We assessed the concentration of calcium, magnesium and creatinine in 2715 samples of the first morning urine. The investigation comprised the following age groups: children one, two, four, six, ten and thirteen years old, and groups of adults aged 18-35, 36-49, 50-65, 66-75, 76-85 and 86-93 years. The choice was made by random selection of participants of both sexes from diverse regions of the Czech Republic. We found the age to have a marked influence on the value of calcium, magnesium and creatinine, including urinary concentration ratios of calcium/creatinine and magnesium/crcatinine. The urinary calcium concentration was low both in the early and advanced age groups, while it reached peak values in subjects 18-35 years old. The urinary magnesium concentration was also age-dependent, with a maximum in children aged 4 years, and a subsequent decline with advancing age. The value of the ratio urinary calcium/creatinine and urinary magnesium/creatinine was highest in the youngest age group (1-4 years).
This work discusses the clinical performance of deconjugated metanephrine (MN), normetanephrine (NMN) and 3-methoxytyramine (3MT) determined in the basal first morning urine using a chromatographic method with electrochemical detection for the clinical diagnosis of pheochromocytoma (PHEO) and paraganglioma (PGL). Urine samples were collected from 44 patients (36 with PHEO, 8 with PGL) aged 54+/-17 (20-78) years (22 females, 22 males). A sampling of biological materials was performed preoperatively and about one week, six months and one year after adrenal gland surgery. The control group consisted of 34 PHEO/PGL patients more than 4 months after adrenal gland surgery. All subjects in the control group were without a diagnosis of PHEO or PGL. Clinical sensitivity was 55 % for MN, 64 % for NMN, 80 % for combination of both MN and NMN, and only 23 % for 3TM. Clinical specificity calculated from the control group was 93 % for MN, 95 % for NMN, 95 % for the combination MN and NMN, and 97 % for 3TM. Cut-off values for deconjugated metanephrines in the basal urine were 310 (MN), 690 (NMN) and 250 μg/l (3MT). Chromatographic determination of deconjugated urinary metanephrines, which is simple without the necessity of special laboratory material, can serve for the screening of PHEO or PGL patients. Urine NMN and 3MT exerts an association to malignity, and all markers are associated with tumor mass. However, the principal laboratory diagnosis of PHEO or PGL must be based on plasma-free metanephrines and plasma chromogranin A with better performance in the laboratory diagnosis of PHEO or PGL., R. Bílek, T. Zelinka, P. Vlček, J. Dušková, D. Michalský, K. novák, J. Bešťák, J. Widimský Jr., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We have found that the determination of thiodiglycolic acid (TDGA) in urine may help to characterize metabolic imbalance of substances participating in methionine synthesis, which leads to hyperhomocystinuria. From the metabolic scheme, based on a proper combination of known facts, we attempted to theoretically explain and to demonstrate the possibilities of TDGA formation via different ways of homocysteine transformation. This scheme was used in evaluating the results obtained by testing urine of a woman suffering from impaired function of methionine synthase reductase (CblE type of homocystinuria). The amount of TDGA excreted in her morning urine was very sensitive to the changes in her treatment based upon a combination of N5-formyl tetrahydrofolate, betaine and vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 given in the evening either alone or together with betaine increased the TDGA excretion in the morning urine up to ten times. On the other hand, in the absence of vitamin B12, betaine in combination with N5-formyl tetrahydrofolate hindered the appearance of TDGA in the morning urine. Generally, the determination of TDGA in urine of an appropriately pretreated patient may indicate the degree of success of the treatment., T. Navrátil, M. Petr, Z. Šenholdová, K. Přistoupilová, T. I. Přistoupil, M. Heyrovský, D. Pelclová, E. Kohlíková., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Iodine is essential in the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones that affect metabolic processes in the organism from the prenatal state to the elderly. The immediate indicator of iodine intake is the concentration of iodine in urine, but the indicator of iodine intake in the longer term of several months is thyroglobulin (Tg). Tg negatively correlated with increasing intake of iodine in population that do not suffer from thyroid disease, while a more than adequate to excessive iodine intake leads to an increase in Tg. The dependence of Tg on iodine can be described by a U-shaped curve. Thyroglobulin in serum is elevated in thyroid disease mainly in hyperthyroidism (diagnosis E05 of WHO ICD-10 codes) and in goiter (diagnosis E04 of WHO ICD-10 codes). Tg values decrease below 20 µg/l after effective treatment of patients with thyroid disease. Thyroglobulin may thus be an indicator of thyroid stabilization and the success of the thyroid gland treatment., Radovan Bílek, Marcela Dvořáková, Tereza Grimmichová, Jan Jiskra., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Oxidative stress markers are usually measured in plasma, a stable environment for biomarkers. Blood collection is invasive, but the use of alternative biofluids is limited, due to high variability. In this study, we aimed to establish reference values for oxidative stress markers in plasma, urine and saliva of adult, healthy mice and to identify some sources of variability. Samples were obtained from 41 female and 37 male adult, healthy mice of the CD-1 strain, aged 95-480 days, weighing 21-55 grams. Reference ranges of TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), AOPP (advanced oxidation protein products), fructosamine, GSH/GSSG (reduced and oxidized glutathione) ratio, TAC (total antioxidant capacity), and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) were measured in plasma and urine, and TBARS, GSH/GSSG ratio, TAC and FRAP in saliva, using standard spectrophotometric and fluorometric methods. Salivary GSH/GSSG and urinary AOPP were higher in females. Urinary fructosamine, GSH/GSSG and FRAP were higher in males. Urinary TAC and FRAP negatively correlated with age, and urinary GSH/GSSG positively correlated with weight. We determined that urine and saliva can be obtained non-invasively from mice, in sufficient amounts for reliable oxidative status assessment. Further studies are needed to uncover whether these biofluids reflect systemic oxidative status in diseases.
Scent marking is widely recognised to have a crucial function in many species. Most research has focussed on adults and very little is known about scent marking patterns during juvenile development. Using video records of juvenile red fox Vulpes vulpes across six years, we tested whether scent marking rates varied with age or sex, or whether juveniles remaining on the natal territory (philopatry) marked more frequently than those that disappeared. Our data show that male juvenile red foxes scent marked more than females during early development, but rates rapidly declined as they aged. In contrast, females showed a significantly later and slower rate of decline. Within females, individuals that remained in the natal area had higher scent marking rates than those that disappeared,suggesting that scent marking has a role in social group affiliation within litters. These results demonstrate that scent marking plays an important role in juveniles, including their intra-litter social interactions.
Sandfly females, while feeding on the host, excrete urine to concentrate proteins of the bloodmeal and restore weight and water balance. This process, analogous to prediuresis in mosquitoes, was observed in 100% of Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) and 85% of P. duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire females studied. Individual females, however, differed in duration of prediuresis and in the number of ejected urine droplets. In both species the prediuresis generally started 1-2 min after the commencement of feeding and the variation in urine production was positively correlated with the length of feeding. The first one or two droplets were opaque whitish while the remaining ones were clear. Erythrocytes were found sporadically in first droplets of some females. Representative prediuresis in P. duboscqi included 27 droplets, i.e., about 325 nl urine in total, ejected during 8 min of feeding. The study revealed prediuresis in P. papatasi and P. duboscqi as a regular physiological process which may have consequences in transmission of infective diseases.
Many animals obtain reliable information about potential mates, including whether they are parasitised or not, mostly from olfactory cues in urine. Previous experiments with rodents have shown that females can detect parasites in males that arc potentially transmissible during copulation, so that females can directly avoid infection by discriminating against parasitised males. Here, using choice tests, we examine whether female rats can distinguish males infected with the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta Rudolphi, 1819, a parasite with a complex life cycle and thus not directly transmissible among rats. Female rats tended to spend more time investigating the urine of non-parasitised males than that of parasitised males. The magnitude of the parasite burden in the infected males had no effect on the females' preference for the non-parasitised males. We also found that parasitised males had lower testosterone levels in their blood than non-parasitised males, fliese results suggest that females use cues in male urine reflecting cither the presence of the parasite and/or lower testosterone levels to avoid parasitised males and possibly secure resistance genes for their offspring.
Recently, we have established a model of severe stepwise normovolemic hemodilution to a hematocrit of 10 % in rats employing three different colloidal volume replacement solutions (Voluven, Volulyte and Gelafundin) that are routinely used in clinical practice at present. We did not see severe dilutional acidosis as to be expected, but a decline in urinary pH. We here looked on further mechanisms of renal acid excretion during normovolemic hemodilution. Bicarbonate, which had been removed during normovolemic hemodilution, was calculated with the help of the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. The urinary amount of ammonium as well as phosphate was determined in residual probes. The absolute amount of free protons in urine was obtained from the pH of the respective samples. The amount of protons generated during normovolemic hemodilution was approximately 0.6 mmol. During experimental time (5.5 h), distinct urinary ammonium excretion occurred (Voluven 0.52 mmol, Volulyte 0.39 mmol and Gelafundin 0.77 mmol). Proton excretion via the phosphate buffer constituted 0.04 mmol in every experimental group. Excretion of free protons was in the range of 10-6 mmol. The present data prove that the prompt rise in urinary ammonium excretion is also valid for acute metabolic acidosis originating from severe normovolemic hemodilution., J. K. Teloh, I. N. Waack, H. de Groot., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The administration of creatine (5 g/day for one month) to 11 young active sportsmen affected their urinary excretion of creatine, creatinine, and thiodiglycolic acid (TDGA) as well as blood levels of homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folates. The probands were divided into four groups, according to the amount of creatine found in urine, and of folates and vitamin B12 determined in blood. The changes of folates and vitamin B12 were mutually reciprocal. Each group utilized CR as donor of one- and two-carbon (1C and 2C) units by means of homocysteine (HoCySH), folates, and vitamin B12, in different metabolic pathways. In 10 men the creatine administration was accompanied by an increase of HoCySH level in blood, while in the last man, with accidentally discovered hyperhomocysteinemia, the HoCySH level dropped by 50 %. Differences between initial and terminal TDGA levels indicate that creatine affects equilibria of redox processes. Creatinine excretion into urine changed in the dependence on the extent of metabolic disturbances., T. Navrátil ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy