Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition or Functional Tissue Regeneration - Two Outcomes of Heart Remodeling.

Heart remodeling occurs as a compensation mechanism for the massive loss of tissue during initial heart failure and the consequent inflammation process. During heart remodeling fibroblasts differentiate to myofibroblasts activate their secretion functions and produce elevated amounts, of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, mostly collagen, that form scar tissue and alter the normal degradation of ECM. Scar formation does replace the damaged tissue structurally; however, it impedes the normal contractive function of cardiomyocytes (CMs) and results in long-lasting effects after heart failure.

Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition or Functional Tissue Regeneration - Two Outcomes of Heart Remodeling.

Heart remodeling occurs as a compensation mechanism for the massive loss of tissue during initial heart failure and the consequent inflammation process. During heart remodeling fibroblasts differentiate to myofibroblasts activate their secretion functions and produce elevated amounts, of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, mostly collagen, that form scar tissue and alter the normal degradation of ECM. Scar formation does replace the damaged tissue structurally; however, it impedes the normal contractive function of cardiomyocytes (CMs) and results in long-lasting effects after heart failure.

Gene Variants Determine Placental Transfer of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb), and Birth Outcome: Findings From the UmMuKi Bratislava-Vienna Study.

Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenol A (BPA), lead (Pb), total mercury (THg), and methylmercury (MeHg) can affect fetal development. Factors influencing placental transfer rate of these toxins are poorly investigated. Whether prenatal exposure to pollutants has an effect on birth weight is incompletely understood.

Challenging management of severe chronic disorders in acute pandemic situation: Chronic liver disease under COVID-19 pandemic as the proof-of-principle model to orchestrate the measures in 3PM context.

Chronic liver disease management is a comprehensive approach requiring multi-professional expertise and well-orchestrated healthcare measures thoroughly organized by responsible medical units. Contextually, the corresponding multi-faceted chain of healthcare events is likely to be severely disturbed or even temporarily broken under the force majeure conditions such as global pandemics. Consequently, the chronic liver disease is highly representative for the management of any severe chronic disorder under lasting pandemics with unprecedented numbers of acutely diseased persons who, together with the chronically sick patient cohorts, have to be treated using the given capacity of healthcare systems with their limited resources.

Applicability and prognostic value of frailty assessment tools among hospitalized patients with advanced chronic liver disease.

Aim: To assess and compare the feasibility and prognostic value of various frailty assessment tools among decompensated cirrhosis inpatients.

Methods: Our prospective observational registry included consecutive patients admitted for cirrhosis between June 2017 and July 2018. Exclusion criteria were intensive-care unit admission, hepatocellular carcinoma outside of the Milan criteria, and other malignancies.

TRP Channels Expression Profile in Human End-Stage Heart Failure.

: Many studies indicate the involvement of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in the development of heart hypertrophy. However, the data is often conflicted and has originated in animal models. Here, we provide systematic analysis of TRP channels expression in human failing myocardium.

Alcohol Use Relapse Following Liver Transplantation for Alcoholic Liver Disease.

BACKGROUND Alcohol use disorders affect 10% of the European population. Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is the most common indication for liver transplantation in Slovakia. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of patients with ALD who received a liver transplant who had alcohol relapsed, and the risk factors for alcohol relapse, as well as to compare clinical outcomes according to relapse.

Drug-induced liver injury in inflammatory bowel disease: 1-year prospective observational study.

Aim: To analyze 1-year liver injury burden in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients.

Methods: During a 6-mo inclusion period, consecutive IBD cases having a control visit at IBD center were included. Basic demographics, IBD phenotype and IBD treatment were recorded on entry.

First-line treatment of nonsquamous NSCLC using gemcitabine: a retrospective study of real-life practice.

We present results of retrospective real-life data of nonsquamous lung cancer patients treated in first-line (platinum-based chemotherapy with gemcitabine without bevacizumab). 56 patients with satisfactory performance status for cytotoxic chemotherapy were treated in 2010-2014. Median progression-free survival was 6.

Genotyping of EGFR Mutations from Bronchial Cytological Specimens in Slovakian Lung Cancer Patients.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a histologically and molecularly heterogeneous disease predominating in Slovakia among newly diagnosed oncological disorders and leading in the number of associated deaths. NSCLC diagnostics has advanced especially in molecular typing of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and subsequent targeted molecular therapy using tyrosine-kinase inhibitor(s) (TKI). The selection of patients for targeted therapy, we describe in this study, is mostly guided through bronchial smears rather than more invasive biopsies.

Prevalence of mutations in thiopurine S-methyltransferase gene among Slovak IBD patients.

Background: Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) plays an important role in the metabolism of thiopurines. It has been suggested that TPMT genetic polymorphisms lead to dose-related hematopoietic toxicity. Since there are major ethnic differences in the prevalence of particular TPMT variants, it is important for each country to study their own prevalence in order to estimate the role of TPMT variants-related thiopurines toxicity in population suffering from particular inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The impact of thiopurine-S-methyltransferase genotype on the adverse drug reactions to azathioprine in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Background And Aims: The thiopurine drugs, azathioprine (AZA) and 6-mercaptopurine, are established in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Polymorphisms in thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) gene have been associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to AZA.

Methods: The aim of this study was to evaluate TPMT polymorphisms and AZA-related toxicity in a Slovak cohort of 220 IBD patients treated with AZA.

Colorectal cancer screening in patients with ulcerative and Crohn's colitis with use of colonoscopy, chromoendoscopy and confocal endomicroscopy.

Background: Patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's colitis have increased risk of colorectal cancer. Current screening endoscopy protocols based on white light endoscopy (WLE) and random biopsies are laborious and of uncertain sensitivity. Novel endoscopic techniques include chromoendoscopy (CE) and confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE).

Topical treatment of partial thickness burns by silver sulfadiazine plus hyaluronic acid compared to silver sulfadiazine alone: a double-blind, clinical study.

Since its introduction into clinical practice in 1967 by Charles Fox Jr., silver sulfadiazine has been the gold standard for topical burn therapy. The addition to it of hyaluronic acid, which forms a substantial part of the human tissue intercellular matrix, is aimed at overcoming one of its very few disadvantages, i.