The disabling nature and lifelong impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) imposes considerable socioeconomic burden despite its relative low prevalence compared to other chronic diseases. This is the first study of MS in the Slovak Republic that provides information about healthcare and social expenditures including costs of productivity loss caused by reduced work capacity of patients with MS. Retrospectively direct and indirect costs of MS were investigated by prevalence based "bottomup" approach. The societal and health insurance perspective was used to perform the overall economic burden caused by MS in Slovakia. The human capital method was used for the calculation of indirect costs, as this is the most common method applied in published studies. As not all detailed data on expenditures were available, the missing data were collected in the retrospective patient research. Total annual costs in 2010 for 6.100 dispensed patients with MS in Slovakia were 54.723.592. Indirect costs (31.728.757) prevailed over direct costs (22.994.834). The highest part of both costs were 25.207.512 and 12.641.052 for loss productivity due to patients sickness and invalidity pensions and diseasemodifying drugs respectively. The average cost per patient independently of disease severity was 8.971. MS causes a high economic burden, with a strong predominance of indirect costs. Documenting and quantifying this burden among patients with MS in different disease stages through costofillness study can lead to better disease management and it can provide valuable information for future cost analysis and for decisionmaking process., Mária Pšenková, Stanislava Mackovičová, Alexander Palúch, Tatiana Foltánová, Lenka Petrová, and Literatura
Objectives: The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of dopamine receptor D2 / ankyrin repeat and protein kinase domain containing 1 (DRD2/ANKK1) TaqIA allelic polymorphism in the HPVinduced cervical carcinogenesis. Methods: 1. Effect on the risk of cervical precancer: After an 8year followup, out of 214 women with persisting highrisk HPV infection, 102 developed highgrade cervical dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade III, while 112 did not. The subjects were genotyped for the DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA polymorphism by PCRRFLP, and the allelic distributions were compared between groups with and without highgrade dysplasia. 2. Prognostic value: Two hundred and thirty nine women with cervical precancer/cancer were followed for 5 years. Complete remission was achieved at 182 women. To assess the prognostic value of the TaqIA polymorphism, genotype frequencies were compared between patients reaching and not reaching complete remission. Results: The frequency of A1/A1+A1/A2 genotypes was higher among women who developed highgrade cervical dysplasia (OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.053.33; p=0.034) than in the other group. Occurrence of the A1 allele was more frequent among women who did not reach complete remission (OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.073.74; p=0.030) than in women with complete remission. Conclusions: This is the first report on the possible involvement of DRD2/ANKK1 TaqIA polymorphism in cervical carcinogenesis. The A1 allele seems to increase the risk of cervical precancer, and it may also be associated with a worse prognosis in women with HPVinduced cervical cancer. The results need further validation in largescale molecular epidemiological studies., József Cseh, Zsuzsa Orsós, Emese Pázsit, Erika Marek, András Huszár, István Ember, István Kiss, and Literatura
Background and objective: Investigation of the effects of MnTnHex-2-PyP on some markers of inflammation and lipid peroxidation in an asthma mice model. Methods: The experiment was carried out on 24 female mice C57Bl/6, divided into four groups: group 1, controls; group 2, injected with ovalbumin (OVA); group 3, treated with MnTnHex-2-PyP and group 4, treated with OVA and MnTnHex-2-PyP. The animals from groups 1 and 3 were injected i.p. on days 0 and 14 with a 100 μl phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and those from groups 2 and 4 were injected with a 100 μl ovalbumin solution, containing 20 μg OVA. On days 24, 25 and 26 the mice from groups 1 and 2 were inhaled with PBS for 30 min, and those from groups 2 and 4 were given a 1% ovalbumin solution. One hour before inhalation, and 12 hours later the animals from groups 1 and 2 were injected i.p. with 100 μl PBS, and those from groups 3 and 4 received a 100 μl MnTnHex-2-Pyp solution in PBS сontaining 0.05mg/kg. Results: Ovalbumin alone (group 2) increased the total cell number, total protein content, the levels of IL-4, IL-5 and 8-isoprostane in bronchoalveolar lavage. Elevations were observed in IgE level in serum, and the malone dialdehyde (MDA) content in the lung homogenate. These markers were decreased significantly in group 4 as compared to the OVA group. Conclusions: MnTnHex-2-Pyp reduces the inflammation and lipid peroxidation in Ovalbumin-induced mice asthma model, Veneta Shopova, Lyudmil Terziev, Violeta Dancheva, Galya Stavreva, Milena Atanasova, Angelina Stoyanova, Tzvetan Lukanov, and Literatura