A Taiwanese medial research team discovered a natural mechanism of the body that could be used to develop new drugs for treating sepsis, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
The team led by National Health Research Institute researchers Kenneth Wu (伍焜玉) and Kuo Cheng-chin (郭呈欽), and Tri-Service General Hospital physician Hsu Yu-Juei (許育瑞) found that blood vessel endothelial cells can produce 5-methoxytryptophan (5-MTP, also known as cytoguardin) — an anti-inflammatory that can reduce inflammatory response in mice with septicemia.
Septicemia is life-threatening bacterial infection that spreads through the vascular system and can progress into sepsis, causing a full-body inflammatory response and can result in organ failure.
On average, someone dies of sepsis every three seconds worldwide, Kuo said, adding that about 50 percent of patients with severe illness died of sepsis.
It is ranked No. 13 in causes of death in Taiwan and there is not effective drug to cure it, Kuo added.
Kuo said the team discovered that 5-MTP released by endothelial cells not only reduces inflammatory response in the vascular system and controls the abnormal activation of inflamed cells, it can also increase the survival rate of mice with septicemia by 80 percent.
He said the team also found that people have 5-MTP in their blood with or without sepsis, but the 5-MTP levels in people with sepsis is about 65 percent lower than healthy people.
Although the injection of 5-MTP into mice with sepsis has suggested that it could be an effective treatment, its effects on the human body would need to be confirmed through research, Kuo said, adding that the 5-MTP is a natural substance in the human body, so it is not toxic.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS