Erythropoietin (EPO), known for its role in erythroid differentiation, has been suggested to have a direct protective role against a variety of neurotoxic insults. In the present study, we investigated the expression of EPO receptor (EPOR) and the number of EPORpositive cells in three encephalic regions (ventral mesencephalon, striatum, cortex) following lesion induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). C57BL/6 mice underwent intraperitoneal injection of MPTP at 24 h intervals for 5 days, and their brains were examined 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 or 21 days after the last injection. Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that EPOR was dramatically up-regulated in the ventral mesencephalon, 4 days after MPTP insult until the day 21. In contrast, there was a baseline level of EPOR in the striatum and cortex. At subsequent time points after MPTP injury, the levels of EPOR in the two regions were not statistically different compared with those in normal animals. These results suggest that the regional specific up-regulation of EPOR at an early stage after MPTP stimulus may represent a pro-survival mechanism against neurotoxin injury in Parkinsonian model., Y. Wu ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Knowledge on the involvement of spinal COX-1 and COX-2 in pain due to osteoarthritis could be useful for better understanding of its pa thogenesis and therapy. In this study we have investigated a long-term pattern of expression and production of spinal COX-1 and COX-2 in the model of osteoarthritis induced in rats by injection of monoiodoacetate (MIA) into the knee joint. MIA injection produced thermal hyperalgesia (assessed by the plantar test) and tactile allodynia (measured with von Frey hairs). The pain measures reached maximum on the 5th day, then re mained relatively stable. The expression of spinal COX-2 mR NA reached maximum on day 5 (5.2 times; P<0.001) and remain ed increased until day 31 (4.9 times; P<0.001). Expression of spinal COX-1 mRNA increased gradually reaching maximum on the day 31 (4.5 times; P<0.001) when the relative expression of both genes was almost equal. The production of both proteins was almost similar at the beginning of the experiment. The highest production of COX-2 protein was observed on day 5 after the induction of osteoarthritis (increased 3.9 times). The levels of COX-1 protein increased gradually with maximum on day 31 (3.4 times). The present findings indicate that not only expression of COX-2 mRNA but also that of COX-1 mRNA is significantly increased in the spine during osteoarthritis pain. Thus, in contrast to inflammatory pain, the upregulation of spinal COX-1 may be important in osteoarthritis pain., M. Procházková, P. Zanvit, T. Doležal, L. Prokešová, M. Kršiak., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by self-induced starvation leading to severe weight and fat loss. In the present study, we measured fasting plasma levels of adiponectin, leptin, resistin, insulin and glucose in 10 women with a restrictive type of AN and in 12 healthy women (C). Insulin sensitivity was determined according to homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-R). Plasma resistin, leptin and insulin levels were significantly decreased, whereas plasma adiponectin levels were significantly increased in patients with AN compared to the C. HOMA-R was significantly decreased in patients with AN compared to the C group. Plasma adiponectin and leptin concentrations negatively and positively correlated with the body mass index and percentage body fat in both groups. Plasma adiponectin levels were negatively related to plasma insulin levels in the AN group only. In conclusion, we demonstrated that AN is associated with significantly decreased plasma leptin and resistin levels, markedly increased plasma adiponectin levels and increased insulin sensitivity. Plasma leptin and adiponectin levels were related to the body size and adiposity. Hyperadiponectinemia could play a role in increased insulin sensitivity of patients with AN. Neither body size and adiposity nor insulin sensitivity are the major determinants of plasma resistin levels in AN. and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impairments in communication, social interaction, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. The etiology of autism is poorly understood, the evidence indicates that inflammation may play a key role. In autism a high prevalence of gastrointestinal disturbances is reported, that are linked to a low-grade chronic inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is an intranuclear protein that can be passively released from necrotic cells or actively secreted under inflammatory conditions as alarmin or late proinflammatory cytokine. The objective of this study was to measure plasma levels of HMGB1 in individuals with autism and to analyze their association with gastrointestinal symptoms. The study involved 31 subjects with low-functioning autistic disorder aged 2-22 years and 16 healthy controls. Plasma HMGB1 levels were significantly higher in individuals with autism than in controls (13.8±11.7 ng/ml vs. 7.90±4.0 ng/ml, p<0.02). In subjects with plasma HMGB1levels higher than 11 ng/ml severe forms of GI disorders were more prevalent (83.3 %) than in subjects with lower levels (38.9 %, p<0.04). Results of the study support the involvement of the systemic low-grade inflammation in the pathomechanisms of autism and its possible association with GI symptoms., K. Babinská, M. Bucová, V. Ďurmanová, S. Lakatošová, D. Jánošíková, J. Bakoš, A. Hlavatá, D. Ostatníková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological diseases. This neurodegenerative autoimmune disease manifests as inflammatory and demyelinating impairment of the central nervous system (CNS). Although some studies demonstrated associations between altered steroidogenesis and pathophysiology of MS as well as the importance of steroids in the pathophysiology of MS, the knowledge concerning the steroid metabolome in female patients is limited. Hence, 51 steroids and steroid polar conjugates were measured in the serum of 12 women with MS, untreated with steroids and 6 agecorresponding female controls with the use of gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The data were processed using age adjusted ANCOVA, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis and orthogonal projections to latent structures (OPLS). Our data show higher levels of circulating C21 steroids including steroid modulators of ionotropic type A γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA A) receptors and glutamate receptors. Furthermore, the levels of GABAergic androsterone and 5-androsten-3β,7α,17β-triol were also higher in the female MS patients. In conclusion, the data demonstrate higher levels of circulating C21 steroids and their polar conjugates and some bioactive C19 steroids in women with MS, which may influence neuronal activity and affect the balance between neuroprotection and excitotoxicity., R. Kanceva, L. Stárka, L. Kancheva, M. Hill, M. Veliková, E. Havrdová., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Chloroplasts isolated from Vigna sinensis L, seedlings grown under cool íluorescent (control chloroplasts) and ultraviolet-B (UV-B)-enhanced íluorescent (UV chloroplasts) radiation, when incubated at 10, 20, 30 and 40 °C, showed large variations in the photosynthetic electron transport reactions. The overall electron transport activity in both control and UV chloroplasts incubated at 40 decreased rapidly. In contrast to this, at 30 the control chloroplasts got inactivated very rapidly during the 30 min of incubation while the UV chloroplasts showed high stability. A similar trend was also noticed at 20 “C. At 10 °C, although the rate of inactivation was slow, UV chloroplasts were more stable than control chloroplasts. A similar trend was noticed in photosystern (PS) 2 activity. In contrast to overall electron transport and PS2 reactions, PS 1 activity showed only marginal changes at all temperatures. The polypeptide profiles of chloroplasts exposed to UV-B iixadiation for 60 min at different temperatures revealed marked decreases in the level of the 23 and 33 kDa polypeptides in control chloroplasts while in UV chloroplasts these polypeptides were highly stable. In addition, UV chloroplasts contained several new polypeptides of both high and low molecular masses. The polypeptide partem indicated that higher photochemical activity of UV chloroplasts over the control chloroplasts could be due to stabilization of PS 2 core complexes by the new polypeptides induced under UV-B enhanced radiation.
The principal function of the thylakoid membrane depends on the integrity of the lipid bilayer, yet almost half of the thylakoid lipids are of non-bilayer-forming type, whose exact functions are not fully understood. Non-bilayer lipids can be extruded from the membrane in the presence of high concentrations of co-solutes. We applied 2 M sucrose to induce lipid phase separation in isolated thylakoid membranes, following consequent structural and physiological effects. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated significant changes in the chiral macro-arrangement of the pigment-protein complexes, which were reversed after washing out the co-solute. Similarly, merocyanine-540 fluorescence suggested reversible changes in the lipid phases. The PSII function, as tested by chlorophyll fluorescence induction transients and time-resolved fluorescence, was almost unaffected. However, the presence of sucrose dramatically increased the PSII thermostability, which can partly be explained by a direct osmolyte effect and partly by the lipid phase separation stabilizing the stacked membrane., C. Kotakis, P. Akhtar, O. Zsiros, G. Garab, P. H. Lambrev., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Anthropogenic activities are changing global precipitation regimes and result in many middle latitude arid and semiarid regions experiencing less precipitation and more extreme weather events. However, little is known about the response of active ingredient accumulation in the medicinal herb Plantago depressa Willd. Therefore, we carried out a greenhouse experiment in order to study effect of control (CK, normal water supply equal to 309 mm per four months), -30 (-WS) and +30% (+WS) of the control water supply on the photosynthesis (PN), C/N ratio, and plantamajoside accumulation in P. depressa. Our results showed that compared with the-WS and CK treatments, the +WS treatment significantly enhanced biomass, the C/N ratio, plantamajoside concentration, yield in shoots and roots, and PN, but declined the N concentration in shoots and roots. The plantamajoside concentration was positively correlated with PN, the soluble sugar content, and the C/N ratio, but negatively correlated with the N concentration. Our results suggested that, under experimental conditions, +WS increased the C/N ratio and promoted the plantamajoside accumulation of P. depressa., Z. Li, W. Bai, L. Zhang, L. Li., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We studied the effect of thiazide-like diuretic – indapamide on fibrosis development in the left ventricle of young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and assessed the involvement of nitric oxide in this process. Six-week-old male SHR were treated with indapamide (1 mg/kg/day) for six weeks. Age-matched SHR were used as hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) as normotensive control. Systolic blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff plethysmography. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, protein expressions of endothelial (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS), myocardial fibrosis and collagen type I and III were determined in the left ventricle. Indapamide treatment partially prevented SBP increase in SHR (SHR+Indapamide: 157±4, SHR: 171±3, WKY: 119±3 mmHg). Indapamide prevented myocardial fibrosis development in SHR, but without affecting collagen type I to type III ratio. Indapamide did not affect NOS activity as well as eNOS and iNOS protein expressions in the left ventricles evaluated by both Western blot and immunohistochemically. In conclusion, our results indicate that indapamide-induced prevention of myocardial fibrosis is not mediated by nitric oxide-related mechanism., P. Janega, S. Kojšová, L. Jendeková, P. Babál, O. Pecháňová., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy