A recently discussed cardiovascular risk factor, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), is known to act as an endogenous inhibitor of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The aim of this study was to establish 1) the relationship between ADMA and ultrasonographically or biochemically determined endothelial dysfunction in children, and 2) the effect of folate supplementation on these parameters. The study cohort included 32 children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), 30 with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and 30 age-matched healthy children as the control group. Furthermore, twenty-eight randomly selected FH and DM1 children were re-examined after 3-months supplementation with folic acid. Baseline levels of ADMA and oxidized low density lipoproteins (oxLDL) were significantly higher in FH group than in DM1 and healthy children. Children in DM1 group had significantly lower concentration of homocysteine, but ADMA levels were normal. Folic acid supplementation significantly lowered homocysteine and hsCRP levels in both FH and DM1 group; however, ADMA and oxLDL concentrations remained unaltered. In conclusion, ADMA and oxLDL appear to be associated with endothelial dysfunction in children with FH. Administration of folic acid did not influence these markers in both FH and DM1 children., P. Jehlička ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Research and clinical implications on novel cardiac biomarkers has intensified significantly in the past few years. The highsensitive troponin T (hscTnT) assay plays a dominant role in diagnostic algorithm regarding myocardial injury in adults. Despite generally accepted use of hscTnT there are no data about physiological concentrations and cut-off limits in neonates and infants to date. The aim of this study is to assess hscTnT levels in healthy newborns and infants. Consecutively 454 healthy full termed newborns and 40 healthy infants were enrolled in the study. Samples of cord or venous blood were drawn and tested for hscTnT concentrations with high-sensitive TnT assay (Roche Cobas e602 immunochemical analyzer). The 97.5 percentile of hscTnT concentration was assessed and correlation analysis was performed in neonates. Two hundred and thirteen samples (47 %) were excluded due to blood hemolysis of various degrees in neonates. Finally, the group of 241 healthy newborns was statistically analyzed. The median concentration of hscTnT was 38.2 ng/ml, 97.5 percentile reached 83.0 ng/l (confidential interval 74.1 to 106.9 ng/l). HscTnT concentrations were statistically decreased in hemolytic samples when compared to non-hemolytic samples (34.3 ng/l [26.7 to 42.0 ng/l] and 37.1 ng/l [30.5 to 47.9 ng/l], respectively, p=0.003). Elevated plasma concentrations of hscTnT decreased to adult level within six months. This study has confirmed the higher reference levels of hscTnT in neonates and young infants when compared with adult population. Many extracardiac factors as hemolysis and age may affect the hscTnT level. Based on presented results, a careful clinical interpretation of hscTnT is recommended., P. Jehlička, M. Huml, D. Rajdl, A. Mocková, M. Matas, J. Dort, A. Masopustová., and Seznam literatury
The objective of our study was to assess the influence of mechanical ventilation on healthy body organs. Fifteen piglets (aged 6 weeks, 19-27 kg) were anesthetized, instrumented, and divided into three groups: Group A - spontaneously breathing, group B - mechanically ventilated with tidal volume 6 ml/kg, and group C - ventilated with tidal volume 10 ml/kg for 12 hours. The parameters of lung, heart, liver and kidney functions neurohumoral regulation and systemic inflammatory reaction were recorded initially (time-1) and after 12 hours (time-12) of mechanical ventilation. At the onset of experiment (time-1) the levels of soluble adhesive molecules were higher (CAM; P<0.01), glomerular filtration index and free water clearance were lower (P<0.05) in both ventilated groups than in group A. Right ventricle myocardial performance index was higher (RIMP; P<0.05) in group C when compared with group A. Levels of CAM (P<0.05) and creatinine clearance (P<0.01) were higher, free water clearance was lower (P<0.05) in group C when compared to group B. At time-12 the RIMP (P<0.05) and levels of CAM were increased (P<0.01), creatinine clearance was decreased (P<0.05) in both ventilated groups compared to the same parameter at time-1. Ventilation index was higher (P<0.05), and hypoxemic index was lower (P<0.01) in group C when compared to group B. In conclusion, this study showed that mechanical ventilation induced changes compatible with early inflammatory response in healthy animals. Higher tidal volumes had detrimental effect on ventilatory parameters, reduced myocardial performance and potentiated adverse reaction of other organs., J. Kobr ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
a1_Polistopadový český environmentalismus je myšlenkově v mnoha směrech kompatibilní s ekologickou modernizací, která je od osmdesátých let určujícím diskurzem o životním prostředí na Západě. Autoři tvrdí a v článku dovozují, že tato kompatibilita není jen výsledkem importu těchto idejí do českého prostředí po roce 1989 a že základy pro přijetí paradigmatu ekologické modernizace položila svébytná forma environmentalismu, která se v Československu rozvinula v období socialismu. Jejím jádrem bylo propojení dvou zdánlivě neslučitelných složek: působila zde jednak meziválečná romantická tradice výchovy jednotlivce k environmentálně citlivému jednání prostřednictvím znalosti a pobytu v přírodě, jejíž kořeny vedou do prostředí severoamerických hnutí ,,lesní moudrosti'' (woodcraft) a trampingu, jednak přírodovědecky a technokraticky racionální pohled na životní prostředí v odborných kruzích, od sedmdesátých let silně ovlivněný sovětskou školou krajinné ekologie. Jeho předností bylo pevné vědecké analytické ukotvení, nedostatkem nemožnost uplatnění poznatků do praktické roviny veřejné politiky a rozhodování z důvodu nepřijatelnosti společenské kritiky v tehdejším režimu. Východiskem byl prohloubený důraz na uvědomělé jednání jednotlivce jako odpověď na ekologické výzvy v iniciativách, jako byl Tis - Svaz pro ochranu přírody a krajiny, Český svaz ochránců přírody a hnutí Brontosaurus., a2_Klíčové pro pochopení souběžného působení romantické a vědecké složky v českém environmentalismu je jejich propojení v rovině osobní zkušenosti mnoha protagonistů (včetně pronásledování některých ekologických aktivit v období socialismu). Díky kombinaci odporu k etatistickému řešení problémů životního prostředí a úsilí o změnu vztahu společnosti k přírodě formou individuální zážitkové výchovy dospěl český environmentalismus intelektuálně do stejného bodu a ve stejnou dobu jako západoevropská ekologická modernizace, i když velmi odlišnou cestou. Zároveň však takto zformovaný český environmentalismus nebyl podle autorů vybaven k tomu, aby se po návratu země ke kapitalismu zapojil jako vyzrálý kritický aktér do řešení širších strukturálních aspektů krize životního prostředí, která neskončila spolu s bývalým režimem., a1_In terms of its mindset and mental setup, the post-November Czech environmentalism is in many respects compatible with the ecological modernization which has been the determining environmental discourse in the West since the 1980s. The authors claim, and attempt to infer so in their article, that the acompatibility is not just a result of imports of these ideas into the Czech environment since 1989, but rather that the groundwork for the acceptance of the ecological modernization paradigm was laid by a specific form of environmentalism which developed in Czechoslovakia during the socialist era. Its core was a combination of two seemingly incongruous elements; the inter-war romantic tradition of individual education toward environmentally concientious behavior through knowledge of and time spent in nature, rooted in the environment of North American ''woodcraft'' movements and in the Czech tramping movement, and the natural scientific and technocratic, rational attitude to the living environment haboured by the professional community, strongly influenced by the Soviet school of landscape ecology. The latter element´s strenght was its firm scientific ancoring; its weakness the impossibility to apply knowledge at the practical level of public policy and decision-making, as any social criticism of the then ruling regime was unacceptable. The solution was an increased emphasis on conscientious behavior of an individual reacting to ecological challenges, promoted by initiatives such as The Yew - The Union for the Protection of nature and landscape (TIS - Svaz pro ochranu přírody a krajiny), Czech Union for Nature Conservation (Český svaz ochránců přírody), or Brontosaurus Movement ( hnutí Brontosaurus)., a2_The key to understanding the parallel coexistence of the romantic and the scientific components in the Czech environmentalism is their connection at the level of personal experience of many of its protagonists (including persecution of some ecological initiatives during the socialist era). Thanks to a combination of resistance against etatistic solutions of environmental problems and efforts aimed at changing the society´s attitude to nature through individual experience-based eduction, the Czech environmentalism reached the same intellectual point at the same time as the Western European ecological modernization although each used a very different route to get there. However, the authors claim that the Czech environmentalism that had formed in the manner outlined above was not adequately equipped or prepared to participate in solving broader structural aspects of the environmental crisis (which did not end with the demise of the previous regime) after the return of the country to capitalism., Petr Jehlička, Joe Smith., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy