Diethyl ether anaesthesia does not block local touch response in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plants can sense and respond to non-damaging mechanical stimulation such as touch, rain, or wind. Mechanical stimulation induces an increase of cytosolic calcium ([Ca]), accumulation of phytohormones from the group of jasmonates (JAs) and activation of gene expression, which can be JAs-dependent or JAs-independent. Response to touch shares similar properties with reactions to stresses such as wounding or pathogen attack, and regular mechanical stimulation leads to changes in growth and development called thigmomorphogenesis.

Effect of the General Anaesthetic Ketamine on Electrical and Ca Signal Propagation in .

The systemic electrical signal propagation in plants (i.e., from leaf to leaf) is dependent on GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR-LIKE proteins (GLRs).

Is Slovakia Almost a Hepatitis D Free Country?

Background: It is assumed that the prevalence of hepatitis D in HBsAg-positive individuals reaches 4.5-13% in the world and on average about 3% in Europe. Data from several European countries, including Slovakia, are missing or are from an older period.

Alcoholic Liver Disease-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Characteristics and Comparison to General Slovak Hepatocellular Cancer Population.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has multiple molecular classes that are associated with distinct etiologies and, besides particular molecular characteristics, that also differ in clinical aspects. We aim to characterize the clinical aspects of alcoholic liver disease-related HCC by a retrospective observational study that included all consequent patients diagnosed with MRI or histologically verified HCC in participating centers from 2010 to 2016. A total of 429 patients were included in the analysis, of which 412 patients (96%) had cirrhosis at the time of diagnosis.

Diethyl ether anesthesia induces transient cytosolic [Ca] increase, heat shock proteins, and heat stress tolerance of photosystem II in .

General volatile anesthetic diethyl ether blocks sensation and responsive behavior not only in animals but also in plants. Here, using a combination of RNA-seq and proteomic LC-MS/MS analyses, we investigated the effect of anesthetic diethyl ether on gene expression and downstream consequences in plant . Differential expression analyses revealed reprogramming of gene expression under anesthesia: 6,168 genes were upregulated, 6,310 genes were downregulated, while 9,914 genes were not affected in comparison with control plants.

Spruce versus Arabidopsis: different strategies of photosynthetic acclimation to light intensity change.

The acclimation of higher plants to different light intensities is associated with a reorganization of the photosynthetic apparatus. These modifications, namely, changes in the amount of peripheral antenna (LHCII) of photosystem (PS) II and changes in PSII/PSI stoichiometry, typically lead to an altered chlorophyll (Chl) a/b ratio. However, our previous studies show that in spruce, this ratio is not affected by changes in growth light intensity.

Questionnaire for risk factors of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objectives: Non-communicable diseases are estimated to account for 90 % of total deaths and 19 % of premature deaths in Slovakia. Major preventable risk factors of premature mortality are overweight, obesity and alcohol consumption.

Background: Screening of risk factors related to alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (AFLD and NAFLD, respectively) in Slovak outpatients with liver disease.

Anaesthetic diethyl ether impairs long-distance electrical and jasmonate signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana.

General volatile anaesthetics (GVA) inhibit electrical signal propagation in animal neurons. Although plants do not have neurons, they generate and propagate electrical signals systemically from a local damaged leaf to neighbouring leaves. This systemic electrical signal propagation is mediated by ligand-gated glutamate receptor-like (GLR) channels.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Clinical Patterns, Outcomes, and Prognostic Factors for Overall Survival-A Retrospective Analysis of a Slovak Cohort.

Objective: To compare NAFLD-related HCC and other etiology-related HCC and to describe predictive factors for survival in patients with NAFLD-related HCC independent of the BCLC staging system.

Methods: We performed a multicenter longitudinal retrospective observational study of patients diagnosed with HCC during the period from 2010 through 2016.

Results: 12.

Luminescence imaging of leaf damage induced by lipid peroxidation products and its modulation by β-cyclocitral.

Lipid peroxidation is a primary event associated with oxidative stress in plants. This phenomenon secondarily generates bioactive and/or toxic compounds such as reactive carbonyl species (RCS), phytoprostanes, and phytofurans, as confirmed here in Arabidopsis plants exposed to photo-oxidative stress conditions. We analyzed the effects of exogenous applications of secondary lipid oxidation products on Arabidopsis plants by luminescence techniques.

Reactive Oxygen Species Imaging in U937 Cells.

The U937 cell culture is a pro-monocytic, human histiocytic lymphoma cell line. These monocytes can differentiate into either macrophages or dendritic cells (antigen-presenting cells) depending on the initiators. The U937 cells activated in the presence of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) change their morphology into macrophage-like cells creating pseudopodia and adhering generously.

The Anti-Senescence Activity of Cytokinin Arabinosides in Wheat and Arabidopsis Is Negatively Correlated with Ethylene Production.

Leaf senescence, accompanied by chlorophyll breakdown, chloroplast degradation and inhibition of photosynthesis, can be suppressed by an exogenous application of cytokinins. Two aromatic cytokinin arabinosides (6-benzylamino-9-β-d-arabinofuranosylpurines; BAPAs), 3-hydroxy- (3OHBAPA) and 3-methoxy- (3MeOBAPA) derivatives, have recently been found to possess high anti-senescence activity. Interestingly, their effect on the maintenance of chlorophyll content and maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) in detached dark-adapted leaves differed quantitatively in wheat ( L.

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: an analysis of patient and virus characteristics.

Objectives: The MOSAIC study gathered data on chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and its treatment in various countries worldwide. Here we summarise patient and HCV characteristics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Methods: MOSAIC was an observational study that included patients with chronic HCV infection untreated at the time of enrolment.

Reactive Oxygen Species as a Response to Wounding: Imaging in .

Mechanical injury or wounding in plants can be attributed to abiotic or/and biotic causes. Subsequent defense responses are either local, i.e.

Mechanism of the Formation of Electronically Excited Species by Oxidative Metabolic Processes: Role of Reactive Oxygen Species.

It is well known that biological systems, such as microorganisms, plants, and animals, including human beings, form spontaneous electronically excited species through oxidative metabolic processes. Though the mechanism responsible for the formation of electronically excited species is still not clearly understood, several lines of evidence suggest that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the formation of electronically excited species. This review attempts to describe the role of ROS in the formation of electronically excited species during oxidative metabolic processes.

[Future of pharmacological treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in terms of key pathophysiological mechanisms].

Obesity reaches the dimensions of the global epidemic. It directly contributes to an increase in the prevalence of systemic diseases associated with obesity. Obesity and overweight globally cause 3.

Glucose Metabolism Changes in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Treated with Direct Acting Antivirals.

Background And Aims: Chronic hepatitis C is a systemic disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) belongs to more common extrahepatic. The aim of this study was to (i) explore the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and T2DM in patients with chronic hepatitis C, (ii) explore the effect of direct acting antivirals (DAA) treatment on the glycemia, and (iii) explore the factors that modulate the effect of DAA treatment on glycemia in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: We performed a longitudinal retrospective observational study focused on the patients undergoing DAA treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Chemical quenching of singlet oxygen by plastoquinols and their oxidation products in Arabidopsis.

Prenylquinols (tocochromanols and plastoquinols) serve as efficient physical and chemical quenchers of singlet oxygen ( O ) formed during high light stress in higher plants. Although quenching of O by prenylquinols has been previously studied, direct evidence for chemical quenching of O by plastoquinols and their oxidation products is limited in vivo. In the present study, the role of plastoquinol-9 (PQH -9) in chemical quenching of O was studied in Arabidopsis thaliana lines overexpressing the SOLANESYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE 1 gene (SPS1oex) involved in PQH -9 and plastochromanol-8 biosynthesis.

Redefining the alanine aminotransferase upper limit of normal improves the prediction of metabolic syndrome risk.

Background: Multiple studies have recently proposed the lowering of upper limit of normal (ULN) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) to improve the diagnostic sensitivity for viral hepatitides and metabolic syndrome (MS). We have tried to validate some of the proposed ULNs in the diagnosis of MS.

Methods: We used data from the HepaMeta Study conducted in 2011 in Slovakia, which explored the prevalence of MS in eastern Slovakia.

The formation of electronically excited species in the human multiple myeloma cell suspension.

In this study, evidence is provided on the formation of electronically excited species in human multiple myeloma cells U266 in the growth medium exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Two-dimensional imaging of ultra-weak photon emission using highly sensitive charge coupled device camera revealed that the addition of H2O2 to cell suspension caused the formation of triplet excited carbonyls (3)(R = O)*. The kinetics of (3)(R = O)* formation in the real time, as measured by one-dimensional ultra-weak photon emission using low-noise photomultiplier, showed immediate enhancement followed by a slow decay.

Oxidative damage of U937 human leukemic cells caused by hydroxyl radical results in singlet oxygen formation.

The exposure of human cells to oxidative stress leads to the oxidation of biomolecules such as lipids, proteins and nuclei acids. In this study, the oxidation of lipids, proteins and DNA was studied after the addition of hydrogen peroxide and Fenton reagent to cell suspension containing human leukemic monocyte lymphoma cell line U937. EPR spin-trapping data showed that the addition of hydrogen peroxide to the cell suspension formed hydroxyl radical via Fenton reaction mediated by endogenous metals.

Role of reactive oxygen species in ultra-weak photon emission in biological systems.

Ultra-weak photon emission originates from the relaxation of electronically excited species formed in the biological systems such as microorganisms, plants and animals including humans. Electronically excited species are formed during the oxidative metabolic processes and the oxidative stress reactions that are associated with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The review attempts to overview experimental evidence on the involvement of superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen in both the spontaneous and the stress-induced ultra-weak photon emission.

Formation of superoxide anion and carbon-centered radicals by photosystem II under high light and heat stress-EPR spin-trapping study.

In this study, electron paramagnetic resonance spin-trapping spectroscopy was used to study the light-induced production of superoxide anion (O2 (•-)) and carbon-centered (R(•)) radicals by Photosystem II (PSII). It is evidenced here that exposure of PSII membranes to high light (2,000 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1)) or heat (47 °C) treatments prior to the illumination suppressed O2 (•-) production, while R(•) was formed. Formation of R(•) in the both high light- and heat-treated PSII membranes was enhanced by DCMU.

Fluvastatin in the therapy of acute coronary syndrome: Rationale and design of a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (The FACS Trial)[ISRCTN81331696].

BACKGROUND: Activation of inflammatory pathways plays an important contributory role in coronary plaque instability and subsequent rupture, which can lead to the development of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Elevated levels of serum inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) represent independent risk factors for further cardiovascular events. Recent evidence indicates that in addition to lowering cholesterol levels, statins also decrease levels of inflammatory markers.