Diet supplemented either with dried chicory root or chicory inulin significantly influence kidney and liver mineral content and antioxidative capacity in growing pigs.

According to the Regulation No. 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and European Union Council, the use of antibiotics as a dietary supplements has been prohibited. It seems that the administration of prebiotics, instead of antibiotics, into the pig's diet, may regulate the intestinal microbiota and has a long-term health-related impact on the host. Inulin-type fructans can stimulate mineral absorption from the gut. Additionally, it may regulate energy metabolism and activate enzymatic mechanisms preventing oxidative stress. The goal of the present study was to estimate the influence of dietary supplementation with dried chicory root or native chicory inulin on 1) liver histology; 2) liver and kidney lipid metabolism indices, activity of selected enzymes, concentration of macro- and micronutrients and heavy metals; 3) blood plasma, liver and kidney oxidative stress biomarkers and 4) blood plasma water-electrolyte homeostasis indices in growing pigs. The nutritional study was conducted on 24 piglets assigned to 3 dietary groups (n = 8): control (C) fed a basal diet and two experimental groups receiving basal diet supplemented with 2% of inulin (IN) either 4% of dried chicory root (CR). The animals were fed with a group-specific diets for 40 days and then subjected to euthanasia. Subsequently, blood, liver and kidney samples were harvested for further processing. In the control and experimental groups, no apparent morphological abnormalities in the liver tissues were seen. The percent of periodic acid Schiff positive glycogen liver cells was significantly lower in the CR group as compared to C and IN groups (P < 0.001). Chicory root supplementation improved blood plasma prooxidative-antioxidative balance - PAB (P < 0.001) and liver PAB (P < 0.01) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances - thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (P < 0.05). Feeding the CR diet increased calcium (P < 0.001) and potassium (P < 0.05) and decreased cadmium (P ≥ 0.05) content in the liver when compared to the C group. Administration of the CR and IN diets increased selenium (Se) and sodium concentrations, whereas decreased zinc content both in the liver (P < 0.01; P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively) and in the kidney (P < 0.01; P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively) of pigs. Additionally, a higher concentration of lead (P < 0.05) was observed in the kidney of pigs fed the CR diet. In conclusion, both dietary supplements had a potential to significantly improve the Se status and oxidoreductive homeostasis in growing pigs.

Environmental factors driving the occurrence of the invasive cyanobacterium Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides (Nostocales) in temperate lakes.

Cyanobacterial blooms are an increasing threat worldwide. Invasions of certain cyanobacterial species, mainly towards higher latitudes, add to this concern as they enrich the pool of potential bloom-formers in the invaded region. Among the numerous causes of this escalating process, climate warming is commonly considered the most crucial factor, but empirical studies of this issue are lacking. The aim of our study was to identify physical, chemical and biological factors related to the occurrence of an invasive cyanobacterium at the northern border of its putative current range, and thus enabling its expansion. This study focuses on the relatively little studied species Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria; synonyms: Aphanizomenon aphanizomenoides, Anabaena aphanizomenoides), which is predicted to become one of the main nuisance species of the future. Forty-nine freshwater lakes located between latitudes 51° and 55°N were examined for the presence of S. aphanizomenoides, and environmental factors that could drive its occurrence were studied simultaneously. To identify factors correlated with the presence of the species, principal component analysis (PCA) and Mann-Whitney U test were performed. Water temperature did not differentiate lakes with or without S. aphanizomenoides, however the study was conducted in a particularly hot summer. Total phosphorus concentration was identified as the primary driving factor of the occurrence of S. aphanizomenoides. The species grew in poor light conditions and high phytoplankton biomass, mainly in shallow lakes. As shown by detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the species accompanied shade tolerant, eutrophic species of native and invasive cyanobacteria as well as eukaryotic algae. Our results indicate that eutrophication may be the primary factor enabling the increasing occurrence of S. aphanizomenoides in temperate environments, and suggest that this process may stimulate expansion of cyanobacterial species towards high latitudes.

Cell and region specificity of Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) system in the testis and the epididymis.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays multiple important functions in adaptive responses. Exposure to AhR ligands may produce an altered metabolic activity controlled by the AhR pathways, and consequently affect drug/toxin responses, hormonal status and cellular homeostasis. This research revealed species-, cell- and region-specific pattern of the AhR system expression in the rat and human testis and epididymis, complementing the existing knowledge, especially within the epididymal segments. The study showed that AhR level in the rat and human epididymis is higher than in the testis. The downregulation of AhR expression after TCDD treatment was revealed in the spermatogenic cells at different stages and the epididymal epithelial cells, but not in the Sertoli and Leydig cells. Hence, this basic research provides information about the AhR function in the testis and epididymis, which may provide an insight into deleterious effects of drugs, hormones and environmental pollutants on male fertility.

A network model comprising 4 segmental, interconnected ganglia, and its application to simulate multi-legged locomotion in crustaceans.

Inter-segmental coordination is crucial for the locomotion of animals. Arthropods show high variability of leg numbers, from 6 in insects up to 750 legs in millipedes. Despite this fact, the anatomical and functional organization of their nervous systems show basic similarities. The main similarities are the segmental organization, and the way the function of the segmental units is coordinated. We set out to construct a model that could describe locomotion (walking) in animals with more than 6 legs, as well as in 6-legged animals (insects). To this end, we extended a network model by Daun-Gruhn and Tóth (Journal of Computational Neuroscience, doi: 10.1007/s10827-010-0300-1 , 2011). This model describes inter-segmental coordination of the ipsilateral legs in the stick insect during walking. Including an additional segment (local network) into the original model, we could simulate coordination patterns that occur in animals walking on eight legs (e.g., crayfish). We could improve the model by modifying its original cyclic connection topology. In all model variants, the phase relations between the afferent segmental excitatory sensory signals and the oscillatory activity of the segmental networks played a crucial role. Our results stress the importance of this sensory input on the generation of different stable coordination patterns. The simulations confirmed that using the modified connection topology, the flexibility of the model behaviour increased, meaning that changing a single phase parameter, i.e., gating properties of just one afferent sensory signal was sufficient to reproduce all coordination patterns seen in the experiments.

Immunoexpression of intermediate filaments and morphological changes in the liver and bile duct of rats infected with Fasciola hepatica.

We investigated the immunoexpression of the intermediate filament proteins, cytokeratin and desmin, and the morphological changes in the liver of rats during experimental fasciolosis at 4, 7 and 10 weeks post-infection. Rats were infected with 30 Fasciola hepatica metacercariae. Paraffin sections of the liver were stained using H & E, PAS and azan stains. Immunohistochemical reactions were performed using antibodies against cytokeratin and desmin. The experimental F. hepatica infection led to fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver, and to inflammation of the common bile ducts. The expression of cytokeratin was increased in the epithelial cells of both the liver bile ductules at 4, 7 and 10 weeks post-infection and in the common bile ducts at 7 and 10 weeks post-infection compared to uninfected rats; expression in the common bile ducts was more intense. The myofibroblasts of the liver and smooth myocytes of the interlobular bile ducts and common bile ducts, showed a slight increase in desmin expression compared to the uninfected rats. The increased expression of cytokeratins in the hyperplastic rat common bile duct epithelium during the biliary phase of fasciolosis at 7 and 10 weeks post-infection may be explained by mechanical irritation by the parasite and an inflammatory reaction in the bile duct epithelium and in periductal fibrous tissue.

SOX2 expression in the developing, adult, as well as, diseased prostate.

BACKGROUND: SOX2 is a member of SOX (SRY-related high mobility group box) family of transcription factors. METHODS: In this study, we examined the expression of SOX2 in murine and human prostatic specimens by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: We found that SOX2 was expressed in murine prostates during budding morphogenesis and in neuroendocrine (NE) prostate cancer (PCa) murine models. Expression of SOX2 was also examined in human prostatic tissue. We found that SOX2 was expressed in 26 of the 30 BPH specimens. In these BPH samples, expression of SOX2 was limited to basal epithelial cells. In contrast, 24 of the 25 primary PCa specimens were negative for SOX2. The only positive primary PCa was the prostatic NE tumor, which also showed co-expression of synaptophysin. Additionally, the expression of SOX2 was detected in all prostatic NE tumor xenograft lines. Furthermore, we have examined the expression of SOX2 on a set of tissue microarrays consisting of metastatic PCa tissues. Expression of SOX2 was detected in at least one metastatic site in 15 of the 24 patients with metastatic castration-resistant PCa; and the expression of SOX2 was correlated with synaptophysin. CONCLUSIONS: SOX2 was expressed in developing prostates, basal cells of BPH, as well as prostatic NE tumors.

Changes of the total antioxidative status of blood cells in the progression of stomach and large bowel cancers in patients subjected to primary radical treatment.

The analysis included 53 patients (32 men and 21 women) aged 43 to 66 years, who were subjected to radical treatment (surgical or combined) because of stomach (22 patients) or large bowel (31 patients) cancer. All the patients were included in the same model of control examinations, which considered evaluation of the erythrocytes TAS and of the Ca19-9, CEA and AFP concentrations in serum. It was confirmed that in all the patients in whom the recurrence and/or the dissemination occurred of the cancer, the average erythrocytes TAS value increased 5.5 times by comparison with the period before progression and 7 times in comparison with the patients without recurrence and/or dissemination of the cancer. Moreover it was shown that statistically significantly higher TAS values were associated with the progression of the large bowel cancer in comparison with the stomach cancer and that the blood cells TAS positively correlated with the changes of the Ca19-9, CEA and AFP concentrations in patients with progression of the cancer after radical treatment.

The influence of antineoplastic chemotherapy on the glutathione enzymes activity in the blood.

The analysis included 78 patients (42 men and 36 women) aged 48 to 67 years treated with cytostatics because of a neoplastic disease. In all the patients examined was evaluated the influence of the chemotherapy carried out on the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities. It was confirmed that the effect of the action on the glutathione enzymes (GE) activity of the antineoplastic chemotherapy changes depending on the duration of the treatment with cytostatics. In the end this activity settles at a high level, statistically significantly higher than that registered before the beginning of the antineoplastic treatment. The increase of the GE activity is mainly favoured by the chemotherapy following the schemes FAC (5-fluorouracyl + doxorubicin + endoxan) and PAC (cisplatin + cyclofosfamide + pharmorubicin).

[Evaluation of treatment and preventive care for recurrent urolithiasis in children]. / Ocena skutecznosci leczenia i profilaktyki kamicy nawrotowej ukladu moczowego u dzieci.

Among 425 children with urolithiasis treated in the Paediatric Clinical Department of the National Research Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw between 1976-1997, 50 of them i.e. 11.7% (26 boys and 24 girls) had recurrent urolithiasis. Patients' age was from 10 months to 16 years and 5 months. The number of recurrences of uroliothiasis before treatment in the Institute was from 1 to 8. Most of the children had numerous surgical operations, some of them excreted stones spontaneously. The etiology was determined in all cases. A metabolic cause of urolithiasis was found in 34 cases, i.e. 68% of the analysed group. They were as follows: idiopathic hypercalcuria--24 cases, uric acid urolithiasis--5 cases, cystynuria--4 cases, and incomplete distal renal tubular acidosis--1 case. Other reasons for urolithiasis were: infection--7 cases, idiopathic urolithiasis--8 cases, ren spongiosum--1 case. Prevention of recurrences depending on the etiology was successful. In 45 cases no recurrences were found. Recurrent urolithiasis was observed in 4 cases of cystynuria and in one case of incomplete tubular acidosis. The observation period was from 3-19 years.

The effect of lead on lactate formation, ATP level and membrane ATPase activities in human erythrocytes in vitro.

Lead ions inhibit aerobic glycolysis and diminish ATP level in human erythrocytes in vitro. Magnesium partly abolishes this inhibitory effect of lead on lactate formation by stimulation of Mg-dependent enzymes. Lead ions also inhibit the (Na, K) ATPase activity of the erythrocyte membranes. This effect is seen after the direct adding of lead acetate to erythrocyte ghosts, as well as in the ghosts obtained after preincubation of intact erythrocytes with lead acetate, prior to cell membrane isolation (Ca, Mg) ATPase is less sensitive to lead and (Mg) ATPase is practically insensitive. During these studies a protective effect of glucose was found. The inhibition of (Na, K) ATPase by lead ions, observed after incubation of human erythrocytes, as an experimental model, may indicate a similar sensitivity of membrane (Na, K) ATPases from other cells during their in vitro exposure to lead, especially from the nervous cells, where (Na, K) ATPase participates in the process of cell surface repolarization.

Effect of butobendin on dopamine beta-hydroxylase in vitro.

It has been found that dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) (E.C.1.14.17.1), a key enzyme in the multistep process of adrenaline formation, isolated from blood serum by fractionated salting out procedure, is an allosteric enzyme with a sigmoidal kinetics and positive cooperativity in binding of the substrate and effectors. Butobendin, a double ester of 2-aminobutanol and trimethoxybenzoic acid, a new interesting compound showing various pharmacological and metabolic properties, inhibits DBH activity stereospecifically, only in the configuration 2S,2'S, decreasing DBH Vmax. This noncompetitive inhibitory effect of butobendin was stronger than the feed-back DBH inhibition by adrenaline and noradrenaline or by quinidine used as a standard antiarrhythmic compound. At high butobendin concentration (1.55 microM) the DBH activity was stabilized at about 50% of initial activity. This indicates that tetrameric enzyme binds substrate to half-of-its-binding-sites. At low substrate (tyramine) concentration (1-5 mM), a sigmoidal kinetics was preserved only at low butobendin concentration (0.155-0.31 microM). At higher butobendin concentrations (0.77 microM) a linear kinetics of DBH appeared and Km value decreased, indicating an increase in affinity of enzyme to the substrate. Interesting regulatory properties of DBH and butobendin action deserve further attention, especially for understanding a therapeutic action of butobendin in some types of heart rhythm disturbances.

[Evaluation of carbohydrate metabolism in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus]. / Ocena gospodarki weglowodanowej u kobiet z przebyta cukrzyca ciezarnych.

70 women with previous (1983-1993) history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were examined in order to assess their present carbohydrate metabolism. The through examination together with oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) according to WHO were performed. Also the level of glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c was measured. The following risk factors were analysed: obesity; arterial hypertension; family history of diabetes; number of past pregnancies; time that passed since the pregnancy with GDM; trimester in which GDM was diagnosed. In result 54% of all subjects were diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus, 19% had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). The presence of diabetes or IGT significantly correlated with the number of past pregnancies, observation time and indirectly with family history of diabetes. Using both measurements of fasting blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin enables to diagnose nearly 80% of diabetes following GDM and as a diagnostic method is worth recommending for screening. Women who had GDM should be subjected to control examinations towards diabetes mellitus at least once a year.

[Inhibitory effect of environmental pollutants on erythrocyte membrane ATPase activity in humans]. / Hamujacy wplyw zanieczyszczen srodowiskowych na aktywnosc ATPaz z blon erytrocytów ludzi.

In the inhabitants of Chorzów, the most polluted town in the Upper Silesia, who showed increased urine fluoride excretion and elevated blood lead concentrations, the studies on erythrocyte membrane ATPase activities have been undertaken. The investigations showed the decrease in (Na,K)ATPase activity by about 70% in comparison with the average norm in 85% of workers of the Nitrogen Chemical Plant and the Slaughterhouse (groups A and M) and by about 50% in 65% of workers of the Steelworks (group S). The decrease in Mg-ATPase activity was smaller, by about 40% in 70% persons in groups A and M, and only by 20% in comparison with the control activity in 40% persons in group S. The correlation between the decrease in (Na,K)ATPase activity in vivo and the increase in urine fluoride excretion was demonstrated. Although the possibility of lead influence on this enzyme in vivo cannot be excluded, the correlation between the changes in ATPase activity and blood lead concentration was not found.

[The role of adenosine cyclic monophosphate (c-AMP) in the pathogenesis of epilepsy and the mechanism of the action of anti-epileptic drugs]. / Rola cyklicznego adenozynomonofosforanu (c-AMP) w patogenezie padaczki i mechanizmie dzialania leków przeciwpadaczkowych.

Modern views on the role of c-AMP and c-CMP in the regulation of metabolism and function of the neuron and synaptic transmission are presented. A hypothesis is put forward of the participation of these cyclic nucleotides in the control of epileptogenic focus through modulation of the resting potential of the neuron.

The effect of buthobendin on human erythrocyte membrane ATPases.

The effect of buthobendin (CravitenR) on the ATPase activities/total (Na, K, Mg)-ATPase, and the ouabaine-sensitive (Na, K-ATPase) and insensitive (Mg-ATPase) fractions/from human erythrocyte membrane was examined in the presence or absence of liposomes. The activities of both ATPase fractions increased by 250% in the presence of 10 mmol/l phosphatidylcholine. Buthobendin inhibited both ATPases, but especially Na, K-ATPase. This inhibitory effect was much greater in the hydrophobic milieu of liposomes. The inhibitory effect was proportional to the drug concentration and was stereospecifically related only to the 2S, 2'S isomer. Isomer 2R, 2'R and epinephrine used for comparison did not show any similar inhibitory influence. The decrease in ouabaine-sensitive ATPase activity under the influence of buthobendin might cause changes in cation distribution and cell membrane polarization. An inhibitory effect was also observed in vivo, after single iv administration of buthobendin to patients with ventricular arrhythmias and elevated activities of both erythrocyte membrane ATPases. Complete normalization of cardiac rhythm in about 30% of patients was accompanied - in the sensitive group of patients - with a decrease in Mg-ATPase activity without any changes in elevated Na, K-ATPase activity. In the group of patients resistant to buthobendin therapy both ATPases remained unchanged.

Antiarrhythmic efficiency of Craviten and changes in the activities of serum dopamine beta-hydroxylase and erythrocyte membrane ATPases.

Among 30 patients with ventricular arrhythmia resistant to conventional antiarrhythmic therapy, 33% showed normalization of heart rhythm after single i.v. injection of Craviten at a dose of 6 mg. In all patients, sensitive and resistant to this dose of Craviten, serum dopamine beta-hydroxylase activity was initially twice as high as that in healthy controls. After Craviten administration, enzyme activity normalized in the sensitive persons only, parallelly with rhythm normalization. In this group of patients the initially increased erythrocyte membrane ATPase activities (total and ouabain-insensitive) also normalized.

Synthesis and pharmacological properties of the products of condensation of tryptamine derivatives with pyridoxal.

Four new derivatives of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-beta-carboline 2a--d were synthetized with the pyridoxal moiety in position 1; there were also obtained four Schiff bases 1a--d which are intermediate products in this synthesis. Schiff bases 1a--d revealed a sedative and analgesic action, and compound 1b also had potential antidepressive properties. The derivatives of tetrahydro-beta-carboline 2a--d were inactive in the carried out tests.