Different protocols of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO2) are used for research purposes; however, data on the changes in blood pressure, oxidative stress and acid-base and gas status induced by various ...oxygenation protocols are scarce and conflicting. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an acute session of HBO2 2 bar (200 kPa) for two hours on arterial systolic and diastolic blood pressure, arterial blood gases and acid-base status, and oxidative stress in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats (12-15 weeks) were examined prior to, immediately and 24 hours after a two-hour HBO2 exposure at 2 bars. The femoral artery was cannulated to determine blood pressure, and blood samples were collected to measure blood gases and acid-base status, Ferric reducing antioxidant power ability of plasma (FRAP) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Immediately after HBO2 systolic and diastolic blood pressure significantly decreased (from 138 +/- 14/103 +/- 13 to 113 +/- 12/72 +/- 16 mmHg). However, these values were still inside the normal physiological range. pH decreased (from 7.34 +/- 0.05 to 7.28 +/- 0.05), pCO2 decreased (from 7.07 +/- 0.89 to 5.76 +/- 0.50 kPa), pO2 increased (from 12.48 +/- 0.88 to 13.68 +/- 2.4 kPa), plasma bicarbonate decreased (from 27.04 +/- 3.25 to 20.52 +/- 3.02 mmol/L). Exposure to HBO2 immediately increased TBARS levels (from 0.17 +/- 0.09 to 21.79 +/- 1.05 microM/MDA), while FRAP levels were not significantly changed. Measurements on separate animals 24 hours after a single HBO2 exposure showed no differences in comparison to control animals, except for pO2, which was significantly lower (11.10 +/- 0.31 kPa). The results define values of important parameters, serving as a necessary basis for complex analysis of HBO2 effects in research on rat animal models.
There are 961 new cases and approximately 366 deaths from urothelial carcinoma registered annually in Croatia. Exfoliative urinary cytology has important role in detection of high grade urinary ...tumors, invasive and in situ lesions respectively. In contrast to cystoscopy and biopsy, cytology is a noninvasive method which is easily repeated. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess value of urinary cytology in our institution. For this purpose only patients with histological diagnosis and clinical follow up were considered. There were 138 urine specimens with cytological diagnosis of dyskaryosis, suspicious for malignancy or malignant and histology and follow up data examined at our Department of Clinical Cytology between 2004 and 2011. Cytological diagnosis suspicious for malignancy and malignant were considered positive and the results were correlated with histological diagnosis according to the WHO histological classification of tumors of the urinary tract. Patients with negative histological findings were followed for the next two years. The positive predictive value of cytological detection of malignant urothelial lesions was 91.8%. In 10 cases cytological diagnosis of malignancy was not confirmed histologically or clinically which makes the total of 8.2% of false positive reports. Of the total of detected malignant urothelial lesions 90.9% are high grade lesions and only 9.1% low-grade lesions; 67.3% are invasive lesions and 32.7% non-invasive lesions. Cytological findings of dyskariotyc cells requires further urological investigation because such findings in further processing prove the presence of tumor in 93.8% of cases. In conclusion: cytology is very good diagnostic tool for detection of high grade invasive and noninvasive carcinomas of the urinary tract. In order to make it more efficient we need to study its limits carefully, define diagnostic criteria and reach consensus in nomenclature.
Objective
4-Methyl-2,7-diamino-5,10-diphenyl-4,9-diazapyrenium hydrogensulfate (ADAP) is a potential antitumor compound because of its DNA and RNA intercalating ability. In this study, cellular ...uptake, intracellular distribution as well as mechanism of action, antitumor activity in vitro and toxicity in vivo of ADAP were investigated.
Methods
Based on the fluorescence properties of ADAP, its entry and distribution into live cells were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. The in vitro antiproliferative activity was determined using MTT test. For screening of topoisomerase II-targeted effects of ADAP, the cell-free assay and immunoband depletion assay were used. Expression of the genes
c-mos
,
c-N-ras
,
c-Ki-ras
,
c-H-ras
,
p53
and
caspase 3
in Caco-2 cells treated with ADAP was examined by RT-PCR. Toxicity in vivo was determined using C3HHf/Bu Zgr/Hr mice treated by single or multiple doses of ADAP at a concentration of 25 mg/kg.
Results
ADAP in μM concentrations entered into MIAPaCa-2 cell’s cytoplasm in 5 min and into nuclei in 60 min after administration. Intracellular distribution of ADAP depended on the period of treatment time. ADAP (0.1–100 μM) strongly inhibited the growth of both mouse (FsaR, SCCVII) and human tumor cells (HeLa, Caco-2, HT-29, MIAPaCa-2, HBL, HEp-2, SW620, MCF-7) compared to its weak cytotoxicity on controls and normal cells (WI38). Results of both topoisomerase II assays showed that ADAP is not a topoisomerase II poison. Expression of investigated genes was dependent on the incubation time, except for
p53
and
c-H-ras
. Morphological changes in tissues and organs of mice were not observed. Results of patohistological analysis have been confirmed by hematological and clinical-chemical analysis of blood of treated and non-treated animals.
Conclusion
ADAP is a strongly bioactive compound with antitumor potential in vitro. The antitumor potential in vivo remains to be identified.
The 24-hour urine is golden standard for metabolic assessment of stone formers. However, due to the difficulties in collecting almost 1/3 of the samples can not be used for the analysis. Therefore, ...we analyzed first morning urine and calculated different risk indexes in order to asses possibility of using it in determining urolithiasis risk. Subjects were divided into 4 groups: male patients (n = 31, age 18-64), female patients (n = 31, age 25-63), male controls (n = 16, age 25-64) and female controls (n = 19, age 21-65). First morning urine pH, concentrations of calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sodium, potassium, chloride, citrate, urate, oxalate, creatinine and glycosaminoglycans were determined. Based on them, ionic concentrations and activity products of calcium oxalate and phosphate were calculated by EQUIL 2. In addition, different risk indices were calculated. The results showed that both patients and control groups had metabolic disorders, but the frequencies of occurrence were statistically independent. Significant difference in concentration of urinary constituents between corresponding patient and control groups was observed only for glycosaminoglycans in female subjects. Ca/Cit ratio and Baggio index could differentiate between both corresponding patients and control groups. The results indicate that interplay between stone formation inhibitors and promotors is responsible for urinary stone formation and that the first morning urine could be used in assessing urolithiasis risk and its prevention.
Renal lithiasis is a significant medical and social problem. Worldwide recurrence is anywhere from 3% to 5%. Objective of this paper is to evaluate two methods for distinguishing between stone ...formers and non-stone formers. Urine samples were titrated with calcium and seed crystals were added to facilitate precipitation. Ionic calcium levels were monitored and compared between the two groups. Stone formers showed impaired tolerance to the calcium added and increased precipitation on seed crystals. Both methods discriminated between stone formers and non-stone formers. Further evaluations are needed to establish the better of the two for wider clinical use.
Cancer morbidity and mortality are on a steady increase in Croatia. Technologic possibilities for appropriate management are available for four cancer sites, i.e. cancer of the breast, cervix uteri, ...colorectum and prostate, and include cancer prevention and early detection in individuals yet free from manifest signs of the disease. The magnitude of the problem, the experience acquired to date, health care personnel available, and additional resources required to launch a systematic program of early detection of the disease are presented. The program should be initially launched in a county with greatest experience in early detection of cancer, where health care service is ready to immediately start its implementation. The role of family physician, gynecologic service at primary health care level, and polyclinic-consultation hospital service in program implementation is described. The following three possible options for early detection of cancer are analyzed and proposed: minimal program (early detection every 3 years), medium program (the same individuals examined every 2 years), and optimal program proposed by the American Cancer Society and other national and international organizations.
Metabolic parameters were determined in fasting blood serum, fasting first morning urine, and 24-hour urine of male patients with recurrent calcium oxalate stones (N = 26, age 39.1 +/- 6.2 years) as ...well as in male healthy controls (N = 18, age 35.0 +/- 7.1 years), recruited from the eastern part of Croatia. The 24-hour urinary calcium excretion was significantly higher (p < 0.01) for patients (5.6 +/- 2.5 mmol) than for controls (3.7 +/- 1.9 mmol), but potassium excretion was higher (p < 0.01) for controls (74.5 +/- 33.8 mmol) than for patients (49.2 +/- 15.7 mmol). The mean ionic activity product of calcium and oxalate ions, IAP(CaOx), calculated from the fasting first morning urine parameters, was 25% higher for patients than for controls, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Very strong correlation (r = 0.97) was obtained between IAP(CaOx) values and calculated Ogawa indices that were recommended for estimating the potential risk for calcium oxalate stone formation.
Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi metabolički profil krvi i acido-bazni status istarskih koza u mediteranskom sustavu proizvodnje. Istraživanje je provedeno na 28 istarskih koza, podijeljenih u ...četiri skupine: skupina I - jarad dobi do 6 mjeseci; skupina II - koze dobi do 2 godine; skupina 3 - koze dobi od 2 do 5 godina; skupina IV - koze starije od 5 godina. Koze su napasivale ekstenzivne, mediteranske pašnjake, a nakon povratka u staju hranjene su sijenom i s približno 0,2 kg/dan kukuruza, uz vodu i sol koja im je bila na raspolaganju po volji. Hematološki pokazatelji i diferencijalna krva slika određeni su u punoj krvi koza. Koncentracija biokemijskih pokazatelja te aktivnosti enzima određene su u krvnom serumu, dok su pokazatelji acido-baznog statusa određene u plazmi. Broj eritrocita te udio limfocita bio je smanjen, dok se udio segmentiranih neutrofila i eozinofila povećao s dobi istarskih koza. Utvrđeno je znakovito smanjenje koncentracije Fe, omjera albumina i globulina, koncentracije kolesterola, triglicerida, LDL-kolesterola, VLDL-kolesterola, anorganskog fosfora te aktivnosti alkalne fosfataze. Suprotno je utvrđeno u koncentracijama ureje, ukupnih proteina i globulina, kao i aktivnosti aspartat-aminostransferaze te aniona i kationa temeljenih na izračunu iz ukupnih proteina. Dobiveni rezultati o metaboličkom profilu i acido-baznom statusu istarskih koza prve su objavljene referentne vrijednosti koje će pomoći u praćenju zdravstvenog i nutritivnog statusa te u poboljšanju upravljanja i očuvanja ove kritično ugrožene pasmine.
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