Publications (5)10.2 Total impact
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Article: Respiratory infection caused by Chlamydophila pneumoniae in children and adolescents in the Lower Silesia Region of Poland.
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ABSTRACT: To assess the incidence of Chlamydia pneumoniae respiratory tract infection in children and adolescents in the Lower Silesia Region in Poland in 2009. 641 throat swabs obtained from 326 girls and 315 boys, aged 11 months to 18 years, were assessed diagnostically. The patients enrolled into the study were treated on an outpatient basis due to various, non-specific respiratory ailments. The most common presenting clinical symptom of a respiratory problem was dry cough, which occurred in 295 studied subjects, followed by runny nose and cough with discharge in 176 subjects, and other minor symptoms in 35 subjects. The assessment was conducted by an indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) Chlamydia Testing kit (Cellabs, Sydney, Australia). Overall, Chlamydia infection was detected in the respiratory tract in 43.1% (276/ 641) of the children, with no clear gender differences. Of the 295 subjects presenting with dry cough, 122 (41.4%) had positive tests for Chlamydia. Of the 176 subjects with runny nose and cough and the 35 subjects with other symptoms, 83 (47.2%) and 8 (22.9%) had positive tests for Chlamydia, respectively. In the asymptomatic children who had direct contact with a Chlamydia infected person, there were 29.6% (8/27) positively tested cases, whereas in the children presenting symptoms, the percentage of positive tests was 48.3% (29/60). In children living in the Lower Silesia Region of Poland, there is a substantial ∼50% rate of Chlamydia infection, transmitted via airborne droplets. The finding of Chlamydia infection should be the signal for testing other subjects from the child's closest environment.European journal of medical research 11/2010; 15 Suppl 2:112-4. · 1.13 Impact Factor -
Article: Influence of mechanical hippotherapy on skin temperature responses in lower limbs in children with cerebral palsy.
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ABSTRACT: Therapeutic horse riding is often employed for disabled children. The aim of the present paper was to determine the influence of exercise in a mechanical saddle, imitating horse's walk, on the skin temperature responses in lower limbs in children with cerebral palsy. Sixteen children, aged 14-16, were enrolled into the study. Skin surface temperature was assessed with thermography, using an infrared thermovision camera, AGEMA 550, before and directly after 20 +/-5 min of exercise. The findings demonstrate that mechanical hippotherapy provides an exercise stimulus that is capable of inducing a visible change in skin temperature of paralyzed limbs. The change, however, is one of a decrease in skin temperature, which points to acute vasoconstrictive effects of exercise and to decreased skin blood flow. The results, therefore, do not support the use of mechanical hippotherapy in children suffering from cerebral palsy, with a hope to stimulate blood circulation to spastically altered limb muscles and thereby to improve physical disability, at least in a short-term exercise paradigm.Journal of physiology and pharmacology: an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society 01/2009; 59 Suppl 6:819-24. · 2.27 Impact Factor -
Article: Comparison of a statin vs. hypolipemic diet on the oxidant status in hemodialyzed patients with chronic renal failure.
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ABSTRACT: Hemodialyzed patients with chronic kidney disease are prone to atherosclerosis, which occurs due mainly to lipid abnormalities. Abnormal lipid metabolism could result, among others, from increased formation of free radicals and, consequently, oxidative stress in these patients. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of therapy with lovastatin or with a hypolipemic diet only on oxidative stress in hemodialyzed patients. We addressed the issue by measuring the total antioxidant status (TAS) and the level of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an oxidative DNA damage metabolite, in the serum. The study group consisted of 71 patients. They were divided into 3 groups: treated with lovastatin (20 mg/day, n=30), with a hypolipemic diet alone (n=28), and untreated controls (n=13). Serum levels of TAS and 8-OHdG (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine) were determined. Blood samples were collected at the beginning of the study and then after a 6 months' therapy. We found that the level of 8-OHdG decreased considerably only in the lovastatin-treated group; the decrease was from 15.6+/-8.1 to 12.5+/-4.8 ng/ml (P=0.04). In the other two groups changes in 8-OHdG were insignificant. The level of TAS increased significantly in the lovastatin-treated group from 1.28+/-0.20 to 1.37+/-0.116 mmol/l (P=0.011), decreased in the diet-treated group from 1.55+/-0.14 to 1.45+/-0.11 mmol/l (P=0.007), and remained unchanged in the untreated group (1.42+/-0.11 vs. 1.40+/-0.12 mmol/l). We conclude that lovastatin, but not a hypolipemic diet alone, exerts an antioxidant effect in hemodialyzed patients. However, the determinants of the antioxidant effect of statins in patients with chronic renal failure are unclear and their resolution would require alternative study designs.Journal of physiology and pharmacology: an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society 12/2007; 58 Suppl 5(Pt 1):363-70. · 2.27 Impact Factor -
Article: Effects of neuraminidase on apoptosis of blood lymphocytes in rats with implanted Morris tumor.
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ABSTRACT: In this study we examined the influence of neuraminidase on apoptosis of peripheral blood lymphocytes in rats with an implanted Morris tumor. The main objectives of the study were to determine whether the percentage of apoptotic blood lymphocytes would depend on the dosing regimen of neuraminidase and whether neuraminidase would affect caspase-3 activity, a marker of the apoptosis, in blood lymphocytes. A total of 51 rats were used for the study. In three groups, totalling 39 animals, Morris tumor was implanted and neuraminidase was injected intravenously using two dosing regimens: 10 units three times on Day 4, Day 7, and Day 14 and 5 units as a single dose on Day 4 of the experiment or was skipped (control). The remaining 12 rats constituted a reference group of healthy animals. At the end of the experimental period on Day 21, blood was drawn from the heart, and mononuclear cells were separated and cultured. Apoptosis of blood lymphocytes was assessed in cell cultures from fluorescence spectra generated by a Sybr Green I dye forming bonds with nuclear DNA. Caspase-3 activity was measured colorimetrically in homogenates of lymphocyte cultures using a CASP-3-C kit (Sigma, St. Louis, MO). On the whole, the results demonstrate that the bigger, but not the smaller, dose of neuraminidase was markedly effective in preserving the vitality of blood lymphocytes and in decreasing both the number of apoptotic lymphocytes and capsase-3 activity in the rats with Morris tumor. Neuraminidase treatment failed, however, to lessen the tumor size. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that neuraminidase caused an appreciable decline in apoptosis of blood lymphocytes in rats with the Morris tumor; the effect was dose-dependent. Although neuraminidase failed to influence the local cancer development in terms of tumor size, its anti-apoptotic effect toward the cells of the immune system of a cancer host is of research interest as it may potentially offer a way to strengthen the host's immune response.Journal of physiology and pharmacology: an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society 12/2007; 58 Suppl 5(Pt 1):253-62. · 2.27 Impact Factor -
Article: What influences the level of oxidative stress as measured by 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in patients on hemodialysis?
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ABSTRACT: Oxidative stress is at play in the progression of chronic renal failure (CRF) and in the genesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the factors that might influence the oxidative-antioxidative balance in patients on hemodialysis. The study group consisted of 71 hemodialysis patients due to CRF. Sixteen healthy subjects constituted a control group. The levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), C-reactive protein (CRP), and the blood lipid profile were measured in both groups. The results showed significantly higher mean levels of both 8-OHdG and CRP in the hemodialysis patients compared with that in the control subjects. The highest level of 8-OHdG was found in the subgroups of the patients with CRF primarily caused by diabetes (16.4 ng/ml) and with hypertensive nephropathy (15.8 ng/ml). More than a 2.5-fold higher level of 8-OHdG in the hemodialysis patients compared with the control subjects points to the presence of intensive oxidative stress in the patients.Journal of physiology and pharmacology: an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society 10/2006; 57 Suppl 4:199-205. · 2.27 Impact Factor
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Institutions
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2010
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Wroclaw Medical University
Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
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