Publications by authors named "Malgorzata Witkowska-Zimny"

The perinatal and postpartum period is of great significance for women due to physiological changes, shifts in circadian rhythms, social setting, and psychological well-being, all of which affect the quality and quantity of their sleep. A mixed-studies systematic review was undertaken to enhance our understanding of sleep disturbances and mood disorders in women in late pregnancy and the postpartum period, their connection with breastfeeding, and the assessment of interventions for sleep disturbance. Three electronic databases (PUBMED, EMBASE and Google Scholar) were searched for qualitative, observational, and mixed-method studies from the year 2016 to June 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Musculoskeletal diseases are not a leading cause of death but one of the common causes of disability and therefore play an important role in the global burden of diseases producing financial costs, need for hospitalization, treatment, rehabilitation, and hiring numerous medical personnel and caregivers. Patients who obtain a moderate or severe disability certificate may more easily find a job, have shorter working hours, apply for reduced tax, parking cards, co-financing of rehabilitation or renovation of the bathroom in order to adapt it to their disability. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of people obtaining a disability certificate due to diseases of the locomotor system in Lublin within the last 16 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Even before the year 2020, telemedicine has been proven to contribute to the efficacy of healthcare systems, for example in remote locations or in primary care. However, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth solutions have emerged as a key component in patient healthcare delivery and they have been widely used in emergency medicine ever since. The pandemic has led to a growth in the number of telehealth applications and improved quality of already available telemedicine solutions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Maternal breastfeeding is associated with multiple health benefits, both for the child and the mother. Since breastfeeding rates are declining, finding new, future-oriented strategies to strengthen and support mothers' positive attitudes towards breastfeeding need to be developed. In this paper, we describe how information about the presence of stem cells in breast milk can influence the willingness to breastfeed in the population of Polish pregnant women.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Human breast milk provides a child with complete nutrition but is also a popular therapeutic remedy that has been used in traditional, natural pharmacopeia, and ethnomedicine for many years. The aim of this current review is to summarize studies of non-nutritional uses of mothers' milk.

Methods: Two databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) were searched with a combination of twelve search terms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mammals milk, in addition to nutrients, contains many biologically active substances including immunoglobulins, growth factors, cytokines, acute phase proteins, and antimicrobial and antiviral proteins. Thanks to its unique composition, for hundreds of years it is used in post-natal care, treatment of wounds, as well as to fight bacterial and viral infections. The discovery of stem cells and HAMLET complex in breast milk resulted in increased interest in human breast milk as a natural medicine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human milk is a complex fluid that has developed to satisfy the nutritional requirements of infants. In addition to proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other biologically active components, breast milk contains a diverse microbiome that is presumed to colonize the infant gastrointestinal tract and a heterogeneous population of cells with unclear physiological roles and health implications. Noteworthy cellular components of breast milk include progenitor/stem cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, stem cell biology has become an interesting topic. Several varieties of human stem cells have been isolated and identified in vivo and in vitro. Successful application of hematopoietic stem cells in hematology has led to the search for other sources of stem cells and expanding the scale of their application.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The formation and maintenance of tissues is regulated by various signals triggered by biological, chemical, and physical factors. Data increasingly confirm that matrix or tissue elasticity plays an influential role in regulating numerous cell functions. The aim of the present study was to better understand the regulation of cellular differentiation by mechanical cues.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Fertility problems are observed in a growing number of couples in many countries, including Poland. The treatment of infertile couple should be comprehensive and apart from medical procedures also other factors affecting fertility potential should be taken into account. There is increasing evidence that a properly balanced diet and/or administration of specifically composed supplements may increase the chances of conceiving both naturally as well as in result of assisted reproductive techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is a profound dependence of cell behaviour on the stiffness of its microenvironment. To gain a better understanding of the regulation of cellular differentiation by mechanical cues, we investigated the influence of matrix stiffness (E = 1.46 kPa and E = 26.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tissue formation and maintenance is regulated by various factors, including biological, physiological and physical signals transmitted between cells as well as originating from cell-substrate interactions. In our study, the osteogenic potential of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells isolated from umbilical cord Wharton's jelly (UC-MSCs) was investigated in relation to the substrate rigidity on polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAM). Osteogenic differentiation of UC-MSCs was enhanced on stiff substrate compared to soft substrates, illustrating that the mechanical environment can play a role in differentiation of this type of cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, stem cell biology has become an interesting topic, especially in the context of treating diseases and injuries using transplantation therapy. Several varieties of human stem cells have been isolated and identified in vivo and in vitro. Ideally, stem cells for regenerative medical application should be found in abundant quantities, harvestable in a minimally invasive procedure, then safely and effectively transplanted to either an autologous or allogenic host.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This is a review of the growing scientific interest in the developmental plasticity and therapeutic potential of stromal cells isolated from adipose tissue. Adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs) are multipotent somatic stem cells that are abundant in fat tissue. It has been shown that ASCs can differentiate into several lineages, including adipose cells, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, neuronal cells, endothelial cells, and cardiomyocytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Osseointegration is the development of a stable connection between the recipient bone and the implant surface. This process is a function of the time it takes for the implant to become fixed in bone tissue. The essence of osseointegration is the achievement of permanent stability of the implant, which ensures the proper course of the healing process, and "acceptance" of the implant by the living bone tissue, which leads to the initiation of osteogenesis and formation of young bone on the surface of the bone graft.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cbl is a member of the large family of LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs) common in bacteria and found also in Archaea and algal chloroplasts. The function of Cbl is required in Escherichia coli for expression of sulphate starvation-inducible (ssi) genes, associated with the biosynthesis of cysteine from organic sulphur sources (sulphonates). Here, we report the crystal structure of the cofactor-binding domain of Cbl (c-Cbl) from E.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CysB is a LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) controlling the expression of numerous genes involved in bacterial sulphur assimilation via cysteine biosynthesis. Our previous mutational analysis of CysB identified several residues within the N-terminal domain crucial for DNA-binding function. Here, we focus on the functional significance of CysB residues localized in the turn between the alpha2 and alpha3 helices forming an N-terminal helix-turn-helix motif.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF