The adrenergic and cholinergic innervation of the chicken vas deferens

The morphological characteristics of adrenergic and cholinergic innervation are described in the vas deferens of the domestic fowl. Adrenergic innervation was much better developed than the cholinergic. Both types of nerve fibre were found in the muscular membrane, submucosal membrane and in the mucosa. The largest number of adrenergic nerve fibres was observed in the muscular membrane. These were less numerous in the submucosa, mucosa and in the wall of small blood vessels. The largest number of cholinergic nerve fibres was noted under the mucosa. Single cholinergic nerve fibres were seen to penetrate between the epithelial cells

Atypical age of onset of the small bowel adenocarcinoma – case report

Background: Small bowel adenocarcinoma is a rare malignant tumor, with the typical age of diagnosis being 60 years old. In the field of risk factors, we can distinguish, between genetic disorders, inflammatory bowel diseases, smoking, and alcohol abuse. Guidelines for the screening methods are very wide, hence it may be difficult to make the right diagnosis at the early stages of cancer. Additional difficulties can be caused by similarities to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract. Case report: We present a case of a 22-year-old male patient, with the symptoms of weight loss, stool retention, abdominal pain, and vomiting. The patient was initially misdiagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and received the first dose of anti-inflammatory treatment. At that point, the diagnostic process and the workflow of medical care were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After receiving the x-ray and computed tomography, the obstruction of the ileum was found, and an urgent operation was performed. Tissue samples obtained during surgery revealed the proper diagnosis, a low-differentiated adenocarcinoma (G3) of the small intestine, stage T4Nx. Conclusion: Taking into consideration the patient’s condition, age, and symptoms, we should always think about the probable malignant process. Inflammatory diseases are known for increasing cancer risk and should always be the indication of this disease. The age of onset of the disease is very unusual, however, we must be aware of such cases in our clinical practice

Thirty years of evolution of oral health behaviours and dental caries in urban and rural areas in Poland

[b]Introduction and objective[/b]. 34 years ago, children living in rural areas had almost 2 more teeth affected by decay than those living in cities. Environmental differences are being reduced along with Poland’s civilization development. The aim of the study is to assess the extent to which the differences in the intensity of caries and oral health behaviours between the urban rural environment have been reduced have been reduced in the past 3 decades. [b]Materials and methods[/b]. The data from 9 national surveys of 14,338 children aged 12 years and 5,425 adults aged 35–44 who lived in the city and in the countryside were analysed. Mean number of decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth (DMFT) was determined during the examination, as well as oral health behaviours. [b]Results[/b]. During the past 3 decades, in the statistical 12-year-old Polish child, tooth decay has been reduced from 7.3 to 3.6 teeth, and the environmental difference between the town and village children is now almost 5 times smaller. A similar trend is observed in children’s dental behaviours. Improving the oral health status and levelling of the environmental differences in the population aged 35–44 is much slower than in children. [b]Conclusions[/b]. In the last three decades, the level of tooth decay has been reduced by half, but it is still 3 times higher than in other European countries. Environmental differences have been reduced particularly in children. Both the oral health status and urban/rural environment differences in the intensity of tooth decay may be regarded as one of the many measures of Poland’s social and civilization development. However, the analysed process is not monotonic; instead, it has some turning points

Lichen planus: A Systematic Review

Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic skin, mucous membrane, and nail disease. Lichen planus is a rare skin condition occurring in less than 1% of the general population, affecting both children and adults. Oral lichen planus (OLP) involvement is much more common. It is an autoimmune disease  caused by T lymphocytes, with epigenetic factors playing a significant role in the development of autoimmune skin diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a group of non-coding RNAs, play a substantial role in regulating the immune response.1 The etiology of lichen planus in not fully understood. It can be triggered by antihypertensive drugs, beta-blockers, infections, viral hepatitis, psychological stress, and others. Cases of lichen planus appearing after recovering from COVID-19 have been reported, as well as a significant increase in cases after COVID-19 vaccination.2–5 Diagnosis is based on clinical presenstation and characteristic histopathological findings. The disease is often self-limiting, accompanied by persistent itching and painful erosions of the mucous membrane, affecting the patient’s quality of life and mental well-being. First-line treatments inculde topical corticosteroids and/or oral corticosteroids. There are reports of new potential treatments, such as biologic drugs (anti-IL12/13, anti-IL17) and Janus kinase inhibitors. Consequently, a dramatic change in lichen planus treatment can be expected in the near future. The majority of patients suffering from lichen planus develop metabolic syndrome which is the cause of other diseases. This article provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge about lichen planus and its variants

Does sauna bathing prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or Alzheimer's disease? May adults with cardiovascular disease use a sauna? A systematic review

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in sauna bathing and its role in health aspects. However, there are few studies focusing on the association between regular sauntering and the risk of dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Considerably better understood are the effects on the cardiovascular system. This study delves into contemporary scientific research on Finnish saunas, exploring their potential correlation with Alzheimer's disease prevention, their impact on vascular health in adults with cardiovascular disorders, and their association with reducing the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Scientific studies published in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were analyzed, including terms related to Finnish sauna, dementia, COPD and cardiovascular disease. The methodological quality and results of each study were evaluated. Sauna bathing in addition to being a relaxing lifestyle habit, remains a potential additional strategy which can be used in improving cardiovascular function in adults with well-controlled cardiovascular disorders. A limited amount of research has been identified on the correlation between sauna bathing and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and COPD. The accumulating evidence suggests that frequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk or severity of several vascular and nonvascular conditions including COPD and also moderate to high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Further research is required, especially large-scale cohort studies with repeated measurement on sauna to establish the potential mechanisms linking sauna bathing and either memory diseases or COPD and better understand the relationship between sauntering and cardiovascular health. Upcoming studies may become very promising for the development of sauna bathing as a new non-pharmacological treatment or prevention of various diseases and improvement in the quality of life

Proteomic Profiling of Leukocytes Reveals Dysregulation of Adhesion and Integrin Proteins in Chronic Kidney Disease-Related Atherosclerosis

A progressive loss of functional nephrons defines chronic kidney disease (CKD). Complications related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) are the principal causes of mortality in CKD; however, the acceleration of CVD in CKD remains unresolved. Our study used a complementary proteomic approach to assess mild and advanced CKD patients with different atherosclerosis stages and two groups of patients with different classical CVD progression but without renal dysfunction. We utilized a label-free approach based on LC-MS/MS and functional bioinformatic analyses to profile CKD and CVD leukocyte proteins. We revealed dysregulation of proteins involved in different phases of leukocytes' diapedesis process that is very pronounced in CKD's advanced stage. We also showed an upregulation of apoptosis-related proteins in CKD as compared to CVD. The differential abundance of selected proteins was validated by multiple reaction monitoring, ELISA, Western blotting, and at the mRNA level by ddPCR. An increased rate of apoptosis was then functionally confirmed on the cellular level. Hence, we suggest that the disturbances in leukocyte extravasation proteins may alter cell integrity and trigger cell death, as demonstrated by flow cytometry and microscopy analyses. Our proteomics data set has been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE repository with the data set identifier PXD018596.Peer reviewe

Does sauna bathing prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or Alzheimer's disease? May adults with cardiovascular disease use a sauna? A systematic review

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in sauna bathing and its role in health aspects. However, there are few studies focusing on the association between regular sauntering and the risk of dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Considerably better understood are the effects on the cardiovascular system. This study delves into contemporary scientific research on Finnish saunas, exploring their potential correlation with Alzheimer's disease prevention, their impact on vascular health in adults with cardiovascular disorders, and their association with reducing the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Scientific studies published in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were analyzed, including terms related to Finnish sauna, dementia, COPD and cardiovascular disease. The methodological quality and results of each study were evaluated. Sauna bathing in addition to being a relaxing lifestyle habit, remains a potential additional strategy which can be used in improving cardiovascular function in adults with well-controlled cardiovascular disorders. A limited amount of research has been identified on the correlation between sauna bathing and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and COPD. The accumulating evidence suggests that frequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk or severity of several vascular and nonvascular conditions including COPD and also moderate to high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Further research is required, especially large-scale cohort studies with repeated measurement on sauna to establish the potential mechanisms linking sauna bathing and either memory diseases or COPD and better understand the relationship between sauntering and cardiovascular health. Upcoming studies may become very promising for the development of sauna bathing as a new non-pharmacological treatment or prevention of various diseases and improvement in the quality of life

Amyloidoza łańcuchów lekkich immunoglobulin z punktu widzenia kardiologa

Light-chain amyloidosis (amyloidosis AL) is diagnosed in approx. 70% of patients with cardiac amyloidosis. This type of amyloidosis has the worst prognosis, especially if the diagnosis is made in advanced stages. The majority of patients are referred to a cardiologist, but unfortunately only every fifth of them has the proper diagnosis. Therefore, strategies promoting early diagnosis are important. One of them is the measurement of serum free light chains concentration in every patient with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The acknowledgement of free light chains (FLCs) cardiotoxicity rendered the picture of AL amyloidosis from infiltrative cardiomyopathy into a toxic one. Best improvement in regard to heart failure is achieved upon hematological treatment resulting in decrease of FLCs concentration. Therefore, cardiological treatment is rather a supportive therapy. The role of cardiologist is the rapid diagnosis of the disease and referral of the patient to the hematologist. The standard heart failure treatment encompassing use of beta-blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors aggravates orthostatic hypotension and congestion. Instead, up-to-date hematological treatment improves the prognosis of AL amyloidosis markedly, as long as early diagnosis is made.Amyloidozę łańcuchów lekkich (amyloidozę AL) rozpoznaje się u około 70% pacjentów z amyloidozą serca. Ta postać choroby wiąże się z najgorszym rokowaniem, szczególnie jeśli wykrywa się ją na zaawansowanym etapie. Kardiolog jest najczęściej odwiedzanym specjalistą przez pacjentów z amyloidozą AL. Niestety tylko u co piątego pacjenta jest stawiana właściwa diagnoza. Dlatego ważne jest, aby promować działania umożliwiające wczesne stwierdzenie choroby. Należy do nich oznaczanie wolnych łańcuchów lekkich (FLC) w surowicy u pacjentów z niewydolnością sercaz zachowaną frakcją wyrzutową. Wykazanie kardiotoksycznej roli FLC zmieniło postrzeganie amyloidozy AL jako choroby polegającej wyłącznie na pozakomórkowym gromadzeniu się nieprawidłowych złogów białkowych. Największą poprawę funkcji serca uzyskuje się, obniżając stężenie FLC w surowicy poprzez leczenie cytoredukcyjne. Leczenie kardiologiczne ma znaczenie uzupełniające. Rola kardiologa sprowadza się do jak najszybszego rozpoznania choroby i przekazania pacjenta do hematologa. Standardowa farmakoterapia niewydolności serca, obejmująca beta-adrenolityki i inhibitory konwertazy angiotensyny, u pacjentów z amyloidozą wywołuje nasilenie hipotensji ortostatycznej i objawów zastoinowych. Natomiast dzięki nowoczesnemu leczeniu cytoredukcyjnemu i antyamyloidowemu istotnie poprawiły się wyniki leczenia, pod warunkiem wczesnego rozpoznania amyloidozy AL