Wan-Chun Chiu

Taipei Medical University | TMU · School of Nutrition and Health Sciences

Rice bran, a byproduct of rice milling, is rich in fiber and phytochemicals and confers several health benefits. However, its effects on gut microbiota and obesity-related muscle atrophy in postmenopausal status remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of rice bran on gut microbiota, muscle synthesis, and breakdown pathways in est...

Deep-frying is a common cooking practice worldwide, and after repeated heatings, the oil undergoes various chemical reactions, including hydrolysis, polymerization, lipid oxidation, and the Maillard reaction. Studies have pointed out that oxidized dietary frying oil may cause teratogenesis in mice and increase cancer and cardiovascular risks. The l...

Inonotus obliquus (IO) is used as functional food to treat diabetes. This study investigated the effect of IO supplementation on body composition in relation to changes in energy expenditure and exercise performance. Male Institute of Cancer Research mice were divided into four groups (n = 8 per group) and orally administered IO once daily for 6 wk...

Primary liver cancer is the fifth leading death of cancers in men, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for approximately 90% of all primary liver cancer cases. Sorafenib is a first-line drug for advanced-stage HCC patients. Sorafenib is a multi-target kinase inhibitor that blocks tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Despite sorafenib...

With the prevalence of obesity and other components of metabolic syndrome, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become increasingly common. In recent years, much attention has been paid to various plant sources, hoping to find a treatment for NAFLD in plants. The Livsooth authentic herbal formula (LAH, 樂悠本草), a botanical drug formula combi...

Abnormal lipolysis is correlated with metabolic syndrome. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a natural product from honeybee hives, has been reported to improve metabolic syndrome. However, the effects of CAPE on lipolysis and perilipin-1 (the major lipid droplet-associated protein) in mature adipocytes were not clarified. In this study, mature a...

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...

With increased age, the appetite, chewing, swallowing, and digestive ability gradually decrease. Previous studies have shown that poor oral health is associated with an inadequate intake of macro and micronutrients and malnutrition. Therefore, improving the diet of elderly people and promoting nutrient absorption will help to improve the quality of...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of the water extract of fermented rice bran (FRB) on liver damage and intestinal injury in old rats fed a high-fat (HF) diet. Rice bran (RB) was fermented with Aspergillus kawachii, and FRB was produced based on a previous study. Male Sprague Dawley rats at 36 weeks of age were all...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the beneficial effects of synbiotics on liver damage, intestinal health, and muscle loss, and their relevance in rats with chronic ethanol feeding. Thirty Wistar rats fed with a control liquid diet were divided into control and synbiotics groups, which were respectively provided with water or synbiotics...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant tumor in the world. Sorafenib is the first-line drug for patients with advanced HCC. However, long-term treatment with sorafenib often results in reduced sensitivity of tumor cells to the drug, leading to acquired resistance. Identifying biomarkers which can predict the response to...

In red clover ( Trifolium pratense L.; RC) the main compound is isoflavones, which are selective estrogen receptor modulators for maintaining female health. Isoflavones exert antifatigue effects during exercise in high-temperature environments. This study aimed to investigate the effect of RC supplementation on gut microbiota composition to determi...

Background: Eccentric muscle contraction is an inherent component of numerous sporting movements but can result in muscle fatigue and injury, especially when engaging in unfamiliar exercise, which requires pharmacological intervention. Jilin ginseng root (GS) has been used to protect muscles and reduce the risk of exercise injury. Aim of the stud...

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...

There is increasing evidence showing the role of fatty acids and their derived lipid intermediates in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass synthesis and function. However, the role of omega-3 fatty acids remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the potential effects of omega-3 fatty acids on sarcopenia-related performa...

Background: In a previous study, we evaluated the potential beneficial effect of nano-bubble curcumin extract (NCE) in reducing exercise-related injuries and improving performance. Methods: In this study, we seek to investigate changes in the gut microbiota composition upon NCE supplementation in relation to health and exercise performance. Male...

In this study, we examined the regulation of autophagy by fish oil in rats under ethanol-containing diets. Thirty male Wistar rats (8-week-old) were divided into six groups and fed a control diet or an ethanol-containing diet, which was adjusted with fish oil to replace 25% or 57% of the olive oil. After 8 weeks, rats in the E (ethanol diet) group...

Menopause is associated with changes in body composition (a decline in lean body mass and an increase in total fat mass), leading to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and heart disease. A healthy diet to control body weight is an effective strategy for preventing and treating menopause-related metabolic synd...

Several studies have compared molecular components between red and white skeletal muscles in mammals. However, mammalian skeletal muscles are composed of mixed types of muscle fibers. In the current study, we analyzed and compared the distributions of titin, lipid, phosphate ions, and fatty acid levels in red and white muscles using a fish model (...

Rivaroxaban, a direct factor Xa inhibitor, is widely used to reduce the chance of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). It is not clear why the prothrombin time (PT) of the international normalized ratio (INR) fails to correlate with treatment using rivaroxaban in patients with AF. In this study, patient characteristics, the rivaroxaban...

Background: Autonomic nervous activity plays a critical role in the genesis of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF, PAF). However, the role of autonomic nervous activity on AF termination has not been elucidated. Heart rate variability (HRV) is widely used to evaluate autonomic nervous activity in humans. The purpose of this study was to assess whe...

Chili pepper is used as a food, seasoning and has been revered for its medicinal and health claims. It is very popular and is the most common spice worldwide. Capsaicin (CAP) is a major pungent and bioactive phytochemical in chili peppers. CAP has been shown to improve mitochondrial biogenesis and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. However, t...

Epidemiological investigations have shown that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. It has been indicated that the cholesterol concentration in the brain of AD patients is higher than that in normal people. In this study, we investigated the effects of cholesterol concentrations, 0, as the control, 3.125, 1...

Postmenopausal women are particularly at increased risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Here we aimed to determine the impact of postmenopausal-induced NAFLD (PM-NAFLD) in an ovariectomized rat model. Sixteen six-week-old Sprague-Dawley female rats were randomly divided into two groups (eight per group), for sham-operation...

Clinical and animal experiments indicated that gut-derived endotoxin and unbalance intestinal microbiota contributed to the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver diseases (ALD). This study was to investigate whether synbiotics supplementation could improve ALD in rats by altering intestinal microbiota composition and improving intestinal integrity. Male...

Ageing accompanied by a decline in cognitive performance may be a result of the long-term effects of oxidative stress on neurologic processes. It has been shown that high-cholesterol contents in the blood and brain may lead to the deposition of the β-amyloid (Aβ) protein in the brain, which damages brain cells. The present study was designed to obs...

Curcumin (CCM) is a well-known phytocompound and food component found in the spice turmeric and has multifunctional bioactivities. However, few studies have examined its effects on exercise performance and physical fatigue. We aimed to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of CCM supplementation on fatigue and ergogenic function following physi...

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:...

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....

Objective. The effect of extracted crude soybean saponins on preneoplastic lesions, aberrant crypt foci (ACF), and the related mechanism were investigated. Research Methods and Procedures. Rats were assigned into five groups according to different doses of extracted crude soybean saponins and received 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) injection in week...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder affecting women of reproductive age, is characterized by hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance. Women with PCOS have a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and endothelial dysfunction. The mechanisms underlying these risks are unclear. Human peripheral blood contains c...

Background: Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) due to hyperglycemia have been reported with diabetic complications. The effect of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on the formation of AGEs and oxidative stress in the myocardium was explored. Methods: Streptozocin-induced diabetic rats were randomized to three groups including untre...

Background: Androgen is a steroid hormone associated with high blood pressure (BP). The effect of androgen on BP in females is unknown. Methods: Androgen, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-6 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were evaluated in females with menstruation disorders (n = 135, 28 ± 5 years old) and normal...

Sex-related factors play an important role in the pathophysiology of heart failure (HF). However, trends in sex-related differences in hospital management for HF are not clear. We identified patients hospitalized for HF through a nationwide database (National Health Insurance in Taiwan), containing 722,272 subjects from 1999 to 2008. Higher inciden...

This study investigated the effects of glutamine (Gln) supplementation on gene expressions of inflammatory mediators and cytokines associated with T-helper cell type 17 (Th17) regulation in diabetic rats. There were one normal control group and two diabetic groups in this study. Rats in the normal control group were fed a regular chow diet. One dia...

Lung epithelial cells are important barriers in the respiratory system that provoke inflammatory responses through nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation to prevent pathogens from invading the body. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a common pathogen-associated stimulus that activates IκB kinase (IKK) to regulate NF-κB-mediated inflammation through modulating...

There are close links among hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress and diabetic complications. Glutamine (GLN) is an amino acid with immunomodulatory properties. The present study investigated the effect of dietary GLN on oxidative stress-relative gene expressions and tissue oxidative damage in diabetes. There were one normal control (NC) and two diabeti...

Chiu W-C, Liao H-F, Chang P-J, Chen P-C, Chen YC. Duration of breast feeding and risk of developmental delay in Taiwanese children: a nationwide birth cohort study. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2011; 25: 519–527. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between duration of breast feeding and four developmental domains: gro...

To assess the relationship between antimüllerian hormone (AMH) and parameters related to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Prospective study. Academic tertiary care center. A total of 290 women. None. Parameters related to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Women with polycystic ovary morphology had significantly higher AMH levels than wome...

To evaluate the impact of obesity and various phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and insulin resistance (IR). ISI and IR from 273 women in four phenotypes of PCOS and control groups were evaluated retrospectively. The ISI and the percentage of IR were not significantly different among discrete phen...

Glutamine (Gln) is known to have immunomodulatory effects. Previous studies reported that Gln promotes insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes. However, the effects of Gln on insulin-deficient type 1 diabetes are not clear. This study investigated the effects of dietary Gln supplementation on adhesion molecule expression and oxidative damage in type 1...

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between high monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) with different levels of polyunsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid (P/S) ratios and body fat loss in diet-induced obesity (DIO) models. Male Golden Syrian hamsters were randomly assigned to the control group (n=12) and obesity group (n=24) for 4 week...

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a critical syndrome associated with respiratory dysfunction, and neutrophils are considered to be central to the pathogenesis of ALI. This study investigated the effects of glutamine (Gln) on neutrophil recruitment in a model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. C57BL/6 mice were fed a standard diet either with casein...

This study investigated the effects of fish oil on adhesion molecule expression and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in hypercholesterolemic mice with sepsis. There were one control and two experimental groups in this study. The control group (C) was fed a regular chow diet for 7 weeks, while hypercholesterolemia in the experimental group was...

Many studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) have immunomodulatory effects. However, the influence of omega-3 FAs on septic conditions is not certain. This study examined the effect of fish oil (FO)-enriched diets before and/or omega-3 FA-containing total parenteral nutrition (TPN) after sepsis on the distribution of T-lymphocyte subpopul...

This study investigated the effect of different arginine (Arg) concentrations on adhesion molecule expression on endothelial cells (ECs) and leukocytes and the transendothelial migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) through ECs stimulated by plasma or peritoneal drain fluid (PDF) from surgical patients. Human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs)...

This study investigated the effect of n-3 fatty acids on adhesion molecules and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in diabetic mice with sepsis. Diabetes was induced by a streptozotocin injection. Mice with blood glucose levels exceeding 2000 mg/l were considered diabetic. Diabetic mice were assigned to two groups with a medium-fat (10 %, w/w) d...

This study investigated the effects of fish oil (FO) diet on plasma intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) levels and leucocyte integrin expression in polymicrobial sepsis. Mice were randomly assigned to a control group and an FO group. The control group was fed a medium-fat diet containing soyabean oil, whereas in the FO group, 70 % of the soy...

This study investigated the effects of arginine (Arg) on cellular adhesion molecules and intracellular Th1/Th2 cytokine expressions in mice with polymicrobial sepsis. Myeloperoxidase activity in organs was also analyzed to identify the extent of tissue injury resulting from neutrophil infiltration. Mice were randomly assigned to a normal group (NC)...

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)...

This study evaluated whether glutamine (GLN) concentration was related to endothelial surface molecule expression and the migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) through endothelial cells (ECs) stimulated by arsenic. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and PMNs were treated with different GLN concentrations (0, 300, 600 and 10...

To investigate the effects of glutamine (GLN)-enriched diets before and GLN-containing total parenteral nutrition (TPN) after sepsis or both on the secretion of cytokines and their mRNA expression levels in splenocytes of rats with septic peritonitis. Rats were assigned to a control group and 4 experimental groups. The control group and experimenta...

To investigate the effect of glutamine (Gln)-containing parenteral nutrition on phagocytic activity and to elucidate the possible roles of Gln in the secretion of anabolic hormones and nitrogen balance in rats undergoing a gastrectomy. Rats with an internal jugular catheter were divided into 2 experimental groups and received total parenteral nutri...

Supplemental Arginine (Arg) has been demonstrated to improve the immunologic response and reduce mortality in rodents with sepsis. However, the effects of Arg on gut-associated lymphoid tissue function after infection and sepsis are not clear. The aim of this study was to study the effect of Arg-supplemented diets before and Arg-enriched total pare...

This study investigated the effect of arginine (Arg) supplementation on specific antibody production and antioxidant enzyme activities in burned mice vaccinated with detoxified Pseudomonas exotoxin A linked with the outer membrane proteins I and F, named PEIF. Also, the survival rate of burned mice complicated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was evalua...

This study investigated the effect of arginine (Arg) supplementation on nutrient metabolism and splenocyte response in burned mice. Also, the survival of burned mice complicated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was evaluated. Experiment 1: Sixty male BALB/c mice were assigned to 2 groups. One group was fed with casein as the protein source, the other gr...

This study was designed to examine the effects of feeding diets containing different levels of isoflavone on plasma glucose, insulin concentrations, and lipid profiles as well as tissue antioxidant enzyme activities in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in the rats with streptozotocin. Diabetic rats were further assigned to 1 control group and 3 e...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chlorella on the lipid metabolism of rats fed with a high fat and high cholesterol diet. Forty Wistar rats were divided into five groups (control, AD0, AD1, AD5 and AD10). In the control group, rats were fed normal diets (5% soybean oil). In the AD0, AD1, AD5 and AD10 groups, rats were fed...

According to the research on biological psychology, the causes of childhood hyperactivity (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, ADHD) may be related to the damage of microscopical functions in the brain. It is also believed that dietary factors could influence the functions of the brain, such as low protein diets, the deficiencies of tryptopha...