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Petr Zach

Available from STL Prague, CZ / NTK - National Technical LibrarySIGLECZCzech Republi
The visualization of longitudinal sections of the proximal part of the femur by μCT in adult <i>Timon tangitanus</i> (ID 102). The epiphyseal growth plate is absent. The suture between epiphysis and metaphysis is not present... more
The visualization of longitudinal sections of the proximal part of the femur by μCT in adult <i>Timon tangitanus</i> (ID 102). The epiphyseal growth plate is absent. The suture between epiphysis and metaphysis is not present and the endosteal bone trabeculae are expanded into the metaphysis. Bar = 1000 μm. For full resolution see dataset on Dryad.
The visualization of longitudinal sections of the proximal part of the femur by μCT in adult <i>Timon tangitanus</i> (ID 120). The separation of proximal epiphysis from the metaphyseal region and diaphysis of the femur by a... more
The visualization of longitudinal sections of the proximal part of the femur by μCT in adult <i>Timon tangitanus</i> (ID 120). The separation of proximal epiphysis from the metaphyseal region and diaphysis of the femur by a radio-translucent layer of the non-calcified growth plate is apparent. The suture between epiphysis and metaphysis is present. Bar = 1000 μm. For full resolution see dataset on Dryad.
BACKGROUND Changes of white matter integrity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) were documented following mainly motor/skill acquisitions physical therapy, while following neuroproprioceptive "facilitation, inhibition"... more
BACKGROUND Changes of white matter integrity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) were documented following mainly motor/skill acquisitions physical therapy, while following neuroproprioceptive "facilitation, inhibition" (neurofacilitation) only by two pilot studies. Neurofacilitation has potential to induce white matter changes due to possibility to interfere with the neuronal tactility threshold, but stronger evidence is missing. AIM This study investigates whether neurofacilitation (three physical therapy types) induce white matter changes and if they relate to clinical improvement. DESIGN The Three-Arm Parallel-Group Exploratory Trial (NCT04355663). SETTING Each group underwent different kind of two months ambulatory therapy (Motor Program Activating Therapy, Vojta's reflex locomotion, and Functional Electric Stimulation in Posturally Corrected Position). POPULATION MS people with moderate disability. METHODS At baseline and after the program, participants underwent magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and clinical assessment. Fractional anisotropy maps obtained from DTI were further analyzed using tract-based spatial statistic exploring the mean values in the whole statistic skeleton. Moreover, additional exploratory analysis in 48 regions of white matter was done. RESULTS 92 people were recruited. DTI data from 61 were analysed. The neurofacilitation (irrespective type of therapy) resulted in significant improvement on the Berg Balance Scale (p=0.0089), mainly driven by the Motor Program Activating Therapy. No statistically significant change in the whole statistic skeleton was observed (only a trend for decrement of fractional anisotropy after Vojta's reflex locomotion). Additional exploratory analysis confirmed significant decrement of fractional anisotropy in the right anterior corona radiata. CONCLUSIONS Neurofacilitation improved balance without much evidence of white matter integrity changes in people with MS. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT The study results point to the importance of neuroproprioceptive "facilitation and inhibition" physical therapy in management of balance in people with multiple sclerosis and the potential to induce white matter changes due to possibility to interfere with the neuronal tactility threshold.
The aim of this study was to perform a pilot histological and quantitative analysis of the blood vessels accompanying the epicardial nerves (vasa nervorum) in the porcine hearts. Twenty healthy porcine hearts were used in this study. The... more
The aim of this study was to perform a pilot histological and quantitative analysis of the blood vessels accompanying the epicardial nerves (vasa nervorum) in the porcine hearts. Twenty healthy porcine hearts were used in this study. The blood vessels were analyzed by light microscopy using four different staining techniques in transverse sections taken from the upper, middle, and lower segments of the anterior part of the interventricular region and the adjacent parts of the right and left ventricles containing epicardial nerves and the endocardial peripheral parts of the Purkinje fibers. In total, 317 epicardial nerves were detected. The vasa nervorum were present in 75.7% of these nerves. The vasa nervorum resembled arterioles and postcapillary and collecting venules. One hundred and forty nine epicardial nerves were perivascular, located in the adventitia of the anterior interventricular artery and vein. The remaining 168 nerves ran freely through the epicardial interstitium. The presence of the vasa nervorum was not related to topographical location or nerve diameter. Additionally, from a total of 33 analyzed ventricular complexes of Purkinje fibers small blood vessels located in their proximity were identified in only two cases. It can be concluded that the majority of the anterior epicardial nerves of porcine heart possess well‐developed vasa nervorum. In contrast, similar blood vessels are rarely present in the vicinity of the Purkinje fibers. The data obtained contribute to a better understanding of the nutrition of the cardiac nerves.
Body growth is typically thought to be indeterminate in ectothermic vertebrates. Indeed, until recently, this growth pattern was considered to be ubiquitous in ectotherms. Our recent observations of a complete growth plate cartilage (GPC)... more
Body growth is typically thought to be indeterminate in ectothermic vertebrates. Indeed, until recently, this growth pattern was considered to be ubiquitous in ectotherms. Our recent observations of a complete growth plate cartilage (GPC) resorption, a reliable indicator of arrested skeletal growth, in many species of lizards clearly reject the ubiquity of indeterminate growth in reptiles and raise the question about the ancestral state of the growth pattern. Using X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT), here we examined GPCs of long bones in three basally branching clades of squamate reptiles, namely in Gekkota, Scincoidea and Lacertoidea. A complete loss of GPC, indicating skeletal growth arrest, was the predominant finding. Using a dataset of 164 species representing all major clades of lizards and the tuataras, we traced the evolution of determinate growth on the phylogenetic tree of Lepidosauria. The reconstruction of character states suggests that determinate growth is ancestra...
X-ray microradiography and microtomography are imaging techniques with increasing applicability in the field of biomedical and preclinical research. Application of hybrid pixel detector Timepix enables to obtain very high contrast of low... more
X-ray microradiography and microtomography are imaging techniques with increasing applicability in the field of biomedical and preclinical research. Application of hybrid pixel detector Timepix enables to obtain very high contrast of low attenuating materials such as soft biological tissue. However X-ray imaging of ex-vivo soft tissue samples is a difficult task due to its structural instability. Ex-vivo biological tissue is prone to fast drying-out which is connected with undesired changes of sample size and shape producing later on artefacts within the tomographic reconstruction. In this work we present the optimization of our Timepix equipped micro-CT system aiming to maintain soft tissue sample in stable condition. Thanks to the suggested approach higher contrast of tomographic reconstructions can be achieved while also large samples that require detector scanning can be easily measured.
The fundamental concept of a neuroimmunological network is well appreciated although detailed description of the individual mechanisms has not yet been attained. In an effort to close this gap, the effect of electrolesion of the frontal... more
The fundamental concept of a neuroimmunological network is well appreciated although detailed description of the individual mechanisms has not yet been attained. In an effort to close this gap, the effect of electrolesion of the frontal medial cortex, a structure with the known "immunoreactivity", on selected phenotypic features of spleen macrophages was studied. Since sugar receptors (lectins) are pivotal for recognition, custom-made tools termed neoglycoproteins were employed to delineate any injury-induced changes of their expression. The total number of macrophages in the spleen red pulp was assessed using the ED-1 monoclonal antibody. The results showed that after lesion of the medial frontal cortex, the extent of expression of carbohydrate-binding sites in red pulp spleen macrophages significantly decreased without affecting the total number of these cells. These data intimate that distinct brain regions are involved in the control of the phenotype of macrophages in ...
X-ray microtomography is currently one of the leading approaches in high resolution imaging providing information about the internal structure of the investigated objects. In biological imaging, this method is, however, still limited by... more
X-ray microtomography is currently one of the leading approaches in high resolution imaging providing information about the internal structure of the investigated objects. In biological imaging, this method is, however, still limited by low contrast of soft tissue. This limitation can be in some cases overcome by the application of contrast agents. The other possibility is based on the use of a new generation of noiseless particle counting detectors providing wide dynamic range which enable to detect even slight intensity changes induced by soft tissue in the transmitted beam. In this work, we demonstrate the performance of a redesigned MARS CT scanner equipped with the Timepix detector. Results of X-.ray microtomographies of several biological samples demonstrating improved soft tissue sensitivity are presented.
Preclinical studies have demonstrated a considerable role for N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in excitotoxicity and the concurrent neuroprotective effect of NMDA receptor antagonists. Because NMDA receptors are one of the most... more
Preclinical studies have demonstrated a considerable role for N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in excitotoxicity and the concurrent neuroprotective effect of NMDA receptor antagonists. Because NMDA receptors are one of the most widespread receptors in the central nervous system, application of their antagonist often leads to serious side effects ranging from motor impairment to induction of schizophrenic-like psychosis. Therefore, we have initiated
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the diagnostic and therapeutic medical information system Computer Kinesiology in physiotherapy in patients with low back pain who were not responding to conventional therapy.... more
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the diagnostic and therapeutic medical information system Computer Kinesiology in physiotherapy in patients with low back pain who were not responding to conventional therapy. Computer Kinesiology is primarily intended for the diagnostics and therapy of functional disorders of the locomotor system. This pilot study population included 55 patients (Group 1) with acute and chronic back pain and 51 persons (Group 2) without back pain. The third group was a control group of 67 healthy volunteers with no evidence of musculoskeletal pathologies and no back pain. All 173 subjects were examined three times by the diagnostic part of the Computer Kinesiology method. Groups 1 and 2 were treated after every diagnostics. Group 3 was not treated. The effect was evaluated by H score. Improvements after therapy were defined by reducing the H score by at least 1 point. In Group 1, the H score decreased by at least 1 point in 87.3% (95% CI...
Squamate reptiles are considered to exhibit indeterminate growth. Nevertheless, current literature disputes the available definitions of this growth type, presents new theoretical models, and questions its universality in cold-blooded... more
Squamate reptiles are considered to exhibit indeterminate growth. Nevertheless, current literature disputes the available definitions of this growth type, presents new theoretical models, and questions its universality in cold-blooded vertebrates. We have followed up on our previous research employing micro-CT to explore growth plate cartilage (GPC) in the epiphysis of long bones, which is responsible for longitudinal skeletal growth by the endochondral ossification process. We focused on numerous and highly diversified group of the Iguania clade comprising Acrodonta (agamas and chameleons) and Pleurodonta (“iguanas”). We recorded the absence of GPC in most of the examined adult Pleurodonta specimens and interpret it as an irreversible arrest of skeletal growth. This finding clearly rejects the universality of indeterminate growth in lizards. On the other hand, we found apparent GPC preservation in most of the adult specimens belonging to Acrodonta. This suggests a preserved ability...
Micro-CT imaging is a well-established morphological method for the visualization of animal models. We used ethanol fixation of the mouse brains to perform high-resolution micro-CT scans showing in great details brain grey and white... more
Micro-CT imaging is a well-established morphological method for the visualization of animal models. We used ethanol fixation of the mouse brains to perform high-resolution micro-CT scans showing in great details brain grey and white matters. It was possible to identify more than 50 neuroanatomical structures on the 5 selected coronal sections. Among white matter structures, we identified fornix, medial lemniscus, crossed tectospinal pathway, mammillothalamic tract, and the sensory root of the trigeminal ganglion. Among grey matter structures, we identified basal nuclei, habenular complex, thalamic nuclei, amygdala, subparts of hippocampal formation, superior colliculi, Edinger–Westphal nucleus, and others. We suggest that micro-CT of the mouse brain could be used for neurohistological lesions evaluation as an alternative to classical neurohistology because it does not destroy brain tissue.
We present here significant difference in the evocation capability between sensory memories (visual, taste, and olfactory) throughout certain categories of the population. As object for this memory recall we selected French fries that are... more
We present here significant difference in the evocation capability between sensory memories (visual, taste, and olfactory) throughout certain categories of the population. As object for this memory recall we selected French fries that are simple and generally known. From daily life we may intuitively feel that there is much better recall of the visual and auditory memory compared to the taste and olfactory ones. Our results in young (age 12-21 years) mostly females and some males show low capacity for smell and taste memory recall compared to far greater visual memory recall. This situation raises question whether we could train smell and taste memory recall so that it could become similar to visual or auditory ones. In our article we design technique of the volunteers training that could potentially lead to an increase in the capacity of their taste and olfactory memory recollection.
Alzheimer disease is traditionally conceptualized as a disease of brain gray matter, however, studies with diffusion tensor imaging have demonstrated that Alzheimer disease also involves alterations in white matter integrity. We measured... more
Alzheimer disease is traditionally conceptualized as a disease of brain gray matter, however, studies with diffusion tensor imaging have demonstrated that Alzheimer disease also involves alterations in white matter integrity. We measured number of tracts, tracts length, tract volume, quantitative anisotropy and general fractional anisotropy of neuronal tracts in subcallosal area, paraterminal gyrus and fornix in patients with Alzheimer disease and healthy age-matched controls. Our hypothesis was that patients with Alzheimer disease should exhibit decrease in the integrity of these white matter structures that are crucial for semantic memory function. For our study were selected 24 patients with confirmed Alzheimer disease diagnosis and 24 healthy controls (AD center, Department of Neurology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic). Statistically significant differences between the patients with Alzheimer disease and the control group were found both on the left and right fornice...
Chronic methamphetamine (METH) abuse has been shown to elicit strong neurotoxic effects. Yet, with an increasing number of children born to METH abusing mothers maturing into adulthood, one important question is how far do the neurotoxic... more
Chronic methamphetamine (METH) abuse has been shown to elicit strong neurotoxic effects. Yet, with an increasing number of children born to METH abusing mothers maturing into adulthood, one important question is how far do the neurotoxic effects of METH alter various neurotransmitter systems in the adult METH-exposed offspring. The purpose of this study was to investigate long-term trans-generational neurochemical changes, following prenatal METH exposure, in the adult Wistar rat brain. METH or saline (SAL-control animals) was administered to pregnant dams throughout the entire gestation period (G0-G22). At postnatal day 90, dopamine, serotonin, glutamate and GABA were measured in the adult brain before (baseline) and after a METH re-administration using in vivo microdialysis and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The results show that METH-exposure increased basal levels of monoamines and glutamate, but decreased GABA levels in all measured brain regions. Acute challenge with METH injection in the METH-exposed group induced a lower increase in the monoamine system relative to the increase in the GABAergic and glutamatergic system. The data show that prenatal METH exposure has strong effects on the monoaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic system even when exposure to METH was limited to the prenatal phase. Toxicological effects of METH have therefore longer lasting effects as currently considered and seem to affect the excitatory-inhibitory balance in the brain having strong implications for cognitive and behavioral functioning.
There is a growing body of evidence that stressful events may affect the brain not only as a whole, but also in multiple laterality aspects. The present review is aimed at discussing the effect of stress and stress hormones on structural... more
There is a growing body of evidence that stressful events may affect the brain not only as a whole, but also in multiple laterality aspects. The present review is aimed at discussing the effect of stress and stress hormones on structural brain asymmetry. Differences and crossroads of functional and structural asymmetry are briefly mentioned throughout the document. The first part of this review summarizes major findings in the field of structural brain asymmetries in animals and humans from the evolutionary perspective. Additionally, effect of stress on animals is discussed generally. The second part then explores asymmetrical effects of stress on structural changes of principal brain areas - amygdala, hippocampus, neocortex, diencephalon, basal forebrain and basal ganglia from the point of normal lateralization, steroids, trauma and genetic factors. At the end we present hypothesis why stress appears to have asymmetrical effects on lateralized brain structures.
Long term permanent changes of eating behavior and concomitant structural changes in the CNS are matter of debade in literature. Often there is not enough distinction beween acute and chronic exposure to corticoids in evaluating its... more
Long term permanent changes of eating behavior and concomitant structural changes in the CNS are matter of debade in literature. Often there is not enough distinction beween acute and chronic exposure to corticoids in evaluating its effect on behavior and/or brain structural changes. For behavioral evaluation we used well established conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm and coronal Nissl-stained brain sections for evaluation of neuroanatomical changes. The CTA is part of complex adaptive behavioral processes controling food intake. It is well established methodological tool for study of biological substrates of learning and memory. Our hypothesis was that long term changes in laboratory rat behavior induced by exogenous corticosterone are not accompanyied by neurohistological changes in the rat brain, previously described in literature. Firstly, our results support CTA paradigm as promising tool for testing chronic influence of stress hormones on eating behavior and memory. The results support fact that previous long term elevated corticosterone levels disrupt normal eating behavior and it could also lead to structural changes, which could be biological substrates of behavioral changes. The fact we have not found significant morphological changes in brain strengthen the notion of possible subcellular impairment taking place instead of simple neuronal loss.
The mutual relationship between the central nervous and immune system are intensively studied. The lesion of distinct structures of the rat brain such as septum influence the model immune response such as lymphocyte proliferation and... more
The mutual relationship between the central nervous and immune system are intensively studied. The lesion of distinct structures of the rat brain such as septum influence the model immune response such as lymphocyte proliferation and delayed skin hypersensitivity. Employing the model of the damage of septum in the rat brain by electrolesion we demonstrated the decrease of the number of peripheral blood leukocytes, mainly cells exhibiting CD25 and CD45RA antigens in the rat. The striatum destruction has much lower influence on the studied parameters, which suggests a specific effect of the septum on these hematological parameters.
We measured the length of the pyramidal neurons in the cortical layer III in four subregions of the planum temporale (transitions into superior temporal gyrus, Heschl's gyrus, insular cortex, and Sylvian fissure) in control group and... more
We measured the length of the pyramidal neurons in the cortical layer III in four subregions of the planum temporale (transitions into superior temporal gyrus, Heschl's gyrus, insular cortex, and Sylvian fissure) in control group and Alzheimer disease patients. Our hypothesis was that overall length of the pyramidal neurons would be smaller in the Alzheimer disease group compared to controls and also there would be right-left asymmetry in both the control and Alzheimer disease groups. We found pyramidal neuron length asymmetry only in controls--in the transition into the Sylvian fissure--and the rest of the subregions in the control group and Alzheimer disease patients did not show size difference. However, control-Alzheimer disease group pyramidal neuron length comparison revealed (a) no length difference in superior temporal gyrus transition area, (b) reversal of asymmetry in the insular transition area with left insular transition significantly shorter in the Alzheimer diseas...
Long term permanent changes of eating behavior and concomitant structural changes in the CNS are matter of debade in literature. Often there is not enough distinction beween acute and chronic exposure to corticoids in evaluating its... more
Long term permanent changes of eating behavior and concomitant structural changes in the CNS are matter of debade in literature. Often there is not enough distinction beween acute and chronic exposure to corticoids in evaluating its effect on behavior and/or brain structural changes. For behavioral evaluation we used well established conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm and coronal Nissl-stained brain sections for evaluation of neuroanatomical changes. The CTA is part of complex adaptive behavioral processes controling food intake. It is well established methodological tool for study of biological substrates of learning and memory. Our hypothesis was that long term changes in laboratory rat behavior induced by exogenous corticosterone are not accompanyied by neurohistological changes in the rat brain, previously described in literature. Firstly, our results support CTA paradigm as promising tool for testing chronic influence of stress hormones on eating behavior and memory. The...
We studied delayed effects of elevated plasma levels of corticosterone (Cort) on volumetry, neuronal quantity, and gross marks of neurodegeneration in the hippocampal formation of Long-Evans rats. Animals were exposed to increased CORT... more
We studied delayed effects of elevated plasma levels of corticosterone (Cort) on volumetry, neuronal quantity, and gross marks of neurodegeneration in the hippocampal formation of Long-Evans rats. Animals were exposed to increased CORT levels for three weeks via implanted subcutaneous pellets. Volumetry, neuronal quantification and gross marks of degeneration were measured seven weeks after the termination of CORT treatment. We observed significant differences in volumes and especially in laterality of hippocampal subfields between control and CORT-treated animals. We found that the left hippocampus was substantially larger than the right hippocampus in the corticosterone-treated group, but not in the control group. In the control group, on the other hand, right hippocampal volume was markedly higher than all other measured volumes (hippocampal left control, hippocampal left CORT-treated and hippocampal right CORT-treated). Left hippocampal volume did not differ between the groups.
A lesion in the dorsoposterior part of the rat brain septum is known to exert an inhibitory effect on the delayed skin hypersensitivity and incorporation of radiolabeled thymidine into the lymphoid organs. To determine whether distinct... more
A lesion in the dorsoposterior part of the rat brain septum is known to exert an inhibitory effect on the delayed skin hypersensitivity and incorporation of radiolabeled thymidine into the lymphoid organs. To determine whether distinct properties of macrophages will also be modulated by this type of injury, we have focused upon the monitoring of expression of sugar receptors (lectins). In this study we show a reduction in the number of macrophages expressing carbohydrate-binding sites for asialoglycoproteins (beta-D-galactoside), alpha-D-mannoside and alpha-D-mannoside-6-phosphate in spleen macrophages after the lesion of the dorsoposterior septum of the brain in the rat. The number of ED-1+ macrophages was not influenced. The intraperitoneal injection of beads prepared from the copolymer of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with dimethyl aminoethyl methacrylate (30 wt %) elevated significantly the number of ED-1+ spleen macrophages and number of macrophages with binding site(s) recognizi...
Urokinase (UK) type plasminogen activator is a serine protease produced by activated human monocytes. Despite the well-documented roles played by UK in cell-mediated immunity in healthy humans, the roles played by UK in the derangements... more
Urokinase (UK) type plasminogen activator is a serine protease produced by activated human monocytes. Despite the well-documented roles played by UK in cell-mediated immunity in healthy humans, the roles played by UK in the derangements of cell-mediated immune responses observed in HIV disease remain largely undefined. In these studies the numbers of peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes bearing surface UK (UK+) as well as serum levels of UK (flow microfluorimetry and ELISA, respectively) were determined in children with AIDS and in healthy HIV-negative children. The effects of exogenous UK on lymphocyte activation (cell cycle analysis using living cells) and surface marker (CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD19) expression (flow microfluorimetry using fixed cells) were also studied. Data are expressed as percent total cells. Numbers of UK+ lymphocytes in children with AIDS were similar to those observed in healthy children. In contrast, numbers of UK+ peripheral blood monocytes were dramati...
The aim of the present work was to study the influence of variable stress on the expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11HSD1) and the neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), urocortins 2 and 3(UCN2, UCN3),... more
The aim of the present work was to study the influence of variable stress on the expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11HSD1) and the neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), urocortins 2 and 3(UCN2, UCN3), arginine vasopressin (AVP), oxytocin (OXT) and adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in two inbred rat strains: stress hypo-responsive Lewis (LEW) and hyper-responsive Fisher 344 (F344) rats. We found site-specific and strain-dependent differences in the basal and stress-stimulated expression of 11HSD1, CRH, UCN2, UCN3 and PACAP. In LEW rats, stress upregulated 11HSD1 in the prefrontal cortex and lateral amygdala, whereas in F344 rats 11HSD1 was upregulated in the central amygdala and hippocampal CA2 and ventral but not dorsal CA1 region; no effect was observed in the paraventricular nucleus, pituitary gland and adrenal cortex of both strains. The expression of glucocorticoid receptors did not parallel the upregulation of 11HSD1. Stress al...
Our goal was to find out whether a decrease in hippocampal volume in Alzheimer's disease measured via magnetic resonance imaging is accompanied by a similar volume... more
Our goal was to find out whether a decrease in hippocampal volume in Alzheimer's disease measured via magnetic resonance imaging is accompanied by a similar volume decrease in the pons and cerebellum. We also tried to evaluate whether there are any accompanying hippocampal, pontine and cerebellar asymmetries between the left and right side. We performed a manual volumetric magnetic resonance analysis of the pons, cerebellum and hippocampi in 29 healthy controls and 26 patients with Alzheimer's disease, divided into two groups according to the Mini-Mental State Examination score. We confirmed a known decrease in hippocampal volume in Alzheimer's disease patients but found that there is no similar volume decrease in the pons or cerebellum that could serve as a radiologic diagnostic tool in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Also, there was no statistically significant right-left asymmetry in all three measured structures. Only hippocampal volume and not pontine and cerebellar volumes could serve as a magnetic resonance diagnostic tool in Alzheimer's disease.
The multifunctional mitochondrial enzyme 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 could play a role in the development of Alzheimer disease via its high-affinity binding to amyloid-beta peptides and its overexpression. We evaluated the... more
The multifunctional mitochondrial enzyme 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 could play a role in the development of Alzheimer disease via its high-affinity binding to amyloid-beta peptides and its overexpression. We evaluated the specificity of alterations in mRNA/enzyme expression levels in human right and left hippocampi. We observed a trend towards right/left laterality in nondemented nonpsychotic controls; however, the degree of asymmetry was higher for mRNA when compared to enzyme expression levels. In Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia, significant shifts to left/right asymmetry were found and the changes were associated with more marked increases in mRNA/enzyme expression in the left hemisphere. On the other hand, no alterations were observed in people with multi-infarct dementia. Our results support studies reporting an impairment of mitochondria in Alzheimer disease or schizophrenia and a higher vulnerability of the dominant hemisphere to pathological processes. Overexpression of the enzyme could be used to distinguish Alzheimer disease from multi-infarct dementia.
Investigations of alterations in brain asymmetry often focus on the planum temporale of patients with schizophrenia. Data also suggest changes in laterality of demented patients associated with a more marked impairment of the left... more
Investigations of alterations in brain asymmetry often focus on the planum temporale of patients with schizophrenia. Data also suggest changes in laterality of demented patients associated with a more marked impairment of the left hemisphere. Our study was performed on autoptic brain tissue of 84 patients, out of which there were 25 non-demented non-psychotic controls, 50 demented patients (34 Alzheimer disease, 9 multi - infarct dementia and 7 mixed-type dementia patients) and 9 people with schizophrenia. The plana temporalia were evaluated via a new volumetric method using dental resin matter. Areas, cortical thickness and volumes of the right and left planum temporale were evaluated without normalization to brain weight in 60 patients and with normalization in 24 people. In controls, a mild right/left laterality of areas, cortical thickness and volumes was found. Moreover, in control women the areas of the left planum temporale were smaller than those observed in control men. The shifts to left/right laterality of areas and volumes were found in all demented groups. In the more numerous Alzheimer group, the change in laterality of an area was associated with a mild decrease on the right and a mild increase on the left side. In contrast, marked but only bilateral area shrinkage as well as reduced cortical thickness and brain volumes were observed in schizophrenic patients.

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