Multidirectional Changes in Parameters related to Sulfur Metabolism in Frog Tissues exposed to Heavy Metal-related Stress.

The investigations showed changes of the cystathionine γ-lyase (CTH), 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) and rhodanese (TST) activity and gene expression in the brain, heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscles and testes in frogs , and in response to Pb, Hg and Cd stress. The results were analyzed jointly with changes in the expression of selected antioxidant enzymes (cytoplasmic and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and thioredoxin reducatase) and with the level of malondialdehyde (a product of lipid peroxidation). The obtained results allowed for confirming the role of sulfurtransferases in the antioxidant protection of tissues exposed to heavy metal ions.

Cyclophosphamide-modified murine peritoneal macrophages induce CD4 T contrasuppressor cells that protect contact sensitivity T effector cells from suppression.

Background: Cyclophosphamide (CY) is one of the most widely used alkylating agents in the treatment of various cancers and some autoimmune diseases. Numerous reports suggest that CY exerts immunoregulatory effects. Animal studies have shown CY affects contact sensitivity (CS) response by depleting CD4CD25 T regulatory cells and CD8 T suppressor (Ts) cells.

Similar effect of sodium nitroprusside and acetylsalicylic acid on antioxidant system improvement in mouse liver but not in the brain.

Background: The aim of the present study was to analyze the relative antioxidant effects of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in mouse liver and brain.

Methods: The activity of rhodanese, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) and γ-cystathionase (CSE), functioning as antioxidant proteins and capable of producing HS, was investigated in mouse liver and brain after intraperitoneal once a day administration of sodium nitroprusside (5 mg/kg body weight) or acetylsalicylic acid (500 mg/kg body weight) continued for 5 days. The tissues were homogenized and then the obtained supernatants were used for further determinations.

[Skin as a place of immunomodulation].

The skin is the largest organ of the human body which plays a key role not only in physiological processes such as thermoregulation and the maintenance of the correct water and electrolyte balance, but also forms an effective barrier against microorganisms, protecting the organism against harmful external factors. Moreover, the skin is an important organ involved in immune mechanisms. The skin is a place of drug application to treat various local and systemic diseases.

Exposure to lead in water and cysteine non-oxidative metabolism in Pelophylax ridibundus tissues.

Chronic, low-level exposure to metals is an increasing global problem. Lead is an environmentally persistent toxin that causes many lead-related pathologies, directly affects tissues and cellular components or exerts an effect of the generation of reactive oxygen species causing a diminished level of available sulfhydryl antioxidant reserves. Cysteine is one of substrates in the synthesis of glutathione - the most important cellular antioxidant, and it may also undergo non-oxidative desulfuration that produces compounds containing sulfane sulfur atoms.

Effect of mercury ions on cysteine metabolism in Xenopus laevis tissues.

The effect of mercury ions on the level of cysteine, glutathione, sulfane sulfur, and on the activity of rhodanese, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) and γ-cystathionase in brain, heart muscle, liver, kidneys, testes and skeletal muscle of adult Xenopus laevis was investigated. Frogs of both sexes were exposed for 7 or 14 days to 1.353mgL(-1) (ppm) of mercury chloride (HgCl(2)) dissolved in water.

TCRalphabeta + CD8+ and TCRgammadelta+ lymphocytes inhibit the capability of peritoneal macrophages to induce contact hypersensitivity.

Macrophages (Mf) play an important role in induction and regulation of the immune response. It was shown previously that subcutaneous injection of hapten conjugated macrophages (TNP-Mf) induces the contact hypersensitivity (CHS) response, whereas intravenous (i.v.

Cerebral pathology in immunodeficient gnotobiotic laboratory mice.

Gnotobiotic autoimmunity prone, antigen presentation, T lymphocyte receptor gene knockout mice show cerebral pathology in the form of meningitis, venous blood statis with subarachnoid hemorrhages and massive hemosiderin deposits. A more or less severe hydrocephalus was present in all animals examined. In all cases except the CD 1(-/-) animals, the pineal gland was considerably reduced in mass.

The effect of aspirin on Gomori-positive glia in mouse brain.

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA) treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of the sulfur-rich Gomori-positive material present in the cytoplasm of periventricular glia. It also caused the accumulation of the Gomori-positive neurosecretory material in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei and, most pronounced, in the neurosecretory axons of the paraventricular- and supraoptic-neurophypophysial tract.

The glial Gomori-positive material is sulfane sulpfur.

The Gomori-positive glia are periventricular astrocytes with abundant cytoplasmic granular material, predominantly occupying a periventricular site in the brain. These granular inclusions are strongly stained with chrome hematoxylin in the Gomori's method as well as exhibit red autofluorescence and non-enzymatic peroxidase activity. The glial Gomori-positive material (GGPM) granules are positive in the performic acid Alcian blue method indicating the presence of protein-bound sulfur, what has been shown by our previous studies.

Aspirin augments the concentration of endogenous hydrogen sulfide in mouse brain and liver.

Intraperitoneal injections of lysine acetylsalicylate (L-ASA, aspirin) in a dose of 10 mg during 5 consecutive days to BALB/c and B10.PL mice increased the concentration of endogenous hydrogen sulfide in their livers. The rise of hydrogen sulfur levels was shown also in brains of BALB/c females and B10.

Epicutaneous immunization with myelin basic protein protects from the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with limited treatment modalities. One of the experimental methods that protect from autoimmune diseases is oral tolerance. However, this method failed to show therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials.

Season dependent response of the Marsh frog (Rana ridibunda) to cadmium exposure.

Cadmium toxicity related to cysteine metabolism and glutathione levels in several tissues of the Marsh frog (Rana ridibunda) collected in late spring were investigated after exposure to 80 mg CdCl2 L(-1) for 168 h. The results were compared to those obtained in a previous experiment carried out in autumn. The most striking changes involved the brain which could not maintain a proper glutathione level and the testes in which neither GSH nor sulfane sulfur levels recovered.

Lipopolysaccharide aggravates cerebral pathology in B10.PL-derived CD1-/-, beta2m-/-, TCRalpha-/-, and TCRdelta-/- knockout mice.

Adult B10.PL-derived immunological genes knockout mice injected with 100 microg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) showed severe hydrocephalus and meningitis. A consequence of the hydrocephalus is pineal hyperplasia, sponginess of periventricular parenchyma, gliosis and, at the last stage of hydrocephalus formation, disappearance of the ependymal layer and the Gomori-positive subependymal astrocytes.

Cadmium toxicity related to cysteine metabolism and glutathione levels in frog Rana ridibunda tissues.

The level of glutathione and sulfane sulfur and sulfurtransferases activity in adult frogs Rana ridibunda were investigated after the exposure to 40 mg or 80 mg CdCl(2) L(-1) for 96 h or 240 h. Cd accumulation in the liver, kidneys and testes was confirmed, and the highest Cd level was found in the testes. In the liver, the exposure to Cd resulted in an increase of GSH level and the activity of rhodanese, while the activity of 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase and cystathionase decreased.

[Regeneration in the central nervous system and neuro-transplantation].

A review article on recent literature data on regeneration and transplantation in central nervous system is presented. The role of embryonal and adult stem cells is emphasized and possible therapeutic implications are indicated in injuries of the spinal cord and brain and in neurodegenerative diseases.