Annual Report 2012–13

26 開拓人類知識的版圖 Genetic Predictor of Chinese Diabetic Patients A research team led by Prof. Ma Ching-wan Ronald, Prof. Chan Chung-ngor Juliana, and Dr. So Wing-yee, clinical associate professor (honorary), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, has discovered a genetic predictor of diabetes among Chinese patients, which may help to identify high-risk individuals, in a collaborative study with Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital. The findings have been published online in Diabetologia (25 March 2013). The study, conducted from 2008 to 2012, identified a genetic marker on chromosome 7 near the paired box gene 4 (PAX4) gene which was associated with diabetes as well as poorer insulin response. People with this genetic marker have approximately 18% higher risk of having diabetes and will develop diabetes at a younger age. Non-invasive Cure for Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation Researchers from the Department of Surgery, the Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology and the Department of Clinical Oncology have proved that the non-invasive technology called ‘linear accelerator radiosurgery’ can successfully cure cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM) in a collaborative research jointly conducted by the three departments since 1998. AVMs are the leading cause of stroke in young people (aged 10 to 40). It is estimated that 70 to 80 patients per year suffer AVM hemorrhage (ruptured blood vessels with bleeding inside the brain) in Hong Kong. A non-invasive treatment, radiosurgery involves directing focused radiation beams precisely to AVMs in a single session. Radiosurgery acts on the endothelial cells lining its blood vessels. These cells tend to multiply after the treatment and produce clots, which diminish blood flow through the tangle of vessels, eventually turning AVMs into harmless scars. More than 100 AVM cases had been treated using linear accelerator radiosurgery since 1998. The CUHK researchers found that the success rate was as high as over 86%. The results were published in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience . 預測中國人糖尿病的基因標記 內科及藥物治療學系馬青雲教授、陳重娥 教授及名譽臨床副教授蘇詠儀醫生帶領的 研究團隊，與上海交通大學附屬第六人民 醫院的研究人員合作，發現了預測中國人 糖尿病的基因標記，有助識別高風險糖尿 病患者，加強預防及早期治療工作。研究成 果已發表於國際期刊 Diabetologia （網上 版， 2013 年 3 月 25 日）。 研究於 2008 至 2012 年進行，結果鑑定位於 第七號染色體的 PAX4 基因，是預測中國人 糖尿病及糖尿病相關的代謝異常的基因標 記。有此標記的人士，胰腺分泌胰島素功能 會較低，發病風險較其他人高約一成八，並 傾向於年輕時發病。 右四至六：陳重娥教授、馬青雲教授、蘇詠儀醫生 Fourth to sixth right: Prof. Chan Chung-ngor Juliana, Prof. Ma Ching-wan Ronald, Dr. So Wing-yee