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Journal Article 2008; 29(Suppl 1): 33-64 PubMed PMID: 19029878 Citation  Keywords:  Circadian Rhythm:physiology, Depressive Disorder:therapy, Humans, Light:adverse effects, Phototherapy:adverse effects, Seasonal Affective Disorder:therapy, Seasons,.   

: Bright light is a treatment of choice for seasonal affective disorder. Other indications for bright light therapy have also been tested. These include non-seasonal depression, bipolar depression, chronic depressive disorder, ante- and postpartum depression, late luteal phase dysphoric disorder, circadian phase sleep disorders, jet lag, shift work problems, and behavioral disturbance and insomnia in organic dementia. Future studies should focus on exploring the use of light therapy in combination with sleep deprivation, other classes of antidepressants, and with psychotherapy and their possible combined effect on subtypes of depression or other mentioned diagnoses, light treatment duration, and the applicability and efficacy of adjunct light treatment for in-patients....

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Historical Article 2008; 29(Suppl 1): 105-122 PubMed PMID: 19029873 Citation  Keywords:  Brain:anatomy & histology, History, 20th Century, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Mental Disorders:surgery, Neurosurgical Procedures:methods, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:therapy, Poland, Psychosurgery:history,.   

: Surgical intervention to the brain has a long history, but contemporary psychosurgery started in the mid-1930s. The first psychosurgical operation was a prefrontal leucotomy. In this chapter, a history of psychosurgery is described with a special focus on so-called "ablation" procedures such as anterior cingulotomy, anterior capsulotomy, subcaudate tractotomy, and limbic leucotomy. The expectations that psychiatrists linked to the surgical intervention have grown along with the progress of diagnostic neuroimaging procedures used in brain research. In recent years, the introduction of neuromodulation techniques seemed to produce a qualitative progress in modern psychosurgery. However, the controversies about these surgical interventions to the brain among psychiatrists still restrict the indications for psychosurgery to highly selected cases....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(Suppl 1): 65-92 PubMed PMID: 19029872 Citation  Keywords:  Antipsychotic Agents:therapeutic use, Circadian Rhythm:physiology, Clinical Trials as Topic, Combined Modality Therapy, Depressive Disorder:physiopathology, Flumazenil:therapeutic use, GABA Modulators:therapeutic use, Humans, Lithium Compounds:therapeutic.   

: Sleep deprivation is a useful therapeutic option in the treatment of depressive disorders, especially in pharmacoresistant disorders. Its therapeutic efficacy in other indications has not, however, been confirmed. According to current knowledge, application of sleep therapy requires concomitant therapy to prevent early relapses of depression. Total sleep deprivation is the classic variant of its clinical use. Partial sleep deprivation has a somewhat less pronounced antidepressant effect, and the duration of sleep deprivation rather than application timing determines its therapeutic effect. The most reliable predictors of sleep deprivation efficacy are marked diurnal fluctuations of depressive mood, patient locomotor activity, and limbic hyperactivity in the central nervous system. The mechanism of the antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation remains unknown....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(Suppl 1): 133-146 PubMed PMID: 19029870 Citation  Keywords:  Depressive Disorder:therapy, Humans, Mental Disorders:therapy, Risk Factors, Vagus Nerve:physiology, Vagus Nerve Stimulation:methods,.   

: Treatment-resistant depression is one of the major challenges in clinical psychiatry, considering that its current treatments are far from optimal. Although known for decades, in the last few years vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has become increasingly popular as a novel method of treatment of pharmacoresistant depression. In spite of an emerging body of literature concerning the effectiveness and potential mechanisms of action of VNS, some crucial questions regarding those issues remain to be answered. We review the pre-clinical and clinical literature relating to VNS, with the impact of studies of efficacy and safety in treatment of pharmacoresistant depression and also in other clinical applications in the field of psychiatric disorders. We conclude that in light of emerging reports, VNS warrants more controlled studies for the treatment of other forms of depression, including depression in a younger population, and also of other psychiatric disorders. Because of its safety, VNS could potentially become a treatment of choice in fields in which treatment procedures traditionally require the least aggressive methods....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 712-716 PubMed PMID: 18987613 Citation  Keywords:  Carcinogens:chemistry, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Chromatography, Thin Layer, Electrons, Horseradish Peroxidase:chemistry, Hydrogen Peroxide:chemistry, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Naphthols:chemistry, Oxidation-Reduction.   

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to examine oxidation of carcinogenic Sudan I by peroxidase and characterize the structure of its two major peroxidasemediated metabolites. Another target of the study was to evaluate a mechanism of this oxidation.

METHODS: Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) detection was employed for the separation of Sudan I metabolites formed by peroxidase. UV/ VIS-, and mass- spectroscopy as well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to characterize structures of two major Sudan I metabolites.

RESULTS: Peroxidase oxidizes Sudan I by a one electron oxidation to eight products. Two major Sudan I metabolites were isolated by TLC on silica gel and HPLC and structurally characterized. The major product formed during the Sudan I oxidation by peroxidase is Sudan I metabolite M2, which corresponds to a Sudan I dimer molecule. The second major metabolite (M1) is the product of secondary, enzyme independent reactions, being formed from the Sudan I dimer that lost the benzenediazonium moiety.

CONCLUSIONS: The data are the first report on structural characterization of Sudan I metabolites formed by its oxidation with peroxidase....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 663-668 PubMed PMID: 18987610 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Bile:metabolism, Biomarkers, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Cyprinidae:physiology, Czech Republic, Environmental Monitoring, Fishes:metabolism, Fresh Water, Mutagens:metabolism, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons:analysis, Proteins:metabolis.   

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was the assessment of the Svitava and Svratka rivers contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) using 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) concentrations in fish bile as a biomarker.

DESIGN: Levels of 1-OHP were determined by reverse phase HPLC with fluorescence detection. For valid assessment of bile accumulation levels, the 1-OHP concentration was normalized to the biliary protein content. The content of 1-OHP was correlated with the PAH content of river bottom sediments.

RESULTS: The highest level of 1-OHP in fish bile (136.1 ng.mg-1 protein) was found at the locality Rajhradice, which is situated downstream of Brno. Also the greatest level of sum of PAHs was found at this locality (17.1 microg.g-1 dry mass). Significant positive correlation (p< or =0.05) between the level of 1-OHP and sum of PAHs in sediment was found only in case of sediments collected in the same month as fish samples (in June).

CONCLUSION: Our results document that 1-OHP in fish bile is a suitable biochemical marker for the assessment of aquatic ecosystem contamination by PAHs....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 784-789 PubMed PMID: 18987608 Citation  Keywords:  Acetylcholine:metabolism, Animals, Blood Pressure:drug effects, Body Weight:drug effects, Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena:drug effects, Enzyme Inhibitors:pharmacology, Feedback, Physiological:drug effects, Hypertension:drug therapy, Isometric Contr.   

OBJECTIVES: The effect of 8-week-lasting low-dose treatment of NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, was investigated in borderline hypertensive rats (BHR) to examine, whether dose of 1.5 mg/kg/day affects feedback regulation of NO synthesis.

METHODS: Blood pressure (BP) of 12 weeks old Wistar and BHR rats was determined non-invasively by tail-cuff. NO synthase (NOS) activity was determined by conversion of [3H]-L-arginine to [3H]-L-citrulline in the aorta, left ventricle (LV) and hypothalamus. Vascular function of the femoral artery was determined using Mulvany's myograph in isometric conditions.

RESULTS: Chronic low-dose L-NAME treatment of BHR induced sustained blood pressure elevation and left ventricular hypertrophy associated with the decrease in NOS activity in left ventricle and unaltered NOS activity in the aorta. By contrast, the improvement of LV and aortic NOS activity was found in Wistar rats. In hypothalamus, no changes in NOS activity were found in both BHR and Wistar. In Wistar, acetylcholine-induced relaxation of the femoral artery was increased and serotonin-induced and noradrenalin-induced constriction were reduced in L-NAME treated group. These effects, however, were not seen in BHR.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that NOS/NO feedback regulation works differently under conditions of normotension and prehypertension. Low-dose L-NAME treatment accentuated NO production in normotensive rats, but it failed to improve NOS activity in BHR....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 798-801 PubMed PMID: 18987606 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Arrhythmias, Cardiac:genetics, Connexin 43:biosynthesis, Connexins:metabolism, Electrocardiography, Female, Immunohistochemistry, Male, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Myocardium:metabolism, Rats, Rats, Inbred SHR, Rats, Wistar, Sex Characteristics,.   

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate gender-related differences in occurrence of sudden cardiac death the myocardial connexin-43 (Cx43) and the susceptibility of male and female rat hearts to ventricular fibrillation (VF) were investigated.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Ventricular tissues taken from male and female normotensive Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats were processed for immuno-fluorescence and immuno-blotting of Cx43. Susceptibility to ventricular fibrillation was examined in isolated heart preparation using either electrical stimulation or low K+ perfusion. Results showed that VF susceptibility of male either normotensive or hypertensive rats was significantly increased comparing to female counterparts. In correlation, ventricular expression of Cx43 was markedly lower in males of both normotensive and hypertensive rats comparing to females. SHR in addition exhibited abnormal myocardial Cx43 distribution due to structural remodelling.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that higher level of myocardial Cx43 expression is linked with lower lethal arrhythmia susceptibility and vice versa. It appears that Cx43 can be involved in sex-related differences in incidence of life-threatening arrhythmias....

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