The role of the striatal adenylyl cyclase (AC) and cholinergic systems in the learning and expression of new forepaw movements (reaching with prolonged pushing on a fixed piston) was studied in male Wistar rats. Motor learning processes, prenatal hypoxia, and cholinergic drugs changed the properties of the AC system in the striatum. After learning, the striatal basal AC activity was decreased compared to untrained control rats. In addition, the AC activity was more decreased in animals with a good ability to learn compared to poor learners (up to 31 % and 51 %, correspondingly; p<0.01). Rats subjected to prenatal hypoxia (13-14th days of embryogenesis) had a lower ability to learn the new movements requiring tactile control and the striatal AC activity in these rats was 1.8 times higher (p<0.001) than controls. In vitro application of the cholinergic agonist carbachol (CARB) 10-5 M (corresponding to ~ 0.3 µg), as well as the antagonist scopolomine (SCOP) 10-5 M (~ 0.3 µg) decreased AC activity in the synaptosomal fraction of the striatum. In vivo injections of CARB (0.3-3 µg/1µl) or SCOP (0.3-3 µg/1µl) into the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens) modified the newly learned sensorimotor skill. After CARB injections the rats performed slower movements with more prolonged pushing. After SCOP the rats could not retain the learned pushing movement. These in vivo and in vitro data suggest that the cholinergic mediator system of the striatum is involved in learning sensory-controlled forepaw movements as well as the regulation of new motor skills by modulating the AC signal transduction process in the striatum. The data confirmed that modification of the striatal AC system resulted in the modulation of reaching behavior and better expression of the learned reflex., I. A. Zhuravin, N. M. Dubrovskaya, S. A. Plesneva., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The role of the FTO gene in obesity development is well established in populations around the world. The NYD-SP18 variant has been suggested to have a similar effect on BMI, but the role of this gene in determining BMI has not yet been verified. The objective of ou r study was to confirm the association between NYD-SP18 rs6971091 SNP and BMI in the Slavic population and to analyze i) the gender-specific effects of NYD-SP18 on BMI and ii) the si multaneous effect of FTO rs17817449 and NYD-SP18 on BMI. We analyzed a sample of a large adult population based on the post-MONICA study (1,191 males and 1,368 females). Individuals were analyzed three times over 9 years. NYD-SP18 rs6971091 SNP is related to BMI in males (2000/1 GG 28.3±3.7 kg/m 2 vs. +A 27.5±3.7 kg/m 2 P<0.0005; in other examinations P<0.05 and <0.005), but not in females (all P values over 0.48 in all three examinations). Further analysis revealed the significant additive effect (but not the interaction) of FTO and NYD-SP18 SNPs on BMI in males (all P<0.01). These results suggest that association between NYD-SP18 rs6971091 SNP and BMI may be restricted to males. Furthermore, variants within NYD-SP18 and FTO genes revealed a significant additive effect on BMI values in males., J. A. Hubacek, D. Dlouha, V. Lanska, V. Adamkova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Electric stimulation (ES) could induce contraction of intestinal smooth muscle. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of ES on esophageal motility and the underlying mechanism in vivo. Twenty-eight rabbits were equipped with a pair of subserosa electrodes (connected to an electrical stimulator) in the lower segment of the esophagus. The ES signal consisted of bipolar rectangular pulse trains, lasting for 3 s, with different amplitudes (1 mA, 3 mA, 5 mA and 10 mA), and frequencies (10 Hz, 20 Hz and 50 Hz). The amplitude of the contraction was recognized by high-resolution manometry. The effect of ES was tested under anesthesia and following administration of atropine, phentolamine or L-NAME. ES induced esophageal contraction at the stimulated site. A statistically significant increase in esophageal pressure was observed when the stimulation amplitude was above 3 mA. The increase in esophageal pressure was associated with the amplitude of stimulus as well as the frequency. During stimulation, atropine, phentolamine and L-NAME had no effect on the increase of esophageal pressure induced by ES. These findings implied that ES induced esophageal contraction were not mediated via the NANC, adrenergic or cholinergic pathway. The amplitude of esophageal contraction was current and frequency dependent., L. Zhang, W. Zhao, C. Zhao, H. Jin, B. Wang, B. Wang., and Seznam literatury
Our study aimed to investigate subacute exposure to alcohol in relation to bone microstructure of mice. Animals from experimental (E) group drank a solution composed of 15 % ethanol and water for 14 days (one remodeling cycle), while those from control (C) group drank only water. In the compact bone of E group, decreased bone formation and increased porosity were observed which corresponds with lower levels of serum alkaline phosphatase and glutathione. Alcohol significantly increased sizes of primary osteon's vascular canals and decreased those of secondary osteons, Haversian canals. Relative bone volume, bone mineral density (BMD), relative bone volume without marrow cavity were also lower in E group. On the contrary, trabecular bone microstructure did not differ significantly between E and C groups. Liver function test showed higher levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase in alcohol-fed mice. Serum calcium, phosphate were significantly lower in E group. According to our study, only changes in compact bone microstructure of mice following one remodeling cycle were observed due to both direct and indirect effects of alcohol., A. Sarocka, V. Kovacova, R. Omelka, M. Bauerova, E. Kapusta, Z. Goc, G. Formicki, M. Martiniakova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Agonist-induced subcellular redistribution of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and of trimeric guanine-nucleotide binding regulatory proteins (G-proteins) represent mechanisms of desensitization of hormone response, which have been studied in our laboratory since 1989. This review brings a short summary of these results and also presents information about related literature data covering at least small part of research carried out in this area. We have also mentioned sodium plus potassium dependent adenosine triphosp hatase (Na, K-ATPase) and 3H-ouabain binding as useful reference standard of plasma membrane purity in the brain., Z. Drastichová, L. Bouřová, V. Lisý, L. Hejnová, V. Rudajev, J. Stöhr, D. Durchánková, P. Ostašov, J. Teisinger, T. Soukup, J. Novotný, P. Svoboda., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Kainic acid (KA) is a potent neurotoxic substance valuable in research of temporal lobe epilepsy. We tested how subconvulsive dose of KA influences spontaneous behavior of adult Wistar rats. Animals were treated with 5 mg/kg of KA and tested in Laboras open field test for one hour in order to evaluate various behavioral parameters. Week after the KA treatment animals were tested again in Laboras open field test. Finally, rat’s brains were sliced and stained with Fluoro-Jade B to detect possible neuronal degeneration. Treatment with KA increased the time spent by locomotion (p<0.01), exploratory rearing (p<0.05) and animals traveled longer distance (p<0.01). These parameters tended to increase thirty minutes after KA administration. Week after the treatment we did not found differences in any measured behavioral parameter. Histology in terms of Fluoro-Jade B staining did not reveal any obvious neuronal damage in hippocampus. These results demonstrate that subconvulsive KA dose changes the behavioral parameters only transiently. Clarification of timing of the KA induced changes may contribute to understand mutual relationship between non-convulsive seizures and behavioral/cognitive consequences., V. Riljak, D. Marešová, J. Pokorný, K. Jandová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cardiovascular (CV) mortality was reduced more than 50 % in the Czech population at the turn of the century, due to an improvement of major CV risk factors in the general population, interventional procedures implemented into the treatment of acute coronar y events, and new drugs (ACE inhibitors, statins etc.) for CV prevention (Czech MONICA and post-MONICA studies, 1985-2008). An insufficient level of preventive efforts is described in the Czech patients after acute coronary syndrome (Czech part of the EURO ASPIRE studies, 1995-2013). Drug underdosing and wrong patients’ compliance to life style and drug therapy recommendations represent two main reasons of this unsatisfactory situation. The residual vascular risk of patients with stable coronary heart diseas e (CHD) is still high due to a poor control of conventional risk factors on the one hand, and due to increasing weight and glucose metabolism abnormalities on the other hand. Patients with insulin resistance and glucose dis orders have more frequently non-LDL-C dyslipidemia (atherogenic dyslipidemia), hypertriglyceridemic waist and high atherogenic index of plasma (AIP>0.24), i.e. markers of residual CV risk. Among others increased dose of statins and combined lipid modifying therapy should be implemented in patients with CHD, diabetes or metabolic syndrome., H. Rosolová, B. Nussbaumerová, O. Mayer Jr., R. Cífková, J. Bruthans., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Self-organization in a polymer system appears when a balance is achieved between long-range repulsive and short-range attractive forces between the chemically different building blocks. Block copolymers forming supramolecular assemblies in aqueous media represent materials which are extremely useful for the construction of drug delivery systems especially for cancer applications. Such formulations suppress unwanted physicochemical properties of the encapsulated drugs, modify biodistribution of the drugs towards targeted delivery into tissue of interest and allow triggered release of the active cargo. In this review, we focus on general principles of polymer selforganization in solution, phase separation in polymer systems (driven by external stimuli, especially by changes in temperature, pH, solvent change and light) and on effects of copolymer architecture on the self-assembly process., M. Hrubý, S. K. Filippov, P. Štěpánek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The effect of suramin, an inhibitor of G protein regulated signalling, was studied on the membrane currents induced by noxious heat and by capsaicin in cultured dorsal root ganglia neurones isolated from neonatal rats. Whole-cell responses induced by a heat ramp (24-52 °C) were little affected by suramin. The noxious heat-activated currents were synergistically facilitated in the presence of 0.3 µM capsaicin 13.2-fold and 6.3-fold at 40 °C and 50 °C, respectively. In 65% of neurones, the capsaicin-induced facilitation was inhibited by 10 µM suramin to 35±6 % and 53±6 % of control at 40 °C and 50 °C (S.E.M., n=15). Suramin 30 µM caused a significant increase in the membrane current produced by a nearly maximal dose (1 µM) of capsaicin over the whole recorded temperature range (2.4-fold at 25 °C and 1.2-fold at 48 °C). The results demonstrate that suramin differentially affects the interaction between capsaicin and noxious heat in DRG neurones and thus suggest that distinct transduction pathways may participate in vanilloid receptor activation mechanisms., V. Vlachová, A. Lyfenko, L. Vyklický, † R.K. Orkand., and Obsahuje bibliografii