Assessment of neuromuscular function is critical for understanding pathophysiological changes rel... more Assessment of neuromuscular function is critical for understanding pathophysiological changes related to motor system dysfunction in animal models of different diseases. Among a number of methods used for quantification of grip performance in rodents, gauge-based grip strength meters seem to provide the most reliable results, however such instruments are unaffordable by many laboratories. Here we demonstrate how to build a grip strength apparatus for rodents from scratch using a digital kitchen scale, an empty cage and a microcontroller, with both hardware and software being completely open-source to enable maximal modularity and flexibility of the instrument in concordance with the principles of open-source bioinstrumentation. Furthermore, we test the griPASTA system for assessment of increased muscular rigidity in the proof-of-concept experiment in the rat model of Parkinson’s disease induced by intrastriatal administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Finally, the importance of...
Antioxidant enzyme catalase protects the cells against alcohol-induced oxidative stress by scaven... more Antioxidant enzyme catalase protects the cells against alcohol-induced oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals and metabolizing alcohol. Concentrations of ethanol present in alcoholic beverages can inhibit catalase and foster oxidative stress and alcohol-induced injury. Non-alcoholic components of pelinkovac counteract the inhibitory effects of high ethanol concentration and acidic pH on catalase in vitro.
Objectives Literature data indicate that physical and mental activities have beneficial effects o... more Objectives Literature data indicate that physical and mental activities have beneficial effects on cognitive impairments in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), while our previous results suggest possible beneficial effect of galactose treatment in sAD animal model, streptozotocin- intracerebroventricularly (STZ-icv) treated rats. We investigated whether the long-term enriched housing and galactose treatment could improve learning and memory deficits and anxiety found in this sAD animal model. Methods Adult male Wistar rats were given STZ-icv (3 mg/kg) while controls received vehicle only. One group received oral galactose treatment (200 mg/kg) 4 month after icv injections and continued for 2 months on daily basis until sacrifice. The other group was rendered for 9 weeks to enriched housing (EH) 3 weeks after STZ-icv treatment. Behavioural assessment was done by Morris Water Maze Swimming (MWM) test, Dry maze (DM) and Open field test (OF). Data were analysed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann- Whitney...
Background Dyshomeostasis of the gastrointestinal (GI) system is investigated as a potential cont... more Background Dyshomeostasis of the gastrointestinal (GI) system is investigated as a potential contributor to metabolic dysfunction, systemic and neuro-inflammation recognized as important pathophysiological drivers of neurodegeneration. Gastrointestinal redox dyshomeostasis and dysfunctional brain-gut incretin axis have been reported in the rat model of insulin-resistant brain state (IRBS)-driven neurodegeneration induced by intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin (STZ-icv). The aim was to assess i) whether GI oxidative stress is accompanied by structural and functional changes of the epithelial barrier; ii) whether the brain glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIP-R) is also involved in redox regulation of the gut; and iii) whether the STZ-icv brain-gut axis is resistant to pharmacological inhibition of the brain GIP-R. Methods Forty three-month-old male Wistar rats were treated with 3mg/kg STZ-icv or vehicle. One month later the animals were rand...
The understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology is an active area of research, ... more The understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology is an active area of research, and the traditional focus on hippocampus, amyloid and tau protein, and memory impairment has been expanded with components like neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, and circadian rhythm alterations. The bidirectional vicious cycle of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration on a molecular level may cause functional deficits already long before the appearance of overt clinical symptoms. Located at the crossroads of metabolic, circadian, and hormonal signaling, the hypothalamus has been identified as another brain region affected by AD pathophysiology. Current findings on hypothalamic dysfunction open a broader horizon for studying AD pathogenesis and offer new opportunities for diagnosis and therapy. While treatments with cholinomimetics and memantine form a first line of pharmacological treatment, additional innovative research is pursued toward the development of antiinflammatory, grow...
Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD) is the most common form of dementia. Central administration of... more Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD) is the most common form of dementia. Central administration of streptozotocin (STZ‐icv) has been shown to induce Alzheimer‐like changes and has been proposed as a non‐transgenic sAD animal model. Intranasal insulin administration is being investigated as a possible pharmacological treatment in order to reverse and ameliorate brain insulin dysfunction, but exact mechanism is not yet clear.
Chronic oral galactose treatment prevents cognitive deficit in rat model of sporadic Alzheimer... more Chronic oral galactose treatment prevents cognitive deficit in rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (sAD) induced by intracerebroventricular streptozotocin (STZ-icv) administration. On the contrary, chronic parenteral galactose treatment induces pathological changes associated with aging and it is used as an accelerated aging animal model. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of acute peroral or intraperitoneal galactose in order to elucidate mechanisms responsible for detrimental and beneficial effects. During the development of sAD neuropathological changes occur in brain stem before the ones in supratentorial brain regions. Moreover, brain stem represents an important integrative center of metabolic and immune homeostasis. For this reason, we decided to focus on the brain stem changes, particularly those in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMNX). Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glucose and galactose concentration was evaluated after acute gal...
Long‐term oral galactose treatment prevents and rescues cognitive deficits in rat model of Alzhei... more Long‐term oral galactose treatment prevents and rescues cognitive deficits in rat model of Alzheimer's disease. In contrast, long‐term parenteral galactose treatment‐induced oxidative stress is used to model aging in rodents. The aim of this study was to provide new information on the effects of single acute oral galactose treatment, elucidate mechanisms responsible for both detrimental and protective effects, and explore their association with oxidative stress.
The incretin system is an emerging new field that might provide valuable contributions to the res... more The incretin system is an emerging new field that might provide valuable contributions to the research of both pathophysiology and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. This study aimed to explore the role of central glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) on cell metabolism and energy in the brain as well as on the levels of these incretins, insulin and glucose, by inhibiting the central incretins’ receptors following intracerebroventricular administration of the respective antagonists in healthy rats and a streptozotocin-induced rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD). Chemical ablation of the central GIP receptor (GIPR) or GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in healthy and diseased animals indicated a region-dependent role of incretins in the brain cell energy and metabolism and central incretin-dependent modulation of peripheral hormone secretion, markedly after GIPR inhibition, as well as a dy...
ABSTRACTIntroductionCOVID-19-related (vs. non-related) articles appear to be more expeditiously p... more ABSTRACTIntroductionCOVID-19-related (vs. non-related) articles appear to be more expeditiously processed and published in peer-reviewed journals. We aimed to evaluate: (i) whether COVID-19-related preprints were favored for publication, (ii) preprinting trends and public discussion of the preprints, and (iii) the relationship between the publication topic (COVID-19-related or not) and quality issues.MethodsManuscripts deposited at bioRxiv and medRxiv between January 1 and September 27 were assessed for the probability of publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and those published were evaluated for submission-to-acceptance time. The extent of public discussion was assessed based on Altmetric and Disqus data. The Retraction Watch Database and PubMed were used to explore the retraction of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 articles and preprints.ResultsWith adjustment for the preprinting server and number of deposited versions, COVID-19-related preprints were more likely to be published within ...
Galactose is a ubiquitous monosaccharide with important yet incompletely understood nutritive and... more Galactose is a ubiquitous monosaccharide with important yet incompletely understood nutritive and physiological roles. Chronic parenteral D-galactose administration is used for modeling aging-related pathophysiological processes in rodents due to its ability to induce oxidative stress (OS). Conversely, chronic oral D-galactose administration prevents and alleviates cognitive decline in a rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease indicating galactose may exert beneficial health effects by acting in the gut. The present aim was to explore acute time-response of intestinal redox homeostasis following oral administration of D-galactose. Male Wistar rats were euthanized at baseline (n=6), 30 (n=6), 60 (n=6), and 120 (n=6) minutes following orogastric administration of D-galactose (200 mg/kg). The overall reductive capacity, lipid peroxidation, the concentration of low molecular weight thiols (LMWT) and protein sulfhydryls (SH), the activity of Mn and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutases (SOD), re...
SCOPE Galactose, a ubiquitous monosaccharide with incompletely understood physiology is often exp... more SCOPE Galactose, a ubiquitous monosaccharide with incompletely understood physiology is often exploited for inducing oxidative-stress mediated aging in animals. Recent research demonstrates that galactose can conserve cellular function during periods of starvation and prevent/alleviate cognitive deficits in a rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease. The present aim was to examine the acute effects of oral galactose on the redox regulatory network (RRN). METHODS AND RESULTS Rat plasma and hippocampal RRNs were analyzed upon acute orogastric gavage of galactose (200 mg/kg). No systemic RRN disbalance was observed, however, a mild pro-oxidative shift accompanied by a paradoxical increment in tissue reductive capacity suggesting overcompensation of endogenous antioxidant systems was observed in the hippocampus. Galactose-induced increment of reductive capacity was accompanied by inflation of the hippocampal pool of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphates indicating ROS detoxification through disinhibition of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway flux, reduced neuronal activity, and upregulation of Leloir pathway gatekeeper enzyme galactokinase-1. CONCLUSION Based on the observed findings, and in the context of previous work on galactose, a hormetic hypothesis of galactose is proposed suggesting that the protective effects might be inseparable from its pro-oxidative action at the biochemical level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Almost 115 years ago, Alois Alzheimer described Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for the first time. Sinc... more Almost 115 years ago, Alois Alzheimer described Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for the first time. Since then, many hypotheses have been proposed. However, AD remains a severe health public problem. The current medical approaches for AD are limited to symptomatic interventions and the complexity of this disease has led to a failure rate of approximately 99.6%in AD clinical trials. In fact, no new drug has been approved for AD treatment since 2003. These failures indicate that we are failing in mimicking this disease in experimental models. Although most studies have focused on the amyloid cascade hypothesis of AD, the literature has made clear that AD is rather a multifactorial disorder. Therefore, the persistence in a single theory has resulted in lost opportunities. In this review, we aim to present the striking points of the long scientific path followed since the description of the first AD case and the main AD hypotheses discussed over the last decades. We also propose insulin resist...
Assessment of neuromuscular function is critical for understanding pathophysiological changes rel... more Assessment of neuromuscular function is critical for understanding pathophysiological changes related to motor system dysfunction in animal models of different diseases. Among a number of methods used for quantification of grip performance in rodents, gauge-based grip strength meters seem to provide the most reliable results, however such instruments are unaffordable by many laboratories. Here we demonstrate how to build a grip strength apparatus for rodents from scratch using a digital kitchen scale, an empty cage and a microcontroller, with both hardware and software being completely open-source to enable maximal modularity and flexibility of the instrument in concordance with the principles of open-source bioinstrumentation. Furthermore, we test the griPASTA system for assessment of increased muscular rigidity in the proof-of-concept experiment in the rat model of Parkinson’s disease induced by intrastriatal administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Finally, the importance of...
Antioxidant enzyme catalase protects the cells against alcohol-induced oxidative stress by scaven... more Antioxidant enzyme catalase protects the cells against alcohol-induced oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals and metabolizing alcohol. Concentrations of ethanol present in alcoholic beverages can inhibit catalase and foster oxidative stress and alcohol-induced injury. Non-alcoholic components of pelinkovac counteract the inhibitory effects of high ethanol concentration and acidic pH on catalase in vitro.
Objectives Literature data indicate that physical and mental activities have beneficial effects o... more Objectives Literature data indicate that physical and mental activities have beneficial effects on cognitive impairments in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), while our previous results suggest possible beneficial effect of galactose treatment in sAD animal model, streptozotocin- intracerebroventricularly (STZ-icv) treated rats. We investigated whether the long-term enriched housing and galactose treatment could improve learning and memory deficits and anxiety found in this sAD animal model. Methods Adult male Wistar rats were given STZ-icv (3 mg/kg) while controls received vehicle only. One group received oral galactose treatment (200 mg/kg) 4 month after icv injections and continued for 2 months on daily basis until sacrifice. The other group was rendered for 9 weeks to enriched housing (EH) 3 weeks after STZ-icv treatment. Behavioural assessment was done by Morris Water Maze Swimming (MWM) test, Dry maze (DM) and Open field test (OF). Data were analysed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann- Whitney...
Background Dyshomeostasis of the gastrointestinal (GI) system is investigated as a potential cont... more Background Dyshomeostasis of the gastrointestinal (GI) system is investigated as a potential contributor to metabolic dysfunction, systemic and neuro-inflammation recognized as important pathophysiological drivers of neurodegeneration. Gastrointestinal redox dyshomeostasis and dysfunctional brain-gut incretin axis have been reported in the rat model of insulin-resistant brain state (IRBS)-driven neurodegeneration induced by intracerebroventricular administration of streptozotocin (STZ-icv). The aim was to assess i) whether GI oxidative stress is accompanied by structural and functional changes of the epithelial barrier; ii) whether the brain glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIP-R) is also involved in redox regulation of the gut; and iii) whether the STZ-icv brain-gut axis is resistant to pharmacological inhibition of the brain GIP-R. Methods Forty three-month-old male Wistar rats were treated with 3mg/kg STZ-icv or vehicle. One month later the animals were rand...
The understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology is an active area of research, ... more The understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology is an active area of research, and the traditional focus on hippocampus, amyloid and tau protein, and memory impairment has been expanded with components like neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, and circadian rhythm alterations. The bidirectional vicious cycle of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration on a molecular level may cause functional deficits already long before the appearance of overt clinical symptoms. Located at the crossroads of metabolic, circadian, and hormonal signaling, the hypothalamus has been identified as another brain region affected by AD pathophysiology. Current findings on hypothalamic dysfunction open a broader horizon for studying AD pathogenesis and offer new opportunities for diagnosis and therapy. While treatments with cholinomimetics and memantine form a first line of pharmacological treatment, additional innovative research is pursued toward the development of antiinflammatory, grow...
Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD) is the most common form of dementia. Central administration of... more Sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD) is the most common form of dementia. Central administration of streptozotocin (STZ‐icv) has been shown to induce Alzheimer‐like changes and has been proposed as a non‐transgenic sAD animal model. Intranasal insulin administration is being investigated as a possible pharmacological treatment in order to reverse and ameliorate brain insulin dysfunction, but exact mechanism is not yet clear.
Chronic oral galactose treatment prevents cognitive deficit in rat model of sporadic Alzheimer... more Chronic oral galactose treatment prevents cognitive deficit in rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (sAD) induced by intracerebroventricular streptozotocin (STZ-icv) administration. On the contrary, chronic parenteral galactose treatment induces pathological changes associated with aging and it is used as an accelerated aging animal model. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of acute peroral or intraperitoneal galactose in order to elucidate mechanisms responsible for detrimental and beneficial effects. During the development of sAD neuropathological changes occur in brain stem before the ones in supratentorial brain regions. Moreover, brain stem represents an important integrative center of metabolic and immune homeostasis. For this reason, we decided to focus on the brain stem changes, particularly those in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMNX). Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glucose and galactose concentration was evaluated after acute gal...
Long‐term oral galactose treatment prevents and rescues cognitive deficits in rat model of Alzhei... more Long‐term oral galactose treatment prevents and rescues cognitive deficits in rat model of Alzheimer's disease. In contrast, long‐term parenteral galactose treatment‐induced oxidative stress is used to model aging in rodents. The aim of this study was to provide new information on the effects of single acute oral galactose treatment, elucidate mechanisms responsible for both detrimental and protective effects, and explore their association with oxidative stress.
The incretin system is an emerging new field that might provide valuable contributions to the res... more The incretin system is an emerging new field that might provide valuable contributions to the research of both pathophysiology and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders. This study aimed to explore the role of central glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) on cell metabolism and energy in the brain as well as on the levels of these incretins, insulin and glucose, by inhibiting the central incretins’ receptors following intracerebroventricular administration of the respective antagonists in healthy rats and a streptozotocin-induced rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (sAD). Chemical ablation of the central GIP receptor (GIPR) or GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in healthy and diseased animals indicated a region-dependent role of incretins in the brain cell energy and metabolism and central incretin-dependent modulation of peripheral hormone secretion, markedly after GIPR inhibition, as well as a dy...
ABSTRACTIntroductionCOVID-19-related (vs. non-related) articles appear to be more expeditiously p... more ABSTRACTIntroductionCOVID-19-related (vs. non-related) articles appear to be more expeditiously processed and published in peer-reviewed journals. We aimed to evaluate: (i) whether COVID-19-related preprints were favored for publication, (ii) preprinting trends and public discussion of the preprints, and (iii) the relationship between the publication topic (COVID-19-related or not) and quality issues.MethodsManuscripts deposited at bioRxiv and medRxiv between January 1 and September 27 were assessed for the probability of publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and those published were evaluated for submission-to-acceptance time. The extent of public discussion was assessed based on Altmetric and Disqus data. The Retraction Watch Database and PubMed were used to explore the retraction of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 articles and preprints.ResultsWith adjustment for the preprinting server and number of deposited versions, COVID-19-related preprints were more likely to be published within ...
Galactose is a ubiquitous monosaccharide with important yet incompletely understood nutritive and... more Galactose is a ubiquitous monosaccharide with important yet incompletely understood nutritive and physiological roles. Chronic parenteral D-galactose administration is used for modeling aging-related pathophysiological processes in rodents due to its ability to induce oxidative stress (OS). Conversely, chronic oral D-galactose administration prevents and alleviates cognitive decline in a rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease indicating galactose may exert beneficial health effects by acting in the gut. The present aim was to explore acute time-response of intestinal redox homeostasis following oral administration of D-galactose. Male Wistar rats were euthanized at baseline (n=6), 30 (n=6), 60 (n=6), and 120 (n=6) minutes following orogastric administration of D-galactose (200 mg/kg). The overall reductive capacity, lipid peroxidation, the concentration of low molecular weight thiols (LMWT) and protein sulfhydryls (SH), the activity of Mn and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutases (SOD), re...
SCOPE Galactose, a ubiquitous monosaccharide with incompletely understood physiology is often exp... more SCOPE Galactose, a ubiquitous monosaccharide with incompletely understood physiology is often exploited for inducing oxidative-stress mediated aging in animals. Recent research demonstrates that galactose can conserve cellular function during periods of starvation and prevent/alleviate cognitive deficits in a rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease. The present aim was to examine the acute effects of oral galactose on the redox regulatory network (RRN). METHODS AND RESULTS Rat plasma and hippocampal RRNs were analyzed upon acute orogastric gavage of galactose (200 mg/kg). No systemic RRN disbalance was observed, however, a mild pro-oxidative shift accompanied by a paradoxical increment in tissue reductive capacity suggesting overcompensation of endogenous antioxidant systems was observed in the hippocampus. Galactose-induced increment of reductive capacity was accompanied by inflation of the hippocampal pool of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphates indicating ROS detoxification through disinhibition of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway flux, reduced neuronal activity, and upregulation of Leloir pathway gatekeeper enzyme galactokinase-1. CONCLUSION Based on the observed findings, and in the context of previous work on galactose, a hormetic hypothesis of galactose is proposed suggesting that the protective effects might be inseparable from its pro-oxidative action at the biochemical level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Almost 115 years ago, Alois Alzheimer described Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for the first time. Sinc... more Almost 115 years ago, Alois Alzheimer described Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for the first time. Since then, many hypotheses have been proposed. However, AD remains a severe health public problem. The current medical approaches for AD are limited to symptomatic interventions and the complexity of this disease has led to a failure rate of approximately 99.6%in AD clinical trials. In fact, no new drug has been approved for AD treatment since 2003. These failures indicate that we are failing in mimicking this disease in experimental models. Although most studies have focused on the amyloid cascade hypothesis of AD, the literature has made clear that AD is rather a multifactorial disorder. Therefore, the persistence in a single theory has resulted in lost opportunities. In this review, we aim to present the striking points of the long scientific path followed since the description of the first AD case and the main AD hypotheses discussed over the last decades. We also propose insulin resist...
Chronic oral galactose treatment improves learning and memory in streptozotocin (STZ) induced rat... more Chronic oral galactose treatment improves learning and memory in streptozotocin (STZ) induced rat model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, contrary to its parenteral administration used for induction of accelerated aging animal model. Mechanisms responsible for both beneficial and detrimental effects in both models are not yet sufficiently explored. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of acute peroral or intraperitoneal galactose administration on oxidative stress and metabolic changes in brain stem of rats previously treated intracerebroventricularly by STZ (STZ-icv). Methods Male Wistar rats (3 months old) were given STZ-icv (3 mg/kg) while controls received vehicle only. One month after icv injections both groups were divided in 3 subgroups (no galactose treatment, peroral or intraperitoneal treatment (200mg/kg)) and sacrificed 15 minutes after. Oxidative stress was measured by colorimetric assays for malondialdehyde, catalase activity and reduced glutathion. Expression of GLP-1R, ERK, p70s6k, ULK1 was measured by Western blotting. Expression of GLP-1R, GLUT3, GLUT4 and pULK1 was visualised by immunofluorescence. Data were analysed by Kruskal-Wallis followed by Mann-Whitney test. Results In comparison with control rats, STZ treated animals have higher levels of lipid peroxidation, increased catalase activity and decreased levels of reduced glutathion. Galactose administration increases lipid peroxidation but differently regulates CAT and reduced GSH in STZ treated animals when compared to controls. Western blot revealed no significant changes in GLP-1R, ERK, pERK, p70s6k, Pp70s6k, ULK1, pULK1 in whole brain stem lysate. Changes seen with immunofluorescence were dependent on the area analysed. Conclusion Acute administration of both peroral and intraperitoneal galactose induced changes in oxidative and metabolic parameters with a different trend observed in STZ treated animals in comparison to controls.
Introduction: Increasingly popular low-cost and easy-to-use single-board microcontrollers are pot... more Introduction: Increasingly popular low-cost and easy-to-use single-board microcontrollers are potentiating technological evolution through the engagement of evergrowing number of people in building simple robots and devices with the purpose of collecting and exchanging data with their environment. Availibility of information and hardware enables curious individuals to easily obtain medically relevant data and could potentially be used to facilitate medical education. Aim: To analyze the data that can be obtained with cheap and simple microcontroller such as Arduino UNO and evaluate if the raw data can be processed in a way that would provide useful information on the physiology of the heart and the autonomic nervous system. Materials and methods: Microcontroller Arduino UNO and AD8232 sensor module were used for raw data aquisition. Matlab and Artiifact software were used for raw data analysis and processing. Kubios (KUB) and Artiifact (ART) were used for analysis of inter beat interval data generated in ART after manual evaluation of the obtained signals. Results: Visual representation of raw data was sufficient for clear identification of P wave, PR segment, QRS complex, ST segment and T wave. Since satisfactory sampling rate of 784 Hz was obtained, 5 minute ECG was measured and data was manually processed for HRV analysis. Time-domain analysis revealed similar results for KUB and ART (KUB;ART – meanRR: 905.07ms;906.1ms, SDNN: 47.984ms;58.22ms, RMSSD: 37.443ms;37.29ms, NN50: 41;43, pNN50: 12.42%;12.5%). Frequency-domain analysis revealed less consistent results probably due to quality of the manually extracted IBI and inherent difference in analysis algorithms. Conclusion: Arduino-based ECG can be used to collect data relevant for examination of physiology of heart and autonomic nervous system and could be used to facilitate interest, understanding and knowledge of medical students studying physiology. Keywords: Arduino, ECG, HRV, medical education
Trillions of bacteria that colonize human gut complement our genome with microbial genes that out... more Trillions of bacteria that colonize human gut complement our genome with microbial genes that outnumber ours more than 100-fold. Although the importance of gut microbiota in health and disease which is a direct consequence of biological mutualism has been known for more than 100 years, development of new methods and approaches are now driving rapidly increasing trend of microbiota research because of its potential use in many medical fields. Metabolic syndrome, one of the greatest medical challenges of the 21 century is not an exception. Large body of evidence suggests that gut microbiota plays an important role in extraction of energy and storage in adipose tissue through mechanisms such as increased production of short chain fatty acids, increasing lipoprotein lipase activity and activation of lipogenic transcription factors. Moreover, research driven by the finding that germ-free mice are protected from diet-induced obesity and have different metabolic activity pattern highlights the importance of gut microbiota in modulation of host metabolism. Microbiota can also induce glucose intolerance by promoting low-grade systemic inflammation, an effect that can be reversed in obese animals with antibiotic treatment. In addition, microbiota is involved in etiopathogenesis of metabolic syndrome through modulation of gut-brain axis, regulation of bile acid metabolism, expression of orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones and modification of endocannabinoid system. Identification of microbiota as an important regulator of many physiological pathways demands reevaluation of already extremely complex human physiology in order to exploit new knowledge in both disease prevention and treatment as well as achieving a personalized integrative medical approach that will be able to cope with dynamic concurrent alterations of various systems to achieve optimal health.
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Papers by Jan Homolak