Evaluation of serum heat shock protein 70 concentration in women with recurrent miscarriages

Background. Heat shock proteins (Hsp) were discovered over 50 years ago and are commonly called ‘stress proteins’. Hsp proteins play an important role in a cell, in that they provide protection against cellstress factors and environmentally negative factors. The most conservative, and the best known, heat shock proteins are Hsp 70 subfamily proteins. It has been suggested that an increase of Hsp 70 in the blood during pregnancy has a negative impact. The aetiology of recurrent miscarriages in more than 60% of women remains unexplained. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Hsp 70 assessment in the diagnosis of recurrent miscarriages.Material and methods. The study group consisted of 100 women (aged 36.0 ± 4.9 years) who had experienced repeated miscarriages. The reference group consisted of 60 women (aged 36.1 ± 3.6 years), who had been pregnant at least twice and who had given birth by a spontaneous labour without complications. Hsp 70 was determined in the serum.Results. We found no significant differences in the Hsp 70 concentration between the women with recurrent miscarriages and the reference group. While median serum Hsp 70 was the most elevated in the women with the highest number of miscarriages, this difference was not significant.Conclusion. Based on the obtained results, it is difficult to determine whether Hsp 70 plays a causative role in recurrent miscarriages. However, taking into account the fact that the role of Hsp 70 in the course of normal and pathological pregnancy is not yet completely understood, it may be worth expanding the study to include a larger group of women with recurrent miscarriages

Expression of Adiponectin Receptors on Peripheral Blood Leukocytes of Hypertensive Children Is Associated with the Severity of Hypertension

The aim of the study was to find out whether peripheral blood leukocyte adiponectin receptors 1 and 2 (AdipoR1, AdipoR2) protein expression patterns (flow cytometry) differ between the primary hypertension children (n=57) and healthy controls (n=19) and if their expression levels are related to selected clinical parameters. The group of 26 patients [AdipoR(−)] showed lower and the group of 31 patients [AdipoR(+)] showed higher AdipoRs protein expression than the control and each other (P<0.01 for neutrophils, P<0.05 for monocytes). The AdipoR(+) leukocytes expressed higher AdipoR1 mRNA levels (RT-PCR) than AdipoR(−) ones and controls (P=0.022 and P=0.007, resp.). Despite greater BMI, the AdipoR(−) patients had unchanged serum adiponectin levels. In contrast, AdipoR(+) patients had lower serum adiponectin concentrations than the AdipoR(−) ones and controls (P<0.001). The AdipoR(+) patients had higher blood pressure (P=0.042) and greater carotid intima-media thickness (P=0.017) than the AdipoR(−) ones. The stage of hypertension was associated with increased neutrophil but not monocyte AdipoR1 density (AdipoR1 MFI) (P<0.05). Severe ambulatory hypertension was presented more often in AdipoR(+) patients than in AdipoR(−) ones (51.6% versus 26.9%, resp.; P<0.01). In conclusion, neutrophil AdipoRs upregulation was associated with early stages of vascular injury, hypertension severity, and low serum levels of adiponectin

Impact of Zr Incorporation into the Ni/AlSBA-15 Catalyst on Its Activity in Cellulose Conversion to Hydrogen-Rich Gas

This work focused on the investigation of the effect of zirconium incorporation into the structure of the Ni/AlSBA-15 catalyst on its performance in high-temperature conversion of cellulose (the main component of lignocellulosic feedstock) to hydrogen-rich gas. The modified supports were prepared by direct incorporation of zirconium and impregnation methods. The obtained results exhibited that introduction of zirconium into the structure of Ni/AlSBA-15 allowed for a considerable increase in the amount of hydrogen produced in the studied process in comparison to unmodified Ni/AlSBA-15 material. The characterization of physicochemical properties of the investigated materials (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, temperature-programmed reduction, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia, etc.) showed that the preparation of mesoporous Ni/ZrAlSBA-15 with the use of the direct synthesis method led to obtaining the catalyst with a higher surface area and pore volume and smaller crystallites of an active phase in comparison to the material containing nickel supported on ZrAlSBA-15 with zirconium introduced by impregnation. Despite that the mesoporous catalyst prepared by impregnation possessed higher acidity, its structure underwent partial collapse during the preparation procedure