In order to study a possible effect of mini-invasive heart intervention on a response of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal stress axis, we analyzed four stress markers (cortisol, cortisone, DHEA and DHEAS) in 25 sows using minimally invasive heart catheterisation as the stress factor. The marker levels were assessed in four periods of the experiment, (1) the baseline level on the day before intervention, (2) after the introduction of anesthesia, (3) after conducting tissue stimulation or ablation, and (4) after the end of the catheterisation. For statistical analyses we used the non-parametric Friedman test for four dependent samples (including all four stages of the operation) or three dependent samples (influence of operation only, baseline level was excluded). Statistically significant differences in both Friedman tests were found for cortisol and for cortisone. Significant differences for DHEA as well as for DHEAS were found for all tested stages but not for the effect of operation itself. We have concluded that cortisol levels are blunted by the influence of anesthesia after its administration, and therefore decrease back to the baseline at the end of the operation. The other markers (cortisone, DHEA and DHEAS) acted as balanced systems against the injurious stress effect., H. Skarlandtová, M. Bičíková, P. Neužil, M. Mlček, V. Hrachovina, T. Svoboda, E. Medová, J. Kudlička, A. Dohnalová, Š. Havránek, H. Kazihnítková, L. Máčová, E. Vařejková, O. Kittnar., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones produced by the adrenal cortex in reaction to stress stimuli. GCs production is not stable over a 24-hour period; the plasma concentration peaks in the morning (approximately upon awakening) and then the plasma levels decrease, reaching the nadir in the evening. In our experiments, the levels of cortisol, cortisone, DHEA and DHEAS were tested in young female pigs (n=23) during heart catheterization at two different day times (in the morning and in the afternoon). The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis was used. We found only minimal statistical differences in studied markers between the morning and afternoon group (p>0.05). The absence of circadian variation in GCs levels could originate either at an early age of our experimental pigs, or in stressful conditions on the experiment day, or most likely the day before (e.g. social isolation, fasting, transport, and catheterization), respectively. We can conclude there is no difference in the stress load between morning and afternoon experiments, and therefore we can assume the stress load is not a limiting factor for the timing when catheterization should be preferably performed., H. Skarlandtová ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Negative expiratory pressure (NEP) applied at the mouth during tidal expiration provides a non-invasive method for detecting expiratory flow limitation. Forty-two children were studied, i.e. 25 children with different respiratory symptoms (R) and 17 without any respiratory symptoms (NR). Children were examined without any sedation. A preset NEP of -5 cm H 2 O was applied; its duration did not exceed duration of tidal expiration. A significance of FL was judged by determining of a flow-limited range (in % of tidal volume). FL was found in 48 % children of R group. No patient of the NR group elicited FL (P<0.001 R vs. NR). The frequency of upper airway collapses was higher in R group (12 children) than in NR gr oup (5 children). In conclusion, a high frequency of tidal FL in the R group was found, while it was not present in NR group. A relatively high frequency of expiratory upper airway collapses was found in both groups, but it did not differ significantly. NEP method represents a reasonable approach for tidal flow limitation testing in non-sedated preschool children., A. Jiřičková, J. Šulc, P. Pohunek, O. Kittnar, A. Dohnalová, J Kofránek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents additional risks to both mother and infant. Moreover it increases a woman's risk of cardiovascular disease in the postpartum. The aim of our study was therefore to detect changes of both the QT dispersion and the electrical heart field that could be typical for GDM. Body surface potential maps were obtained using the Cardiac 112.2 device from 26 young women with GDM and 54 young healthy pregnant women in the 36th week of pregnancy. The same recordings were obtained from 18 healthy women in the same age (19-36 years). The average QT dispersion (±SD) in women suffering from GDM was significantly higher (107±25 ms) both than in those with physiological pregnancy (73±18 ms) and than in the normal subjects (34±12 ms) (P<0.001). Moreover we have found in GDM patients shorter QRS complex 82.0±6.8 ms vs. 89.5±8.2 ms in healthy pregnant women and 90.8±7.9 ms in the control group (p=0.011), more horizontal electrical heart axis [16.4±20.1° vs. 42.4±28.7° and 74.6±39.2° respectively (P<0.05)] and lower some depolarization and repolarization amplitudes on isopotential and isointegral maps. According to these results we suppose that described electrocardiographic changes reflect a deterioration of the complete process of ventricular depolarization and repolarization in GDM., E. Medová, ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury