Linalool-induced oxidative stress processes in the human pathogen Candida albicans

The present study investigated the linalool (Lol)-induced effects in acute toxicity tests in the human pathogen Candida albicans (C. albicans). Lol treatments induced reduced germ tube formation of the pathogen, which plays a crucial role in the virulence. In comparison with the untreated control, the exposure of 107 cells ml−1 to 0.7 mM or 1.4 mM Lol for one hour induced 20% and 30% decrements, respectively, in the colony-forming ability. At the same time, these treatments caused dose-dependent decrease in the levels of superoxide anion radical and total reactive oxygen species, while there was 1.5 and 1.8-fold increases in the concentrations of peroxides and lipid peroxides, respectively, indicating oxidative stress induction in the presence of Lol. Lol treatments resulted in different adaptive modifications of the antioxidant system. In 0.7 mM-treated cells, decreased specific activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were detected, while exposure to 1.4 mM Lol resulted in the up-regulation of catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidases

Synthesis and In Vitro Anticancer Evaluation of Chrysin Containing Hybrids and Other Chrysin Derivatives

Chrysin, a well-known naturally occurring flavonoid having several biological effects including antiproliferative activity, was coupled with different pharmacophore structures. Coupling was carried out with spacers of different lengths and types. Structures selected for hybrid formation were amines, cyclic amino acid esters, and (hetero)aromatic compounds. In addition, vindoline, which is a Vinca alkaloid containing an indole skeleton, was also used. The alkylation of amines in the presence of carbonate base resulted in an interesting carbamate side product formation beside the expected amine. We also present the detailed structure elucidation of the carbamates. The in vitro anticancer activities of the synthesized derivatives were examined against 60 human tumor cell lines in National Cancer Institute (NCI, USA)

Mélyen infiltráló colorectalis endometriosis laparoszkópos kezelésével szerzett tízéves tapasztalataink

Bevezetés: Mélyen infiltráló endometriosis esetén a laesiók több mint 5 mm mélyen infiltrálják a peritonealis felszínt. Bélérintettség a páciensek 3–37%-ában fordul elő. Célkitűzés: A szerzők a bélendometriosis miatt végzett műtétek során szerzett tapasztalataikat mutatják be. Módszer: 2009 és 2020 között 675 páciens esett át bélreszekción belet érintő, mélyen infiltráló endometriosis miatt a Semmelweis Egyetem Szülészeti és Nőgyógyászati Klinikájának Baross utcai részlegén. Négy különböző műtéti technika került alkalmazásra: „shaving”, discoid, szegmentális és NOSE-reszekció (természetes testszájadékon keresztül végzett specimeneltávolítás). Eredmények: 182 esetben „shaving”-et, 93 esetben discoid reszekciót, 130 esetben NOSE-technikát, illetve 270 esetben hagyományos szegmentális bélreszekciót alkalmaztunk. 40 esetben ultramély anastomosist készítettünk. A műtéti idő medián értéke 85 perc volt, a legrövidebb beavatkozás 25 percig, a leghosszabb 585 percig tartott. Az első 10 bélműtét átlagos műtéti ideje 260 (± 161,3) perc, az utolsó 10 műtété 114 (± 47,0) perc volt. Az átlagos vérveszteség 10 (± 20,3) ml, az átlagos kórházi tartózkodás pedig 6 (± 2,3) nap volt. Súlyos sebészeti szövődmény (Clavien–Dindo III. vagy súlyosabb) 18 esetben alakult ki. Összesen 17 esetben alakítottunk ki sigmoideo-, illetve ileostomát. Laparotomiás konverzióra 6 esetben volt szükség. Megbeszélés: Intézményünkben ugyanaz a team végezte a beavatkozásokat, ami az egyes sebészek technikája helyett a műtéti technikák eredményességét mutathatja. A műtétek szövődményrátája tapasztalt sebészi team esetén nem nagy, a műtéti idő az elvégzett műtétek számával arányosan, szignifikánsan csökken. Következtetés: A belet érintő, mélyen infiltráló endometriosis biztonságosan és hatékonyan kezelhető mind a konzervatív megközelítésnek tekinthető „shaving” vagy discoid, mind a radikálisabb megközelítésként számontartott hagyományos szegmentális vagy NOSE-reszekcióval

A Semmelweis Egyetem Szülészeti és Nőgyógyászati Klinikájának szerepe a FEMaLE-projekt megvalósításában

A P4-medicina (predictive-előrelátható, preventative-preventív, personalized-személyre szabott, participatory-részvételi) célja, a korlátozott egészségügyi források legjobb kihasználása mellett, a betegségek korai észlelése, illetve megelőzése statisztikai elemzések, biomarker-kutatás, beteg utánkövetések monitorizálásának segítségével. A „Finding Endometriosis using Machine Learning (FEMaLe)” projekt ennek az elgondolásnak a megvalósítása az endometriosis korai diagnosztikája céljából. A projekt célja továbbá egy olyan mesterséges intelligencián és gépi tanuláson alapuló Skálázható Multi-omikus Program „Scalable Multi-Omics Platform (SMOP)” kifejlesztése, amely segítségével az endometriosisban szenvedő páciensek, illetve egészségügyi szolgáltatók számára megkönnyíti a közös döntéshozatalt, elősegíti új terápiák bevezetését, ezáltal javítja az endometriosis betegséggel küzdők életminőségét. Az Európai Bizottság Horizon 2020 programja a FEMaLe-pályázat számára (Horizon 2020-101017562) több mint 4 millió eurós forrást biztosított

Personalised health education against health damage of COVID-19 epidemic in the elderly Hungarian population (PROACTIVE-19): protocol of an adaptive randomised controlled clinical trial

Early reports indicate that COVID-19 may require intensive care unit (ICU) admission in 5-26% and overall mortality can rise to 11% of the recognised cases, particularly affecting the elderly. There is a lack of evidence-based targeted pharmacological therapy for its prevention and treatment. We aim to compare the effects of a World Health Organization recommendation-based education and a personalised complex preventive lifestyle intervention package (based on the same WHO recommendation) on the outcomes of the COVID-19.PROACTIVE-19 is a pragmatic, randomised controlled clinical trial with adaptive "sample size re-estimation" design. Hungarian population over the age of 60 years without confirmed COVID-19 will be approached to participate in a telephone health assessment and lifestyle counselling voluntarily. Volunteers will be randomised into two groups: (A) general health education and (B) personalised health education. Participants will go through questioning and recommendation in 5 fields: (1) mental health, (2) smoking habits, (3) physical activity, (4) dietary habits, and (5) alcohol consumption. Both groups A and B will receive the same line of questioning to assess habits concerning these topics. Assessment will be done weekly during the first month, every second week in the second month, then monthly. The composite primary endpoint will include the rate of ICU admission, hospital admission (longer than 48 h), and mortality in COVID-19-positive cases. The estimated sample size is 3788 subjects per study arm. The planned duration of the follow-up is a minimum of 1 year.These interventions may boost the body's cardiovascular and pulmonary reserve capacities, leading to improved resistance against the damage caused by COVID-19. Consequently, lifestyle changes can reduce the incidence of life-threatening conditions and attenuate the detrimental effects of the pandemic seriously affecting the older population.The study has been approved by the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the Hungarian Medical Research Council (IV/2428- 2 /2020/EKU) and has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT04321928 ) on 25 March 2020

Cacopsylla pruni (Hemiptera, Psyllidae) in an apricot orchard is more attracted to white sticky traps dependent on host phenology

The colour preference of the plum psyllid, Cacopsylla pruni (Hemiptera, Psyllidae), is yet poorly studied. This species is the only known vector of the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’, the agent of European stone fruit yellows (ESFY), a devastating disease of several cultivated Prunus species in Europe. As ESFY is still uncurable, vector control, thus vector monitoring, is pivotal to protect these trees. Cacopsylla pruni is a univoltine, host-shelter-alternating species; overwintered adults migrate from conifer to wild or cultivated Prunus species (family Rosaceae) in late winter-early spring. To select the most effective colour indicating the arrivals of the immigrants, yellow, fluorescent yellow, white, red and transparent sticky traps were deployed in an apricot orchard in Hungary. The two most abundant species in sticky traps were C. pruni and C. melanoneura. Catches of white traps were significantly biased towards C. pruni as compared to C. melanoneura specimens. Moreover, white sticky traps were better at catching plum psyllids than the other colours. Attraction to white was strongest when immigrants from shelter plants kept arriving in the orchard, coinciding with the blooming principal phenophase of apricot trees. When the host flowering growth stage was over, catches of C. pruni in white traps declined sharply to the level of yellow traps that was highest during this post-blooming period. We recommended white sticky traps for promptly monitoring C. pruni in apricot orchards because it is more potent and more selective than yellow ones during the critically important early flowering interval

Paralemniscal TIP39 is induced in rat dams and may participate in maternal functions

The paralemniscal area, situated between the pontine reticular formation and the lateral lemniscus in the pontomesencephalic tegmentum contains some tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues (TIP39)-expressing neurons. In the present study, we measured a 4 times increase in the level of TIP39 mRNA in the paralemniscal area of lactating mothers as opposed to nulliparous females and mothers deprived of pups using real-time RT-PCR. In situ hybridization histochemistry and immunolabeling demonstrated that the induction of TIP39 in mothers takes place within the medial paralemniscal nucleus, a cytoarchitectonically distinct part of the paralemniscal area, and that the increase in TIP39 mRNA levels translates into elevated peptide levels in dams. The paralemniscal area has been implicated in maternal control as well as in pain perception. To establish the function of induced TIP39, we investigated the activation of TIP39 neurons in response to pup exposure as maternal, and formalin injection as noxious stimulus. Both stimuli elicited c-fos expression in the paralemniscal area. Subsequent double labeling demonstrated that 95% of neurons expressing Fos in response to pup exposure also contained TIP39 immunoreactivity and 91% of TIP39 neurons showed c-fos activation by pup exposure. In contrast, formalin-induced Fos does not co-localize with TIP39. Instead, most formalin-activated neurons are situated medial to the TIP39 cell group. Our data indicate that paralemniscal neurons may be involved in the processing of maternal and nociceptive information. However, two different groups of paralemniscal neurons participate in the two functions. In particular, TIP39 neurons may participate in the control of maternal functions