Liver plasma membrane lipid coposition in Sprague Dawley female rats fed with fatty and sweet food and treated with metformin or liraglutide

Cilj istraživanja: Ekstrahirati i okarakterizirati gangliozide (lipide) stanične membrane hepatocita i proučiti njihovu ulogu u patogenezi inzulinske rezistencije kod predijabetičnih ženki štakora. Na istim životinjama procijeniti učinkovitost uobičajene antidijabetske terapije u održavanju fiziološkog omjera gangliozida u staničnim membranama. Nacrt studije: Istraživanje je provedeno kao studija parova. Materijali i metode: Prikupljeno je 27 uzoraka tkiva jetre iz 4 skupine ženki Sprague Dawley štakora hranjenih standardnom ili HFHS dijetom te tretiranih metforminom odnosno liraglutidom. Uzorci su obrađeni modificiranom metodom po Schnaaru kojom se pomoću različitih organskih otapala ekstrahiraju gangliozidi iz jetrenog tkiva. Iz svake skupine nasumično su odabrana tri uzorka. Za kvalitativnu analizu gangliozida korištena je modificirana metoda tankoslojne kromatografije po Schnaaru i Needhamu. Gangliozidi su vizualizirani prskanjem HPTLC pločice rezorcinolom, fotografirani i kvantificirani programom ImageJ. Rezultati i zaključak: Moguće je da masna i slatka hrana utječe na povećanje ekspresije jednostavne forme gangliozida GM3 i time dovodi do promjene omjera gangliozida staničnih membrana hepatocita. Antidijabetici metformin i liraglutid nemaju značajan učinak u održavanju fiziološkog omjera tih gangliozida u ženskoj populaciji.Objectives: The aim of this study was to extract and differentiate hepatocyte cell membrane gangliosides (lipids) and study their role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in prediabetic female rats. By observing the same animals, the effectiveness of the most frequently used antidiabetic therapy was evaluated in maintaining the physiological ganglioside ratio in cell membranes. Study design: The study was conducted as a matched pair study. Material and methods: 27 liver tissue samples were collected from 4 groups of Sprague Dawley female rats fed with regular or HFHS diet and treated with metformin or liraglutide. The samples were processed following a modified Schnaar method which involves using various organic solvents to extract gangliosides from the liver tissue. Three samples were randomly selected from each group. A thin layer chromatography method modified by Schnaar and Needham was used for the qualitative analysis of gangliosides. They were then visualized by spraying HPTLC plates with resorcinol, photographed and quantified using a computer program ImageJ. Results and conclusion: It is possible that high-fat and high-sugar diet increases the expression of a simple form of ganglioside GM3 and hence leads to a change in the hepatic cell membrane ganglioside ratio. Antidiabetic drugs metformin and liraglutide do not have a significant effect on maintaining the physiological proportion of these gangliosides in the female population

Tissue optical clearing methods for microscopy: A review of their application in neuroscience

Recent advances in microscopy have enabled cellular-resolution imaging of thick tissue samples or even whole organs. The natural opacity of organs and tissues acts as a barrier to light penetration and must be removed to visualise structures of interest on a three-dimensional scale. Tissue optical clearing methods achieve sample transparency while also preserving fluorescently labelled epitopes. This innovative approach to sample preparation effectively enhances traditional histological sections and, with the aid of light sheet microscopy, enables optical sectioning and three-dimensional reconstruction of entire organs, even whole brains. Light sheet microscopy of optically cleared brain samples is a valuable method in neuroscience that is used in neuro-oncology, traumatic brain injury, ischemic brain injury, and neurodegenerative disease research.In this review, we describe tissue optical clearing methods used to achieve optical transparency in brain samples. This quickly developing field has a significant potential for producing cutting-edge uses in neuroscience research

Liver plasma membrane lipid coposition in Sprague Dawley female rats fed with fatty and sweet food and treated with metformin or liraglutide

Cilj istraživanja: Ekstrahirati i okarakterizirati gangliozide (lipide) stanične membrane hepatocita i proučiti njihovu ulogu u patogenezi inzulinske rezistencije kod predijabetičnih ženki štakora. Na istim životinjama procijeniti učinkovitost uobičajene antidijabetske terapije u održavanju fiziološkog omjera gangliozida u staničnim membranama. Nacrt studije: Istraživanje je provedeno kao studija parova. Materijali i metode: Prikupljeno je 27 uzoraka tkiva jetre iz 4 skupine ženki Sprague Dawley štakora hranjenih standardnom ili HFHS dijetom te tretiranih metforminom odnosno liraglutidom. Uzorci su obrađeni modificiranom metodom po Schnaaru kojom se pomoću različitih organskih otapala ekstrahiraju gangliozidi iz jetrenog tkiva. Iz svake skupine nasumično su odabrana tri uzorka. Za kvalitativnu analizu gangliozida korištena je modificirana metoda tankoslojne kromatografije po Schnaaru i Needhamu. Gangliozidi su vizualizirani prskanjem HPTLC pločice rezorcinolom, fotografirani i kvantificirani programom ImageJ. Rezultati i zaključak: Moguće je da masna i slatka hrana utječe na povećanje ekspresije jednostavne forme gangliozida GM3 i time dovodi do promjene omjera gangliozida staničnih membrana hepatocita. Antidijabetici metformin i liraglutid nemaju značajan učinak u održavanju fiziološkog omjera tih gangliozida u ženskoj populaciji.Objectives: The aim of this study was to extract and differentiate hepatocyte cell membrane gangliosides (lipids) and study their role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in prediabetic female rats. By observing the same animals, the effectiveness of the most frequently used antidiabetic therapy was evaluated in maintaining the physiological ganglioside ratio in cell membranes. Study design: The study was conducted as a matched pair study. Material and methods: 27 liver tissue samples were collected from 4 groups of Sprague Dawley female rats fed with regular or HFHS diet and treated with metformin or liraglutide. The samples were processed following a modified Schnaar method which involves using various organic solvents to extract gangliosides from the liver tissue. Three samples were randomly selected from each group. A thin layer chromatography method modified by Schnaar and Needham was used for the qualitative analysis of gangliosides. They were then visualized by spraying HPTLC plates with resorcinol, photographed and quantified using a computer program ImageJ. Results and conclusion: It is possible that high-fat and high-sugar diet increases the expression of a simple form of ganglioside GM3 and hence leads to a change in the hepatic cell membrane ganglioside ratio. Antidiabetic drugs metformin and liraglutide do not have a significant effect on maintaining the physiological proportion of these gangliosides in the female population

Lack of Informations about COVID-19 Vaccine: From Implications to Intervention for Supporting Public Health Communications in COVID-19 Pandemic

Lack of knowledge and mistrust towards vaccines represent a challenge in achieving the vaccination coverage required for population immunity. The aim of this study is to examine the opinion that specific demographic groups have about COVID-19 vaccination, in order to detect potential fears and reasons for negative attitudes towards vaccination, and to gain knowledge on how to prepare strategies to eliminate possible misinformation that could affect vaccine hesitancy. The data collection approach was based on online questionnaire surveys, divided into three groups of questions that followed the main postulates of the health belief theory—a theory that helps understanding a behaviour of the public in some concrete surrounding in receiving preventive measures. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to examine the influence of individual factors on refusing the vaccine, and to provide information on the perception of participants on the danger of COVID-19 infection, and on potential barriers that could retard the vaccine utility. There was an equal proportion of participants (total number 276) who planned on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine (37%), and of those who did not (36.3%). The rest (26.7%) of participants were still indecisive. Our results indicated that attitudes on whether to receive the vaccine, on how serious consequences might be if getting the infection, as well as a suspicious towards the vaccine efficacy and the fear of the vaccine potential side effects, may depend on participants’ age (<40 vs. >40 years) and on whether they are healthcare workers or not. The barriers that make participants‘ unsure about of receiving the vaccine, such as a distrust in the vaccine efficacy and safety, may vary in different socio-demographic groups and depending on which is the point of time in the course of the pandemic development, as well as on the vaccine availability and experience in using certain vaccine formulas. There is a pressing need for health services to continuously provide information to the general population, and to address the root causes of mistrust through improved communication, using a wide range of policies, interventions and technologies

Setting research priorities for global pandemic preparedness: an international consensus and comparison with ChatGPT's output

Background: In this priority-setting exercise, we sought to identify leading research priorities needed for strengthening future pandemic preparedness and response across countries. Methods: The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) used the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method to identify research priorities for future pandemic preparedness. Eighty experts in global health, translational and clinical research identified 163 research ideas, of which 42 experts then scored based on five pre-defined criteria. We calculated intermediate criterion-specific scores and overall research priority scores from the mean of individual scores for each research idea. We used a bootstrap (n = 1000) to compute the 95% confidence intervals. Results: Key priorities included strengthening health systems, rapid vaccine and treatment production, improving international cooperation, and enhancing surveillance efficiency. Other priorities included learning from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, managing supply chains, identifying planning gaps, and promoting equitable interventions. We compared this CHNRI-based outcome with the 14 research priorities generated and ranked by ChatGPT, encountering both striking similarities and clear differences. Conclusions: Priority setting processes based on human crowdsourcing - such as the CHNRI method - and the output provided by ChatGPT are both valuable, as they complement and strengthen each other. The priorities identified by ChatGPT were more grounded in theory, while those identified by CHNRI were guided by recent practical experiences. Addressing these priorities, along with improvements in health planning, equitable community-based interventions, and the capacity of primary health care, is vital for better pandemic preparedness and response in many settings.</p