Urban or Rural GP? In the Czech Republic It Is not just Distances That Matter.

This article proposes a combined mixed methods approach to categorising GP practices. It looks not only at location but also at differences in the nature of the work that rural GPs perform. A data analysis was conducted of the largest health insurance company in the Czech Republic (5.

The Connection between MicroRNAs from Visceral Adipose Tissue and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is one of the most important causes of liver disease worldwide leading the foreground cause of liver transplantation. Recently miRNAs, small non-coding molecules were identified as an important player in the negative translational regulation of many protein-coding genes involved in hepatic metabolism. Visceral adipose tissue was found to take part in lipid and glucose metabolism and to release many inflammatory mediators that may contribute to progression of NAFLD from simple steatosis to Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis.

The Effect of Cultivation Passaging on the Relative Telomere Length and Proliferation Capacity of Dental Pulp Stem Cells.

Telomeres are repetitive nucleoprotein DNA sequences that shorten with each cell division. The stem cells activate telomerase to compensate for the telomere loss. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cultivation passaging on the relative telomere length and proliferation capacity of dental pulp stem cells.

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

Purpose Of Review: Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is a rare, autosomal dominant, hereditary polyposis syndrome defined by gastrointestinal hamartomas and mucocutaneous pigmentations, caused by a germline mutation in the serine/ threonine kinase 11 or liver kinase B1 (STK11/LKB1) genes. Hamartomatous polyps located throughout the gastrointestinal tract can be complicated by bleeding and small bowel intussusception, potentially leading to the need for emergency surgery. Individuals suffering from Peutz-Jeghers syndrome have an increased lifetime risk of various forms of cancer (gastrointestinal, pancreatic, lung, breast, uterine, ovarian and testicular).

Low Molecular Weight Hyaluronic Acid Effect on Dental Pulp Stem Cells In Vitro.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are attractive research topics, and their combined use in the field of tissue engineering seems to be very promising. HA is a natural extracellular biopolymer found in various tissues, including dental pulp, and due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability, it is also a suitable scaffold material. However, low molecular weight (LMW) fragments, produced by enzymatic cleavage of HA, have different bioactive properties to high molecular weight (HMW) HA.

ALK alterations in salivary gland carcinomas.

Salivary gland carcinomas represent a heterogeneous group of poorly characterized head and neck tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ALK gene and protein aberrations in a large, well-characterized cohort of these tumors. A total of 182 salivary gland carcinomas were tested for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positivity by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using the cut-off of 10% positive cells.

The pharmacokinetic parameters and the effect of a single and repeated doses of memantine on gastric myoelectric activity in experimental pigs.

Background: Memantine, currently available for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, is an uncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate type of glutamate receptors. Under normal physiologic conditions, these unstimulated receptor ion channels are blocked by magnesium ions, which are displaced after agonist-induced depolarization. In humans, memantine administration is associated with different gastrointestinal dysmotility side effects (vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, motor-mediated abdominal pain), thus limiting its clinical use.

Investigation of 23 Bile Acids in Liver Bile in Benign and Malignant Biliary Stenosis: A Pilot Study.

Differential diagnosis between benign and malignant biliary stenosis can be difficult in clinical practice. Histology of biopsy specimens is often indeterminate. Laboratory markers (serum bilirubin > 75 mol/L, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 > 400 U/mL) and the length of stenosis (>15 mm) can be helpful but are not specific enough.

Does Neuraxial Anesthesia as General Anesthesia Damage DNA? A Pilot Study in Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Traumatological Surgery.

The human organism is exposed daily to many endogenous and exogenous substances that are the source of oxidative damage. Oxidative damage is one of the most frequent types of cell component damage, leading to oxidation of lipids, proteins, and the DNA molecule. The predominance of these damaging processes may later be responsible for human diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or heart failure.

Deregulation of Selected MicroRNAs in Sinonasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Searching for Potential Prognostic Biomarkers.

Sinonasal carcinomas are head and neck tumours arising from the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses characterized by unfavourable outcome, difficult treatment, diagnosis and prognosis. MicroRNAs are key molecules in the regulation of development and progression of cancer and their expression profiles could be used as prognostic biomarkers, to predict the patients' survival and response to treatment. In this study, we used quantitative real‑time PCR with TaqMan® Advanced miRNA Assays to investigate the relative expression values of selected micro- RNAs in a unique set of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples obtained from 46 patients with sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma.

Enzymatic Isolation, Amplification and Characterization of Dental Pulp Stem Cells.

The dental pulp represents an easily accessible source of adult dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). The preferred approach to DPSC isolation is enzymatic digestion. However, the duration of the enzymatic activity is crucial.

Tumor-infiltrating B cells affect the progression of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma via cell-to-cell interactions with CD8 T cells.

Background: Standard treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is associated with high morbidity, whereas immunotherapeutic approaches using PD-1:PD-L1 checkpoint blockade only show moderate response rates in OPSCC patients. Therefore, a better stratification of patients and the development of novel therapeutic protocols are crucially needed. The importance of tumor-infiltrating B cells (TIL-Bs) in shaping antitumor immunity remains unclear; therefore, we analyzed frequency, phenotype, prognostic value and possible roles of TIL-Bs in OPSCC.

Hyaluronic Acid-Based Medical Device for Treatment of Alveolar Osteitis-Clinical Study.

Alveolar Osteitis (AO) is a complication following the extraction of a tooth. AO manifests through localized pain in, and around, the extraction site, where the post-operative blood clot has been disintegrated. The aim of this single cohort study was to evaluate the outcome of a treatment of AO, using a pharmacological device composed of hyaluronic acid and octenidine dihydrochloride.

Leiomyoma with Bizarre Nuclei: a Study of 108 Cases Focusing on Clinicopathological Features, Morphology, and Fumarate Hydratase Alterations.

Leiomyoma with bizarre nuclei (LBN) is an uncommon variant of uterine smooth muscle neoplasm. Involvement of fumarate hydratase (FH) has been suggested in the pathogenesis of a subset of LBN. The goal of our study is to assess the clinicopathological, morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular findings focusing on FH in LBNs (n = 108) and compare it with the findings in usual leiomyomas (UL; n = 50) and leiomyosarcomas (LMS; n = 42).

Venous Thromboembolism as an Adverse Effect During Treatment With Olanzapine: A Case Series.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious multifactorial disorder. Patients with severe mental illness have a higher risk of developing the condition compared to the general population. We observed 10 cases of VTE in patients with mental illness who were treated with the antipsychotic drug olanzapine.

Dual Tracer 99mTc-Pertechnetate/99mTc-MIBI Dual-Time-Point SPECT/CT Parathyroid Gland Assessment Regarding to Parathyroid Gland Size and Biochemical Parameters - Two Years Single Imaging Centre Experience.

Introduction: Preoperative parathyroid imaging is inevitable part of focused parathyroid surgery. The aim of our study was assessment of parathyroid scintigraphy diagnostic accuracy regarding to size and metabolic parameters of hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue.

Material And Methods: Parathyroid scintigraphy for suspected primary hyperparathyroidism was performed in 95 patients during years 2015 and 2016.

Breathing Out Completely Before Inhalation: The Most Problematic Step in Application Technique in Patients With Non-Mild Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Patient adherence to an inhaled medication application technique (A-ApplT) represents a major health-care issue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is a lack of studies evaluating this issue thoroughly. The aim of our study was to introduce a universal easy-to-use method of assessing the A-ApplT to chronic medication in moderate to very severe COPD individuals.

Novel tacrine-tryptophan hybrids: Multi-target directed ligands as potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

A combination of tacrine and tryptophan led to the development of a new family of heterodimers as multi-target agents with potential to treat Alzheimer's disease. Based on the in vitro biological profile, compound S-K1035 was found to be the most potent inhibitor of human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE) and human butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE), demonstrating balanced IC values of 6.3 and 9.

Simvastatin Inhibits Endotoxin-Induced Apoptosis in Liver and Spleen Through Up-Regulation of Survivin/NF-κB/p65 Expression.

Endotoxemia is associated by dysregulated apoptosis of immune and non-immune cells. We investigated whether simvastatin has anti-apoptotic effects, and induces hepatocytes and lymphocytes survival signaling in endotoxin-induced liver and spleen injuries. Wistar rats were divided into the groups pretreated with simvastatin (20 or 40 mg/kg, orally) prior to a non-lethal dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the LPS group, and the control.

Encephalitis with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies: paraneoplastic or non-paraneoplastic?

We report the case of an encephalitis patient with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody positivity. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is a relatively rare autoimmune disease. In our patient, the diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis was established as late as several months after the first manifestations of the condition.

Characteristics of Human Natal Stem Cells Cultured in Allogeneic Medium.

Recently, human natal dental pulp stem cells (hNDP-SCs) have been characterized in vitro and it has been shown that they satisfy criteria defining human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), as proposed by the International Society for Cellular Therapy. However, these results were reached in the presence of xenogeneic expansion medium, which has the potential to alter the cells' functional capacity. To determine the validity of the previously reported hNDP-SCs characteristics for human cell therapy, we have cultured hNDP-SCs in allogeneic expansion medium.

Molecular Modeling and In Vitro Studies of a Neutral Oxime as a Potential Reactivator for Acetylcholinesterase Inhibited by Paraoxon.

The present work aimed to compare the small, neutral and monoaromatic oxime, isatin-3-oxime (isatin-O), to the commercial ones, pralidoxime (2-PAM) and obidoxime, in a search for a new potential reactivator for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibited by the pesticide paraoxon (AChE/POX) as well as a novel potential scaffold for further synthetic modifications. The multicriteria decision methods (MCDM) allowed the identification of the best docking poses of those molecules inside AChE/POX for further molecular dynamic (MD) studies, while Ellman's modified method enabled in vitro inhibition and reactivation assays. In corroboration with the theoretical studies, our experimental results showed that isatin-O have a reactivation potential capable of overcoming 2-PAM at the initial moments of the assay.

HPV Status and Mutation Analysis Using Multiparallel Sequencing in Distal Oesophageal and Gastro-oesophageal Junction Adenocarcinomas.

The incidence of adenocarcinoma of oesophagus or gastro-oesophageal junction is increasing in Europe and other regions of the Western world. Research of possible causes has shifted to the molecular level. This study evaluated human papillomavirus (HPV) using real-time PCR and mutational status of selected genes using the multiparallel sequencing method (NGS) in DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tumour tissue of 56 patients with oesophageal or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.