„Proteinase-activated“ receptor-2 (PAR-2) is a G protein-coupled transmembrane receptor with seven transmembrane domains activated by trypsin. It has been shown in the pancreatic tissue that PAR-2 is involved in duct/acinary cells secretion, arterial tonus regulation and capillary liquid content turnover under physiological conditions. These above mentioned structures play an important role during the development of acute pancreatitis and are profoundly influenced by a high concentration of trypsin enzyme after its secretion into the interstitial tissue from the basolateral aspect of acinar cells. Among the other factors, it is the increase of interstitial trypsin concentration followed rapidly by PAR-2 action on pancreatic vascular smooth muscle cells that initiates ischemic changes in pancreatic parenchyma and that finally leads to necrosis of the pancreas. Consequent reperfusion perpetuates changes leading to the acute pancreatitis development. On the contrary, PAR-2 action on both exocrine and duct structures seems to play locally a protective role during acute pancreatitis development. Moreover, PAR-2 action is not confined to the pancreas but it contributes to the systemic vascular endothelium and immune cell activation that triggers the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) contributing to an early high mortality rate in severe disease.
Pneumonia was induced in rats by instillation of carrageenin (0.5 ml of 0.7 % solution) into the trachea. Three or four days after instillation, the lungs were isolated, perfused with blood of healthy rat blood donors, and ventilated with air + 5 % C02 or with various hypoxic gas mixtures. Pulmonary vascular reactivity to acute hypoxic challenges was significantly lower in lungs of rats with pneumonia than in lungs of controls. The relationship between 02 concentration in the inspired gas and Po2 in the blood effluent from the preparation was shifted significantly to lower Po2 in lungs with pneumonia compared to control ones. These changes were not present in rats allowed to recover for 2- 3 weeks after carrageenin instillation. We suppose that blunted hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction may contribute to hypoxaemia during acute pulmonary inflammation. Decreased Po2 in the blood effluent from the isolated lungs with pneumonia implies significant increase of oxygen consumption by the cells involved in the inflammatory process.
Telmisartan is an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) and a selective peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG) modulator. Recently, we tested metabolic effects of telmisartan (5 mg/kg body weight) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) fed a diet containing 60 % fructose, a widely used model of the metabolic syndrome. Surprisingly, we observed acute toxic effects of telmisartan. Rats lost body weight rapidly and died within 2 to 3 weeks due to bleeding into the upper gastrointestinal tract. SHR fed a high fructose diet and treated with telmisartan exhibited rapid decrease in blood pressure when compared to the SHR fed a high fructose diet and treated with valsartan. Concentrations of both unconjugated telmisartan and telmisartan glucuronide in the liver of SHR rats fed a high fructose diet were approximately 4 fold higher when compared to Brown Norway (BN) rats fed the same diet. Plasma concentrations of unconjugated telmisartan in the SHR were about 5 fold higher when compared to BN rats while plasma levels of telmisartan glucuronide were similar between the strains. Testing of other rat strains, diets, and the ARB valsartan showed that toxic effects of telmisartan in combination with high fructose diet are specific for the SHR. These results are consistent with the possibility that in some circumstances, SHR are predisposed to telmisartan toxicity possibly because of a genetically determined disturbance in telmisartan metabolism.
Toxicities expressed as LD50 values of 2-dialkylaminoalkyl-(dialkylamido)-fluorophosphates for rats and mice (i.m. administration) were determined. Rats were more sensitive to these compounds than mice: LD50 values varied from 17 (rats) to 1222 (mice) ^g/kg. LD50 values at different routes of administration (i.v., i.m., s.c., p.o. and p.c.) for one derivative of this group, 2-dimethylaminoethyl-(dimethyIamido)- fluorophosphate, were determined. Depending on the route of administration, LD50 values varied from 11 (i.v.) to 190 (p.o.) pg/V.g for rats and from 27.6 (i.v.) to 222 (p o.)/rg/kg for mice, respectively. Percutaneous toxicity in rats only (LD50 = 1366//g/kg) was determined.
Huntingtonova choroba (HD) je autozomálně dominantní neurodegenerativní onemocnění způsobené zvýšením počtu polyglutaminových repetic (> 35 repetic) v genu pro protein huntingtin. HD je charakteristická pomalými progresivními změnami pohybového aparátu a osobnosti, kdy tyto změny jsou často doprovázeny ztrátou tělesné hmotnosti. Do dnešního dne není znám přesný mechanizmus patofyziologie choroby. Poruchy pohybových funkcí reflektují masivní poškození specifických částí mozku (striatum), které bylo popsáno u pacientů s HD. V roce 2013 Sbodio et al [1] popsali zvýšené množství proteinu Acyl‑CoA binding domain containing 3 (ACBD3) ve striatu HD pacientů. Protein ACBD3 hraje nezastupitelnou roli v mnoha buněčných procesech, a to především díky interakci s různými vazebnými partnery. ACBD3 je esenciální při neuronálním dělení, neurodegeneraci, udržení lipidové homeostáze, stresové odpovědi, virové replikaci, apoptóze, udržení struktury golgiho komplexu. V této práci jsme prokázali nepřítomnost proteinu ACBD3 v mitochondriích v lidských kožních fibroblastech a navíc jsme potvrdili, že změny celkové hladiny proteinu ACBD3 ve fibroblastech HD pacientů nejsou konzistentní., Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal‑dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of polyglutamine repeats (> 35 repeats) in the nuclear gene for the huntingtin protein. HD is characterized by slow progressive changes in motor behaviour and personality that are sometimes accompanied by weight loss. To date, the exact mechanisms of HD pathophysiology have not been defined. Impaired motor behaviour reflecting massive and selective destruction of the striatum has been observed in patients with HD. Sbodio et al. [1] reported in 2013 that Acyl‑CoA binding domain containing 3 (ACBD3) protein levels were elevated in the striatum of HD patients and connected with higher neurotoxicity in HD. The ACBD3 protein plays essential roles in many different cellular functions via interactions with a multitude of partners. ACBD3 is involved in neuronal stem cell self‑renewal, neurodegeneration, lipid homeostasis, stress resistance, intracellular vesicle trafficking, organelle maintenance, viral replication and the apoptotic response. Herein, we found that ACBD3 in not present in the mitochondria in skin fibroblasts. Moreover, our findings also revealed that the total cellular level of ACBD3 is not consistent among the fibroblasts of HD patients., and H. Kratochvíľová, M. Rodinova, J. Sladkova, J. Klempir, I. Liskova, J. Motlik, J. Zeman, H. Hansíková, M. Tesarova