Ronald Inglhart's modernization theory provides a model of global value change, with affirmation of specific national paths of change. The paper considered the importance of the index of ...postmaterialism as a key element of the self-expression dimension. The distribution of (post)materialistic values in Serbia is presented based on data from the European Values Study and World Values Study from 2001, 2005 and 2008. The data indicate the presence of a stable structure in which the mixed and materialistic type predominates.The influence of sociodemographic factors on postmaterialism was examined by applying the regression analysis to the data from 2008. The results indicate a significant influence of the age, level of education and size of the city, while the impact of the amount of income is not statistically significant. The obtained results support Inglhart's theory of values, but do not exclude the effect of the life cycle.
Targeting Mitochondria in Diabetes Krako Jakovljevic, Nina; Pavlovic, Kasja; Jotic, Aleksandra ...
International journal of molecular sciences,
06/2021, Letnik:
22, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Type 2 diabetes (T2D), one of the most prevalent noncommunicable diseases, is often preceded by insulin resistance (IR), which underlies the inability of tissues to respond to insulin and leads to ...disturbed metabolic homeostasis. Mitochondria, as a central player in the cellular energy metabolism, are involved in the mechanisms of IR and T2D. Mitochondrial function is affected by insulin resistance in different tissues, among which skeletal muscle and liver have the highest impact on whole-body glucose homeostasis. This review focuses on human studies that assess mitochondrial function in liver, muscle and blood cells in the context of T2D. Furthermore, different interventions targeting mitochondria in IR and T2D are listed, with a selection of studies using respirometry as a measure of mitochondrial function, for better data comparison. Altogether, mitochondrial respiratory capacity appears to be a metabolic indicator since it decreases as the disease progresses but increases after lifestyle (exercise) and pharmacological interventions, together with the improvement in metabolic health. Finally, novel therapeutics developed to target mitochondria have potential for a more integrative therapeutic approach, treating both causative and secondary defects of diabetes.
Metformin is an oral antidiabetic agent that has been widely used in clinical practice for over 60 years, and is currently the most prescribed antidiabetic drug worldwide. However, the molecular ...mechanisms of metformin action in different tissues are still not completely understood. Although metformin-induced inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex I and activation of AMP-activated protein kinase have been observed in many studies, published data is inconsistent. Furthermore, metformin concentrations used for
in vitro
studies and their pharmacological relevance are a common point of debate. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of different metformin concentrations on energy metabolism and activity of relevant signaling pathways in C2C12 muscle cells
in vitro
. In order to determine if therapeutic metformin concentrations have an effect on skeletal muscle cells, we used micromolar metformin concentrations (50 µM), and compared the effects with those of higher, millimolar concentrations (5 mM), that have already been established to affect mitochondrial function and AMPK activity. We conducted all experiments in conditions of high (25 mM) and low glucose (5.5 mM) concentration, in order to discern the role of glucose availability on metformin action. According to our results, micromolar metformin treatment did not cause Complex I inhibition nor AMPK activation. Also, cells cultured in low glucose medium were more sensitive to Complex I inhibition, mitochondrial membrane depolarization and AMPK activation by millimolar metformin, but cells cultured in high glucose medium were more prone to induction of ROS production. In conclusion, even though suprapharmacological metformin concentrations cause Complex I inhibition and AMPK activation in skeletal muscle cells
in vitro
, therapeutic concentrations cause no such effect. This raises the question if these mechanisms are relevant for therapeutic effects of metformin in skeletal muscle.
Citations are an important, but often overlooked, part of every scientific paper. They allow the reader to trace the flow of evidence, serving as a gateway to relevant literature. Most scientists are ...aware of citations' errors, but few appreciate the prevalence of these problems. The purpose of the present study was to examine how often frequently cited papers in biomedical scientific literature are cited inaccurately. The study included an active participation of the first authors of included papers; to first-hand verify the citations accuracy. Findings from feasibility study, where we reviewed 1540 articles containing 2526 citations of 14 most cited articles in which the authors were affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, were further evaluated for external confirmation in an independent verification set of articles. Verification set included 4912 citations identified in 2995 articles that cited 13 most cited articles published by authors affiliated with the Mayo Clinic Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. A citation was defined as being accurate if the cited article supported or was in accordance with the statement by citing authors. At least one inaccurate citation was found in 11 and 15% of articles in the feasibility study and verification set, respectively, suggesting that inaccurate citations are common in biomedical literature. The most common problem was the citation of nonexistent findings (38.4%), followed by an incorrect interpretation of findings (15.4%). One-fifth of inaccurate citations were due to chains of inaccurate citations. Based on these findings, several actions to reduce citation inaccuracies have been proposed.
Mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetes is a widely studied topic, but inconsistency in literature data suggests a need for valid and reproducible models that will help to clarify this interaction. We ...aimed to establish insulin resistance models using chronic high insulin treatment in two cell types: myocytes and hepatocytes, characterise them in terms of mitochondrial function and compare them to the widely used palmitate-induced model of insulin resistance. We found that insulin lowered phosphorylation of Akt while not affecting cell viability, ROS production, mitochondrial morphology or respiration, and caused decrease in mitochondrial coupling only in muscle but not in liver cells.
Partially purified polysaccharides (FP) and hot alkali extract (FNa) obtained from fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete Grifola frondosa were examined for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and ...cytotoxic activity. The structural properties of FP and FNa samples were investigated by FT-IR and high resolution 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. From a group of various G - and G + bacteria the antibacterial effects were highest against the G + B. cereus. FNa was the better antioxidant shown by the lower EC sub(50) values of DPPH scavenging ability, ferric-reducing antioxidant power and ferrous ion-chelating ability. Ferric-reducing antioxidant power and ferrous ion-chelating ability were mostly linked to total polysaccharides, total- and beta -glucan content, as well as total protein content. Both extracts displayed a moderate dose dependent antiproliferative action towards malignant human breast cancer MDA-MB-453, cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa and myelogenous leukemia K562 cells not observed in the non cancer derived MRC-5 fibroblasts. The highest effect was found in HeLa cells for FP extract. The mean diameter of Ca-alginate bead loading FP was 960.7 mu m while the mean diameter of beads encapsulating FNa extract was 1051.7 mu m.
Introduction: The analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for genetic abnormalities is a promising new approach for the diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. Insights into the molecular ...characteristics of pancreatic cancer may provide valuable information, leading to its earlier detection and the development of targeted therapies. Material and Methods: We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of studies that reported cfDNA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The studies were considered eligible if they included patients with PDAC, if they had blood tests for cfDNA/ctDNA, and if they analyzed the prognostic value of cfDNA/ctDNA for patients’ survival. The studies published before 22 October 2020 were identified through the PubMED, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases. The assessed outcomes were the overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), expressed as the log hazard ratio (HR) and standard error (SE). The summary of the HR effect size was estimated by pooling the individual trial results using the Review Manager, version 5.3, Cochrane Collaboration. The heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q test and I2 statistic. Results: In total, 48 studies were included in the qualitative review, while 44 were assessed in the quantitative synthesis, with the total number of patients included being 3524. Overall negative impacts of cfDNA and KRAS mutations on OS and PFS in PDAC (HR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.95–2.99 and HR = 2.46, 95% CI: 2.01–3.00, respectively) were found. The subgroup analysis of the locally advanced and metastatic disease presented similar results (HR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.90–3.31). In the studies assessing the pre-treatment presence of KRAS, there was a moderate to high degree of heterogeneity (I2 = 87% and I2 = 48%, for OS and PFS, respectively), which was remarkably decreased in the analysis of the studies measuring post-treatment KRAS (I2 = 24% and I2 = 0%, for OS and PFS, respectively). The patients who were KRAS positive before but KRAS negative after treatment had a better prognosis than the persistently KRAS-positive patients (HR = 5.30, 95% CI: 1.02–27.63). Conclusion: The assessment of KRAS mutation by liquid biopsy can be considered as an additional tool for the estimation of the disease course and outcome in PDAC patients.
The aim of this study was to investigate the Cs+ ions sorption on natural
minerals clinoptilolite. The analysis of clinoptilolite and clinoptilolite
with adsorbed Cs+ ion was con- ducted by X-ray ...diffraction, scanning electron
microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and gamma spectrometry. The specific activity
of naturally occurring radionuclides in clinoptilolite was determined by
gamma spectrometry by using the HPGe semiconductor detector. Obtained
activity concentrations ranged from 49 Bq/kg to 810 Bq/kg for 40K, 5.7 Bq/kg
to 10 Bq/kg for 238U, 5.8 Bq/kg to 70 Bq/kg for 232Th(228Ac), and the
presence of artificial radionuclides was not detected (137Cs < 0.02 Bq/kg).
The study of the thermal decomposition of raw clinoptilolite and Cs adsorbed
clinoptilolite by differential thermal analysis is presented in this paper.
The activation energy of the reaction phase transformation of raw
clinoptilolite is 156.7 kJ/mol, while Cs adsorbed clinoptilolite is 121.7
kJ/mol. The lower value of activation energy reaction of the phase
transformation Cs adsorbed clinoptilolite indicates that Cs which is adsorbed
destabilizes the crystal structure of clinoptilolite and thus facilitates the
transition to the amorphous state.
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