Pulmonary surfactant serves as a barrier to respiratory epithelium but can also regulate airway smooth muscle (ASM) tone. Surfactant (SF) relaxes contracted ASM, similar to β-agonists, anticholinergics, nitric oxide, and prostanoids. The exact mechanism of surfactant relaxation and whether surfactant relaxes hyperresponsive ASM remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolomics has proven to be a sensitive tool for monitoring biochemical processes in cell culture. It enables multi-analysis, clarifying the correlation between numerous metabolic pathways. Together with other analysis, it thus provides a global view of a cell's physiological state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in various biological samples holds immense potential for non-invasive disease diagnostics and metabolic profiling. One of the biological fluids that are suitable for use in clinical practice is urine. Given the limited quantity of VOCs in the urine headspace, it's imperative to enhance their extraction into the gaseous phase and prevent any degradation of VOCs during the thawing process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled air has attracted the interest of the scientific community because it provides the possibility of monitoring physiological and metabolic processes and non-invasive diagnostics of various diseases. However, this method remains underused in clinical practice as well as in research because of the lack of standardized procedures for the collection, storage and transport of breath samples, which would guarantee good reproducibility and comparability of results. The method of sampling, as well as the storage time of the breath samples in the polymer bags used for sample storage and transport, affect the composition and concentration of VOCs present in the breath samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent decades, we have seen significant technical progress in the modern world, leading to the widespread use of telecommunications systems, electrical appliances, and wireless technologies. These devices generate electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and electromagnetic fields (EMF) most often in the extremely low frequency or radio-frequency range. Therefore, they were included in the group of environmental risk factors that affect the human body and health on a daily basis.
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