[Adapted physical activity in the prevention and therapy of osteoporosis].

Introduction: Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by the progressive loss of bone tissue, is one of the most common complications of aging.

Epidemiology: According to some calculations, there were 25% of women and 4% of men older than 50 years with osteoporosis in the world in 2010. It is assumed that the number of patients with osteoporosis will increase by 30% in every 10 years in the 21st century.

[Analysis of the shoulder joint mobility in overhead sports before and after experimental treatment].

Introduction: "Overhead" sports, characterized by predominant movements of the hands above the head, are associated with very dynamic, often acyclic movements and require strong muscles of humero-scapular regions with high mobility of the shoulder joint as well as flexibility and ability to relax these muscles. This study was aimed at analyzing the shoulder joint mobility before and after conducting kinesiology treatment for a period of 6 months. The research included two complex exercises.

Multi-potent progenitors in freshly isolated and cultured human mesenchymal stem cells: a comparison between adipose and dermal tissue.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from human adult adipose tissue (A-MSCs) have a better differentiative ability than MSCs derived from the derma (D-MSCs). To test whether this difference is associated with differences in the content of multi-potent progenitors in A-MSCs, the number and the differentiative properties of multi-potent progenitors have been analyzed in various preparations of A-MSCs and D-MSCs. Adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation performed on colony-forming units have revealed that adipogenic and osteogenic progenitors are similar in the two populations, with only a slighty better performance of A-MSCs over D-MSCs from passages p0 to p15.

Pluripotency regulators in human mesenchymal stem cells: expression of NANOG but not of OCT-4 and SOX-2.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult multipotent cells able to differentiate toward mature mesodermal lineages. In spite of more than a decade of investigation, little is known about the molecular mechanisms regulating the undifferentiated state and the identity of distinct functional subpopulations in these cells. Transcription factors that regulate the maintenance of the pluripotent state in embryonic stem cells, including NANOG, SOX2, and OCT4, have been proposed to play a similar role also in adult stem cells, although with conflicting results.

Metyrapone prevents cortisone-induced preadipocyte differentiation by depleting luminal NADPH of the endoplasmic reticulum.

Preadipocyte differentiation is greatly affected by prereceptorial glucocorticoid activation catalyzed by 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. The role of the local NADPH pool in this process was investigated using metyrapone as an NADPH-depleting agent. Metyrapone administered at low micromolar concentrations caused the prompt oxidation of the endogenous NADPH, inhibited the reduction of cortisone and enhanced the oxidation of cortisol in native rat liver microsomal vesicles.