Maprotiline treatment differentially influences cardiac β-adrenoreceptors expression under normal and stress conditions

Alterations in cardiac function were observed in antidepressants treated patients and published in several clinical reports. These detected changes could be either a consequence of the treatment or of depression itself, which has already been proved to be a risk factor in heart diseases. In order to determine a possible influence of chronic treatment with norepinephrinergic reuptake inhibitor, maprotiline, on the heart, we investigated gene expression of cardiac β-adrenoceptors both in controls and in animals with signs of depression. The rats were divided into two groups, unstressed controls and those exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). The groups were further divided into two subgroups, one receiving daily intraperitoneal injections of vehicle (sterile water) and another one maprotiline (10 mg/kg) for four weeks. Tissue samples were collected after the last application. Gene expression of cardiac β1- and β2-adrenoceptor was determined using Real-time RT-PCR analysis. Our results show that in control animals expression of both adrenoreceptors was decreased in the right atria after 4 weeks of maprotiline application. Contrary, the same treatment led to a significant increase in expression of cardiac β1-adrenoceptor in the stressed rats, with no change in the characteristics of β2-adrenoceptor. Our findings might reflect the that molecular mechanisms are underlying factors involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases linked with antidepressant treatment.Vários relatórios clínicos observaram alterações de funcionamento cardíaco de pacientes depressivos que foram tratados com os antidepressivos. As alterações detectadas podem ser consequência do tratamento ou, por outro lado, da depressão que, como se tem provado, é um fator de risco no caso de doenças cardíacas. De modo a determinar a possível influência de tratamento crônico com o inibidor da recaptação de norepinefrina, maprotilina, no coração, foi investigada a expressão do gene aos receptores β-adrenérgicos cardíacos dos animais em grupos de controle e em grupos com sinais de depressão. Os ratos foram divididos em grupos de controle não estressados e os grupos de ratos submetidos ao estresse crônico moderado imprevisível (CUMS). Os grupos foram, ainda, divididos em dois subgrupos, que, durante quatro semanas, diariamente receberam injeções intraperitoneais de placebo (água estéril) ou de maprotilina (10 mg/kg). As amostras de tecido foram coletadas após a última aplicação. A expressão do gene aos receptores adrenérgicos β1 e β2 foi determinada utilizando a análise PCR quantitativa em tempo real (RT-PCR). Os nossos resultados demonstram a diminuição de expressão dos ambos os receptores adrenérgicos no átrio direito dos animais do grupo de controle depois de quatro semanas de aplicação de maprotilina. Em contraste, o mesmo tratamento conduziu ao aumento significativo na expressão do receptor β1-adrenérgico no coração dos ratos estressados, sem qualquer alteração nas características do receptor β2-adrenérgico. Estes resultados podem refletir os mecanismos moleculares envolvidos no desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares associadas ao tratamento com os antidepressivos

Viral Infection in Renal Transplant Recipients

Viruses are among the most common causes of opportunistic infection after transplantation. The risk for viral infection is a function of the specific virus encountered, the intensity of immune suppression used to prevent graft rejection, and other host factors governing susceptibility. Although cytomegalovirus is the most common opportunistic pathogen seen in transplant recipients, numerous other viruses have also affected outcomes. In some cases, preventive measures such as pretransplant screening, prophylactic antiviral therapy, or posttransplant viral monitoring may limit the impact of these infections. Recent advances in laboratory monitoring and antiviral therapy have improved outcomes. Studies of viral latency, reactivation, and the cellular effects of viral infection will provide clues for future strategies in prevention and treatment of viral infections. This paper will summarize the major viral infections seen following transplant and discuss strategies for prevention and management of these potential pathogens

Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking Outcomes: Review

Keratoconus is a condition characterized by biomechanical instability of the cornea, presenting in a progressive, asymmetric and bilateral way. Corneal collagen cross-linking with riboflavin and UVA (CXL) is a new technique of corneal tissue strengthening that combines the use of riboflavin as a photo sensitizer and UVA irradiation. The studies showed that CXL was effective in halting the progression of keratoconus over a period of up to four years. The published studies also revealed a reduction of max K readings by more than 2 D, while the postoperative SEQ was reduced by an average of more than 1 D, and refractive cylinder decreased by about 1 D. No eyes lost any line of BCDVA. Moreover, there was no significant decrease in endothelial cell density. It was also found that CXL treatment was effective with reducing corneal and total wavefront aberrations. Corneal cross-linking has also led to an arrest and/or even a partial reversal of keratectasia in the treatment of iatrogenic ectasia after excimer laser ablation. A primary intervention such as CXL should be considered to potentially increase the biomechanical stability of the corneal tissue and postpone the need of lamellar or penetrating keratoplasty

SOME POSSIBILITIES OF VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION OF STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS IN VITRO

This work presents the production technology of five strawberry cultivars by micropropagation. Starting materials were taken in May or June from the stolons that were in the air and meristems of 0.5mm were isolated in the laboratory. The isolated strawberry meristems were cultivated in a medium containing macro and micro elements and phytohormones in different concentrations. The highest percentage of initiated culture was recorded by the cultivar Senga Sengana (81.48%) and the lowest by the cultivar Marmolada (48.00%). Optimal hormone balance for initiating culture strawberries was 1.0 mg / l BAP (Benzylaminopurine), 0,1 mg / l IBA (indole-3 -butyric acid) and 0.1 mg / l GA3 (gibberellic acid). After 50 days of cultivation in the culture, the formed shoots were transferred to medium for multiplication. The multiplication of isolated buds was achieved on the medium with phytohormones BAP and IBA. The highest multiplication index was recorded by the cultivar Senga Sengana (8.77) and the lowest by the cultivar Marmolada (5.42). When planlets reached a height of 10-12mm they were transferred to the rooting medium. The optimal concentration of phytohormones IBA for rooting of the strawberry cultivars was about 5 mg / l. Number of roots ranged from 5.09 for the cultivar Idea to 6.11 for the cultivar Senga Sengana. After two months the plants with developed roots were transplanted into peat briquettes. Adjustment by external conditions was conducted in greenhouses under a mist system. The reception was submitted well by the planted strawberries (90%). The results presented in this paper indicate that micropropagation can speed up the process of getting healthy and HIGH quality planting material ofstrawberries. The procedure for obtaining strawberries by micropropagation can be accelerated by proper selection of the combination and concentrations of phytohormones

Procena trofičkog statusa akumulacije očaga (Lazarevac, Srbija) posredstvom Carlsonovog indeksa

Trofički status se može definisati kao ukupna težina živog biološkog materijala (biomase) u nekom vodenom telu na određenom lokalitetu i u određeno vreme. Trofički status nekog vodenog tela može se proceniti na osnovu merenja specifičnih parametara i predstavlja biološki odgovor na spoljašnje faktore, kao što su količina nutrijenata, sezonske promene, ispaša, mešanje vode itd. Procena trofičkog statusa jezera ili akumulacije je od velikog značaja. Postoje različiti kriterijumi za procenu trofičkog stanja jezera, kao što su: koncentracija nutrijenata, produktivnost, kvantitativni i kvalitativni sastav flore i faune, dostupnost kiseonika i morfometrija jezera. Međutim, imajući u vidu da je multiparametarski indeks nepraktičan, Carlson je predložio indekse trofičkog stanja (TSIs) koji su znatno jednostavniji za upotrebu od multiparametarskog indeksa. Ovi indeksi kao bazu za klasifikaciju trofičkih stanja koriste algalnu biomasu. U tom smislu koriste se tri parametra za izračunavanje ovih indeksa: koncentracija hlorofila a, ukupni fosfor i providnost izmerena Secchi diskom. Svaka od ove tri promenljive se može koristiti za klasifikaciju statusa vodenog tela, ali je hlorofila a najznačajniji parametar s obzirom da je direktni pokazatelj algalne biomase. Opseg Carlson-ovog trofičnog indeksa obuhvata vrednosti od 0 do 100. Vrednosti ispod 40 odgovaraju oligotrofnim, od 40 do 50 mezotrofnim, od 50 do 70 eutrofnim, a preko 70 hipereutrofnim jezerima i akumulacijama. Glavna prednost ovog indeksa je što odnos između tri parametra može ukazati na određene uslove koji vladaju u datom jezeru ili akumulaciji, a tiču se faktora koji limitiraju algalnu biomasu ili utiču na izmerene parametre. Iako određivanje trofičkog statusa vode nekog vodenog tela ne treba poistovećivati sa samim kvalitetom vode, ono, svakako, predstavlja značajan aspekt istog. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je određivanje trofičkog statusa jezera Očaga na osnovu Carlson-ovog trofičnog indeksa i ispitivanje veze između izračunatih indeksa za hlorofil a (TSI(CHL)), ukupni fosfor (TSI(TP)) i providnost merenu Secchi diskom (TSI(SD)). Veštačko jezero Očaga nalazi se u blizini Lazarevca i isključivo se koristi za rekreaciju. Ispitivanje vode rađeno je jednom nedeljno tokom jula i avgusta, od 2012. do 2014. godine. Sve analize urađene su u Zavodu za javno zdravlje iz Beograda. Vrednosti dobijenih indeksa (TSIs) varirale su od 41 do 86.25, u ispitanom periodu, a jezero je menjalo status od mezotrofnog, preko eutrofnog do hipereutrofnog, pri čemu su eutrofni uslovi preovladavali. Hipereutrofija je zabeležena tokom avgusta 2013. Godine, kada su bile izmerene i najveće vrednosti sva tri parametra, što je, verovatno, rezultat organskog opterećenja vodenog ekosistema i vremenskih uslova. Prema podacima RHMZ-a, 2013. godina je bila jedna od najtoplijih i najsušnijih godina još od 1951. godine. Nasuprot tome, u avgustu 2014. godine izmerene su najmanje vrednosti svih parametara, što ukazuje na mezotrofne uslove u jezeru te godine. Mezotrofni status jezera je, verovatno, posledica velike količine padavina u prvoj polovini te godine, ali i pražnjenja i ponovnog punjenja jezera nakon majskih poplava

Effect of limited hydrolysis on traditional soy protein concentrate

The influence of limited proteolysis of soy protein concentrate on protein extractability, the composition of the extractable proteins, their emulsifying properties and some nutritional properties were investigated. Traditional concentrate (alcohol leached concentrate) was hydrolyzed using trypsin and pepsin as hydrolytic agents. Significant differences in extractable protein composition between traditional concentrate and their hydrolysates were observed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and by SDS-PAGE. All hydrolysates showed better extractability than the original protein concentrate, whereas significantly better emulsifying properties were noticed at modified concentrates obtained by trypsin induced hydrolysis. These improved properties are the result of two simultaneous processes, dissociation and degradation of insoluble alcohol-induced protein aggregates. Enzyme induced hydrolysis had no influence on trypsin-inibitor activity, and significantly reduced phytic acid content

Laryngeal Manifestation of Forestier's Disease

BACKGROUND: Forestier's disease is a rare disorder involving bony growths that can occur in various parts of the spinal column, mostly asymptomatic, but these osteophytes, very rarely have been associated with serious complications. AIM: We report a 69-year-old man who was admitted at foniatric departement for evaluation of presenting hoarseness, dysphagia and laborious breathing.CASE PRESENTATION: Noninvasive endolaryngeal imaging and radiological examination revealed distortion of left side of the larynx pushing to the right due to bony mass of the anterior part of cervical spine which was prominent at the left side. Тhе symptoms of the patient presented were caused by Forestier's disease as found by the imiging. CONCLUSIONS: In clinical practice it is advisable to take into consideration Forestier's disease as a possible cause of hoarseness and dysphagia in rare cases

Dependency Structures in Differentially Coded Cardiovascular Time Series

Objectives. This paper analyses temporal dependency in the time series recorded from aging rats, the healthy ones and those with early developed hypertension. The aim is to explore effects of age and hypertension on mutual sample relationship along the time axis. Methods. A copula method is applied to raw and to differentially coded signals. The latter ones were additionally binary encoded for a joint conditional entropy application. The signals were recorded from freely moving male Wistar rats and from spontaneous hypertensive rats, aged 3 months and 12 months. Results. The highest level of comonotonic behavior of pulse interval with respect to systolic blood pressure is observed at time lags τ=0, 3, and 4, while a strong counter-monotonic behavior occurs at time lags τ=1 and 2. Conclusion. Dynamic range of aging rats is considerably reduced in hypertensive groups. Conditional entropy of systolic blood pressure signal, compared to unconditional, shows an increased level of discrepancy, except for a time lag 1, where the equality is preserved in spite of the memory of differential coder. The antiparallel streams play an important role at single beat time lag

The effect of different genotypes and growing seasons on the content of nitrate and vitamin C in lettuce leaves

Lettuce is a cool season crop, grown worldwide and important vegetable usually used as a sal- ad. It is rich in vitamin C, which has significant role as antioxidant, but lettuce can also accumulate toxic compounds like nitrates. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different lettuce genotypes and growing seasons on the content of nitrate and vitamin C in the outer and inner leaves. Six cultivars (‘Kiribati’ RZ, ‘Murai’ RZ, ‘Aquino’ RZ, ‘Gaugin’ RZ, ‘Aleppo’ RZ, ‘Carmesi’ RZ) were grown in the greenhouse experiment during autumn, winter and spring. Vitamin C was determined spectrophotometrically at 550 nm and nitrate colorimetrically at 420 nm. Vitamin C ranged between 3.64-12.41 mg per 100 g FW in autumn, 3.68-7.34 mg per 100 g FW in winter and 3.05-7.72 mg per 100 g FW in spring. Cultivar ‘Carmesi’ had the highest level of vitamin C in the outer leaves (9.15 mg per 100 g FW) and ‘Gaugin’ in the inner leaves (12.41 mg per 100 g FW), both in autumn. Nitrate content ranged between 258.77-908.2 mg kg-1 FW in autumn, 296.62-977.64 mg kg-1 FW in winter and 42.74-450.74 mg kg-1 FW in spring. Cultivar ‘Carmesi’ had the highest level of nitrate in the outer leaves (977.64 mg kg -1 FW) and ‘Aleppo’ in the inner leaves (701.45 mg kg -1 FW), both in winter. Nitrate content in all seasons and genotypes stayed within the limit of EC regulation for protected lettuce. Generally, vitamin C was allocated to the inner and nitrate to the outer leaves. Results showed that genotype and growing season can affect the content of vitamin C and nitrate in lettuce leaves

The supplementation of a high dose of fish oil during pregnancy and lactation led to an elevation in Mfsd2a expression without any changes in docosahexaenoic acid levels in the retina of healthy 2-month-old mouse offspring

IntroductionDuring fetal development, the proper development of neural and visual systems relies on the maternal supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids through placental transfer. Pregnant women are strongly advised to augment their diet with additional sources of omega-3, such as fish oil (FO). This supplementation has been linked to a reduced risk of preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, and perinatal depression. Recently, higher doses of omega-3 supplementation have been recommended for pregnant women. Considering that omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate homeostasis required for the proper functioning of the retina and photoreceptors the effects of high-dose fish oil (FO) supplementation during pregnancy and lactation on the retina and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) in healthy offspring warrant better understanding.MethodsThe fatty acid content and the changes in the expression of the genes regulating cholesterol homeostasis and DHA transport in the retina and RPE were evaluated following the high-dose FO supplementation.ResultsOur study demonstrated that despite the high-dose FO treatment during pregnancy and lactation, the rigorous DHA homeostasis in the retina and RPE of the two-month-old offspring remained balanced. Another significant finding of this study is the increase in the expression levels of major facilitator superfamily domain-containing protein (Mfsd2a), a primary DHA transporter. Mfsd2a also serves as a major regulator of transcytosis during development, and a reduction in Mfsd2a levels poses a major risk for the development of leaky blood vessels.ConclusionImpairment of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) is associated with the development of numerous ocular diseases, and a better understanding of how to manipulate transcytosis in the BRB during development can enhance drug delivery through the BRB or contribute to the repair of central nervous system (CNS) barriers