Kliniczne metody oceny pacjentów z chromaniem przestankowym

W pracy przedstawiono wybrane metody oceny klinicznej pacjentów z chromaniem przestankowym. Metody te obejmują podstawowe pomiary hemodynamiczne, ocenę możliwości fizycznych pacjenta oraz badania kwestionariuszowe. Stosowane badania służą zarówno diagnostyce chromania, jak również ocenie skuteczności stosowanej terapii, a także charakteryzują stan funkcjonalny i jakość życia chorych. Heterogenny charakter opisywanej grupy pacjentów oraz związane z chorobą znaczne ograniczenie aktywnego uczestnictwa chorego w życiu społecznym i zawodowym wymaga użycia miar rzetelnych, całościowo opisujących stopień zaawansowania choroby, jak również jej wpływ na codzienne funkcjonowanie i jakość życia pacjentów. Na ogół odosobnione pomiary hemodynamiczne nie są właściwą metodą oceny a ich wartości nie korelują z możliwościami funkcjonalnymi pacjentów z chromaniem przestankowym. Podobnie, poprawa możliwości wysiłkowych, obserwowana podczas treningu, nie zawsze odzwierciedla się w poprawie wartości parametrów hemodynamicznych. Stąd też, w diagnostyce chorych z chromaniem przestankowym zaleca się stosowanie złożonych metod oceny. Celem pracy była zarówno ocena skuteczności metod najczęściej stosowanych w diagnostyce chorych z chromaniem przestankowym, jak i próba wskazania najbardziej przydatnych, zarówno dla celów klinicznych jak i badań naukowych.In this work there are presented different methods of clinical analysis of patients with intermittent claudication. The methods contain haemodynamic measurements, an assessment of physiological parameters, an assessment of the physical abilities of a patient and questionnaires’ assessment. These methods are used for diagnosis o f intermittent claudication, the evaluation of patients’ condition after therapy as well as for describing patients’ functional performance and their quality of living. Because of the heterogenic character of patients with intermittent claudication and their serious limitations in personal, vocational and social life, the parameters used for patient’s characterization have to be reliable, complex, describing not only the progress of the disease but also its influence on everyday life and quality of life. Isolated haemodynamic measurements are not a proper method of a patient’s evaluation, their values do not correlate with the functional performance of patients. Similarly, the improvement of physical abilities that is seen during trainings, is not always visible in the values of the haemodynamic parameters. These reasons indicate that a complex clinical analysis of different parameters in patients with intermittent claudication is strongly advisable. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the most common methods that are used in the diagnosis of patients suffering from intermittent claudication, with the indication of those that may be the most important for clinical and scientific research

Mechanisms responsible for reducing intermittent claudication as a result of treadmill training

Intermittent claudication, according to the Fontaine classification, is a classical symptom of stage II peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) of the lower limbs. It results from the progression of atherosclerosis leading to the narrowing and complete occlusion of arteries. It manifests with pain in the muscles of the lower limbs which forces the patients to interrupt their current activity. Supervised treadmill training is believed to lead to the most favourable outcomes in the form of improved pain-free walking distance and maximum walking distance. The improvement in pain related to intermittent claudication and in functional performance are probably the combined effect of various mechanisms in response to the exercise training. The most important mechanisms include: improved skeletal muscle metabolism, favourable haemorheologic changes, delayed progression of atherosclerosis, peripheral blood flow adaptation, improved economics of walking, and changed perception of pain. The role of these mechanisms and their contribution to the improved functional performance in this group of patients are not unequivocally established and continue to be disputable. In this paper we review and discuss the mechanisms responsible for improving walking distance observed during walking exercises in patients with intermittent claudication. Acta Angiol 2010; 16, 2: 49-66Zgodnie z klasyfikacją Fontaine’a chromanie przestankowe jest klasycznym objawem II stopnia miażdżycy zarostowej tętnic kończyn dolnych. Jest skutkiem postępu procesu miażdżycowego doprowadzającego do zwężenia i zamknięcia światła tętnic. Przejawia się bólem mięśni kończyn dolnych podczas marszu, który zmusza chorego do przerwania wysiłku. Podstawowe elementy leczenia zachowawczego pacjentów z miażdżycą naczyń obwodowych to zaprzestanie palenia tytoniu i rozpoczęcie leczenia wysiłkiem. Uważa się, że najbardziej korzystny efekt w postaci zwiększania dystansu pokonywanego bez bólu i maksymalnego dystansu marszu przynosi nadzorowany trening marszowy na bieżni. Zmniejszenie dolegliwości bólowych związanych z chromaniem przestankowym i poprawa możliwości funkcjonalnych chorych są najprawdopodobniej łącznym efektem działania różnych mechanizmów w odpowiedzi na zastosowany trening. Spośród najważniejszych mechanizmów wymienia się: poprawę metabolizmu mięśni szkieletowych, korzystne zmiany hemoreologiczne, hamowanie progresji miażdżycy, zmiany adaptacyjne przepływu obwodowego, poprawę ekonomii chodu oraz zmianę percepcji bólu. Rola tych mechanizmów oraz ich udział w zakresie poprawy możliwości funkcjonalnych w tej grupie chorych nie są jednoznaczne i stanowią nadal przedmiot dyskusji. W pracy zebrano i omówiono poznane dotychczas mechanizmy poprawy dystansu marszu obserwowane podczas treningu marszowego u pacjentów z chromaniem przestankowym. Acta Angiol 2010; 16, 2: 49-6

Development of genome-specific primers for homoeologous genes in allopolyploid species: the waxy and starch synthase II genes in allohexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as examples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In allopolypoid crops, homoeologous genes in different genomes exhibit a very high sequence similarity, especially in the coding regions of genes. This makes it difficult to design genome-specific primers to amplify individual genes from different genomes. Development of genome-specific primers for agronomically important genes in allopolypoid crops is very important and useful not only for the study of sequence diversity and association mapping of genes in natural populations, but also for the development of gene-based functional markers for marker-assisted breeding. Here we report on a useful approach for the development of genome-specific primers in allohexaploid wheat.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>In the present study, three genome-specific primer sets for the <it>waxy </it>(<it>Wx</it>) genes and four genome-specific primer sets for the <it>starch synthase II </it>(<it>SSII</it>) genes were developed mainly from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and/or insertions or deletions (Indels) in introns and intron-exon junctions. The size of a single PCR product ranged from 750 bp to 1657 bp. The total length of amplified PCR products by these genome-specific primer sets accounted for 72.6%-87.0% of the <it>Wx </it>genes and 59.5%-61.6% of the <it>SSII </it>genes. Five genome-specific primer sets for the <it>Wx </it>genes (one for Wx-7A, three for Wx-4A and one for Wx-7D) could distinguish the wild type wheat and partial waxy wheat lines. These genome-specific primer sets for the <it>Wx </it>and <it>SSII </it>genes produced amplifications in hexaploid wheat, cultivated durum wheat, and <it>Aegilops tauschii </it>accessions, but failed to generate amplification in the majority of wild diploid and tetraploid accessions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>For the first time, we report on the development of genome-specific primers from three homoeologous <it>Wx </it>and <it>SSII </it>genes covering the majority of the genes in allohexaploid wheat. These genome-specific primers are being used for the study of sequence diversity and association mapping of the three homoeologous <it>Wx </it>and <it>SSII </it>genes in natural populations of both hexaploid wheat and cultivated tetraploid wheat. The strategies used in this paper can be used to develop genome-specific primers for homoeologous genes in any allopolypoid species. They may be also suitable for (i) the development of gene-specific primers for duplicated paralogous genes in any diploid species, and (ii) the development of allele-specific primers at the same gene locus.</p

The Effect of Abiotic Factors on Abundance and Photosynthetic Performance of Airborne Cyanobacteria and Microalgae Isolated from the Southern Baltic Sea Region

Cyanobacteria and microalgae present in the aquatic or terrestrial environment may be emitted into the air and transported along with air masses over long distances. As a result of staying in the atmosphere, these organisms may develop a greater tolerance to stressful factors, but this topic is still relatively unknown. The main aim was to show an autecological characteristic of some airborne microalgae and cyanobacteria strains by a factorial laboratory experiment approach, including changes in irradiance, temperature, and salinity conditions. The additional purpose of this work was also to present part of the Culture Collection of Baltic Algae (CCBA) collection, which consists of airborne algae (AA) isolated from the atmospheric air of the southern Baltic Sea region. Altogether, 61 strains of airborne cyanobacteria and microalgae from the southern Baltic Sea region were isolated from May 2018 to August 2020. Selected microorganisms were tested in controlled laboratory conditions to identify their response to different irradiance (10–190 µmol photons m−2 s−1), temperature (13–23 °C), and salinity conditions (0–36 PSU). The highest numbers of cells (above 30 × 105 cell mL−1) were recorded for cyanobacterium Nostoc sp., and for diatoms Nitzschia sp., Amphora sp., and Halamphora sp. We found that for cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. as well as for green alga Coccomyxa sp. the maximum cell concentrations were recorded at the salinity of 0 PSU. Moreover, cyanobacteria Planktolyngbya contorta, Pseudanabaena catenata, Leptolyngbya foveolarum, Gloeocapsa sp., and Rivularia sp. were able to grow only at a salinity of 0 PSU. On the other hand, in the range of 16–24 PSU, the highest cell numbers of examined diatoms have been identified. Our research provided that deposited airborne microalgae and cyanobacteria showed full colonization potential. The present experiment suggests that the adaptive abilities of microorganisms, in particular those producing toxins, may contribute to the spread in the future. Thus, it may increase human exposure to their negative health effects. Any distinctive adaptations of the genera give them an additional competitive advantage and a greater chance for territorial expansion

The effect of treadmill training on endothelial function and walking abilities in patients with peripheral arterial disease

AbstractBackgroundIn this prospective study we evaluated the effects of treadmill training on patients’ walking ability, as well as endothelial function, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and fibrinogen concentration.MethodsA total of 67 patients with stable intermittent claudication were included in a 12-week supervised training program. An observational follow-up period then lasted a mean of 37 weeks. Forty patients completed follow-up. Changes in blood pressure, flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), and treadmill walking performance expressed as maximal walking time (MWT) were assessed before and after the training program and during the follow-up period. Moreover, ankle/brachial index (ABI), plasma levels of hs-CRP, fibrinogen, as well as a lipid profile were assessed before and after the training program.ResultsMaximal walking time improved significantly after treadmill training by 90% (p<0.001) and after follow-up by 64% (p<0.001) in comparison to baseline. FMD values increased by 43% (p<0.001) after the training program, and by 29% (p=0.058) after follow-up, compared to baseline. We noticed a significant decrease in hs-CRP concentration (p=0.025) and an increase in ABI values (p=0.039) in response to the treadmill training program. No effect on lipid profile was observed.ConclusionsThe 12-week treadmill training program prolonged the asymptomatic walking distance. The improvement in FMD indicates a systemic effect of the treadmill program on endothelial function. The supervised treadmill training provides an effective and safe treatment option in patients with PAD. The effects of unsupervised exercise during follow-up period after treadmill programs remain tentative and underestimated