NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME)-induced hypertension is associated with protein remodeling of the left ventricle. The aim of the study was to show, whether aldosterone receptor blocker spironolactone and precursor of NOproduction L-arginine were able to reverse the protein rebuilding of the left ventricle. Six groups of male Wistar rats were investigated: control 4 (4 weeks placebo), L-NAME (4 weeks L-NAME), spontaneous-regression (4 weeks L-NAME + 3 weeks placebo), spironolactone-regression (4 weeks L-NAME + 3 weeks spironolactone), L-arginineregression (4 weeks L-NAME + 3 weeks arginine), control 7 (7 weeks placebo). L-NAME administration induced hypertension, hypertrophy of the left ventricle (LV), and the increase of metabolic and contractile as well as soluble and insoluble collagenous protein concentration. The systolic blood pressure and relative weight of the LV decreased in all three groups with regression, while the most prominent attenuation of the LVH was observed after spironolactone treatment. In the spontaneous-regression and L-arginine-regression groups the concentrations of individual proteins were not significantly different from the control value. However, in the spironolactone-regression group the concentration of metabolic, contractile and insoluble collagenous proteins remained significantly increased in comparison with the control group. The persistence of the increased protein concentration in the spironolactone group may be related to the more prominent reduction of myocardial water content by spironolactone., F. Šimko, A. Potáčová, V. Pelouch, L'. Paulis, J. Matúšková, K. Krajčírovičová, O. Pecháňová, M. Adamcová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Early diagnosis of ongoing malignant disease is crucial to improve survival rate and life quality of the patients and requires sensitive detection of specific biomarkers e.g. prostate-specific antigen (PSA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), etc. In spite of current technological advances, malignant diseases are still identified in rather late stages, which have detrimental effect on the prognosis and treatment of the disease. Here, we present a biosensor able to detect fetuin-A, a potential multibiomarker. The biosensing platform is based on polymer brush combining antifouling monomer units of N -(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) and carboxybetaine methacrylamide (CBMAA), statistically copolymerized by surfaceinitiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The copolymer poly(HPMA-co-CBMAA) exhibits excellent non-fouling properties in the most relevant biological media (i.e. blood plasma) as well as antithrombogenic surface properties by preventing the adhesion of blood components (i.e. leukocytes; platelets; and erythrocytes). Moreover, the polymer brush can be easily functionalized with biorecognition elements maintaining high resistance to blood fouling and the binding capacity can be regulated by tuning the ratio between CBMAA and HPMA units. The superior antifouling properties of the copolymer even after biofunctionalization were exploited to fabricate a new plasmonic biosensor for the analysis of fetuin-A in real clinical blood plasma samples. The assay used in this work can be explored as labelfree affinity biosensor for diagnostics of different biomarkers in real clinical plasma samples and to shift the early biomarker detection toward novel biosensor technologies allowing point of care analysis., Z. Riedelová, P. Májek, K. Pečánková, J. Kučerová, F. Surman, A. De Los Pereira, T. Riedel., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In this retrospective study we analysed changes of the ST segment in patients with arterial hypertension using multi-lead body surface mapping of the electric heart field as the ST segment often shows non-specific changes and is influenced by many different conditions. We constructed isointegral maps (IIM) of chosen intervals (the first 35 ms, the first 80 ms, and the whole ST segment) in 42 patients with arterial hypertension (with and without left ventricular hypertrophy) and in the control group involving 23 healthy persons. We analysed the position and values of map extrema. Spatial distribution of voltage integrals was similar in the control group and in the “pure” hypertensives. Patients with the left ventricular hypertrophy exhibited shifts of the integral minima. Despite our expectations, the highest extrema values were found in the control group and not in the left ventricular hypertrophy group. The extrema values were similar in all hypertensives, with or without left ventricular hypertrophy. Differences could be explained neither by the influence of the age, nor by the body habitus., K. Kozlíková, J. Martinka, J. Bulas., and Obsahuje seznam literaury
Increased excitability of the spinal motor system has been observed after loud and unexpe cted acoustic stimuli (AS) preceding H-reflexes. The paradigm has been proposed as an electrophysiological marker of reticulospinal tract activity in humans. The brainstem reticular formation also maintains dense anatomical interconnections wi th the cortical motor system. When a startling AS is delivered, prior to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the AS produces a suppression of motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitud e in hand and arm muscles of healthy subjects. Here we analyzed the conditioning effect of a startling AS on MEP amplitude evoked by TMS to the primary motor leg area. Ten healthy volunteers participated in two experiments that used a conditioning-test paradigm. In the first experiment, a startling AS preceded a suprathreshold transcranial test stimulus. The interstimulus interval (ISI) varied between 20 to 160 ms. When given alone, the test stimulus evoked a MEP amplitude of approximately 0.5 mV in the slightly preinervated soleus muscle (SOL). In the seco nd experiment, the startling AS was used to condition the size of the H-reflex in SOL muscle. Mean MEP amplitude was calc ulated for each ISI. The conditioning AS suppressed MEP amplitude at ISIs of 30-80 ms. By contrast, H-reflex amplitude was augmented at ISIs of 100- 200 ms. In conclusions, acoustic stimulation exerts opposite and ISI-specific effects on the amplitude of MEPs and H-reflex in the SOL muscle, indicating different mechanism of auditory-to-motor interactions at cortical and spinal level of motor system., T: V. Ilic ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
We have found that short-term statin treatment plus stem cell transplantation in acutely infarcted hearts improves cardiac function because statins promote the efficacy of cellular cardiomyoplasty. Autologous Sca-1+ LinCD45- (CXCR+ ) very small embryonic-like stem cell (VSEL) mobilization in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) correlates with the preservation of cardiac function. Whether short-term atorvastatin (Ator) can enhance the mobilization or recruitment of VSELs in AMI is still unclear. We divided mice into 4 groups: 1) sham; 2) AMI; 3) AMI+resveratrol (RSV) as a positive control; and 4) AMI+Ator. There was an increase in the circulating VSEL/full population of leukocytes (FPL) ratio 48 hours after AMI, and AMI+RSV increased it further. Ator administration did not increase the VSEL/FPL ratio. The cardiac stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and SDF-1α levels were in agreement with the results of VSEL mobilization. One week after AMI, more Sca-1+ CXCR+ cells were recruited to the myocardium of AMI+RSV mice but not AMI+Ator mice. Short-term Ator administration failed to upregulate cardiac SDF-1 and could not enhance the recruitment of VSELs early after AMI., H. Wang ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Statin-associated myopathy (SAM) represents a broad spectrum of disorders from insignificant myalgia to fatal rhabdomyolysis. Its frequency ranges from 1-5 % in clinical trials to 15-20 % in everyday clinical practice. To a large extent, these variations can be explained by the definition used. Thus, we propose a scoring system to classify statin-induced myopathy according to clinical and biochemical criteria as 1) possible, 2) probable or 3) definite. The etiology of this disorder remains poorly understood. Most probably, an underlying genetic cause is necessary for overt SAM to develop. Variants in a few gene groups that encode proteins involved in: i) statin metabolism and distribution (e.g. membrane transporters and enzymes; OATP1B1, ABCA1, MRP, CYP3A4), ii) coenzyme Q10 production (e.g. COQ10A and B), iii) energy metabolism of muscle tissue (e.g. PYGM, GAA, CPT2) and several others have been proposed as candidates which can predispose to SAM. Pharmacological properties of individual statin molecules (e.g. lipophilicity, excretion pathways) and patients´ characteristics influence the likelihood of SAM development. This review summarizes current data as well as our own results., M. Vrablik, L. Zlatohlavek, T. Stulc, V. Adamkova, M. Prusikova, L. Schwarzova, J. A. Hubacek, R. Ceska., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In this paper we analyze the use of statistics and associated problems, in three Czech biological journals in the year 2000. We investigated 23 articles Folia Biologica, 60 articles in Folia Microbiologica, and 88 articles in Physiological Research. The highest frequency of publications with statistical content have used descriptive statistics and t-test. The most usual mistake concerns the absence of reference about the used statistical software and insufficient description of the data. We have compared our results with the results of similar studies in some other medical journals. The use of important statistical methods is comparable with those used in most medical journals, the proportion of articles, in which the applied method is described insufficiently is moderately low., T. Pilčík., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the most common cause of acute liver failure in humans. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most frequent chronic liver disease in developed countries. The aim of our work was to compare the effect of APAP on intact rat hepatocytes and hepatocytes isolated from steatotic liver in primary cultures. Male Wistar rats were fed with standard diet (10 % energy from fat) and high-fat diet (71 % energy from fat) for 6 weeks and then hepatocytes were isolated. After cell attachment, APAP (1; 2.5; 3.75 and 5 mM) was added to culture media (William´s E medium) and hepatocytes were cultured for up to 24 hours. APAP caused more severe dose-dependent damage of steatotic hepatocytes as documented by increased release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and LDH leakage, decreased activity of cellular dehydrogenases (WST-1 test) and reduced albumin production. Intact steatotic hepatocytes contained lower amount of reduced glutathione (GSH). Treatment with APAP (1 and 2.5 mmol/l) caused more pronounced decrease in GSH in steatotic hepatocytes. ROS (reactive oxygen species) formation after 24-hour incubation was significantly higher in fatty hepatocytes using APAP at concentration of 3.75 and 5 mmol/l. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) production was elevated in 2.5 mM APAP-treated nonsteatotic and steatotic hepatocyte cultures at 8 hours, compared to appropriate controls. In conclusions, our results indicate that steatotic hepatocytes exert higher sensitivity to the toxic action of APAP. This sensitivity may be caused by lower content of GSH in intact steatotic hepatocytes and by more pronounced APAPinduced decrease in intracellular concentration of GSH., O. Kučera, ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Stem cells biology is one of the most frequent topic of physiological research of today. Spinal fusion represents common bone biology challenge. It is the indicator of osteoinduction and new bone formation on ectopic model. The purpose of this study was to establish a simple model of spinal fusion based on a rat model including verification of the possible use of titanium microplates with hydroxyapatite scaffold combined with human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Spinous processes of two adjacent vertebrae were fixed in 15 Wistar rats. The space between bony vertebral arches and spinous processes was either filled with augmentation material only and covered with a resorbable collagen membrane (Group 1), or filled with augmentation material loaded with 5 × 10 6 MSCs and covered with a resorbable collagen membrane (Group 2). The rats were sacrificed 8 weeks after the surgery. Histology, histomorphometry and micro-CT were performed. The new model of interspinous fusion was safe, easy, inexpensive, with zero mortality. We did not detect any substantial pathological changes or tumor formation after graft implantation. We observed a nonsignificant effect on the formation of new bone tissue between Group 1 and Group 2. In the group with MSCs (Group 2) we described mino r inflamatory response which indicates the imunomodulational and antiinflamatory role of MSCs. In conclusion, this new model proved to be easy to use in small animals like rats., K. Klíma, V. Vaněček, A. Kohout, O. Jiroušek, R. Foltán, J. Štulík, V. Machoň, G. Pavlíková, P. Jendelová, E. Syková, J. Šedý., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The determination of steroid hormones and subsequent interpretation of results is accompanied by a range of difficulties. The amount of information that current technology can provide on the circulating concentrations of more than a hundred various steroid compounds can lead to problems with interpretation. The aim of this study is to help provide orientation in this maze of data on steroid hormones. First we focus on specific aspects arising from the pre-analytical phase of steroid determination that need to be considered when planning sampling, whether for diagnostics or research. Then, we provide a brief summary of the characteristics and diagnostic relevance of several steroid hormones and/or their metabolites: pregnenolone, 17α-hydroxypregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, hydroxyderivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione, testosterone, estrone, estradiol, estriol, cortisol, cortisone, which in our institute are determined with validated LC-MS/MS methods. For these steroids, we also provide newly calculated reference values in fertile women according to the phase of their menstrual cycle and Obsahuje bibliografii