Anthropological analysis of dental from medieval populations from Europe

Wydział Biologii: Instytut AntropologiiPróchnica zębów jest procesem patologicznym, wywołanym przez kwasy organiczne produkowane przez bakterie fermentujące węglowodany. Proces ten prowadzi do demineralizacji twardych tkanek i rozkładu organicznego podłoża zębów (Larsen 1995). Celem pracy była ocena występowania próchnicy zębów u dzieci i osobników dorosłych w okresie średniowiecza oraz ocena zależności pomiędzy nasileniem próchnicy zębów a strategiami społeczno-gospodarczymi w perspektywie europejskich międzypopulacyjnych porównań. Do analizy stopnia nasilenia próchnicy zębów w badanych populacjach zostały wykorzystane dane o strukturze biologicznej, takie jak wiek, a w przypadku osobników dorosłych – również płeć. Dodatkowe znaczenie miały informacje o chronologii, położeniu geograficznym czy prawdopodobnym statusie społecznym badanych populacji. Łącznie analizie poddano 176 europejskie populacje datowane od I do XIX wieku. W analizowanych populacjach zostały zaobserwowane istotne statystycznie różnice we frekwencji i intensywności próchnicy zębów ze względu na wiek osobników w chwili śmiercioraz okres historyczny. Dzieci charakteryzowały się niższym stopniem nasilenia badanej zmiany chorobowej niż dorośli. Spośród osobników dorosłych najrzadziej próchnicę zębów obserwowano w kategorii senilis, a najczęściej w kategoriiadultus. Zarówno u dzieci, jak i osobników dorosłych zaobserwowano wzrost stopnia nasilenia analizowanej zmiany chorobowej wraz z okresem historycznych. W przeciwieństwie do innych prac, w niniejszych badaniach nie zostały natomiastzaobserwowane istotne różnic we frekwencji i intensywności próchnicy zębów między kobietami i mężczyznami oraz pomiędzy populacjami miejskimi i wiejskimi.Dental caries is “a disease process characterized by the focal demineralization of dental hard tissues by organic acids produced by bacterial fermentation of dietary carbohydrates“ (Larsen 1982). The main aim of the PhD thesis was to carry out the anthropological analysis of dental caries in mediaeval populations from Europe. The material used in this study consists of 176 skeletal series from across Europe (1st – 19th c. AD) mostly presented in the literature. The comparison regarding frequencies and prevalence of dental caries was carried out. To accomplish the main aim of the PhD thesis, dental caries development was analyzed according to the age of individuals, their sex, socio-economic status and thehistorical period. What was observed is a statistically significant increase of dental caries with regard to age and historical periods. Children had lower frequencies and prevalence than adults and there were differences between age categories of adults. The most seldom dental caries was observed for thecategory of senilis and the most often for adultus. There were no significant differences in the level of dental caries development between females and males and between urban and rural populations

Distribution and characteristics of COPD phenotypes – results from the Polish sub-cohort of the POPE study

Aleksander Kania,1 Rafał Krenke,2 Krzysztof Kuziemski,3 Małgorzata Czajkowska-Malinowska,4 Natalia Celejewska-Wójcik,1 Barbara Kuźnar-Kamińska,5 Małgorzata Farnik,6 Juliusz Bokiej,7 Marta Miszczuk,2 Iwona Damps-Konstańska,3 Marcin Grabicki,5 Marzena Trzaska-Sobczak,6 Krzysztof Sładek,1 Halina Batura-Gabryel,5 Adam Barczyk6 1Department of Pulmonology, II Chair of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Allergy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; 3Department of Allergology and Pneumonology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland; 4Department of Lung Diseases and Respiratory Failure, Regional Center of Pulmonology, Bydgoszcz, Poland; 5Department of Pulmonology, Allergology and Respiratory Oncology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland; 6Department of Pneumology, School of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; 7Department of Lung Diseases, Regional Hospital Center Jelenia Góra, Jelenia Góra, Poland Background: This study aimed to examine the distribution of predefined phenotypes, demographic data, clinical outcomes, and treatment of patients who were included in the Polish cohort of the Phenotypes of COPD in Central and Eastern Europe (POPE) study. Patients and methods: This was a sub-analysis of the data from the Polish cohort of the POPE study, an international, multicenter, observational cross-sectional survey of COPD patients in Central and Eastern European countries. The study included patients aged .40 years, with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD, and absence of exacerbation for at least 4 weeks before study inclusion. A total of seven Polish centers participated in the study. Results: Among the 430 Polish COPD patients enrolled in the study, 61.6% were non-exacerbators (NON-AE), 25.3% were frequent exacerbators with chronic bronchitis (AE CB), 7.9% were frequent exacerbators without chronic bronchitis (AE NON-CB), and 5.1% met the definition of asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). There were statistically significant differences among these phenotypes in terms of symptom load, lung function, comorbidities, and treatment. Patients with the AE CB phenotype were most symptomatic with worse lung function, and more frequently reported anxiety and depression. Patients with the ACOS phenotype were significantly younger and were diagnosed with COPD earlier than those with other COPD phenotypes; those with the ACOS phenotype were also more often atopic and obese. Conclusion: There is significant heterogeneity among COPD patients in the Polish population in terms of phenotype and clinical outcome. The non-exacerbator phenotype is observed most frequently in Poland, while the frequent exacerbator with chronic bronchitis phenotype is the most symptomatic. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma-COPD overlap syndrome, phenotype

Acetaminophen inhibits cytochrome c redox cycling induced lipid peroxidation

Cytochrome (cyt) c can uncouple from the respiratory chain following mitochondrial stress and catalyze lipid peroxidation. Accumulating evidence shows that this phenomenon impairs mitochondrial respiratory function and also initiates the apoptotic cascade. Therefore, under certain conditions a pharmacological approach that can inhibit cyt c catalyzed lipid peroxidation may be beneficial. We recently showed that acetaminophen (ApAP) at normal pharmacologic concentrations can prevent hemoprotein-catalyzed lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo by reducing ferryl heme to its ferric state. We report here, for the first time, that ApAP inhibits cytochrome c-catalyzed oxidation of unsaturated free fatty acids and also the mitochondrial phospholipid, cardiolipin. Using isolated mitochondria, we also showed that ApAP inhibits cardiolipin oxidation induced by the pro-apoptotic protein, tBid. We found that the IC(50) of the inhibition of cardiolipin oxidation by ApAP is similar in both intact isolated mitochondria and cardiolipin liposomes, suggesting that ApAP penetrates well into the mitochondria. Together with our previous results, the findings presented herein suggest that ApAP is a pleiotropic inhibitor of peroxidase catalyzed lipid peroxidation. Our study also provides a potentially novel pharmacological approach for inhibiting the cascade of events that can result from redox cycling of cyt c