Beata Toczylowska

Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering · Biomeasurements

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the maintenance of dopamine level and the survival of dopaminergic neurons, which may affect the functionality of brain structures responsible for motor and cognitive function. The aim of the study was to assess the association of individual and combined single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in...

Background: Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is caused by disturbances in metabolic processes, which lead to structural disorders. The aim of this report is to analyze metabolic disorders in the degeneration process by comparing control discs with degenerated discs. In our research on the nucleus pulposus (NP), we used NMR spectroscop...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are increasingly diagnosed as developmental disabilities of unclear etiology related to genetic, epigenetic, or environmental factors. The diagnosis of ASD in children is based on the recognition of typical behavioral symptoms, while no reliable biomarkers are available. Rats in whom ASD-like symptoms are due to mat...

(1) Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) plays a significant therapeutic role for patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP). The study assessed the impact of physical activity on lung function measured by forced oscillation technique (FOT). (2) Methods: The study involved 48 patients with IIP subjected to a 3-week inpatient PR. The...

Background and objectives : Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a disease misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). We hypothesized that the serum metabolic profile could be helpful in the differentiation of both diseases in an early stage. Methods : We included controls, patients with MS diagnosed according to the McDonald criteria...

COVID-19 and its consequences are still not well known. The recovery from the infection is slow and many symptoms persist for a long time. We present the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on serum metabolic profiles. The profiles were obtained using NMR spectroscopy from sera collected two years prior to the infection and twice during the recov...

Zinc and copper are important trace elements necessary for the proper functioning of neurons. Impaired zinc and/or copper metabolism and signaling are implicated in many brain diseases, including autism (ASD). In our studies, autistic-like behavior in rat offsprings was induced by application to pregnant mothers valproic acid or thalidomide. Zinc a...

Hyperpolarized ¹³C tracers offer a radiation-free option for metabolic imaging. Signal enhancement of an order of several thousand times with the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) technique allows the detection of these tracers and their immediate metabolites in living organisms with MRI/MRSI (magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance spectros...

This study aimed to determine the use of lipid profiling to assess the effects of moderate intensity exercise training (ET) on patients with sarcoidosis. Fourteen patients with sarcoidosis (mean age, 46.0 ± 9.6 years) were examined before and after 3-week of ET programme in hospital settings. Symptoms (fatigue: FAS, dyspnoea: MRC), lung function te...

The aim of this study was investigation of interconnections between serum metabolomic biomarkers and brain in vivo MRS spectroscopy biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients as well as investigation of compound concentration changes caused by disease and/or treatment by comparison results with healthy controls. In our study we used high resol...

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum metabolomic biomarkers and brain in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) biomarkers in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) as well as to investigate compound concentration changes by comparing the results with healthy control subjects. Univariate statistical analysis o...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are increasingly being diagnosed. Hypotheses link ASD to genetic, epigenetic, or environmental factors. The role of oxidative stress and the imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in the pathogenesis of ASD has been suggested. Rats in which ASD symptoms are induced by valproate (VPA) or thalid...

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of individual and combined single-nucleotide polymorphisms in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), dopamine transporter (DAT), and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes with the occurrence of motor levodopa-induced complications (MLIC) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Materials...

A methodology for the assessment of the cerebral hemodynamic reaction to normotensive hypovolemia, reduction in cerebral perfusion and orthostatic stress leading to ischemic hypoxia and reduced muscular tension is presented. Most frequently, the pilots of highly maneuverable aircraft are exposed to these phenomena. Studies were carried out using th...

The lack of a single predictive or diagnostic test in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains a major obstacle in the patient’s care. The aim of this study was to investigate metabolic profiles, especially lipids in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy and metabolomics analysis to discriminate MS patient group from the control ones. In this...

The disorders of the glutamatergic neurotransmission have been associated with pathogenesis of autism. In this study we evaluated the impact of the in vivo and ex vivo test methodology on measurements of levels of neurotransmitter amino acids in hippocampus of rats for valproic acid- (VPA) and thalidomide- (THAL) induced models of autism. The main...

We aimed to determine whether optical methods based on bolus tracking of an optical contrast agent are useful for the confirmation of cerebral circulation cessation in patients being evaluated for brain death. Different stages of cerebral perfusion disturbance were compared in three groups of subjects: controls, patients with posttraumatic cerebral...

The aim of this study was to determine the use of the lipid profile of patients with sarcoidosis and compare it with healthy subjects. We assume that lipid profile of serum in sarcoidosis differs from the lipid profile of control subjects. Serum was collected from 14 patients with II stage of sarcoidosis and 14 control subjects (healthy volunteers)...

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the use of the lipid profile of patients with sarcoidosis and compare it with healthy subjects. We assume that lipid profile of serum in sarcoidosis differs from the control subjects lipid profile. Methods: Serum was collected from 14 patients with II stage of sarcoidosis and 9 control subjects. In...

The study assessed the role of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) and NMDA receptors (NMDARs) in the Ca(2+) transients and cytotoxicity induced in neurons by the brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells (CGC) were exposed to 7.5, 10, or 25 µM TBBPA for 30 min, and cell viability was assessed...

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is a commonly used brominated flame retardant with recognized neuro- and cytotoxic properties that are presumably mediated by intracellular Ca(2+) release. Other studies have demonstrated that ryanodine is able to inhibit Ca(2+) efflux from skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes in response to the known Ca(2+)...

Time-resolved fluorescence measurements were carried out on the head during indocyanine green (ICG) injection. The ICG washout rate was estimated in patients with severe cerebral perfusion abnormalities.

The aim of this study was to examine neurotoxicity indocyanine green (ICG). We assessed viability of primary cerebellar granule cell culture (CGC) exposed to ICG to test two mechanisms that could be the first triggers causing neuronal toxicity: imbalance in calcium homeostasis and the degree of oligomerization of ICG molecules. We have observed thi...

The aim of this study was applications of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NMR-based metabolic fingerprinting to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as possible early diagnostic tool. Two CSF sample categories were collected: 9 ALS patients and 13 age-matched control patients (without neurological disease). Metabolic profile of the CSF was determined by h...

Background: Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is a toxic brominated flame retardant. Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure of primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells (CGC) to ≥ 10 μM TBBPA induces toxicity and excitotoxicity, and the underlying mechanism may involve calcium imbalance and oxidative stress. Here we examined whether t...

Optical technique based on diffuse reflectance measurement combined with indocyanine green (ICG) bolus tracking is extensively tested as a method for clinical assessment of brain perfusion in adults at the bedside. Methodology of multiwavelength and time-resolved detection of fluorescence light excited in the ICG is presented and advantages of meas...

The aim of this study was to identify, among selected environmental toxins, the substance with the highest in vitro toxicity to neurons combined with the most marked induction of calcium imbalance, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Exposure of primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells for 30 min to polychlorinated biphenyls (PC...

31P high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to examine phospholipid metabolism and to analyze the phosphate-containing compounds in the bile in the transplanted liver recipients, the cholelithiasis patients’ and the living donors’ groups. Three signals of NMR spectrum of raw bile were determined: inorganic phosphate (...

We study fluorescence lifetime of indocyanine green (ICG) using femtosecond laser and sensitive detection based on time-correlated single-photon counting. A time-resolved multichannel spectral system is constructed and applied for determination of the fluorescence lifetime of the ICG in different solvents. Emission properties of ICG in water, milk,...

Thimerosal (TH), an ethylmercury complex of thiosalicylic acid has been used as preservative in vaccines. In vitro neurotoxicity of TH at high nM concentrations has been reported. Although a number of toxicological experiments demonstrated high affinity of mercury to thiol groups of the extracellular amino acids and proteins that may decrease conce...

We investigated serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10, IL-6, IL-4, TNFalpha, INFgamma in 7 patients with atypical parkinsonism (AP), 31 idiopathic PD (iPD) patients, 17 idiopathic PD with cardiovascular risk factor (iPD-CVRF) patients, and 20 age-matched controls (healthy, non-parkinsonian patients). Cytokine concentrations were measured using...

Although the interactions of several natural bastadins with the RyR1 isoform of the ryanodine receptor in sarcoplasmic reticulum has been described, their structure-dependent interference with the RyR2 isoform, mainly expressed in cardiac muscle and brain neurons, has not been studied. In this work, we examined calcium transients induced by natural...

Brain injury, like other central nervous system pathologies, causes changes in the composition of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In this study, changes in the concentration of small molecules of the CSF, which are in the minimal micromolar concentration, were observed and monitored using high-resolution proton (NMR) spectroscopy. Twenty-two patient...

Background. Cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine (CDPC) is a naturally occurring endogenous compound that has been reported to provide neuroprotective effects after experimental cerebral ischaemia. It may reduce central nervous system ischemic injury by stabilizing cell membranes and reducing free radical generation. Using the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and...

The liver is involved in many synthetic and metabolic functions. It takes part in the regulation of circulation, thermoregulation, and digestion. All liver functions are disturbed during harvesting, preservation, and transplantation. The assessment of graft function is still a matter of concern. Many methods including analysis of hepatic enzymes, k...

Normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample and CSF samples from patients with neuropathology were tested using high-resolution 1D nuclear magnetic resonance proton spectroscopy. Several metabolites and changes in their concentration were observed. Analyses of concentration of lactic acid cycle substances and aminoacids were performed. For one patient...