Genetic Analysis of the Brown Bear Sub-Population in the Pindos Mountain, Central Greece: Insights into Population Status and Conservation.

Habitat fragmentation poses a significant threat to the existence and reproduction of large carnivores, such as brown bears, as it affects the genetic connectivity of populations and, consequently, their long-term viability. Understanding the genetic makeup and dispersal patterns in areas where brown bears live is crucial for developing effective conservation plans and promoting human-brown bear coexistence. In this study, 214 hair samples were collected non-invasively from brown bears and were genetically analyzed using fifteen specific microsatellite loci to shed light on the genetic status and demography of a sub-population residing in Central Greece (Trikala-Meteora area).

Indication of West Nile Virus (WNV) Lineage 2 Overwintering among Wild Birds in the Regions of Peloponnese and Western Greece.

West Nile virus (WNV), a zoonotic mosquito-borne virus, has recently caused human outbreaks in Europe, including Greece. Its transmission cycle in nature includes wild birds as amplifying hosts and ornithophilic mosquito vectors. The aim of this study was to assess WNV circulation among wild birds from two regions of Greece, Peloponnese and Western Greece, during 2022.

Genetic Analysis and Status of Brown Bear Sub-Populations in Three National Parks of Greece Functioning as Strongholds for the Species' Conservation.

In order to optimize the appropriate conservation actions for the brown bear ( L.) population in Greece, we estimated the census (Nc) and effective (Ne) population size as well as the genetic status of brown bear sub-populations in three National Parks (NP): Prespa (MBPNP), Pindos (PINDNP), and Rhodopi (RMNP). The Prespa and Pindos sub-populations are located in western Greece and the Rhodopi population is located in eastern Greece.

Renin-Angiotensin System Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Are Associated with Bladder Cancer Risk.

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS), besides being a major regulator of blood pressure, is also involved in tumor angiogenesis. Emerging evidence suggests a correlation between the use of pharmacologic RAS inhibitors and a delay in urothelial bladder cancer (BC) progression. However, it is unknown whether RAS gene variants may predispose to the development of BC.

Dysregulation of Caveolin-1 Phosphorylation and Nuclear Translocation Is Associated with Senescence Onset.

We recently reported that the inability of osteoarthritic (OA) chondrocytes to repair oxidative stress (OS) induced DNA damage is linked to Cav-1 overexpression/improper localization. We speculated that the senescent status of OA cells was responsible for this Cav-1 dysregulation. Here, to further investigate this hypothesis, we used Wharton Jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) and investigated Cav-1 function as cells reached replicative senescence or upon stress induced senescence (SIPS).

Age, gestational and heat stress effects on ghrelin secretion in dairy cattle.

It is known that heat stress decreases dry matter intake in cattle with impacts on milk production and fertility. Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone with suppressive effects on reproduction. In this study, we investigated the effects of heat stress and gestational status on ghrelin secretion and its possible associations with DMI in Holstein cattle.

Development of a Multiplex Bead Assay for Simultaneous Serodiagnosis of Antibodies against , , and in Wild Boar.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a multiplex bead assay for the simultaneous detection of antibodies against , , and . Sera from Eurasian wild boar of known serological status for TB (64 seropositive, 106 seronegative), (30 seropositive, 39 seronegative), and (21 seropositive, 97 seronegative) were used for the development and evaluation of the assay. Magnetic beads coated with recombinant MPB83 antigen (TB), a whole-cell 1330 antigen, and an E/S antigen were used for the detection of specific antibodies using Bio-Rad Bio-Plex technology.

Poultry and Wild Birds as a Reservoir of CMY-2 Producing : The First Large-Scale Study in Greece.

Resistance mediated by β-lactamases is a globally spread menace. The aim of the present study was to determine the occurrence of producing plasmid-encoded AmpC β-lactamases (pAmpC) in animals. Fecal samples from chickens (n = 159), cattle (n = 104), pigs (n = 214), and various wild bird species (n = 168), collected from different Greek regions during 2018-2020, were screened for the presence of pAmpC-encoding genes.

Association of maternal Toll-like receptor-4 alleles with susceptibility to early-onset preeclampsia in central Greece.

Introduction: Altered maternal inflammatory responses may play a role in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy like preeclampsia, its more severe early-onset form and intrauterine growth restriction. We evaluated the relation of common allelic variants of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), known to impair the inflammatory response, with the susceptibility to early-onset preeclampsia in Central Greece.

Methods: We compared the occurrence of TLR4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) alleles in heterozygous (A/G, C/T) and homozygous (G/G, T/T) states in 84 women with a history of early-onset preeclampsia and 94 age matched controls with a history of only uneventful pregnancies, by direct sequencing.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Fertilization: A Mini Review.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of the most prevalent viral sexually transmitted diseases. The ability of HPV to induce malignancy in the anogenital tract and stomato-pharyngeal cavity is well documented. Moreover, HPV infection may also affect reproductive health and fertility.

Impact of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system polymorphisms on myocardial perfusion: Correlations with myocardial single photon emission computed tomography-derived parameters.

Background: Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) has an important role in atherosclerosis. We investigated the effects of six RAAS gene polymorphisms on myocardial perfusion.

Methods And Results: We examined 810 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) using stress-rest myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography.

Pregnancy prediction by free sperm DNA and sperm DNA fragmentation in semen specimens of IVF/ICSI-ET patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of free sperm plasma DNA (f-spDNA) and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), in semen specimens from men undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) treatments. Fifty-five semen samples were evaluated during 55 consecutive IVF/ICSI-ET cycles. F-spDNA was determined by conventional quantitative real-time PCR-Sybr green detection approach, while evaluation of sperm DNA damage was performed using the sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) assay.

Sequence variations in the FII, FV, F13A1, FGB and PAI-1 genes are associated with differences in myocardial perfusion.

Aims: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in modern societies. The association between genetic markers and CAD is still poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the effect of five genetic variants: Factor V Leiden (FV:c.

Sequence-based genotyping HPV L1 DNA and RNA transcripts in clinical specimens.

We developed a direct sequence-based genotyping method to detect single and multiple HPV L1 DNA and RNA types in genital and dermatological specimens. Our method couples PCR amplification of a highly conserved HPV L1 segment using a broad spectrum-generic primer cocktail mix with automated sequencing of amplified PCR products, followed by GenBank sorting of sequencing data. We genotyped 5 skin and 30 cervical HPV DNA-positive specimens using this method and established its first experimentally derived working cutoff value with the aid of commercial hybridization-based techniques.

Epigenetic regulation of hTERT promoter in hepatocellular carcinomas.

Although hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide, the molecular pathogenesis of the disease has not been elucidated. Several studies have shown that telomerase activity and hTERT expression are increased in HCCs. In the present study we tried to elucidate hTERT transcriptional and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in HCC.

Influence of interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha), IL-4, and IL-6 polymorphisms on genetic susceptibility to chronic osteomyelitis.

The association between cytokine gene polymorphisms and chronic osteomyelitis was investigated in order to determine whether genetic variability in cytokine genes predisposes to osteomyelitis susceptibility. Significant genotypic and allelic associations were observed between interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha) -889-C/T, IL-4 -1098-G/T and -590-C/T, and IL-6 -174-G/C polymorphisms and osteomyelitis in the Greek population, pointing towards their potential involvement in osteomyelitis pathogenesis.

Association of KLOTHO gene polymorphisms with knee osteoarthritis in Greek population.

Based on the fact that klotho-deficient mice exhibit multiple aging phenotypes, including osteopenia and subchondral sclerosis of joints and on the recent observation that KLOTHO gene plays an important role in calcium/phosphate homeostasis, we explored the possibility whether human KLOTHO gene polymorphisms are associated with osteoarthritis (OA). A total of 752 individuals participated in the study. The knee OA group consisted of 369 patients; 298 women (mean age 65.

On the mechanism of phenotypic conversion of human cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa cells surviving infection by influenza B virus: potential implications for biological management of adenocarcinomas.

We infected HeLa cells with low (10(-9) units), medium (10(-6) units), and high (10(-2) units) influenza B titers and compared the resulting human papilloma virus (HPV), retinoic acid receptor alpha subunit (RARalpha) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA content of surviving infected hosts with that of their uninfected precursors by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction amplification (RT/PCR). This comparison revealed a moderate and drastic dependence of HPV and RARalpha mRNA content, respectively, but a complete independence of GAPDH mRNA expression on viral titer. A mechanism of adoptive replacement of tolerable cellular with viral gene expression was proposed to explain these findings.

The growth differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) core promoter polymorphism is not associated with knee osteoarthritis in the Greek population.

Genetic factors have been shown to play an important role in the etiology of osteoarthritis (OA). A functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) +104T/C; rs143383 in the 5' UTR of the GDF5 gene was recently associated with susceptibility to osteoarthritis in the Japanese and Chinese population. Our objective was to assess whether this SNP was also associated with knee OA in a Greek Caucasian population sample.

Leptin receptor isoforms mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

There is accumulating evidence that leptin has a pleiotropic role in hematopoiesis, immune response, fibrogenesis, and hepatocarcinogenesis. We investigated the expression of leptin and leptin receptor (OB-R) at the protein level by flow cytometry and also quantified by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) the two major leptin receptor isoforms (OB-Rl, OB-Rs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with hepatitis B (HBV; n = 31), hepatitis C (HCV; n = 34), and nonviral liver disease (n = 25), and healthy controls (n = 36), as well as in liver tissues of HBV (n = 8), HCV (n = 7), and healthy individuals (n = 6). Serum leptin levels were measured in all participants (N = 126).

Correlation between radiation-induced telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA expression in HeLa cells.

Purpose: To quantify and correlate human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression with telomerase activity (TA) after ionizing irradiation of HeLa cells.

Materials And Methods: TA and hTERT mRNA expression were evaluated, at 24-h intervals, in HeLa cells cultured for up to 144 h, before and after treatment with increasing doses of 6 MV photon ionizing radiation (5 - 20 Gy), using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Cell viability was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.