The annual incidence of cardiovascular diseases is agedependently increasing both in men and women, however, the prevalence is higher in men until midlife. The higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in men than in women of similar age, and the menopause-associated increase in cardiovascular disease in women, has led to speculation that gender-related differences in sex hormones might have a key role in the development and evolution of cardiovascular disease. There are several suggested pathways in which gender and sex hormones can affect human cardiovascular system to produce original sexually different pathophysiology between women and men. Sex steroid hormones and their receptors are critical determinants of cardiovascular gender differences. Also arterial blood pressure is typically lower in women than in men what could be explained particularly by greater synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) in women. Female cardiomyocytes have a greater survival advantage when challenged with oxidative stress, suggesting that female hormones may play an important role in antioxidative protection of myocardium. It was also demonstrated in animal models that combination of XX chromosomes versus an XY chromosomes enhances sex differences in higher HDL cholesterol. Women were found to have reduced sympathetic activity (reflected by lower total peripheral resistance) and pulmonary artery pressure and enhanced parasympathetic activity relative to men. Similarly, men were found to have higher plasma norepinephrine levels than women. Regarding differences between the sexes in electrophysiology of the heart, two principle mechanisms have been proposed to explain them: hormonal effects on the expression or function of ion channels or, conversely, differences in autonomic tone. To improve diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, greater focus on understanding the molecular and cellular physiology of the sex steroid hormones and their receptors in the cardiovascular system will be required.
Trematode sporocysts and rediae reproduce by parthenogenesis, forming clonal groups in the molluscan host. It has recently become popular to consider these groups as eusocial colonies, with division of labour between rediae morphs: small 'soldiers' incapable of reproduction defend the colony, while large rediae reproduce. Alternatively, clonal groups can be considered as self-sustaining infrapopulations. We tested these two hypotheses in the light of new data on rediae of Himasthla elongata (Mehlis, 1831) from snails Littorina littorea (Linnaeus) concerning ultrastructure, growth character and composition of their groups. Clonal groups under study contained rediae of different age and maturity stages: small (young) rediae, rediae with early cercarial embryos, rediae with late embryonic cercariae, rediae with fully formed motile cercariae, rediae with redial embryos and degenerating rediae. Small rediae had a reproductive organ, the germinal mass, whereas most large rediae with developing cercariae did not, which contradicts the eusocialconcept. Overall distribution of rediae by size and by gut to body length ratio was bimodal, which agrees with the eusocial concept ('soldiers' and 'reproductives' as modal size classes). On closer inspection, however, the bimodal size-frequency distributions (SFD) turned out to be the sum of unimodal SFD of rediae at various stages of maturity. The overall bimodality was determined by the character of redial growth resulting in a relatively low occurrence of intermediate morphs and by the developmental arrest in young rediae. The facts that small rediae can attack other rediae and concentrate in the anterior parts of the mollusc can be explained by age-related feeding preferences and niche segregation. They are unlikely to be associated with the 'colony' defence against invaders. To sum up, clonal groups of H. elongata rediae in our study represented self-sustaining infrapopulations., Kirill V. Galaktionov, Irina M. Podvyaznaya, Kirill E. Nikolaev, Ivan A. Levakin., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Fish Embryo Acute Toxicity (FET) Test was adopted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as OECD TG 236 in 2013. The test has been designed to determine acute toxicity of chemicals on embryonic stages of fish and proposed as an alternative method to the Fish Acute Toxicity Test performed according to OECD TG 203. In recent years fish embryos were used not only in the assessment of toxicity of chemicals but also for environmental and wastewater samples. In our study we investigated the acute toxicity of treated wastewater from seven hospitals in the Czech Republic. Our main purpose was to compare the suitability and sensitivity of zebrafish embryos with the sensitivity of two other aquatic organisms commonly used for wastewater testing – Daphnia magna and Aliivibrio fischeri. For the aim of this study, in addition to the lethal endpoints of the FET test, sublethal effects such as delayed heartbeat, lack of blood circulation, pericardial and yolk sac edema, spinal curvature and pigmentation failures were evaluated. The comparison of three species demonstrated that the sensitivity of zebrafish embryos is comparable or in some cases higher than the sensitivity of D. magna and A. fischeri. The inclusion of sublethal endpoints caused statistically significant increase of the FET test efficiency in the range of 1-12 %. Based on our results, the FET test, especially with the addition of sublethal effects evaluation, can be considered as a sufficiently sensitive and useful additional tool for ecotoxicity testing of the acute toxicity potential of hospital effluents.
An IgM murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) was obtained against the excretory-secretory antigen (ES-Ag) of in vitro reared protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786). Western blotting revealed that the MAb recognised a 20.6 kDa protein of this ES-Ag. The MAb was used in sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (s-ELISA) for selective sensitisation of the solid phase with the protoscolex-specific protein from its ES-Ag and somatic antigen (S-Ag) to examine serum samples of 108 cows from a cystic echinococcosis (CE) endemic area for specific antibodies and to compare the results with those from necropsies and an indirect ELISA (i-ELISA). The sensitivity of s-ELISA/ES-Ag, s-ELISA/S-Ag and i-ELISA/S-Ag was 48%, 52% and 62%, respectively. The low sensitivity of the ELISA was probably caused by the fact that 13 cows (62%) were infected with sterile cysts (acephalocysts and/or calcified foci) only. A relatively high specificity (80%) of s-ELISA/ES-Ag was observed in cows with fertile cysts. It also detected antibodies in the serum of two cows that had recovered from the disease according to the necropsy. The i-ELISA/S-Ag gave false results in testing sera from a healthy animal and from a cow with tubercular foci. Further analysis will be necessary to define more precisely the value of this study, because the duration of antibody elimination from the bloodstream of recovered cattle remains unknown. The solution of this problem will increase the specificity of the proposed test in monitoring herbivorous animals for CE., Aitbay K. Bulashev, Zhanbolat A. Suranshiev, Orken S. Akibekov, Zhanara Zh. Akanova, Gulmira A. Abulgazimova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Hunting dogs have probably a higher level of exposure to Neospora caninum Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper et Uggla, 1988 and Toxoplasma gondii Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908 than other canine populations for their different lifestyle. The aim of our survey was to determine the seroprevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii in hunting dogs from southern Italy and assess risk factors related to these protozoan infections. Blood samples were collected from 398 hunting dogs (19 different breeds, aged from 5 month to 14 years). The sera were screened by indirect fluorescence antibody test; a titre ≥ 50 was considered positive. Antibodies to N. caninum and T. gondii were detected in 59 (15%) dogs with titres from 50 to 3 200 and in 94 (24%) dogs with titres from 50 to 1 600, respectively, with co-infection in 25 (6%) dogs. Statistical difference (p ≤ 0.05) was found only for infection with T. gondii between two age groups: ≥ 2-4 years (16%) and ≥ 4-7 years (33%); other observed characteristics were without statistical significance. Our results suggest that the hunting dogs could play an important role in the transmission cycle of N. caninum between wild animals and livestock. This is the first detection of antibodies to T. gondii in hunting dogs in Italy., Tereza Machačová, Eva Bártová, Kamil Sedlák, Radka Slezáková, Marie Budíková, Diego Piantedosi, Vincenzo Veneziano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The consumption of horse meat has been epidemiologically linked to clinical toxoplasmosis in humans and neosporosis that may cause clinical illness in horses. Here we determined seroprevalence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908 and species of Neospora Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper et Uggla, 1988 in horses from Italy. Blood samples were collected from 643 apparently healthy horses from 60 farms of 51 municipalities in southern Italy. The presence of antibodies against T. gondii and Neospora spp. were detected by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT); a titre ≥ 50 was considered positive. The same sera were also tested for antibodies against Neospora spp. by a competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA); samples with ≥ 30% inhibition were considered positive. Antibodies against T. gondii and Neospora spp. were detected in 19 (3.0%) and 15 (2.3%) horses by IFAT, respectively, without statistical difference between gender, age and breeds (p-value ≥ 0.05). Antibodies against species of Neospora were detected in 70 (10.9%) horses by cELISA with statistical difference in gender (6.0-18.5%, p-value ≥ 0.05) and breeds (0-19.4%, p-value ≥ 0.05). Although T. gondii infection rates were low, the risk of human infection should not be dismissed, particularly in Italy where consumption of raw or undercooked horse meat has a long tradition., Eva Bártová, Tereza Machačová, Kamil Sedlák, Marie Budíková, Ugo Mariani, Vincenzo Veneziano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an obligate intracellular, parasitic protozoan within the phylum Apicomplexa that causes toxoplasmosis in mammalian hosts (including humans) and birds. Since meat of wild boar, Sus scrofa (Linnaeus), has been demonstrated to be a potential source of human infection, a careful evaluation of the prevalence of infection with T. gondii in hunted animals is needed to protect public health. In the Var area in southeastern France, we performed a spatio-temporal survey in order to investigate the prevalence of IgG antibodies in wild boars shot by hunters in the Canjuers military camp during two subsequent hunting seasons. Of 841 wild boars screened, antibodies (IgG) to T. gondii (modified agglutination test, cut-off 1 : 6) were found in 141 (16.8%) muscle extract samples. A significant association (p < 0.001) was found between positivity and age, but not gender, and hunting districts. The results obtained indicate that consumption of raw or undercooked meat from wild boars carries an important risk of infection with T. gondii. Wild boars may be considered as a bioindicator of parasite circulation in this ecosystem., Cédric Roqueplo, Radu Blaga, Jean-Lou Marié, Isabelle Vallée, Bernard Davoust., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an obligatory intracellular protozoan parasite prevalent in animals and humans worldwide having medical and veterinary importance on account of causing abortion or congenital disease in intermediate hosts, including man. Since T. gondii has already been identified in the milk of goats, Capra aegagrus hircus (Linnaeus), the possibility of acquiring infection by ingesting unpasteurised goat milk should be taken into consideration. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine the presence of T. gondii DNA in goat milk. First, 73 goats (females) from 36 farms located in Poland were examined serologically by direct agglutination test (DAT) to estimate the T. gondii serological status. Milk samples from 60 selected lactating females were examined for the presence of T. gondii DNA by Real time PCR and nested PCR (B1 gene). To estimate the clonal type of detected T. gondii, multiplex PCR was performed using 6 markers. In DAT, positive results were found in 70% of 73 goats. Among examined 60 milk samples, 65% were positive in Real time PCR and 43% in nested PCR. It is noteworthy that 11 samples positive in PCR were collected from seronegative goats. The multilocus PCR analysis mostly revealed the occurrence of genotype III, which is relatively rare in Europe. The recorded high prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in tested goats (70%), associated with a high prevalence of T. gondii DNA in goat milk samples (65%), indicates a potential risk of the parasite transmission through goat milk ingestion., Jacek Sroka, Paweł Kusyk, Ewa Bilska-Zając, Jacek Karamon, Jacek Dutkiewicz, Angelina Wójcik-Fatla, Violetta Zając, Krzysztof Stojecki, Mirosław Różycki, Tomasz Cencek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Beneficial effects of sesame lignans, especially antioxidative
effects, have been widely reported; however, its potential effects
on autonomic nerves have not yet been investigated. Therefore,
the current study aimed to investigate the effect of sesame
lignans on the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nerve
activity in rat skeletal muscle was measured using
electrophysiological approaches, with blood flow determined
using the laser Doppler method. Sesame lignans were
administered intragastrically at 2 and 20 mg/kg, and after
60 min, the sympathetic nerve activity was observed to increase
by 45.2 % and 66.1 %, respectively. A significant increase in
blood flow (39.6 %) was also observed for the 20-mg/kg dose
when measured at 55 min after administration. These
sympathomimetic effects were completely prevented by
subdiaphragmatic vagotomy, and the increase in blood flow was
eliminated in the presence of the β2-adrenergic receptor inhibitor
butoxamine. Thus, it is proposed that sesame lignans can
increase the blood flow of skeletal muscle, possibly by exciting
sympathetic nerve activity through the afferent vagal nerve.
Seven new species of chewing lice in the genus Resartor Gustafsson et Bush, 2017 are described and illustrated. They are: Resartor albofulvus sp. n. ex Heterophasia desgodinsi desgodinsi (Oustalet); Resartor apimimus sp. n. ex Heterophasia picaoides wrayi (Ogilvie-Grant); Resartor aterrimus sp. n. ex Minla ignotincta mariae La Touche; Resartor extraneus sp. n. ex Lioparus chrysotis swinhoii (Verreaux); Resartor guangxiensis sp. n. ex Trochalopteron milnei sinianum Stresemann; Resartor longisuturalis sp. n. ex Actinodura cyanouroptera wingatei (Ogilvie-Grant); Resartor seminudus sp. n. ex Leiothrix argentauris tahanensis (Yen). All species differ in the shape of the head, shape of the male genitalia and abdominal chaetotaxy. A checklist and a key to the species of Resartor are provided., Daniel Roland Gustafsson, Xingzhi Chu, Sarah Elizabeth Bush, Fasheng Zou., and Obsahuje bibliografii