Current issues of body donation for teaching and research purposes and their use in the Czech Republic.

Since time immemorial, bodies of deceased have been an integral part of teaching anatomy, and therefore the study of medicine. Without them, the teaching of anatomy, clinical anatomy and many research projects could not be realized. Nowadays, the European countries allow to use exclusively bodies of the deceased donors. Recently, we have registered a growing trend in the needs of the bodies not only for the purposes of medical education, but also for those of clinical anatomy. The question also arose of the suitability of using COVID-19 positive donors or the legislative possibility of obtaining bodies in the absence of donors in the donor program. Our communication addresses current issues of body donation for teaching and research purposes and their use in the Czech Republic.

Development and diseases of the coronary microvasculature and its communication with the myocardium.

We review the current understanding of formation and development of the coronary microvasculature which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the heart myocardium and removes waste. We emphasize the close relationship, mutual development, and communication between microvasculature endothelial cells and surrounding cardiomyocytes. The first part of the review is focused on formation of microvasculature during embryonic development. We summarize knowledge about establishing the heart microvasculature density based on diffusion distance. Then signaling mechanisms which are involved in forming the microvasculature are discussed. This includes details of cardiomyocyte-endothelial cell interactions involving hypoxia, VEGF, NOTCH, angiopoietin, PDGF, and other signaling factors. The microvasculature is understudied due to difficulties in its visualization. Therefore, currently available imaging methods to delineate the coronary microvasculature in development and in adults are discussed. The second part of the review is dedicated to the importance of the coronary vasculature in disease. Coronary microvasculature pathologies are present in many congenital heart diseases (CHD), especially in pulmonary atresia, and worsen outcomes. In CHDs, where the development of the myocardium is impaired, microvasculature is also affected. In adult patients coronary microvascular disease is one of the main causes of sudden cardiac death, especially in women. Coronary microvasculature pathologies affect myocardial ischemia and vice versa; myocardial pathologies such as cardiomyopathies are closely connected with coronary microvasculature dysfunction. Microvasculature inflammation also worsens the outcomes of COVID-19 disease. Our review stresses the importance of coronary microvasculature and provides an overview of its formation and signaling mechanisms and the importance of coronary vasculature pathologies in CHDs and adult diseases. This article is categorized under: Cardiovascular Diseases > Stem Cells and Development Congenital Diseases > Molecular and Cellular Physiology Cardiovascular Diseases > Molecular and Cellular Physiology.