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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 189-197 PubMed PMID: 16648791 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antioxidants:therapeutic use, Biocompatible Materials:adverse effects, Cell Separation, Chronic Disease, Dental Materials:metabolism, Down-Regulation, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic:etiology, Female, .   

OBJECTIVES: This study was done to evaluate the results and clinical relevance of an optimized lymphocyte proliferation test, MELISA, for metal-induced inflammation in patients with CFS-like symptoms. The treatment of patients consisted of the replacement of incompatible dental materials (RID) together with supportive anti-oxidant therapy.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY: 513 patients were tested by MELISA at the beginning of the study. Out of this group, 248 patients were available for follow-up MELISA after RID.

METHODS: In MELISA, lymphocytes are isolated from the blood and cultivated with different metal salts in tissue culture medium containing 10% inactivated human AB+ serum or autologous serum. After 5 days, the presence of metal-reactive lymphocytes are measured by isotope labelling of newly formed DNA in growing lymphoblasts and evaluated by calculating the Stimulation Index.

RESULTS: Nickel was the most common sensitizer, followed by inorganic mercury, thimerosal, lead, cadmium, palladium and gold. After RID treatment, a decrease of metal-specific lymphocyte responses in patients who reacted to metals at the beginning of the study could be observed. The cultivation of lymphocytes in autologous and homologous serum did not significantly affect the results. Simultaneous, the health status of patients improved as well.

CONCLUSIONS: Replacement of incompatible dental materials resulted in down-regulation of metal-induced lymphocyte sensitivity in vitro, as well as in the improvement of health status of majority of patients with unspecific CFS-like symptoms....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 267-270 PubMed PMID: 16648790 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Dietary Supplements, Injections, Intraperitoneal, Lactic Acid:blood, Male, Rats, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Swimming:physiology, Testosterone:blood, Zinc:blood,.   

OBJECTIVE: There is fairly scarce information about the effects of zinc, an essential trace element, on performance. Studies concerned with the relation between zinc and exercise mostly concentrate on the distribution of this element in the body in response to exercise. The objective of the present study is to explore how zinc supplementation affects testosterone levels and its relation with lactate in rats subjected to acute swimming exercise.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty adult male rats of Sprague-Dawley species were equally allocated to 3 groups. Group 1: Control. Group 2: Group subjected to 30-minute acute swimming exercise. Group 3: Group supplemented with intraperitoneal (i.p.) zinc (3 mg/kg day) for 4 weeks and subjected to 30-minute swimming exercise. Blood samples collected from all experimental animals by decapitation method were analyzed to determine free and total testosterone and lactate levels in the plasma.

RESULTS: Group 3 had the highest free and total testosterone levels, followed by Group 1 and Group 2. The highest lactate levels were found in Group 2 and the levels in Group 3 were higher than those in Group 1.

CONCLUSION: Results of the study demonstrate that zinc supplementation leads to a significant increase in testosterone levels and a significant decrease in lactate levels. In conclusion, physiological doses of zinc supplementation can be useful for performance....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 247-252 PubMed PMID: 16648789 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Exercise:physiology, Exercise Test, Humans, Testosterone:blood, Thyroid Hormones:blood, Thyrotropin:blood, Thyroxine:blood, Triiodothyronine:blood, Wrestling:physiology, Zinc:pharmacology,.   

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to investigate how exhaustion exercise affects thyroid hormones and testosterone levels in elite athletes who are supplemented with oral zinc sulfate for 4 weeks.

METHODS: The study included 10 male wrestlers, who had been licensed wrestlers for at least 6 years. Mean age of the wrestlers who volunteered in the study was 18.70 +/- 2.4 years. All subjects were supplemented with oral zinc sulfate (3 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks in addition to their normal diet. Thyroid hormone and testosterone levels of all subjects were determined as resting and exhaustion before and after zinc supplementation.

RESULTS:&nbsp;Resting TT3, TT4, FT3, FT4 and TSH levels of subjects were higher than the parameters measured after exhaustion exercise before zinc supplementation (p<0.05). Both resting and exhaustion TT3, TT4 and FT3 values after 4-week zinc supplementation were found significantly higher than both of the parameters (resting and exhaustion) measured before zinc supplementation (p<0.05). Resting total testosterone and free testosterone levels before zinc supplementation were significantly higher than exhaustion levels before zinc supplementation (p<0.05). Both resting and exhaustion total and free testosterone levels following 4-week zinc supplementation were found significantly higher than the levels (both resting and exhaustion) measured before zinc supplementation (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION:&nbsp;Findings of our study demonstrate that exhaustion exercise led to a significant inhibition of both thyroid hormones and testosterone concentrations, but that 4-week zinc supplementation prevented this inhibition in wrestlers. In conclusion, physiological doses of zinc administration may benefit performance....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 128-132 PubMed PMID: 16648788 Citation  Keywords:  Acetylcholine:metabolism, Animals, Blood Glucose:metabolism, Hippocampus:metabolism, Hypoglycemia:chemically induced, Hypoglycemic Agents, Insulin, Male, Microdialysis, Neostriatum:drug effects, Rats, Rats, Wistar,.   

OBJECTIVE:&nbsp;It has been well acknowledged that hypoglycemia induces cognitive impairment. However, the behavior of hippocampal cholinergic system, which is thought to play a key role in cognition, during hypoglycemia remains to be elucidated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:&nbsp;In this study we conducted a microdialysis using 9 weeks old virgin male Wistar/ST rats to determine the changes of extracelluar acethylcholine and glucose levels in the hippocampus during insulin-induced severe hypoglycemia, and compared the results with those obtained from a microdialysis in the striatum.

RESULTS:&nbsp;The extracelluar concentrations of acethylcholine both in the hippocampus and striatum did not change during hypoglycemia.

CONCLUSION:&nbsp;The results of the present study may suggest that changes of hippocampal cholinergic release may not be involved in the mechanism of cognitive impairment during hypoglycemia....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 149-152 PubMed PMID: 16648787 Citation  Keywords:  Body Height:physiology, Child, Female, Growth:drug effects, Growth Hormone:therapeutic use, Human Growth Hormone:deficiency, Humans, Male, Parents, Prognosis,.   

INTRODUCTION:&nbsp;Parental height is the most important identifiable factor influencing final height (FH) of children with growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD), treated with GH.

AIM:&nbsp;Assessment of FH of patients with GHD--classified into familial short stature (FSS) and non-familial short stature (non-FSS) according to parentally adjusted deficit of height.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:&nbsp;The analysis comprised 101 patients (76 boys) with childhood-onset GHD. Final height was compared with patients' height before GH therapy, predicted adult height (PAH) and target height (TH).

RESULTS:&nbsp;Both GH peak in stimulating tests and height standard deviation score (SDS) before the therapy were significantly lower in non-FSS than in FSS. Target height was significantly lower in FSS than in non-FSS. Parentally-adjusted deficit of height was significantly more profound in non-FSS than in FSS. The prognosis of adult height was very similar in both groups of patients, being significantly worse in non-FSS than in FSS while corrected by TH. The absolute FH was similar in FSS and non-FSS, being, however, significantly lower in non-FSS than in FSS while corrected by TH. Improvement of height was significantly better in non-FSS than in FSS. In both groups, FH SDS was significantly better than height SDS before the therapy (H0SDS). In FSS group, PAH was similar to TH, moreover, FH corresponded to both PAH and TH. In non-FSS group FH was significantly higher than PAH, but both FH and PAH were significantly lower than TH.

CONCLUSIONS:&nbsp;1) Growth hormone therapy was more effective in the patients with non-FSS than in those with FSS. 2) Parentally-adjusted deficit of height is an important prognostic factor of GH therapy effectiveness....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 105-113 PubMed PMID: 16648786 Citation  Keywords:  Adrenergic beta-Agonists:pharmacology, Adrenergic beta-Antagonists:pharmacology, Albuterol:pharmacology, Algorithms, Alprenolol:pharmacology, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Body Mass Index, Body Weight:drug effects, Female, Isoproterenol:pharmacology, Male, M.   

BACKGROUND:&nbsp;beta-adrenergic ligands have been shown to influence sexual differentiation of the brain. In the present study we document that short postnatal treatment with beta-adrenergic agonists or antagonists may permanently reverse the morphological sex of the brain, as judged by the volume of sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA). Female rats treated by beta(2)-adrenergic stimulating ligands exhibit an increased, male type SDN-POA volume while male rats treated by beta1-adrenergic antagonists show a decreased, female type of SDN-POA volume.

OBJECTIVES:&nbsp;To analyze the volume of SDN-POA of adult rats after postnatal administration of betaadrenergic ligands.

METHODS:&nbsp;From the second day of life, over 5 consecutive days, all the neonates were injected subcutaneously with the following drugs: isoproterenol, salbutamol, metoprolol alprenolol or saline. SDN-POA volumes were estimated planimetrically on serial brain slides.

RESULTS:&nbsp;In male rats the mean volume of SDN-POA was 9.97 +/- 1.66 x 10(-3) mm(3), in female rats the respective volume reached 4.02 +/- 1.26 x 10(-3) mm(3) only and was 2.5 times lower, the difference being highly statistically significant. Postnatal administration of isoproterenol remained without effect in male rats but diminished the SDN-POA volume in female rats, thus increasing the sexual dimorphism. The disappearance of sexual dimorphism was noted in rats treated postnatally with salbutamol. This effect was due to the increase in SDN-POA volumes in female rats, up to 9.81 +/- 2.64 x 10(-3) mm(3), the levels approaching the male type of POA differentiation. Postnatal alprenolol treatment influenced the sexual dimorphism of the brain by decreasing the SDN-POA volume reached by adult males. In fact, in rats treated postnatally with alprenolol, the volume of the nucleus reached only 4,44 +/- 1,61 x 10(-3) mm(3), being not statistically different from female nuclei. The effect of metoprolol pretreatment was similar to alprenolol. Male volumes of SDN-POA were restored both by isoproterenol and salbutamol in metoprolol pretreated rats and by isoproterenol only in alprenolol treated rats.

CONCLUSION:&nbsp;It appears that inhibition of beta(1)-adrenergic pathway is able to shut off the physiologic mechanisms of male differentiation of SDN-POA, and the subsequent beta(2)-adrenergic stimulation activates an alternative mechanism of masculinization. beta(2)-adrenergic signal is able to masculinize rat preoptic area in females as well. From the presented data it may be concluded that beta adrenoreceptors participate in sexual differentiation of preoptic area in rats and the modulation of their activity in postnatal period permanently influences the morphology of the sexually differentiated nucleus of the preoptic area....

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Case Reports 2006; 27(1-2): 145-148 PubMed PMID: 16648785 Citation  Keywords:  Eye:diagnostic imaging, Eye Neoplasms:diagnostic imaging, Humans, Male, Melanoma, Amelanotic:diagnostic imaging, Middle Aged, Photochemotherapy, Photosensitizing Agents:therapeutic use, Porphyrins:therapeutic use, Ultrasonography,.   

:&nbsp;A 57-year old man with 2.7 mm thick subfoveal amelanotic choroidal melanoma of the right eye was indicated for photodynamic therapy with verteporfin. The tumor fully disappeared 1 month after the treatment, the visual acuity improved from 4/16 to 4/4. The disease did not recur during 24-month follow-up....

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Journal Article 2006; 27(1-2): 236-240 PubMed PMID: 16648784 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Alleles, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity:epidemiology, Child, Czech Republic:epidemiology, DNA:genetics, Gene Frequency, Humans, Male, Polymorphism, Genetic, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Receptors, Dopamine D2:genetics, Reve.   

OBJECTIVES:&nbsp;Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood disorder. Evidence from the family and twin studies suggest that ADHD is familiar and highly heritable. Association studies are frequently used for the searching of markers responsible for genetic basis of ADHD. We investigated TaqI polymorphism of the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) in relationship with ADHD. The association between TaqI A polymorphism of DRD2 gene and ADHD has previously been published.

DESIGN:&nbsp;We used the association study to test the relationship between TaqI A polymorphism of DRD2 gene and ADHD on groups of ADHD boys and control boys.

SETTING:&nbsp;For DNA isolation, buccal tissue was used. PCR with restriction analysis of PCR products was used for genotyping.

RESULTS:&nbsp;We found statistically different genotypic and allelic frequencies (p < 0.008, p < 0.002, respectively) of DRD2 polymorphism between two studied groups of boys.

MAIN FINDINGS:&nbsp;According to our results we suppose that polymorphism TaqI A of DRD2 gene is involved in the pathogenesis of childhood ADHD in male subjects. Allele A1 and genotype A1A1 in male subjects is associated with ADHD.

CONCLUSIONS:&nbsp;Our study confirmed the relationship between TaqI A polymorphism of DRD2 gene and ADHD published previously....

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