The development of Taiwan Fracture Liaison Service network

Osteoporosis and its associated fragility fractures are becoming a severe burden in the healthcare system globally. In the Asian-Pacific (AP) region, the rapidly increasing in aging population is the main reason accounting for the burden. Moreover, the paucity of quality care for osteoporosis continues to be an ongoing challenge. The Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) is a program promoted by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) with a goal to improve quality of postfracture care and prevention of secondary fractures. In this review article, we would like to introduce the Taiwan FLS network. The first 2 programs were initiated in 2014 at the National Taiwan University Hospital and its affiliated Bei-Hu branch. Since then, the Taiwan FLS program has continued to grow exponentially. Through FLS workshops promoted by the Taiwanese Osteoporosis Association (TOA), program mentors have been able to share their valuable knowledge and clinical experience in order to promote establishments of additional programs. With 22 FLS sites including 11 successfully accredited on the best practice map, Taiwan remains as one of the highest FLS coverage countries in the AP region, and was also granted the IOF Best Secondary Fracture Prevention Promotion award in 2017. Despite challenges faced by the TOA, we strive to promote more FLS sites in Taiwan with a main goal of ameliorating further health burden in managing osteoporotic patients.

Quantification of Water-Soluble Metabolites in Medicinal Mushrooms Using Proton NMR Spectroscopy.

The water-soluble metabolites in 5 mushrooms were identified and quantified using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and software for targeted metabolite detection and quantification. In total, 35 compounds were found in Agaricus brasiliensis, 25 in Taiwanofungus camphoratus, 23 in Ganoderma lucidum (Taiwan) and Lentinus edodes, and 16 in G. lucidum (China). Total amounts of all identified metabolites in A. brasiliensis, T. camphoratus, G. lucidum, G. lucidum (China), and L. edodes were 149,950.51, 12,834.18, 9,549.09, 2,788.41, and 111,726.51 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. These metabolites were categorized into 4 groups: free amino acids and derivatives, carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, and nucleosides. Carbohydrates were the most abundant metabolites among all 4 groups, with mannitol having the highest concentration among all analyzed metabolites (848-94,104 mg/kg dry weight). Principal components analysis (PCA) showed obvious distinction among the metabolites of the 5 different kinds of mushrooms analyzed in this study. Thus PCA could provide an optional analytical way of identifying and recognizing the compositions of flavor products. Furthermore, the results of this study demonstrate that NMRbased metabolomics is a powerful tool for differentiating between various medicinal mushrooms.

Comparative study of contents of several bioactive components in fruiting bodies and mycelia of culinary-medicinal mushrooms.

Mushrooms have been consumed for thousands of years, and several bioactive components were found therein, including lovastatin, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and ergothioneine. The study reported herein was to analyze these three bioactive components in 15 fruiting bodies and 9 mycelia of 19 species of mushrooms from genera Agaricus, Agrocybe, Auricularia, Boletus, Ganoderma, Hypsizygus, Inonotus, Lentinus, Morchella, Pleurotus, Tremella, Termitomyces, and Volvariella. The results show that Hypsizygus marmoreus contained the highest amount of lovastatin (628.05 mg/kg) in fruiting bodies and Morchella esculenta contained the highest amount (1438.42 mg/ kg) in mycelia. Agaricus brasiliensis contained the highest amount of GABA (1844.85 mg/kg) in fruiting bodies, and mycelia of Boletus edulis, Pleurotus citrinopileatus, and Termitomyces albuminosus contained extraordinarily higher amounts (1274.03, 1631.67, and 2560.00 mg/kg, respectively). Volvariella volvacea contained the highest amount of ergothioneine (537.27 mg/kg) in fruiting bodies and mycelia; Boletus edulis, Pleurotus ferulae, and P. salmoneostramineus contained relatively higher amount of ergothioneine too (258.03, 250.23, and 222.08 mg/kg, respectively). However, none of these components was detected in fruiting bodies of Inonotus obliquus. In conclusion, these three bioactive components were commonly found in most mushrooms, and these results might be related to their beneficial effects.