Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate-bound form (DHEAS) are important steroids mainly of adrenal origin. Their physiological and pathophysiological functions are not yet fully identified, although a number of various possible features have been hypothesized. Most popular is the description of the “hormone of youth” as the long-term dynamics of DHEA levels are characterized by a sharp age-related decline in the late adulthood and later. Low levels of DHEA are, however, associated not only with the ageing process but also with diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and some neurological or immunological entities. In the past decade, a number of brief studies have concentrated on these relationships and also on the role of exogenous DHEA in health, disease and human well-being. This article tries to summarize some of the most important facts achieved recently., P. Celec, L. Stárka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Testosterone has been widely investigated in associations with many aspects of social interactions, emotions and behavior. No research has been conducted on its contribution to the variability of love styles in human. The aim of this paper was to uncover the possible relationship between not only the actual plasma testosterone levels, but also the prenatal testosterone level (expressed as 2D:4D ratio) and the sensitivity of androgen receptor and love typology in young healthy men. There are six love styles which are primary including Eros (passionate romantic love), Ludus (playful) and Storge (friendly) and secondary love consisting of Mania (obsessive), Pragma (practical realistic) and Agape (altruistic). Our results pointed out that low testosterone concentrations are associated with higher score for Eros, Ludus, Pragma, Mania love style. No significant association was proved for other tested parameters of androgenicity (2D:4D, sensitivity of androgen receptor) and love style after correction was applied. Different attitudes and behavior in relationships do have a biological foundation related to endogenous testosterone levels in plasma. Future studies should address questions about the family and social background of participants to differentiate here between moral rules or/and social-conventional rules., J. Babková Durdiaková, P. Celec, I. Koborová, T. Sedláčková, G. Minárik, D. Ostatníková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a serious public health problem with increasing prevalence and novel approaches to renal protection are continuously under investigation. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of melatonin and angiotensin II type 2 receptor agonist compound 21 (C21) to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril and angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker olmesartan on animal model of doxorubicin nephrotoxicity. Six groups of 3-month-old male Wistar rats (12 per group) were treated for four weeks. The first group served as a control. The remaining groups were injected with a single dose of doxorubicin (5 mg/kg i.v.) at the same day as administration of either vehicle or captopril (100 mg/kg/day) or olmesartan (10 mg/kg/day) or melatonin (10 mg/kg/day) or C21 (0.3 mg/kg/day) was initiated. After four week treatment, the blood pressure and the level of oxidative stress were enhanced along with reduced glomerular density and increased glomerular size. Captopril, olmesartan and melatonin prevented the doxorubicin-induced increase in systolic blood pressure. All four substances significantly diminished the level of oxidative burden and prevented the reduction of glomerular density and modestly prevented the increase of glomerular size. We conclude that captopril, olmesartan, melatonin and C21 exerted a similar level of renoprotective effects in doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity., J. Hrenák ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Maternal hyperandrogenism during pregnancy might have metabolic and endocrine consequences on the offspring as shown for the polycystic ovary syndrome. Despite numerous experiments, the impact of prenatal hyperandrogenic environment on postnatal sex steroid milieu is not yet clear. In this study, we investigated the effect of prenatal testosterone excess on postnatal concentrations of luteinizing hormone, corticosterone and steroid hormones including testosterone, pregnenolone, progesterone, estradiol and 7β-hydroxyepiandrosterone in the offspring of both sexes. Pregnant rats were injected daily with either testosterone propionate or vehicle from gestational day 14 until parturition. The hormones were evaluated in plasma of the adult offspring. As expected, females had lower testosterone and higher pregnenolone, progesterone and estradiol in comparison to males. In addition, corticosterone was higher in females than in males, and it was further elevated by prenatal testosterone treatment. In males, prenatal testosterone exposure resulted in higher 7β-hydroxyepiandrosterone in comparison to control group. None of the other analyzed hormones were affected by prenatal testosterone. In conclusion, our results did not show major effects on sex hormone production or luteinizing hormone release in adult rats resulting from testosterone excess during their fetal development. However, maternal hyperandrogenism seems to partially affect steroid biosynthesis in sex-specific manner., E. Domonkos, V. Borbélyová, L. Kolátorová, T. Chlupáčová, D. Ostatníková, J. Hodosy, L. Stárka, P. Celec., and Obsahuje bibliografii