Publications by authors named "J Juras"

Introduction: Previous work showed that increasing the electrical activity of inhibitory neurons in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) is sufficient to increase whole-body glucose concentration in normoglycemic mice. Here we tested the hypothesis that deactivating GABAergic neurons in the dorsal hindbrain of hyperglycemic mice decreases synaptic inhibition of parasympathetic motor neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) and reduces systemic glucose levels.

Methods: Chemogenetic activation or inactivation of GABAergic neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) was used to assess effects of modulating parasympathetic output on blood glucose concentration in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic mice.

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Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging has greatly improved our understanding of spatial biology, however a robust bioinformatic pipeline for data analysis is lacking. Here, we demonstrate the application of high-dimensionality reduction/spatial clustering and histopathological annotation of matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging datasets to assess tissue metabolic heterogeneity in human lung diseases. Using metabolic features identified from this pipeline, we hypothesize that metabolic channeling between glycogen and N-linked glycans is a critical metabolic process favoring pulmonary fibrosis progression.

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Article Synopsis
  • Brain glucose metabolism varies significantly across different brain areas and continues even after death, but methods of tissue preservation can influence the results.
  • Conventional methods like quick brain removal and freezing reduce glycogen and glucose levels and increase lactate, while microwave fixation preserves metabolism better.
  • In a mouse model of type 1 diabetes, researchers found overall reduced glucose metabolism in the brain, linked to decreased GLUT2 and metabolic enzyme expression, highlighting the importance of microwave fixation for accurate metabolic studies.
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Pregnancies burdened with gestational diabetes (GDM) are more likely to end in birth of a macrosomic child, where the frequency of operative termination of pregnancy is more common, accompanied with more complications and injuries of both mother and child in comparison to the general population. The need to calculate fetal weight right before delivery has led to the development of numerous methods for greater estimation accuracy. We reviewed the related literature from 1980 to 2020, using the terms macrosomia, ultrasound assessment, gestational diabetes, and relevant articles were considered in preparation of this article.

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Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) and behavioral comorbidities frequently develop after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Aberrant neurogenesis of dentate granule cells (DGCs) after TBI may contribute to the synaptic reorganization that occurs in PTE, but how neurogenesis at different times relative to the injury contributes to feedback inhibition and recurrent excitation in the dentate gyrus is unknown. Thus, we examined whether DGCs born at different postnatal ages differentially participate in feedback inhibition and recurrent excitation in the dentate gyrus using the controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of TBI.

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