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Journal Article 2014; 35(6): 523-530 PubMed PMID: 25433842 Citation  Keywords:  Acetylation, Animals, Female, Histones:genetics, Meiosis:physiology, Methylation, Methyltransferases:genetics, Mice, Inbred ICR, Oocytes:cytology, Protein Processing, Post-Translational:physiology, RNA, Messenger:genetics, RNA, Small Interfering:genetics,.   

OBJECTIVES: Post-translational modifications of lysine residues of histones can result in a series of functional changes. Lysine 79 of histone H3 (H3K79) can be methylated specifically by the Dot1 family of histone lysine methyltransferases. Although multiple developmental abnormalities in Dot1L-deficient mouse embryos have been studied, the biological function of H3K79 methylation in mammal oocytes remains unclear. Here, the distribution of Dot1L, methyltransferase of residue lys79 of histone H3 (H3K79) in mouse, and its effect on mouse oocytes meiosis were investigated to examine whether there are changes in the pattern of distribution and effect of Dot1L on mouse oocytes meiosis.r />r /> METHODS: The mRNA level of Dot1l in mouse oocytes was examined using real-time qPCR (RT-qPCR) technique. The distribution and level of Dot1L protein and H3K79 methylation were examined using immunofluorescence and western-blot techniques, respectively. The down regulation of Dot1l in mouse oocytes was conducted using siRNA injection technique.r />r /> RESULTS: Dot1L was detected diffuse staining in the nuclear of mouse GV (Germinal Vesicle) stage oocytes. The Dot1l expression and H3K79 methylation level were suppressed effectively with anti-Dot1l siRNA injection. In Dot1L deficient, accompanying with BubR1 (MAD3/Bub1b) remains on the chromosome, the mouse oocytes was blocked in metaphase of meiosis I. The histone deacetylation was also incomplete in Dot1L-deficient mouse oocytes.r />r /> CONCLUSION: Dot1L protein is well distributed in mouse GV stage oocytes. Dot1L and H3K79 methylation play important roles in meiosis progression and are supposed to be associated with chromosome deacetylation of mouse oocytes....

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Clinical Trial 2014; 35(6): 470-473 PubMed PMID: 25433841 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Chemistry, Clinical:methods, Humans, Male, Oxytocin:blood, Perception:physiology, Reproducibility of Results, Saliva:metabolism, Young Adult,.   

OBJECTIVES: The neuroactive hormone oxytocin (OT) has significant influence on human behavior, and it has been measured peripherally in venous blood and in saliva in many behavioral neuroscience studies. Assessment of salivary hormone levels is popular due to non-invasiveness, but there is a controversy as to whether OT can be reliably measured in saliva and how possible time lags between plasma and salivary OT levels influence correlation.r />r /> DESIGN AND METHODS: In order to shed light on the question whether salivary and plasma OT levels correlate, we designed an experiment where healthy young men had to look at a presentation of trustworthy faces on a computer screen (faces were taken from an established database in trust research). During three points in time, plasma and saliva samples were collected and analyzed using ELISA.r />r /> RESULTS: Plasma and salivary OT levels did not correlate even when considering a time lag of 15 or 30 minutes.r />r /> CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that plasma and salivary OT levels do not correlate in healthy young men, and hence comparison of results across plasma and salivary studies is neither informative nor warranted. However, we recommend replicating this study based on mixed-gender samples....

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Comparative Study 2014; 35(6): 490-496 PubMed PMID: 25433840 Citation  Keywords:  Adipogenesis:physiology, Adolescent, Anorexia Nervosa:blood, Body Mass Index, Body Weight:physiology, Chemokines:blood, Child, Energy Metabolism:physiology, Female, Humans, Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Nutritional Status:physiology, Obes.   

BACKGROUND: The regulatory function of chemerin (CHEM) in the process of adipogenesis and the metabolism of adipocytes has been confirmed. Data from several studies have shown higher serum CHEM in obesity. To date, there are no available studies on serum CHEM concentrations in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), which is recognized as a good biological model of the chronic atrophy of adipose tissue and energy metabolism disorders in humans.r />r /> OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess serum CHEM concentrations in girls with AN in comparison to healthy and obese subjects and determine its relationship with body mass, BMI and insulin.r />r /> METHODS: CHEM serum concentrations were evaluated using commercially available ELISA kit in 65 Polish girls with restrictive AN, in 39 healthy controls (H) and 64 girls with simple obesity (OB).r />r /> RESULTS: The mean serum CHEM concentration in the AN group was significantly lower than in the H and OB groups. After adjusting for BMI, CHEM concentrations in the AN group were significantly lower than in the H group, but statistically higher than in the OB group. Significant correlations between serum CHEM and body mass (r=0.77), BMI (r=0.82), Cole index (r=0.81) and serum insulin (r=0.78) were observed....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(6): 481-489 PubMed PMID: 25433839 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Aging:physiology, Elasticity, Elasticity Imaging Techniques, Female, Hair:anatomy & histology, Health Status, Humans, Middle Aged, Models, Biological, Stress, Mechanical, Tensile Strength:physiology,.   

OBJECTIVE: Hair quality and scalp characteristics are considered to be a significant marker of health. This marker is reflected in mechanical properties of hair. To investigate these properties, hair samples have been collected among women of different age and then analyzed. The thickness, Young's modulus of elasticity and ultimate strength limit were the main observed parameters.r />r /> METHODS: The diameter of each hair has been measured using an optical microscope equipped with a digital camera. The hair was then clipped into the uniaxial tensile testing device. Each sample has been stretched to failure at a speed of 2 mm/min and force vs. elongation was recorded. The mechanical results were converted with respect to the diameter and Stress-Strain curve was obtained for each sample. In addition, all the analyzed samples were divided into two groups in dependence on the age, namely samples from women younger than 35 and over 35 years of age. All the measured parameters were statistically evaluated.r />r /> RESULTS: Young's modulus, yield and elongation parameters showed no significant difference among samples. On the other hand there was a significant difference among the samples in ultimate strength values. Findings from group analysis showed that women under 35 years show about 5 times greater variability in hair strength than that of women above that age.r />r /> CONCLUSION: The results of our study indicate that hair tendency to grow persists up to 30 years of age, then slowly decreases and then achieves a steady state around 60 years of age....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(6): 518-522 PubMed PMID: 25433838 Citation  Keywords:  Adenocarcinoma:genetics, Carcinogenesis:genetics, Carcinoma, Squamous Cell:genetics, Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia:genetics, Female, Gene Amplification, Humans, Papanicolaou Test, RNA:genetics, Sensitivity and Specificity, Telomerase:genetics, Uterin.   

OBJECTIVES: Telomerase is activated in various stages of oncogenesis. For cervical cancer, telomerase is already active in precancerous lesions. In our study we focused on the analysis of the amplification patterns of telomerase genes TERT and TERC.r />r /> DESIGN AND SETTING: We included 39 patients in our study between January 2012 and April 2013. Each patient underwent a classical gynaecological examination and a colposcopy. During the colposcopic examination we collected material for a Pap smear, HPV DNA test (HC2) and LBC (LiquiPrep™), and performed punch biopsies for histopathological evaluation. Residual cytologic sample was hybridized with the FISH probe and telomerase genes were analysed.r />r /> RESULTS: The amplification of the TERT gene showed us a very similar amplification pattern as TERC and gradually corresponded with both histolopathological (p<0.001) and cytopathological findings (p<0.001). The specificity and sensitivity of TERC gene amplification for the detection of CIN2+ lesions (cut off value 2.3) was 88.2% and 95.5% respectively (PPV 91.3%, NPV 93.8%).r />r /> CONCLUSIONS: We identified increasing amplification pattern of telomerase genes in cervical lesions. According to our results telomerase genes could help in the future to determine the malignant potential of cervical lesions and could be tested together with cytology and HPV DNA in order to obtain the highest combined sensitivity and specificity for CIN2+ lesion detection....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(Suppl 1): 90-101 PubMed PMID: 25433359 Citation  Keywords:  Czech Republic:epidemiology, Emigrants and Immigrants:psychology, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Health Status, Humans, Male, Mongolia:ethnology, Risk Assessment, Social Class, Social Stigma, Surveys and Questionnaires, Ukraine:ethnology, Vietnam:ethnology,.   

OBJECTIVES: This article discusses methods of examining subjective social status (SSS), which is based on the concept of social determinants of health described by Wilkinson and Marmot in 1998.r />r /> METHODS: SSS research was conducted with Cooperation from the Scientific and Technical Research (COST) program, with financial support from the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. This study is part of a project entitled the "Health and Social Status of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers in the Czech Republic" (registration number OC 10031), which was started in 2010 and concluded in May 2011. The study included 246 respondents of which: 69 (28.1%) had emigrated from Vietnam; 93 (37.8%) from the Ukraine; and 84 (34.1%) from Mongolia. In terms of qualitative strategies, 13 individual immigrants and asylum seekers were personally interviewed. This research was thus conceived as being both quantitative-qualitative, which included the use of the appropriate technical tools (i.e., questionnaires and interviews with select immigrants and asylum seekers). SSS was determined using the Pearson's chi-square test, as well as through correspondence and cluster analyzes. Sign schemes were used to detect select significant relationships in contingency tables. The minimum significance level chosen was α ≤ 0.05.r />r /> RESULTS: When examining the SSS of select nationalities, differences were observed in the perception of subjective social status. The correspondence analysis results clearly show that Ukrainians best perceived their social status (within the selected parameters). One measure of subjectively perceived social status related to Czech language proficiency (i.e., one criterion was the comprehension of spoken Czech; e.g., whether the respondent could read or speak Czech, or how they assessed their own Czech proficiency).r />r /> CONCLUSION: The SSS study clearly revealed typical links among select nationalities living in the Czech Republic, and highlighted risks related to the degree of integration (and its relationship to social exclusion). This study served as a pilot project for follow-up research conducted by the second COST project entitled: "Social Determinants of Health and their Impact on the Health of Immigrants Living in the Czech Republic" (registration number LD 13044 COST). The follow-up study included 1 000 respondents of Slovak, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish nationality and is currently underway at the Faculty of Health and Social Studies at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic. The methodological tools used were taken from the COST pilot project (which is the topic of this article) and were adjusted as needed (i.e., both objective and subjective criteria were used for examining social status)....

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Journal Article 2014; 35(Suppl 1): 80-89 PubMed PMID: 25433358 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Czech Republic, Delivery of Health Care, Integrated:methods, Delivery, Obstetric:methods, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Middle Aged, Midwifery:methods, Patient Satisfaction, Postnatal Care:methods, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care:methods, Surveys and Q.   

rong>OBJECTIVE:rong> To compile a proposal of the system of taking complex prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care of pregnant women and their children in the Czech Republic with taking into account medical and salutogenic approaches.r />r /> rong>MATERIAL AND METHODS:rong> A questionnaire was prepared comprising questions for mothers and making it possible to exactly use specified data from their healthcare documentation. The method thus consisted of a secondary data analysis and subsequent contact with mothers. This was implemented in the form a qualitative and narrative interview. The study included 541 women from five Czech regions.r />r /> rong>RESULTS:rong> In this group, there was a high level of the preventive care with persisting preference of prenatal consulting rooms conducted by physicians. Most deliveries occurred in institutions in the presence of physicians. In the groups evaluated, there were, however, no significant differences. In spite of this, the evaluation of delivering women indicated that there is a high level of the perinatal care in terms of the medical approach. However, the salutogenic care calls for increasing the active participation of midwives in the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care and extension and intensification of activities particularly in the psychosocial area.r />r /> rong>CONCLUSION:rong> In the group monitored, there were no significant correlations of determined perinatal interventions with the method and result of the delivery and condition of the mother and newborn. It is to mention that the medical perinatal care is at a high level.

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Journal Article 2014; 35(Suppl 1): 67-79 PubMed PMID: 25433357 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Czech Republic, Delivery of Health Care, Integrated:methods, Emigrants and Immigrants, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Middle Aged, Midwifery:methods, Patient Satisfaction, Postnatal Care:methods, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care:methods, Surveys and Ques.   

OBJECTIVES: To compile a proposal of the system of taking complex prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care of pregnant immigrants in the Czech Republic with taking into account medical and salutogenic approaches.r />r /> MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research was implemented by the form of a controlled interview and was based on a questionnaire comprising 50 questions focused on the evaluation of taking the prenatal, natal and postnatal care of immigrants. The data were accumulated among immigrants from Vietnam, Mongolia and Ukraine.r />r /> RESULTS: It is possible to conclusively state that no principal dissatisfaction with taking care of pregnant women in the Czech Republic compared to native countries was demonstrated. There is a difference in a more considerable participation of midwives in the prenatal and natal care compared to the native countries. Failures in taking care of mothers-immigrants in the Czech Republic are considered to be the poor communication, particularly in association with the language barrier, limited possibilities of the participation of family members in the delivery and persisting unsuitable behaviour of certain healthcare professionals.r />r /> CONCLUSION: In the Czech Republic, the medical care is at a higher level compared to native countries. For the improvement of the salutogenic attitude, it is necessary to take into consideration certain results and provide their application to practice....

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