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- Lundin, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Left ventricular global wall thickness is easily calculated, detects and characterizes hypertrophy, and has prognostic utility
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) can be used to measure left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular mass (LVM). However, there is currently no good way to measure the normality of LVM in relation to a given LVEDV. We hypothesized that a simple measure of left ventricular global wall thickness (GWT) would be accurate, beneficial for detecting and characterizing hypertrophy, and have prognostic significance.METHODS: Subjects underwent CMR at 1.5T, including healthy volunteers (n=99) and patients assessed for heart disease (n=2828).RESULTS: GWT calculated from LVEDV and LVM had excellent agreement with measured mean end-diastolic wall thickness of the entire left ventricle (bias 0.01±0.23mm). GWT was most predictive of death or hospitalization for heart failure in patients with normal findings by CMR (n=326, log-rank 26.8, p<0.001, median [interquartile range] follow-up 5.8 [5.0–6.7] years). GWT indexed to body surface area (GWTi) was most predictive of outcomes in patients with normal LVEDV index (n=1352, log-rank 36.4, p<0.001, follow-up 5.5 [4.1–6.5] years). Patients with concentric remodeling had worse prognosis than the normal patients (p=0.02), and the patients with hypertrophy had worse prognosis than both normal patients (p<0.001) and patients with concentric remodeling (p=0.045), see Figure 1. Of patients with suspected heart disease but normal CMR findings regarding left ventricular volumes, function, mass, and scar, 22% were found to have increased mean GWTi corresponding to concentric remodeling, see Figure 2.CONCLUSIONS: Left ventricular GWT is an intuitive measure that can be easily calculated from mass and volume with high accuracy, and has prognostic utility in patients with normal CMR findings. Also, GWTi classifies hypertrophy as concentric or eccentric, and detects concentric remodeling in a substantial portion of patients with otherwise normal findings.
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- Alkhori, Liza
(författare)
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Mechanisms of sensory neuron diversification during development and in the adult Drosophila : How to make a difference
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The nervous system contains a vast number of neurons and displays a great diversity in cell types and classes. Even though this has been known for a long time, the exact mechanism of cell specification is still poorly understood. How does a cell know what type of neuron to which it should be specified? It is important to understand cellular specification, not only for our general understanding of biological processes, but also to allow us to develop treatments for patients with destructive diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, cancer or stroke. To address how neuronal specification and thereby diversification is evolved, we have chosen to study a complex but defined set of neurons, the Drosophila olfactory system. Olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) detect an enormous variety of small volatile molecules with extremely high specificity and sensitivity. The adult Drosophila olfactory system contains 34 OSN classes each defined by their expression of a specific odorant receptor (OR). In both insects and vertebrates, each OSN expresses only one OR. In mouse there are approximately 1200 and in Drosophila 60 different OR genes. Despite the range of mechanisms known to determine cell identity and that the olfactory system is remarkably conserved across the phyla, it is still unclear how an OSN chooses to express a particular OR from a large genomic repertoire. In this thesis, the specification and diversification of the final steps establishing an OSN identity is addressed. We find seven transcription factors that are continuously required in different combinations for the expression of all ORs. The TFs can in different gene context both activate and repress OR expression, making the regulation more economical and indicating that repression is crucial for correct gene expression. We further identified a repressor complex that is able to segregate OR expression between OSN classes and propose a mechanism on how one single co-repressor can specify a large number of neuron classes.Exploring the OSN we found the developmental Hh signalling pathway is expressed in the postmitotic neuron. We show several fundamental similarities between the canonical Drosophila Hh pathway and the cilia mediated Hh transduction in component function. Further investigation revealed a function of cilia mediated Hh signalling in sensory neuron modulator. The results generated here will create a greater in vivo understanding of how postmitotic processes generate neurons with different fates and contribute to the maintaining of neuron function.
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- Aziz, Abdul Maruf Asif
(författare)
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Neuropeptide Receptors as Treatment Targets in Alcohol Use Disorders
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a complex disorder with multiple pathophysiological processes contributing to the initiation, progression and development of the disease state. AUD is a chronic relapsing disease with escalation of alcohol-intake over time in repeated cycles of tolerance, abstinence and relapse and hence, it is very difficult to treat. There are only a few currently available treatments with narrow efficacy and variable patient response. Thus it is important to find new, more effective medications to increase the number of patients who can benefit from pharmacological treatment of AUD.The research presented in this thesis work focuses on the critical involvement of central neuropeptides in alcohol-related behaviors. The overall aim was to evaluate the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (NOP) receptor, the neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor and the melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor 1 as novel and potential pharmacological treatment targets for AUD by testing the NOP receptor agonist SR-8993, the NPY-Y2 receptor antagonist CYM-9840 and the MCH1 receptor antagonist GW803430 in established animal models.In the first study (Paper I), the novel and selective NOP agonist SR-8993 was assessed in rat models of motivation to obtain alcohol and relapse to alcohol seeking behavior using the operant self-administration (SA) paradigm. Firstly, treatment with SR-8993 (1 mg/kg) showed a mildly anxiolytic effect and reversed acute alcohol withdrawal-induced “hangover” anxiety in the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Next, it potently attenuated alcohol SA and motivation to obtain alcohol in the progressive ratio responding (PRR) and reduced both alcohol cue-induced and yohimbine stress-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking, without affecting the pharmacology and metabolism of alcohol nor other control behaviors. To extend these findings, SR-8993 was evaluated in escalated alcohol-intake in rats. Treatment with SR-8993 significantly suppressed alcohol-intake and preference in rats that were trained to consume high amounts of alcohol in the two-bottle free choice intermittent access (IA) paradigm. SR-8993 also blocked operant SA of alcohol in rats that showed robust escalation in operant alcohol SA following chronic IA exposure to alcohol.In the second study (Paper II), SR-8993 was further evaluated in a model for escalated alcohol-intake induced by long-term IA exposure to alcohol. The effect of previous experience on operant alcohol SA on two-bottle free choice preference drinking was evaluated and sensitivity to treatment with SR-8993 was tested in rats selected for escalated and non-escalated alcohol seeking behavior. We found that rats exposed to the combined SA-IA paradigm showed greater sensitivity to SR-8993 treatment. In addition, acute escalation of alcohol SA after a three-week period of abstinence was completely abolished by pretreatment with SR-8993.In the third study (Paper III), the effects of the novel, small molecule NPY-Y2 antagonist CYM-9840 were tested in operant alcohol SA, PRR which is a model for motivation to work for alcohol and reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior. Treatment with CYM-9840 (10 mg/kg) potently attenuated alcohol SA, progressive ratio responding and stress-induced reinstatement using yohimbine as the stressor, while alcohol cue-induced reinstatement was unaffected. Moreover, a range of control behaviors including taste sensitivity, locomotor and pharmacological sensitivity to the sedative effects of alcohol remained unaffected by CYM-9840 pretreatment, indicating that its effects are specific to the rewarding and motivational aspects of alcohol-intake and related behaviors. CYM-9840 also reversed acute alcohol withdrawal-induced “hangover” anxiety measured in the EPM and reduced alcohol-intake in the 4 hour limited access two-bottle free choice preference drinking model.Finally, in the fourth study (Paper IV), the selective MCH1-R antagonist GW803430 was tested in rat models of escalated alcohol-intake. Pretreatment with GW803430 (effective at 10 & 30 mg/kg) dose-dependently reduced alcohol and food-intake in rats that consumed high amounts of alcohol during IA, while it only decreased food-intake in rats that consumed low amounts of alcohol during IA, likely due to a floor effect. Upon protracted abstinence following IA, GW803430 significantly reduced operant alcohol SA and this was associated with adaptations in MCH and MCH1-R gene-expression. In contrast, GW803430 did not affect escalated alcohol SA induced by chronic alcohol vapor exposure and this was accompanied by no change in MCH or MCH1-R gene expression. Overall, these results suggest that the MCH1-R antagonist affects alcohol-intake through regulation of both motivation for caloric-intake and the rewarding properties of alcohol.In conclusion, our results suggest critical roles for these central neuropeptides in the regulation of anxiety and of alcohol reward, making them potential pharmacological targets in the treatment of AUD.
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- Bagheri, Maryam
(författare)
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Neuroprotective Effect of Genistein : Studies in Rat Models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are neurodegenerative disorders that mainly affect the elderly population. It is believed that oxidative stress is involved in development of both these diseases and that estrogen deficiency is a risk factor for development of AD. Genistein is a plant-derived compound that is similar in structure to estrogen and has anti-oxidative properties. The general objective of the present research was to evaluate the effects of genistein on neurodegeneration in rat models of PD and AD.Using a rat model of PD, we found that a single intraperitoneal dose of genistein 1 h before intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) attenuated apomorphine-induced rotational behavior and protected the neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta against 6-OHDA toxicity.To produce an animal model of AD, we injected Aβ1–40 into the hippocampus of rats. Using groups of these Aβ1–40-lesioned animals, the involvement of estrogen receptors (ERs) was evaluated by intracerebroventricular injection of the estrogen receptor antagonist fulvestrant, and the role of oxidative stress was studied by measuring levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. The results showed that intrahippocampal injection of Aβ1–40 caused the following: lower spontaneous alternation score in Y-maze tasks, impaired retention and recall capability in the passive avoidance test, and fewer correct choices and more errors in a radial arm maze (RAM task), elevated levels of MDA and nitrite, and a signiHcant reduction in SOD activity in the brain tissue. Furthermore, hippocampus in theses rats exhibited Aβ1–40 immunoreactive aggregates close to the lateral blade of the dentate gyrus (DGlb), extensive neuronal degeneration in the DGlb, high intracellular iNOS+ and nNOS+ immunoreactivity, and extensive astrogliosis.Genistein pretreatment ameliorated the Aβ-induced impairment of short-term spatial memory, and this effect occurred via an estrogenic pathway and through attenuation of oxidative stress. Genistein also ameliorated the degeneration of neurons, inhibited the formation of Aβ1–40-positive aggregates, and alleviated Aβ1–40-induced astrogliosis in the hippocampus.
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- Björk Wilhelms, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Cyclooxygenase isoform exchange blocks inflammatory symptoms
- 2014
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) is the main source of inducible prostaglandin E2 production and mediates inflammatory symptoms including fever, loss of appetite and hyperalgesia. In contrast, COX‐1 is dispensable for most inflammatory symptoms. Global deletion of COX‐2 leads to a blockade of inflammation‐induced fever and appetite loss but also to high rates of fetal mortality. The latter is unfortunate since mice without COX‐2 are powerful tools in the study of inflammation and cardiovascular medicine. The differential functionality of the COX isoforms could be due to differences in regulatory regions of the genes, leading to different expression patterns, or to differences in the coding sequence, leading to distinct functional properties of the proteins. To study this in the context of inflammatory symptoms, we used mice in which the coding sequence of COX‐2 was replaced by the corresponding sequence of COX‐1. In these mice, COX‐1 mRNA was induced by inflammation but COX‐1 protein expression did not fully mimic inflammation‐induced COX‐2 expression. Just like mice globally lacking COX‐2, these mice showed a complete lack of fever and inflammation‐induced anorexia. However, as previously reported, they displayed close to normal survival rates. This shows that the COX activity generated from the hybrid gene was strong enough to allow survival but not strong enough to mediate inflammatory symptoms, making the line an interesting alternative to COX‐2 knockouts for the study of inflammation. Our results also show that the functional differences between COX‐1 and COX‐2 in the context of inflammatory symptoms is not only dependent on the features of the promoter regions. Instead they indicate that there are fundamental differences between the isoforms at translational or posttranslational levels, which make hybrid genes less functional.
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