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Journal Article 2009; 30(1): 3-5 PubMed PMID: 19300403 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Bombesin:physiology, Energy Metabolism:genetics, Homeostasis:genetics, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System:secretion, Pituitary Hormones:secretion,.   

: Bombesin and related peptides are widely distributed in gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. It has been reported that they play an important role in the control of appetite, metabolism, sensory transmission and thermoregulation as well as in the regulation of pituitary hormone release. Central injection of these peptides leads to inhibition of feeding. There are controversial opinions about the effects of bombesin on pituitary hormone secretion both in vivo and in vitro experiments....

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Controlled Clinical Trial 2009; 30(1): 125-130 PubMed PMID: 19300388 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Diet, Dietary Supplements, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual:drug effects, Photic Stimulation, Phytoestrogens:administration & dosage, Psychological Tests, Rotation, Sex Characteristics, Soy Foods, Space Perception:drug effects, Tas.   

INTRODUCTION: It is well known that men outperform women in tests of spatial cognition, such as mental rotation, and that performance in these tasks is influenced by sexual hormones. Phytoestrogens are plant substances chemically similar to estradiol, capable of binding estrogen receptors. In a previous study, one-week phytoestrogen-rich diet improved performance in mental rotation in women, but it remained unclear whether this was due to direct binding of phytoestrogens to estrogen receptors or by modulating testosterone blood levels.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether one week consumption of phytoestrogens will equally affect performance in mental rotation in women and men. We expected improved performance in women, but unchanged skill in men, if the effects were mediated by changes of testosterone level. On the other hand, direct modulation of estrogen receptors should yield comparable improvement in both genders.

METHODS: Thirty-six healthy adult young volunteers (16 females) were divided into the control and soy groups. During 7 consecutive days, in addition to their usual diet, subjects in the soy group consumed a daily dose of 2 g of soybeans per kilogram body weight (about 170 mg/kg of isoflavones). The control group members stayed on their usual diet. The subjects were tested on mental rotation of letters and digits at the baseline and after 7 days of soy consumption.

RESULTS: Consumption of soy had no influence on performance in the mental rotation task. For the intermediate stimulus rotation angle (60 deg), irrespective of soy intake, improvement of response latencies was greater in women than in men.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that soy phytoestrogens have little impact on mental rotation skill. The findings also suggest that women, in contrast to men, more readily engage memory mechanisms to solve the mental rotation task....

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Comparative Study 2009; 30(Suppl 1): 248-252 PubMed PMID: 20027179 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Disinfectants:administration & dosage, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Formaldehyde:administration & dosage, Poecilia, Potassium Permanganate:administration & dosage, Sodium Chloride:administration & dosage, Species Specificity, Time Factors, T.   

OBJECTIVES: Formaldehyde, sodium chloride and potassium permanganate belong to the commonly used substances for fish treatment. The aim is to define and compare their acute toxicity and therapeutic index between two fish species - Danio rerio and Poecilia reticulata.

DESIGN: To determine acute toxicity of these compounds, the semistatic method was implemented in compliance with the OECD No. 203 (Fish acute toxicity test). In each test series, 4 acute toxicity tests were performed. The results were subjected to the probit analysis to determine the 96hLC50 values. Therapeutic index (TI) was calculated with respect to short-term LC50 and effective therapeutic concentrations commonly used for fish treatment.

RESULTS: The mean 96hLC50 values for sodium chloride were 21.69 +/- 0.92 g l-1 (TI = 1.4) for P. reticulata and 10.39 +/- 0.12 g l-1 (TI = 1.0) for D. rerio. The acute toxicity of formaldehyde for D. rerio expressed as 96LC50 was 0.12 +/- 0.003 ml l-1 (TI = 5.24) and for P. reticulata 0.1 +/- 0.003 ml l-1 (TI = 4.9). The acute toxicity of potassium permanganate for D. rerio expressed as 96LC50 was 1.25 +/- 0.15 mg l-1(TI = 1.5) and for P. reticulata 1.43 +/- 0.05 mg l-1 (TI = 2).

CONCLUSION: P. reticulata showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) tolerance to sodium chloride than D. rerio, whereas D. rerio showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) tolerance to formaldehyde than P. reticulata. The acute toxicity of potassium permanganate was comparable for both fish species. Calculated therapeutic indexes of all tested substances were low; therefore it is important to conduct preliminary tolerance tests before application of treatment baths....

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Journal Article 2009; 30(3): 400-402 PubMed PMID: 19855367 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Analysis of Variance, Biomarkers, Chlorine:analysis, Creatinine:analysis, Female, Glucose:analysis, Humans, Lactic Acid:analysis, Magnesium:analysis, Male, Panic Disorder:metabolism, Potassium:analysis, Sodium:analysis, Sweat:chemistry, Sweating,.   

OBJECTIVE: Panic disorder (PD) is a paroxysmal neuropsychiatric disorder with unclear etiology and obscure pathophysiology. Despite the frequency of its occurrence, PD still has no reliable laboratory markers. The sweat is a neglected human secrete reacting immediately to various neurovegetative challenges including psychic imupulses. We hypothesized a possible dysfunction of sweat homeosthasis in PD.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 10 patients with active PD, 9 patients with PD in remission and 11 age-matched controls participated in this study. All subjects underwent a single 8-min session in the dry-heat sauna. Sweat and venous blood have been collected immediately after the end of this session. Concentrations of lactate, glucose, creatinine, natrium, potassium, chlorine, calcium and magnesium have been quantitatively estimated in both liquids and compared statistically among three groups.

RESULTS: We did not find any significant difference in blood parameters of the three above groups. However, the patients with active PD had significantly higher sweat levels of lactate, glucose, creatinine and magnesium than both the other groups which did not differ. Moreover, sweat concentrations of natrium, potassium and chlorine were significantly higher in active PD comparing to the group of PD patients in remission.

CONCLUSIONS: The sweat of patients with active PD in comparison to PD in its clinical remission exhibits surprisingly distinctive changes of selected parameters after dry-heat sauna exposure. Increased concentrations of lactate, glucose and magnesium in the sweat are not contradictory with presupposed neurotransmitter-metabolic firing mechanisms in PD. These findings appear to be perspective biochemical markers in PD and its course....

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Journal Article 2001; 22(1): 53-73 PubMed PMID: 11393163 Citation  Keywords:  Adrenal Glands:physiology, Animals, Biological Clocks, Blood Pressure:physiology, Chronobiology Disorders:physiopathology, Chronobiology Phenomena, Chronotherapy, Circadian Rhythm:physiology, Drug Administration Schedule, Genomics, Homeostasis, Humans, Pi.   

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Journal Article 2001; 22(1): 53-73 PubMed PMID: 11393163 Citation  Keywords:  Adrenal Glands:physiology, Animals, Biological Clocks, Blood Pressure:physiology, Chronobiology Disorders:physiopathology, Chronobiology Phenomena, Chronotherapy, Circadian Rhythm:physiology, Drug Administration Schedule, Genomics, Homeostasis, Humans, Pi.   

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 775-778 PubMed PMID: 18987578 Citation  Keywords:  Aldehyde Reductase:antagonists & inhibitors, Animals, Blotting, Western, Calcimycin:pharmacology, Cattle, Cell Line, Electrochemistry, Endothelial Cells:drug effects, Endothelium, Vascular:drug effects, Enzyme Inhibitors:pharmacology, Glucose:pharmacology.   

OBJECTIVES: An increased glucose utilization by aldose reductase (ALR-2) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular complications. In this process, several mechanisms are involved, including the depletion of cofactors required for the action of antioxidant enzymes or endothelial NO synthase. In this study, the effect of a novel ALR-2 inhibitor JMC-2004 on hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunction was studied.

METHODS: Bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) were treated with glucose (30 mM), JMC-2004 (0.01mM), or glucose and JMC-2004 for 24 h. The cells were then stimulated with calcium ionophore A23187 after which NO production was measured electrochemically using a porphyrine-coated carbon NO electrode. Nitrite concentrations were determined in the cell supernatants. The peroxyl and hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity of JMC-2004 was measured with luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence. The expression of eNOS was determined by Western blotting. JMC-2004 IC50 for ALR-2 was determined colorimetrically with D-glyceraldehyde as a substrate.

RESULTS: Incubating the cells with 30 mM glucose strongly diminished A23187- induced NO production. Treatment with JMC-2004 restored NO production by 40% without affecting eNOS expression. This effect was probably antioxidantindependent, since JMC-2004 did not have any antioxidant capacity. JMC-2004 exerted high selectivity towards ALR-2.

CONCLUSIONS: ALR-2 inhibition with JMC-2004 was able to abolish hyperglycemia- induced endothelial dysfunction in bovine aortic endothelial cells....

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Journal Article 2008; 29(5): 653-657 PubMed PMID: 18987576 Citation  Keywords:  Adenomatous Polyposis Coli:epidemiology, Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein:genetics, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, DNA:biosynthesis, Gene Deletion, Mutation, Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational:genetics, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase .   

OBJECTIVES: The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene was analyzed for germline mutations in 113 familial adenomatous polyposis suspected families from all over Slovakia. Mutation screening was performed using single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing.

RESULTS: Mutations in the APC gene were found in 39 (34.5%) Slovak families and 25 different pathogenic mutations throughout the APC gene were identified. Of these, 12 mutations were deletion, one was insertion and 12 were base substitution.

CONCLUSIONS: Molecular diagnostics of Slovak FAP families revealed broad palette of mutations in crucial APC gene. The patients with identified APC gene mutations were assigned to a specific therapeutic FAP program....

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