and toddler food ads printed in 12 is...

Obesity and iron deficiency are amongst the most common nutritional disorders inthe world. However, whether being overweight or obese is associated with increased riskof iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains undefined. Obesity is associated with increasedrisk of hypoferremia (low serum iron levels) and the risk may increase further in morbidobesity...

Body iron levels have recently been shown to be a strong predictor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD in a general adult population, and to investigate the relationship between body iron levels, NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). 2186 adults participated in the thi...

Objective We noticed a sharp increase in the prevalence of obesity but a decline in iron deficiency in children between the two consecutive Nutrition and Health Surveys in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of hepcidin in relation to nutritional status in children. Methods A total of 648 children aged 7-13 yrs living in...

Whether being overweight or obese is associated with increased risk of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains controversial. We evaluated the dietary intakes and risk for IDA in relation to body mass index (BMI). One thousand two hundred and seventy-four females aged ≥19 years, enrolled in the third Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) 2005...

Background In the past several decades, Polygonum viviparum L. (PV) was reported to have antibacterial, antiulcer, antioxidant, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antiarthritic properties. The anti-inflammatory pathway was recently elucidated through cytosolic nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activation and heme oxygenase (HO)-1 protein exp...

Chronic liver diseases, including cancer, are characterized by inflammation and elevated serum ferritin (SF). However, the causal-relationship remains unclear. This study used primary rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC) as a model to investigate effects of physiological SF concentrations (10, 100 and 1000 pM) because HSCs play a central role in the de...