Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neuromuscular disease type of motor neuron disorder characterized by degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons resulting in dysfunction of the somatic muscles of the body. The ALS condition is manifested in progressive skeletal muscle atrophy and spasticity. It leads to death, mostly due to respiratory failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdentifying novel epigenetic biomarkers is a promising way to improve the clinical management of patients with breast cancer. Our study aimed to determine the methylation pattern of 25 tumor suppressor genes (TSG) and select the best methylation biomarker associated with clinicopathological features in the cohort of Slovak patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Overall, 166 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues obtained from patients with IDC were included in the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen
May 2024
Metabolomics 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 PDFInward rectifying potassium channels sensitive to ATP levels (KATP) have been the subject of investigation for several decades. Modulators of KATP channels are well-established treatments for metabolic as well as cardiovascular diseases. Experimental studies have also shown the potential of KATP modulation in neurodegenerative disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present the results of an association study involving hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with a clinical background during the 3rd pandemic wave of COVID-19 in Slovakia. Seventeen single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the eleven most relevant genes, according to the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, were investigated. Our study confirms the validity of the influence of LZTFL1 and 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)1/OAS3 genetic variants on the severity of COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) remains a lethal disease due to the absence of effective therapies. A more comprehensive understanding of molecular events, encompassing the dysregulation of microRNAs (miRs) and metabolic reprogramming, holds the potential to unveil precise mechanisms underlying mCRPC. This study aims to assess the expression of selected serum exosomal miRs (miR-15a, miR-16, miR-19a-3p, miR-21, and miR-141a-3p) alongside serum metabolomic profiling and their correlation in patients with mCRPC and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere, we present newly derived in vitro model for modeling Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Our new cell line was derived by reprogramming of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (isolated from blood from pediatric patient) with Sendai virus encoding Yamanaka factors. Derived iPS cells are capable to differentiate in vitro into three germ layers as verified by immunocytochemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreast cancer (BC) is the most common female malignancy reaching a pandemic scale worldwide. A comprehensive interplay between genetic alterations and shifted epigenetic regions synergistically leads to disease development and progression into metastatic BC. DNA and histones methylations, as the most studied epigenetic modifications, represent frequent and early events in the process of carcinogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSince 2009, the European Association for Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine (EPMA, Brussels) promotes the paradigm change from reactive approach to predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM/3PM) to protect individuals in sub-optimal health conditions from the health-to-disease transition, to increase life-quality of the affected patient cohorts improving, therefore, ethical standards and cost-efficacy of healthcare to great benefits of the society at large. The gene-editing technology utilizing CRISPR/Cas gene-editing approach has demonstrated its enormous value as a powerful tool in a broad spectrum of bio/medical research areas. Further, CRISPR/Cas gene-editing system is considered applicable to primary and secondary healthcare, in order to prevent disease spread and to treat clinically manifested disorders, involving diagnostics of SARS-Cov-2 infection and experimental treatment of COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Despite known risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), the research community still tries to discover new markers that would widen our diagnostic and therapeutic approach to diabetes. Therefore, research on microRNA (miR) in diabetes thrives. This study aimed to assess the utility of miR-126, miR-146a, and miR-375 as novel diagnostic markers for T2D.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolomics is a relatively new research area that focuses mostly on the profiling of selected molecules and metabolites within the organism. A SARS-CoV-2 infection itself can lead to major disturbances in the metabolite profile of the infected individuals. The aim of this study was to analyze metabolomic changes in the urine of patients during the acute phase of COVID-19 and approximately one month after infection in the recovery period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) monitoring in air traffic is important in the prevention of the virus spreading from abroad. The gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection is RT-qPCR; however, for early and low viral load detection, a much more sensitive method, such as droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), is required. Our first step was to developed both, ddPCR and RT-qPCR methods, for sensitive SARS-CoV-2 detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen
January 2023
As part of a large human biomonitoring study, we conducted occupational monitoring in a glass fibre factory in Slovakia. Shopfloor workers (n = 80), with a matched group of administrators in the same factory (n = 36), were monitored for exposure to glass fibres and to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The impact of occupational exposure on chromosomal aberrations, DNA damage and DNA repair, immunomodulatory markers, and the role of nutritional and lifestyle factors, as well as the effect of polymorphisms in metabolic and DNA repair genes on genetic stability, were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvents associated with the progression of Parkinson´s disease (PD) are closely related to biomembrane dysfunction. The specific role of membrane composition in the conformational stability of alpha synuclein (αS) has already been well documented. Administration of rotenone is one of the best strategies to initiate PD phenotype in animal models.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung carcinoma is the "top killer" of all malignancies in the world. Early diagnosis of lung carcinoma significantly improves patient survival. Screening with biomarkers from peripheral blood could detect more patients at an early stage of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt was documented that the presence of malignancy in an organism causes metabolomic alterations in blood plasma which applies also to breast cancer. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and there are only limited known relations of plasma metabolomic signatures with the tumour characteristics in early BC and knowing them would be of great advantage in noninvasive diagnostics. In this study, we focused on the metabolic alterations in early BC in blood plasma with the aim to identify metabolomic characteristics of BC subtypes.
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