This review, which summarizes our findings concerning the long-term effects of pre-, peri- and postnatal factors affecting development, nociception and sensorimotor functions, focuses on three areas: 1) perinatal factors influencing nociception in adult rats were examined in rats with hippocampal lesions, after the administration of stress influencing and psychostimulant drugs (dexamethasone, indomethacine and methamphetamine); 2) the effect of pre- and early postnatal methamphetamine administration was shown to impair the development of sensorimotor functions tested in rat pups throughout the preweaning period; 3) the effect of extensive dorsal rhizotomy of the brachial plexus during the early postnatal period was studied with respect to neuropathic pain development and sensorimotor functions. The present study indicates that prenatal or neonatal stress, as well as various drugs, may disturb the development of the nociceptive system and cause long-term behavioral changes persisting to adulthood and that some types of neuropathic pain cannot be induced during the first two postnatal weeks at all. A mature nervous system is required for the development of the described pathological behaviors., R. Rokyta, A. Yamamotová, R. Šlamberová, M. Franěk, Š. Vaculín, L. Hrubá, B. Schutová, M. Pometlová., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Prenatal exposure to caffeine can cause developmental problems. This study determined chronic influence of prenatal caffeine at relatively higher doses on cognitive functions in the rat offspring. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (4-month-old) were exposed to caffeine (20 mg/kg, twice a day) for whole pregnancy from gestational day 4. Fetal and offspring body and brain weight was measured. Learning and memory were tested in adult offspring with Morris water maze. Learning and memory-related receptors were measured. The exposure to prenatal caffeine not only caused fetal growth restriction, but also showed long-term effects on learning and memory in the offspring. The caffeine offspring exhibited longer escape latency and path length in navigation testing. The number of passing the target was significantly reduced in those offspring. The expression of adenosine A1 and A2A receptors, nuclear PKA Cα, Cβ subunits, and pCREB were significantly increased in the fetal and neonatal brain, and suppressed in the hippocampus of the adult offspring. The expression of BDNF and TrkB were reduced regardless of various ages. The results suggest that intrauterine programming dysfunction of adenosine receptors and the down-stream of cAMP/PKA/pCREB system may play an important role in prenatal caffeine induced cognition disorders in the adult offspring.
In the present study, we investigated the effect of acrylamide (ACR) exposure during pregnancy on the ovary of female adult offspring of two subsequent generations. Sixty-day-old Wistar albino female rats were given different doses of ACR (2.5 and 10 mg/kg/day) from day 6 of pregnancy until giving birth. Females from the first generation (AF1) were fed ad libitum, and thereafter, a subgroup was euthanized at 8 weeks of age and ovary samples were obtained. The remaining females were maintained until they reached sexual maturity (50 days old) and then treated in the same way as the previous generation to obtain the second generation of females (AF2). The histopathological examination indicated a high frequency of corpora lutea along with an increased number of antral follicles that reached the selectable stage mainly at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg/day. Interestingly, ACR exposure significantly increased the mRNA levels of CYP19 gene and its corresponding CYP19 protein expression in AF1 females. The TUNEL assay showed a significantly high rate of apoptosis in stromal cells except for dose of 2.5 mg/kg/day. However, in AF2 females, ACR exposure significantly increased the number of degenerating follicles and cysts while the number of growing follicles was reduced. Moreover, in both ACR-treated groups, estradiolproducing enzyme CYP19A gene and its corresponding protein were significantly reduced, and an excessive apoptosis was produced. We concluded that the ovarian condition of AF1 females had considerable similarity to the typical early perimenopausal stage, whereas that of AF2 females was similar to the late perimenopausal stage in women.
In modern societies, living organisms are exposed daily to multiform pollution from industrial chemical products. Some of these substances have been shown to affect the endocrine system, and have been termed endocrine disruptors (EDs). Bisphenol A (BPA), which can leach from plastics, and parabens, used in cosmetic products, are among the most well-studied. Prenatal development is a vulnerable phase of human life, and disruptions during this period may have lifelong consequences. Since EDs are known to cross the placental barrier and BPA may accumulate in the fetus, "BPA-free" products have been introduced to the market. However, such products often contain alternative bisphenols (e.g. BPS, BPF) that have not yet been extensively examined or regulated. Moreover, alternative bisphenols often occur together with BPA. The human organism is thus exposed to a mixture of EDs, some of which can have additive or synergic effects. Recent findings have also shown that paraben exposure can alter bisphenol pharmacokinetics. Taking into account the widespread occurrence of various EDs and the potential multiplicity of their effects, doses of EDs currently considered safe may not actually be as safe as they appear, especially during pregnancy., L. Kolatorova, M. Duskova, J. Vitku, L. Starka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Since close relationship was shown between drug addiction and memory formation, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of interaction between prenatal methamphetamine (MA) exposure and MA treatment in adulthood on spatial and non-spatial memory and on the structure of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the hippocampus. Adult male rats prenatally exposed to MA (5 mg/kg) or saline were tested in adulthood. Non-spatial memory was examined in the Object Recognition Test (ORT) and spatial memory in the Object Location Test (OLT) and in the Memory Retention Test (MRT) conducted in the Morris Water Maze (MWM), respectively. Based on the type of the memory test animals were injected either acutely (ORT, OLT) or long-term (MWM) with MA (1 mg/kg). After each testing, animals were sacrificed and brains were removed. The hippocampus was then examined in Western Blot analysis for occurrence of different NMDA receptors’ subtypes. Our results demonstrated that prenatal MA exposure affects the development of the NMDA receptors in the hippocampus that might correspond with improvement of spatial memory tested in adulthood in the MWM. On the other hand, the effect of prenatal MA exposure on nonspatial memory examined in the ORT was the opposite. In addition, we showed that the effect of MA administration in adulthood on NMDA receptors is influenced by prenatal MA exposure, which seems to correlate with the spatial memory examined in the OLT., R. Šlamberová, M. Vrajová, B. Schutová, M. Mertlová, E. Macúchová, K. Nohejlová, L. Hrubá, J. Puskarčíková, V. bubeníková-Valešová, A. Yamamotová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
To study defects and chromosomal abnormalities of the fetus, we retrospectively analyzed results of comprehensive dynamic survey of 26,404 pregnant women aged 1850 years old at 6 to 40 weeks of pregnancy. Of them, 25,956 (98.3%) women had physiological course of pregnancy, 448 (1.7%) women had abnormal pregnancy. For the diagnosis of fetal defects, we carried out ultrasound, biochemical, invasive and cytogenetic studies. The results of study showed that the majority of fetal defects and pathological course of pregnancy was noted in women at the age of 2125 years old, since at this age period women have the highest number of pregnancies. At the older age, we noted a gradual decrease in the number of pregnant women, as well as the number of abnormalities of the fetus. Based on the analysis of the results obtained, we have developed an algorithm for early fetal ultrasound examination. In order to exclude nondeveloping pregnancy and intrauterine fetal death, as well as for early diagnosis of fetal defects, we recommend screening women in the first trimester of pregnancy., Shahnoza Kamalidinova, and Literatura
Úvod: Vrozené srdeční vady jsou nejčastější vývojovou vadou plodu. Detekce vrozených srdečních vad u plodu je založena na propojení screeningového a specializovaného echokardiografického vyšetření. Metodika: Pro posouzení úspěšnosti prenatálního záchytu srdečních vad používáme srovnání s prospektivní studií BOSS o postnatální prevalenci vad v ČR. Prevalence všech srdečních vad byla 6,16 na 1 000 živě narozených dětí a kritických 2,36/1 000 živě narozených dětí. Výsledky: V České republice se v období 1986-2012 intrauterinně odhalilo 2 996 plodů se srdeční vadou. V posledních 5 letech se záchytnost vad srdce pohybuje v rozmezí 39-47 % a detekce kritických vad přesáhla 80 % z očekávaného počtu VSV. Z celkového počtu fetálně detekovaných VSV se 1 612 (54 %) těhotných rozhodlo pro ukončení gravidity, z nichž 49 % mělo další extrakardiální vadu. Narodilo se 1 296 dětí s prenatální diagnózou VSV (43 %) a 90 plodů (3 %) zemřelo intrauterinně. Vzhledem k vysoké četnosti ukončení gravidity se mění postnatální spektrum srdečních vad. Snižuje se počet dětí s diagnózou syndromu hypoplázie levého srdce, atrioventrikulárním defektem, atrézií plicnice, společným arteriálním trunkem, společnou komorou a Ebsteinovou anomálií. Závěr: Prenatální echokardiografie prováděná v celé České republice umožňuje v posledních letech detekci až 47 % všech a více než 80 % kritických srdečních vad. Vysoký počet ukončených těhotenství je nejspíše důsledkem závažnosti srdečních vad a četných přidružených vývojových abnormalit. Četnost ukončení gravidity má vliv na postnatální spektrum srdečních vad, kdy ubývá závažných nebo komplexních srdečních onemocnění (syndromu hypoplázie levého srdce a dalších)., Introduction: Congenital heart defects (CHD) represents the most frequent congenital malformation. Prenatal detection of heart lesions is based on cooperation of screening and specialized echocardiographic examination. Methods: To assess the success of prenatal detection of heart defects (CHD) we compared the number of prenatal diagnosis with a known prevalence of CHD at birth as determined by prospective Bohemian „BOSS“ study. The study established prevalence of all CHD at birth 6.16 per 1 000 liveborn newborns and 2.36 of those with critical forms. Results: Between 1986 and 2012 were evaluated 2 996 of foetuses with congenital heart defects. A detection rate of CHD reached 47% during recent five years and detection of critical forms exceeded 80%. 1 612 (54%) mothers of foetuses with CHD opted for termination of pregnancy, 49% of them had an extracardiac heart malformations. 1 296 (43%) newborns were born with prenatally detected heart lesion and 90 (3%) foetuses died in utero. Due to high termination rate of foetuses with CHD the number of children with several complexed heart lesions declined (hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary atresia, single ventricle, persistent arterial trunk, atrioventricular defect and Ebstein anomaly). Conclusion: The nationwide prenatal ultrasound screening programme enabled detection of 43% of all CHD in recent years. Owing to severity of lesions and associated extracardiac malformations and cultural background, termination rate of foetuses with CHD remains high. High termination rate lead to significant decrease of postnatal incidence of several complex and severe CHD (such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome)., Viktor Tomek, Hana Jičínská, Jiří Gilík, Jan Škovránek, Jiří Navrátil, Jan Janoušek, and Literatura
Background: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum levels of soluble form of endoglin in stage III colorectal adenocarcinomas (CRC) patients for detection of recurrence. Methods: The case-control study consisted of 80 stage III CRC patients who underwent surgery with curative intent and 70 age-and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Serum levels of soluble form of endoglin (sol-end) were measured in both groups. Also, predictive factors of recurrence were evaluated using multivariate analyses. Results: Serum levels of sol-end in stage III CRC patients were significantly higher than those in controls. There was not a significant association between serum levels of sol-end and clinicopathological features in CRC patients. Multivariate regression analysis showed the LN R (hazard ratio, 2.54; 95% CI , 1.46–4.34; p < 0.001), to be significant independent factors to estimate local recurrence in stage III CRC patients. Conclusion: Preoperative serum levels of sol-end do not seem useful as a marker for detection of recurrence in stage III CRC patients., Ismail Gomceli, Mesut Tez, Erdal B. Bostanci, Nesrin Turhan, Ahu S. Kemik, Musa Akoglu, and Literatura 18
The presented game is designed to teach the six most frequent English prepositions (to, of, in, for, on, and with) at the A1 to A2 levels of proficiency. Prep for Adventure is a single-player game comprised of five separate tasks – jumping puzzle, cooking, town maze, lighting the goblets, and a banter with a classmate. Their mechanics are then combined in the final task (The Final Fight) to elicit the correct responses of the subject.
The language used in the game is adjusted for the subjects’ level of proficiency, the game is fully voiced and offers a degree of customization. All tasks are based on the gap-filling type of exercise where subjects have to complete a sentence with a missing word, either by typing it in or via different kinds of multiple-choice formats. The game is designed to advance the subjects’ performance in prepositional structures by exposing players to as much input as possible.
The length of one average playthrough is approximately 30-45 minutes. The game was created in the RPG Maker MV engine where RPG stands for role-playing game, which is a genre of a game in which the player adopts a role/roles of a fictional character/characters in a (partly or fully) invented setting.
The game story:
The Grammar School of Witchcraft has been taken over by the Evil Preposition Magician and the player is trying to win their school back alongside with a young witch named Morphologina (the player’s guide).
An attempt was made to assess whether the choice of the gradient media could influence the yield of basolateral membrane vesicles isolated from the rat intestine as well as their functional characteristics. Crude membranes prepared in the same way were therefore centrifuged with 10 % Percoll, on a discontinuous sucrose gradient or on a continuous sorbitol gradient. The protein yield was significantly higher with the Percoll gradient than with sucrose and sorbitol gradient centrifugation (2.7 ±1.0 %; 0.4 ±0.1 %; 0.6±0.2 %, respectively). Enrichment in Ma+,K+-ATPase was similar in all three preparations (8.50±2.34; 8.22±4.78; 8.20±2.08). However, contamination with brush border membranes was significantly higher after Percoll gradient centrifugation and negligible after the use of the other two gradient media. Transport of D-glucose in the BLM prepared by Percoll gradient centrifugation also indicated some contamination with functional brush-border membranes. An attempt to purify basolateral membrane vesicles after Percoll gradient centrifugation with Ca2+ precipitation, however, reduced the protein yield to less than 1 %. We conclude that in the preparation of basolateral membrane vesicles from the rat enterocytes each of the gradient media may have certain advantages and disadvantages, which should be considered according to the purpose of the preparation.