Publications by authors named "Joanna M Lotowska"

Article Synopsis
  • Febrile seizures are a common type of convulsion in kids, and this study aims to understand how they happen by looking closely at brain cells in rats.
  • The researchers heated the rats to make them have seizures, then used special microscopes to see what happened to the brain cells.
  • They found that the brain cells showed serious damage when the rats were heated, which could help scientists find ways to prevent seizures in children in the future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was the pioneering retrospective ultrastructural evaluation of respective forms of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and analysis of their crosstalk with other adjacent nonparenchymal cells (NPCs), especially Kupffer cells/macrophages (KCs/MPs), in pediatric autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).

Methods: Ultrastructural assessment of the HSC population and NPCs was performed in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using pretreatment liver biopsies from 25 children (8 boys and 17 girls) aged 4-17 with clinic-pathologically diagnosed untreated AIH.

Results: Submicroscopic evaluation allowed easy identification of numerous HSCs in the form of transitory cells, i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The spectrum of liver involvement during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is broad and mainly includes elevated liver enzymes and cholestasis. Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona- virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection most often leads to a transient moderate increase in liver enzymes that is not accompanied by disturbances in the synthetic function of the liver. However, there is increasing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with the development of autoimmune disorders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Epidemiological studies link cigarette smoking with chronic pancreatitis (CP), and this research aims to explore whether cigarette smoking increases K-Ras expression and contributes to CP development in mice.
  • Mice were exposed to cigarette smoke and underwent repeated treatments to simulate acute pancreatitis, with their pancreatic damage assessed through various histological techniques.
  • Findings show that while CS and cerulein alone did not cause chronic damage, their combination led to mild CP symptoms and increased expression of K-Ras and NF-κB in the pancreas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study explored the neuroprotective effects of topiramate (TPM), an antiepileptic drug, on synaptic damage in the temporal lobe caused by hyperthermia-induced seizures in young male rats.
  • It found that administering TPM before the seizure event reduced synaptic damage and improved the structure of synapses, especially near healthy blood vessels.
  • However, giving TPM after the seizures did not prevent any synaptic injury, highlighting the importance of timing in its protective effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Considering that the heterogenic population of a hepatic progenitor cell line (HPCL) can play a vital role in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), we decided to conduct pioneering retrospective evaluation of these cells in pediatric AIH by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aim of the study was to assess the ultrastructure of the HPCL in children with untreated AIH. Ultrastructural analysis of the HPCL population, preceded by immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin 7 (CK7), was performed using pretreatment liver biopsies from 23 children with clinicopathologically diagnosed AIH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The pathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is poorly understood. Up to now, little is known of the involvement of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), accounting for approximately 40% of nonparenchymal hepatic cells, in AIH morphogenesis in pediatric patients. The study objective was ultrastructural analysis of LSECs from pretreatment biopsies of 19 children, aged 4-17 years (14 girls), with clinically and histologically diagnosed AIH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Increased fecal calprotectin is a sensitive marker of various types of intestinal inflammation. We investigated correlations between high fecal calprotectin concentration and serum inflammatory markers in children with different intestinal diseases with diarrhea with/without blood and/or abdominal pain, to test whether the combination of these markers can differentiate potential patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Materials/methods: The study included 128 children with high fecal calprotectin concentration (>150ug/g) and symptoms suggesting bowel disorders, hospitalized in the years 2013- 2015.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), mainly responsible for extracellular matrix synthesis, is assumed to be central event in the process of liver fibrogenesis. The major objective of the research was to analyze the ultrastructural profile of activated HSCs in children with chronic hepatitis B (chB), with respect to fibrosis intensity.

Materials/methods: Ultrastructural investigations of HSCs were conducted on liver bioptates from 70 children with clinicopathologically diagnosed chB before antiviral treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Recently, it has been emphasized that hepatic progenitor/oval cells (HPCs) are significantly involved in liver fibrogenesis. We evaluated the multipotential population of HPCs by transmission electron microscope (TEM), including relations with adherent hepatic nonparenchymal cells (NPCs) in rats with biliary fibrosis induced by bile duct ligation (BDL).

Methods: The study used 6-week-old Wistar Crl: WI(Han) rats after BDL for 1, 6, and 8 weeks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Since Kupffer cells/macrophages (KCs/MPs) may be involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), this pioneer study was undertaken to evaluate KCs/MPs in pediatric AIH in transmission-electron microscope.

Methods: Ultrastructural analyses were performed using liver biopsies from 14 children with clinicopathologically diagnosed AIH.

Results: In all AIH children, ultrastructural findings revealed changes in the cells lining sinusoidal vessels, especially KCs/MPs and endothelial cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The research objective was to identify and quantify the immunohistochemically (IHC) stained hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in children with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), including staging (S), location in the hepatic lobule, and correlation with hepatocyte count. Retrospective morphological analysis was based on liver biopsies obtained from 70 CHB children before antiviral treatment. To determine fibrosis stage, the Batts and Ludwig scoring system was applied.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To investigate the ultrastructure of abnormal hepatocyte mitochondria, including their cellular and hepatic zonal distribution, in bioptates in pediatric non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Methods: Ultrastructural investigations were conducted on biopsy liver specimens obtained from 10 children (6 boys and 4 girls) aged 2-14 years with previously clinicopathologically diagnosed NASH. The disease was diagnosed if liver biopsy revealed steatosis, inflammation, ballooned hepatocytes, Mallory hyaline, or focal necrosis, varying degrees of fibrosis in the absence of clinical, serological, or histological findings of infectious liver diseases, autoimmune hepatitis, metabolic liver diseases, or celiac disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hypoxia triggers production of several cytoprotective proteins. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1α) is a powerful stimulator of transcription of many genes, including erythropoietin (EPO) in hypoxia-affected cells. Recent data have also implicated signaling by EPO receptor (EPOR) as a new factor influencing tumor progression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Until now studies concerning the involvement of hepatic nonparenchymal cells (NPCs), particularly Kupffer cells/macrophages (KCs/MPs), in the pathogenesis of human nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have been limited to adult patients; there are no similar reports referring to children. This study aimed to explore, based on ultrastructural analysis, the role of KCs/MPs in the morphogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in children.

Material And Methods: Ultrastructural investigations of KCs were conducted on liver bioptates obtained from 10 children, aged 2-14 years, with clinicopathologically diagnosed NASH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The objective of the current ultrastructural study was to explore the potentiality of the neuroprotective effect of TPM against damage of pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 sectors in an experimental model of febrile seizures (FS) in rats. The FS group exhibited variously pronounced submicroscopic lesions of the neuronal perikarya, including total cell disintegration. Advanced changes induced by hyperthermic stress were manifested by marked degenerative abnormalities, such as substantial swelling of the mitochondria, dilation, degranulation and disintegration of the granular endoplasmic reticulum, and vacuolar changes in the Golgi complex.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) belong to a group of hypoxia related proteins. IGF-I induces expression of VEGF and decomposes wild type p53 in cancer cell lines. The goal of our study was to evaluate serum IGF-I, VEGF and p53 with respect to overall and disease free survival of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) patients compared with healthy volunteers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The objective of the current study was ultrastructural assessment of astroglia in specimens of the hippocampal cortex and neocortex of the temporal lobe in our own experimental model of febrile seizures (FS) in rats, as well as the analysis of the influence of a structurally novel broad spectrum anticonvulsant, topiramate (TPM), upon these cells in the CNS regions studied. The current study was inspired by some interesting literature reports on the in vitro investigation into the biological effects of TPM in primary cultures of rat cortical astrocytes and by the lack of data concerning astroglial morphology in vivo in an experimental model with this antiepileptic. In the FS group, the most pronounced changes in the study cell population referred to protoplasmic astroglia and were observed in approximately 3/4 of these cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The study objective was an in-depth ultrastructural analysis of intermediate hepatocyte-like cells (IHCs), constituting a subpopulation of liver progenitor/oval cells, in children with chronic hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection.

Methods: Ultrastructural investigations were conducted on liver biopsy material, fixed in a solution of 2.5% glutaraldehyde, 2% paraformaldehyde, and 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ultrastructure of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of the gyrus hippocampal cortex in an experimental model of febrile seizures in rats and the effect of a new generation antiepileptic drug, topiramate, on the morphological status of this barrier were investigated. Advanced changes indicating a substantial increase in BBB permeability were observed in the animals with induced febrile seizures (FS), with approximately 2/3 of capillaries and perivascular astroglial processes being affected. Almost total occlusion of the capillary lumen was frequently seen, caused by damaged endothelial lining and by external pressure from markedly swollen perivascular astrocytic processes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To investigate the ultrastructure of oval cells in children with chronic hepatitis B, with special emphasis on their location in areas of collagen fibroplasia.

Methods: Morphological investigations were conducted on biopsy material obtained from 40 children, aged 3-16 years with chronic hepatitis B. The stage of fibrosis was assessed histologically using the arbitrary semiquantitative numerical scoring system proposed by Ishak et al.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current study focuses on the morphogenesis of changes in the cerebellum dentate nucleus in the course of experimental valproate encephalopathy. Valproate - a broad spectrum antiepileptic and antipsychotic drug - chronically used in rats, intragastrically, once daily at a dose of 200 mg/kg b. w.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF