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Journal Article 2014; 35(Suppl 2): 3-25 PubMed PMID: 25638362 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Fishes, Herbicides:toxicity, Triazines:toxicity, Water Pollutants, Chemical:toxicity,.   

: Triazines are an important group of herbicides, which have been used extensively or selectively both in agricultural and non-agricultural areas worldwide for more than fifty years to control broadleaf and some grassy weeds. As a consequence of their massive application, they have become and remain significant environmental pollutants, especially in aquatic ecosystems. Fish are an integral part of the aquatic environment and are, therefore, suitable models for the study of the behavioral, biological, and biochemical effects of triazine exposure. We have summarized and evaluated the effects of triazine herbicides on fish in order to provide an overview of current information on triazines. The overall effects of triazine herbicide exposure on the physiology of fish were evaluated by considering a variety of parameters in a number of reports. Haematological and biochemical profiles of blood provide important information about the internal environment of the organism and the general physiology and health status of triazine exposed fish. According to studies using biotransformation and bioaccumulation indices to estimate the effects of triazines on fish, changes in fish metabolism reflect the pollution of the environment by these herbicides. The responses of antioxidant defence systems in fish to triazine exposure could be an adaptive mechanism to protect the fish from triazine-induced oxidative stress. Acute exposure to triazines affects reproduction or reproductive development in fish; however, some triazines did not affect fish behavior during long-term exposure to low concentrations. Nevertheless, an impact on the overall behavioral response of fish cannot be excluded.

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 645-652 PubMed PMID: 25617890 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Anti-Anxiety Agents:therapeutic use, Antidepressive Agents:therapeutic use, Antipsychotic Agents:therapeutic use, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Medication Adherence:psychology, Middle Aged, Outpatients:psychology, Psychotic Disorde.   

OBJECTIVE: Adherence to treatment of mental disorders is one of the key factors influencing its success and, secondarily, the patients' quality of life and social adaptation. The cross-sectional study of 90 outpatients diagnosed with psychotic disorders aimed at determining if there was a relationship between discontinuation of psychoactive drugs in the past, current adherence to treatment and self-stigma.

METHODS: The assessment was made with the objective and subjective Clinical Global Impression - Severity scale, Drug Attitude Inventory, Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale and demographic data. The questionnaires were filled out by 79 patients, of whom 5 handed in incomplete questionnaires. Complete sets of data were obtained from 74 patients.

RESULTS: The data analysis showed that the levels of self-stigma as assessed by the total ISMI scores was not statistically significantly correlated with most of the demographic factors (age, age of illness onset, gender, education, marital status, employment, duration of the illness, number of hospitalizations and antipsychotic dosage). However, there was a significant negative correlation with current adherence to treatment....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 640-644 PubMed PMID: 25617889 Citation  Keywords:  Adiponectin:blood, Adult, Blood Pressure:physiology, Blood Vessels:physiology, Brachial Artery:physiology, Humans, Hyperemia:blood, Hypogonadism:blood, Leptin:blood, Male, Resistin:blood, Testosterone:blood, Young Adult,.   

OBJECTIVE: Hypogonadism has major effects on the urogenital system, in addition to other systems, the cardiovascular system in particular. There have been few studies conducted on markers of atherosclerosis, such as flow mediated dilatation (% FMD), carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and adipocytokine levels in idiopatic hypogonadotropic hypogonadal (IHH) males mostly in adult patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between androgens and adipocytokines and parameters of vascular functions in hypogonadal men.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 11 treatment naive IHH patients (group 1) and 15 age-matched healthy control males (group 2). A fasting blood sample was obtained for leptin, adiponectin and resistin. The endothelial functions were evaluated by studying % FMD and CIMT by high resolution B-mode ultrasound.

RESULTS: No significant differences in age, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were recorded between the two groups. The leptin level was significantly higher in group 1, whereas adiponectin and resistin levels were same between two groups. There was a negative correlation between total testosterone and carotid intima-media thickness (r=-0.656, p=0.008), and a negative correlation between total testosterone and leptin level (r=-0.794, p<0.001). No correlation was found between leptin and CIMT (p=0.184).

CONCLUSION: Testosterone deficiency in hypogonadal men is associated with vascular parameters of atherosclerosis. The findings may establish indications for testosterone replacement therapy in hypogonadal men....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 633-639 PubMed PMID: 25617888 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Biomechanical Phenomena, Electromyography, Humans, Knee:innervation, Male, Muscle Strength:physiology, Quadriceps Muscle:innervation, Resistance Training, Walking:physiology, Weight-Bearing:physiology,.   

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of increasing load on changes in the muscle activity ratio and onset of vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL) and biceps femoris (BF) during load-carrying walking.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen strength-trained men performed an isometric test for knee flexion/extension using a dynamometer followed by walking with progressively increasing loads of up to 75% of their body mass (BM). During the isometric tests and load-carrying walking, electromyography (EMG) data were collected from the VM, VL and BF in both legs together with 3D kinematics.

RESULTS: Significant changes in the activity ratio were found for the VM/VL (F3,93=5.92, p=0.0001) and VL onset (F3,81=6.8, p=0.0004). Other parameters showed no significant differences. VM/VL was significantly reduced between the 50BM (mean±SD: 0.89±0.4) and the 75BM condition (0.81±0.3). VL onset was significantly accelerated between the BM (26.11±8) compare and the 25% BM (19.47±9), 50% BM (21.21±10) and 75% BM (15.45±6) conditions.

CONCLUSION: Load-carrying walking is an exercise and movement activity that increases the activity of VL more than the activity of VM and accelerates the VL action together with the increased load, which can negatively influence knee stability. The VM/VL ratio and onset is equal when walking under weight-bearing conditions. The inter-muscular coordination is changed due to the increased load in complex movements even in individuals with high level of neuromuscular adaptation....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 624-632 PubMed PMID: 25617887 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Czech Republic, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Disorders:diagnosis, Middle Aged, Mood Disorders:diagnosis, Neurotic Disorders:diagnosis, Psychometrics:methods, Psychotic Disorders:diagnosis, Reproducibility of Res.   

OBJECTIVE: Self-stigma in psychiatric patients is an issue deserving both research and therapeutic attention. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Czech version of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale assessing the levels of self-stigma in individuals with mental disorders.

METHODS: It consists of 29 items classified into 5 subscales, namely alienation, stereotype endorsement, perceived discrimination, social withdrawal and stigma resistance. The study group comprised 369 patients with a mean age of 41.5±13.3 years, of whom 210 (56.6%) were females.

RESULTS: The most frequent diagnosis was neurotic disorders (46.1%), followed by affective disorders (18.4%), substance use disorders (13.3%), psychotic disorders (10.8%), personality disorders (9.5%) and organic disorders (1.6%). Reliability of the scale was evaluated by internal consistency analysis (α=0.91), the split-half method (Spearman-Brown coefficient: 0.93) and test-retest at 3 weeks from the first measurement (N=17; r=0.90, p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Exploratory factor analysis of the scale was performed, its validity was verified and norms were established that were based on T-scores and sten scores for the entire scale and individual subscales. The Czech translation of the ISMI has adequate psychometric properties....

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Controlled Clinical Trial 2014; 35(7): 619-623 PubMed PMID: 25617886 Citation  Keywords:  Cell Adhesion Molecules:genetics, CpG Islands:genetics, DNA Methylation:genetics, Female, Humans, Immunoglobulins:genetics, Myelin and Lymphocyte-Associated Proteolipid Proteins:genetics, Papillomavirus Infections, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Sequence Anal.   

OBJECTIVE: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer disease affecting the female population. A key factor in development of the disease is the human papillomavirus infection (HPV). The disease is also impacted by epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, which causes activation or exclusion of certain genes, and simultaneously the hypermethylation of cytosines in the promoters and turn-off of previously active genes occur. In this study, we focused on the introduction of pyrosequencing for the detection of DNA methylation of the selected CADM1 and MAL genes.

METHODS: DNA was isolated from cytological cervical smear of patients with different types of dysplasia [L-SIL (n=14), ASC-US (n=15), H-SIL (n=1)] and four control samples from healthy women. Prepared samples were further analyzed by bisulfite conversion and subsequent pyrosequencing (Pyromark Q96 ID, Qiagen, Germany). We examined the extent of methylation of CpG islands and as control samples of this method we used a fully methylated and unmethylated DNA. Methylation level (Met level) from each sample was quantified as the mean value [sum of all methylated CpG islands in %/total number of CpG islands (MAL n=4; CADM1 n=3)].

RESULTS: In total, 30 clinical samples and 4 control samples from healthy women were analyzed. By means of the analysis of the CADM1promoter region, the values of the Met level were obtained [fully methylated DNA (94.83 and 88); completely unmethylated DNA (0 and 0); and control samples from healthy patients (6.825 and 0.825), L-SIL (2.107 and 2.778), ASC-US (7.313 and 3.626), H-SIL (0 and 0)]. By means of the analysis of the MAL promoter region, the values of Met level were obtained [fully methylated DNA (53.25); completely unmethylated DNA (0.875); and control samples from healthy patients (2.925), L-SIL (1.517), ASC-US (2.833), and H-SIL (4)].

CONCLUSION: We introduced a pyrosequencing method for quantification of methylation of CADM1, MAL promoter regions, and detected methylations in clinical samples and also some basal methylation in healthy women....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 613-618 PubMed PMID: 25617885 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Biopsy:adverse effects, Brain Neoplasms:mortality, Female, Humans, Lymphoma:mortality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging:methods, Male, Middle Aged, Morbidity, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Stereotaxic Techniques:adverse ef.   

OBJECTIVES: Stereotactic biopsy is a suitable method for sampling intrinsic brain lesions. Although this method is considered to be a safe procedure, some risk of complications still exists. The aim of the study was to retrospectively assess the morbidity and mortality of MRI-guided stereotactic biopsy of lesions which were histologically proven to be brain lymphoma.

METHODS: We retrospectively studied all accessible medical records for patients who had undergone MRI-guided stereotactic biopsy of brain lesions with histologically proven brain lymphoma from January 2007 to December 2012. Our cohort included 45 patients, 27 males and 18 females, aged 23-84 (63±14) years.

RESULTS: Forty-nine biopsies were carried out on 45 patients; the average number of tissue specimens was 3±1. The diagnostic yield of the stereotactic biopsy was 92%. Overall major morbidity directly related to stereotactic biopsy of brain lymphoma was 6.1% (3 cases) including 4.1% mortality (2 cases). Both deaths after the stereotactic procedure were due to intracranial hemorrhage and subsequent complications and both these patients had a history of treatment of systemic lymphomas. In one patient the stereotactic biopsy was complicated by a brain abscess which was successfully treated.

CONCLUSION: Stereotactic biopsy is still a mandatory diagnostic procedure for primary brain lymphomas, with an acceptable risk of complications. However, according to our results, the risk of complications can be higher in patients who have previously been treated for secondary lymphomas....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(7): 608-612 PubMed PMID: 25617884 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Brain:diagnostic imaging, Brain Edema:diagnostic imaging, Disease Models, Animal, Male, Rats, Wistar, Tomography, X-Ray Computed:methods, Water Intoxication:diagnostic imaging,.   

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether water intoxication affects the radiodensity of brain tissue in CT scan examination in the rat model of brain oedema.

METHODS: A standard CT scan of the brain was obtained in a group of rats, first at control conditions (controls - CG) and then after hyperhydration (oedema model-EG) in the region of interest (ROI) corresponding to the area of coronary sections with pixel size 0.125 mm in position A (bregma +2.43 mm), position B (bregma -2.92 mm), position C (bregma -12.73 mm). Densitometrically determined mean values (MV), expressed in Hounsfield units (HU) were processed by standard statistical methods.

RESULTS: The average MV density was 120.49±6.79 HU for the control measurement and 88.01±4.72 HU after the hyperhydration, which represents decrease in the density by 32.48 HU (p<0.001). In the control measurement the average value of HU for the position A was 121.98, for position B 112.4 and for position C 127.08. In conditions of hyperhydration, the average MV density in position A was 89.95 HU in position B 84.67 HU and in position C 89.43 HU. The differences between the CG and EG were in all positions A, B, C statistically significant (p<0.001). In the control measurement, the differences between position A×B (p<0.05) and B×C (p<0.001) were statistically significant. After hyperhydration no significant difference between the position A, B, C was found.

CONCLUSION: water intoxication caused by hyperhydration in rats can induce diffuse brain oedema, which is reflected in the CT examination by the decrease of brain tissue density, expressed in HU. The value of the measured density depends on the location and size of the measured brain area....

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