Brain strokes related to aortic aneurysma – the analysis of three cases

Brain stroke connected with aortic blood flow disturbances is a rare disease and its incidence is difficult to assume. Nevertheless, 10-50% of patients with aortic dissection may not experience any pain. In case of 18-30% patients with aortic dissection neurological signs are first disease presentation and among them ischemic stroke is the most common. The most popular aortic dissection classification is with use of Stanford system. Type A involves the ascending aorta and type B is occurring distal to the subclavian artery. Aortic dissection risk factors include hypertension, cystic medionecrosis, bicuspid aortic valve and Marfan’s or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Limbic encephalitis – a report of four cases

Usually limbic encephalitis (LE) is a paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome. LE symptoms can precede cancer even by a few years. Almost 50% of LE cases are connected with small cell lung carcinoma. Testis and breast cancers, granulomatous disease, thymoma, and teratomas are also often connected with LE. Other cases have infectious and autoimmunological aetiology. In LE limbic system dysfunction is observed, and it is accompanied by cerebellum and brain stem abnormalities as well as polyneuropathy. Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis is sometimes a part of larger syndrome in which brain stem and spinal cord are involved in an inflammatory process called paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis. The main LE symptoms are: impairment of cognitive functions with subacute beginning, partial and generalised seizures, mental distress, disturbances of consciousness, and limb paresis. In MRI study hyperintensive lesions in the medial part of the temporal lobes in T2 and FLAIR sequences are present. Sharp and slow waves in electroencephalography in the temporal area are also frequent. In cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis, elevation of protein level, intensification of immunoglobulin synthesis, and oligoclonal bands can be detected. The majority of patients with paraneoplastic LE have onconeural antibodies in the blood. The presented study is a description of the clinical course of the disease in four patients diagnosed with LE

Transcriptomic Pattern of Genes Regulating Protein Response and Status of Mitochondrial Activity Are Related to Oocyte Maturational Competence—A Transcriptomic Study

This paper aims to identify and describe new genetic markers involved in the processes of protein expression and modification reflected in the change of mitochondrial activity before and after in vitro maturation of the oocyte. Porcine oocytes collected from the ovaries of slaughtered landrace gilts were subjected to the process of in vitro maturation. Transcriptomic changes in the expression profile of oocyte genes involved in response to hypoxia, the transmembrane protein receptor serine threonine kinase signaling pathway, the “transforming growth factor β receptor signaling pathway”, “response to protein stimulus”, and “response to organic substance” were investigated using microarrays. The expression values of these genes in oocytes was analyzed before (immature) and after (mature) in vitro maturation, with significant differences found. All the significantly altered genes showed downregulation after the maturation process. The most changed genes from these gene ontologies, FOS, ID2, VEGFA, BTG2, CYR61, ESR1, AR, TACR3, CCND2, CHRDL1, were chosen to be further validated, described and related to the literature. Additionally, the mitochondrial activity of the analyzed oocytes was measured using specific dyes. We found that the mitochondrial activity was higher before the maturation process. The analysis of these results and the available literature provides a novel insight on the processes that occur during in vitro oocyte maturation. While this knowledge may prove to be useful in further research of the procedures commonly associated with in vitro fertilization procedures, it serves mostly as a basic reference for further proteomic, in vivo, and clinical studies that are necessary to translate it into practical applications

New Gene Markers Expressed in Porcine Oviductal Epithelial Cells Cultured Primary In Vitro Are Involved in Ontological Groups Representing Physiological Processes of Porcine Oocytes

Changes that occur within oviducts after fertilization are dependent on post-ovulation events, including oocyte-oviduct interactions. Although general processes are well-defined, the molecular basis are poorly understood. Recently, new marker genes involved in ‘cell development’, ‘cell growth’, ‘cell differentiation’ and ‘cell maturation’ processes have been identified in porcine oocytes. The aim of the study was to assess the expression profile of genes in primary in vitro cultured oviductal epithelial cells (OECs), clustered in Gene Ontology groups which enveloped markers also identified in porcine oocytes. OECs (from 45 gilts) were surgically removed and cultured in vitro for ≤ 30 days, and then subjected to molecular analyses. The transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of cells cultured during 7, 15 and 30 days were investigated. Additionally, morphological/histochemical analyzes were performed. The results of genes expression profiles were validated after using RT-qPCR. The results showed a significant upregulation of UNC45B, NOX4, VLDLR, ITGB3, FMOD, SGCE, COL1A2, LOX, LIPG, THY1 and downregulation of SERPINB2, CD274, TXNIP, CELA1, DDX60, CRABP2, SLC5A1, IDO1, ANPEP, FST. Detailed knowledge of the molecular pathways occurring in the OECs and the gametes that contact them may contribute both to developments of basic science of physiology, and new possibilities in advanced biotechnology of assisted reproduction

The Unique Mechanisms of Cellular Proliferation, Migration and Apoptosis are Regulated through Oocyte Maturational Development—A Complete Transcriptomic and Histochemical Study

The growth and development of oocyte affect the functional activities of the surrounding somatic cells. These cells are regulated by various types of hormones, proteins, metabolites, and regulatory molecules through gap communication, ultimately leading to the development and maturation of oocytes. The close association between somatic cells and oocytes, which together form the cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs), and their bi-directional communication are crucial for the acquisition of developmental competences by the oocyte. In this study, oocytes were extracted from the ovaries obtained from crossbred landrace gilts and subjected to in vitro maturation. RNA isolated from those oocytes was used for the subsequent microarray analysis. The data obtained shows, for the first time, variable levels of gene expression (fold changes higher than |2| and adjusted p-value < 0.05) belonging to four ontological groups: regulation of cell proliferation (GO:0042127), regulation of cell migration (GO:0030334), and regulation of programmed cell death (GO:0043067) that can be used together as proliferation, migration or apoptosis markers. We have identified several genes of porcine oocytes (ID2, VEGFA, BTG2, ESR1, CCND2, EDNRA, ANGPTL4, TGFBR3, GJA1, LAMA2, KIT, TPM1, VCP, GRID2, MEF2C, RPS3A, PLD1, BTG3, CD47, MITF), whose expression after in vitro maturation (IVM) is downregulated with different degrees. Our results may be helpful in further elucidating the molecular basis and functional significance of a number of gene markers associated with the processes of migration, proliferation and angiogenesis occurring in COCs