Visfatin is an adipose tissue-derived hormone shown to correlate with visceral fat mass in patients with obesity. Its possible role in patients with different types of eating disorders is unknown. We measured fasting serum levels of visfatin and leptin and surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity in 10 untreated patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), 10 untreated patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) and 20 age-matched healthy women (C) to study the possible role of visfatin in these disorders. Patients with AN had severely decreased body mass index (BMI) and body fat content. BMI of BN group did not significantly differ from that of C group, whereas body fat content of BN group was significantly lower compared to C and higher compared to AN group, respectively. Serum glucose levels did not significantly differ among the groups studied, whereas serum insulin and leptin levels and HOMA index were significantly decreased in AN group relative to both C and BN group. In contrast, serum visfatin levels in both patients with AN and BN did not differ from those of C group. We conclude that circulating visfatin levels are not affected by the presence of chronic malnutrition in AN or binge/purge eating behavior in BN., I. Dostálová ...[et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The aim of the study was to evaluate serum α-glutathione S-transferase (s-GSTA) levels in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and to compare s-GSTA with other liver function tests and with a hepatic ultrasound scan (US). The cytosolic enzyme, a-glutathione S-transferase is predominantly found in the liver and is distributed uniformly in the liver tissue. In our study s-GSTA levels were measured in 37 CF patients aged 1 to 28 years (mean age 10.4 years, 24 males). The control group consisted of 27 patients aged 2 to 17 years (mean age 8.5 years, 18 males). The presence of hepatobiliary abnormalities was assessed by clinical examination, ultrasound scan, s-GSTA, and conventional liver enzymes: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and g-glutamyl transferase (GMT). The calculated 5-95 % range of s-GSTA for the control group was 0.098-2.54 mg/l, for the CF group 0.43-9.76 mg/l. Mean s-GSTA level in the control group was 1.55 mg/l (S.D.=1.57), and 2.05 mg/l (S.D.=2.60) in the CF group. In the group of CF patients, the serum levels were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). No significant correlation existed in the CF group between s-GSTA and conventional liver tests (ALT, AST, ALP and GMT). Four patients in the CF group had hepatobiliary abnormalities detectable by conventional liver tests, s-GSTA and US. Four patients had abnormal s-GSTA, while conventional liver tests and US were normal. One other patient had abnormal hepatic US, but normal standard liver tests and s-GSTA. The study has suggested that a raised s-GSTA level might be a marker of possible pathological changes of the hepatobiliar system in CF patients. Serum GSTA seems to be a more sensitive marker than transaminases for the monitoring of hepatocellular integrity and as an early predictor of hepatic damage., K. Šídlová, V. Skalická, K. Kotaška, M. Pechová, M. Chada, J. Bartošová , Z. Hříbal, J. Nevoral, V. Vávrová, R. Průša., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We have studied natural killer (NK) activity, lymphoproliferative response, the release of several cytokines (IL-2, TNFa and IL-1b) and the ROS production in peritoneal leukocytes obtained 0, 2, 4, 12 and 24 h after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. Lethal septic shock (100 % mortality occurred at 30 h after LPS administration) was caused in female BALB/c mice by intraperitoneal injection of 100 mg/kg of E. coli LPS. Cytotoxicity and lymphoproliferation assay were preformed together with the measurement of IL-1b, IL-2 and TNFa production, and quantification of ROS. Natural killer activity, spontaneous lymphoproliferative response, IL-2, TNFa, IL-b release and ROS production were increased after LPS injection. In conclusions, ROS and proinflammatory mediators produced by immune cells in response to LPS are involved in the oxidative stress of endotoxic shock. This oxidative state alters some functional characteristics of leukocytes (proliferation and NK activity)., V. M. Víctor, M. De la Fuente., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The aim of our study was to characterize resistance to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and effectivity of ischemic preconditioning (PC) under condition of simulated acute hyperglycemia (SAHG) by perfusion of the hearts with Krebs-Henseleit (KH) solution with elevated glucose concentration (22 mmol/l). I/R injury was induced by 30- min coronary occlusion followed by 120-min reperfusion and PC by two cycles of 5-min occlusion/5-min reperfusion, prior to I/R. The severity of I/R injury was characterized by determination of the size of infarction (IS, expressed in % of area at risk size) and the amount of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP, a marker of cell injury) released from the hearts to the effluent. Significantly smaller IS (8.8±1 %) and lower total amount of released h-FABP (1808±660 pmol) in PC group compared with IS 17.1±1.2 % (p<0.01) and amount of h-FABP (8803±2415 pmol, p<0.05) in the non-PC control hearts perfused with standard KH solution (glucose 11 mmol/l) confirmed protective effects of PC. In contrast, in SAHG groups, PC enhanced IS (21.4±2.2 vs. 14.3±1.3 %, p<0.05) and increased total amount of h-FABP (5541±229 vs. 3458±283 pmol, p<0.05) compared with respective non-PC controls. Results suggest that PC has negative effect on resistance of the hearts to I/R injury under conditions of elevated glucose in vitro., M. Zálešák, P. Blažíček, D. Pancza, V. Ledvényiová, M. Barteková, M. Nemčeková, S. Čarnická, A. Ziegelhöffer, T. Ravingerová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Morris water maze (MWM) is one of the most common tasks used to assess spatial learning and memory ability in rodents. Genetic strain and gender are two prominent variants that influence spatial performance. Although it was reported that ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) mice exhibited an unchanged baseline performance in the training phase of the MWM task, this outbred strain has been widely used in learning and memory studies, and little is known regarding the effects of sex on behavioral performance. In this study, we demonstrated that both male and female ICR mice could complete the MWM task. Furthermore, a significant sex difference was observed, with females having shorter escape latencies and longer durations in the target quadrant in both the acquisition and test phases. Our findings emphasize the necessity of careful examination of not only the strain effect on behavioral performance but also the sex effect., J.-F. Ge, ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
To determine whether a short-term change in dietary habits affects postprandial lipemia in men and women in the same way, postprandial triglyceridemia was measured in age- and BMI-matched young healthy men and women after two weeks on the self-selected low-fat low-cholesterol (LF) diet and after another two weeks on the self-selected high-fat high-cholesterol (HF) diet. After a standardized challenge meal (1.4 g fat/kg of body weight), men had higher postprandial triglyceridemia than women on the HF diet but no such difference was observed on the LF diet. The results of this preliminary study suggest that there may be important sex differences in the mechanisms regulating the postprandial lipemia response to different diets, women being able to adapt better to the HF diet with respect to postprandial lipemia., J. Kovář, R. Poledne., and Obsahuje bibliografii
As wine polyphenols were show n to possess many positive effects in mammals, including improvement of vascular function, this study investigated the effect of the Slovak Alibernet red wine extract (AWE) on blood pressure and vascular function in young normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats. Six weeks old, male, WKY and SHR were treated with AWE for three weeks at the dose of 24.2 mg/kg/day. Blood pressure (BP), determined by tail-cuff plethysmography, was significantly elevated in SHR vs. WKY and AWE failed to affect it. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated by determination of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. Vascular function was assessed in rings of the femoral artery using Mulvany-Halpern’s myograph. Maximal endothelium-dependent acetylcholine (ACh)-induced rela xation was reduced in control SHR vs. WKY rats by approximatel y 9.3 %, which was associated with a significant decrease of its NO-independent component. AWE failed to affect maximal AC h-induced relaxation, both its NO-dependent and independen t components, compared to controls of the same genotype. AWE however reduced lipid peroxidation in the left ventricle of both WKY and SHR and in the liver of SHR. In conclusion, three-week administration of AWE failed to reduce BP and to improve endothelial function in the femoral arteries of both genotypes investigated., P. Bališ ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The aim of this study was the histochemical characterization of NADPH diaphorase-positive neuronal pools in the rabbit lumbosacral segments using a model of single, repeated and multiple sublethal spinal cord ischemia. Following a single 8-min sublethal spinal cord ischemia and 1-hour reperfusion, the staining of NADPH diaphorase-exhibiting neurons in the dorsal horn, pericentral region, dorsal gray commissure and sacral parasympathetic nucleus was comparable with the control sections. In contrast to the foregoing sublethal ischemia, a regionally different somatic NADPH diaphorase (NADPHd) staining was found after multiple sublethal spinal cord ischemia. Whereas an almost complete loss of the staining of large NADPHd-exhibiting somata in the pericentral region was detected, the staining of the NADPHd-exhibiting neuronal pools in the deep dorsal horn and sacral parasympathetic nucleus was fully preserved. Concomitantly, a prominent reduction of small NADPH diaphorase -positive neurons was noted in the superficial dorsal horn layers of lower lumbar and sacral segments., J. Maršala, P. Jalč., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In our previous study, healthy volunteers showed considerable short-term dynamics and patterns of the coherence of high time resolution between respiratory movements (RESP), heart rate fluctuations (HRF), and arterial blood pressure fluctuations (BPF). These are physiological indicators of autonomic short-term coordination mediated mainly by the brainstem which could be impaired in severe brain disorders. We hypothesized a direct or indirect impairment of these functions by these disorders and examined these patterns in 16 patients suffering from severe brain disorders. We calculated partial and ordinary coherence sequences and found almost the same patterns of coherence sequences as in healthy volunteers, but a distinctly reduced frequency of pattern incidence in patients (2.8*1.5/10 min/patient and 9.5*2.8/10 min/subject, P<0.05). Furthermore, there is a significantly smaller frequency of HRF-related patterns in patients with poor outcome, compared with those in patients with good outcome (1.8*0.8/10 min/patient and 4.5*2.7/10 min/patient, P<0.05). We conclude that severe brain disorders reduce physiological short-term dynamics of autonomic coordination patterns in the mean values of patients, but not in every patient., U. Zwiener, Ch. Schelenz, S. Bramer, D. Hoyer., and Obsahuje bibliografii