Jelizaveta Sokolovska

University of Latvia | LU · Faculty of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine laboratory for Personalized Medicine

In this study, a novel method for automatic microaneurysm detection in color fundus images is presented. The proposed method is based on three main steps: (1) image breakdown to smaller image patches, (2) inference to segmentation models, and (3) reconstruction of the predicted segmentation map from output patches. The proposed segmentation method...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) are neoplasms of the pituitary that overproduce hormones or cause unspecific symptoms due to mass effect. Growth hormone overproducing GH-producing PitNETs cause acromegaly leading to connective tissue, metabolic or oncologic disorders. The medical treatment of acromegaly is somatostatin analogues (SSA) in...

Background Circulating plasma miRNAs have been increasingly studied in the field of pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET) research. Our aim was to discover circulating plasma miRNAs species associated with growth hormone (GH) secreting PitNETs versus assess how the plasma levels of discovered miRNA candidates are impacted by SSA therapy and wheth...

Somatic genetic alterations in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNET) tissues have been identified in several studies, but detection of overlapping somatic PitNET candidate genes is rare. We sequenced and by employing multiple data analysis methods studied the exomes of 15 PitNET patients to improve discovery of novel factors involved in PitNET d...

Introduction: Insulin pump therapy represents an alternative to multiple daily injections and can improve glycemic control and quality of life (QoL) in Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. We aimed to explore the differences and factors related to the T1DM-specific QoL of such patients in Latvia. Design and methods: A mixed-method cross-sectio...

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common complication of diabetes, being the most prevalent reason for blindness among the working-age population in the developed world. Despite constant improvement of understanding of the pathogenesis of DR, identification of novel biomarkers of DR is needed for improvement of patient risk stratification and d...

The aim of the study was to compare telomere lengths and circulating proteasome concentrations in patients with different stages of diabetic retinopathy and type 1 diabetes in Latvia and Lithuania. Methods: Patients with no diabetic retinopathy and with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy were included in the NDR/NPDR group (n = 187). Patients...

Objective Circulating miRNAs are found in bodily fluids including plasma and can serve as biomarkers for diseases. The aim of this study was to provide the first insight into the landscape of circulating miRNAs in close proximity to the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting PitNET. To achieve this objective next-generation sequencing of miRN...

In this review, a selection of works on the sensing of biomarkers related to diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are presented, with the scope of helping and encouraging researchers to design sensor-array machine-learning (ML)-supported devices for robust, fast, and cost-effective early detection of these devastating diseases. Firs...

Introduction: Insulin pump therapy represents an alternative to multiple daily injections and can improve glycemic control and quality of life (QoL) in Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. We aimed to explore the differences and factors related to the T1DM-specific QoL of such patients in Latvia. Design and methods: A mixed-method cross-sectio...

Background and aim: To study the association between achievement of guideline-defined treatment targets on HbA1c, low-density lipoproteins (LDL-C), and blood pressure with the progression of diabetic complications in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods: The study included 355 patients at baseline and 114 patients with follow-up data aft...

Objective: Circulating miRNAs are found in bodily fluids including plasma and can serve as biomarkers for diseases. The aim of this study was to provide the first insight into the landscape of circulating miRNAs in close proximity to the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting PitNET. To achieve this objective next-generation sequencing of miR...

Chronic hyperglycemia leads to DNA damage in diabetes and might be associated with nitrosative stress. In this study, we aimed at assessing the level of DNA strand breaks in leukocytes, serum nitrite, and nitrate in patients with type 1 diabetes and healthy controls and associations of these parameters with diabetes-related outcomes in a prospectiv...

Acromegaly is a disease mainly caused by pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET) overproducing growth hormone. First-line medication for this condition is the use of somatostatin analogs (SSAs), that decrease tumor mass and induce antiproliferative effects on PitNET cells. Dopamine agonists (DAs) can also be used if SSA treatment is not effective....

Background Type 2 diabetes complications cause a serious emotional and economical burden to patients and healthcare systems globally. Management of both acute and chronic complications of diabetes, which dramatically impair the quality of patients' life, is still an unsolved issue in diabetes care, suggesting a need for early identification of indi...

Neurodegeneration plays a significant role in the complex pathology of diabetic retinopathy. Evidence suggests the onset of neurodegeneration occurs early on in the disease, and so a greater understanding of the process is essential for prompt detection and targeted therapies. Neurodegeneration is a common pathway of assorted processes, including a...

Aims To investigate the association between depressive symptomatology and health markers in type 1 diabetes. Methods Four countries from the InterDiane Consortium had adopted the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study protocol, including the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Associations between depression symptomatology, diabetes complications (diabet...

Background The study was conducted to investigate the effects of metformin treatment on the human gut microbiome's taxonomic and functional profile in the Latvian population, and to evaluate the correlation of these changes with therapeutic efficacy and tolerance.Methods In this longitudinal observational study, stool samples for shotgun metagenomi...

1,4-dihydropyridines (1,4-DHP) possess important biochemical and pharmacological properties, including antimutagenic and DNA-binding activity. The latter activity was first described for water-soluble 1,4-DHP with carboxylic group in position 4, the sodium salt of the 1,4-DHP derivative AV-153 among others. Some data show the modification of physic...

Metformin, a biguanide agent, is the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus due to its glucose-lowering effect. Despite its wide application in the treatment of multiple health conditions, the glycemic response to metformin is highly variable, emphasizing the need for reliable biomarkers. We chose the RNA-Seq-based comparative transcript...

Background: Interval walking training has demonstrated more pronounced positive effects on physical fitness and metabolism in type 2 diabetes (T2D), compared to continuous walking. One of the pathogenic mechanisms of T2D is associated with derangements in leptin/adiponectin axis, which might predispose affected individuals to vascular inflammation...

Background Thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) plays a significant role in the metabolism of thiopurines, and, for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it is useful to perform TPMT genotyping prior to azathioprine (AZA) treatment. In this study, we determined TPMT gene polymorphisms in a cohort of IBD patients in Latvia. Methods DNA sam...

Background Serum angiopoietin 2 levels have been associated with endothelial dysfunction and diabetic kidney disease. Derangements in autonomous nervous system lead to increased production of vasoconstrictory and angiogenic mediators such as norepinephrine and neuropeptide Y and are associated with increased risk of microvascular complications. Aim...

Background: Although diabetic kidney disease demonstrates both familial clustering and single nucleotide polymorphism heritability, the specific genetic factors influencing risk remain largely unknown. Methods: To identify genetic variants predisposing to diabetic kidney disease, we performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses. Throug...

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a heritable but poorly understood complication of diabetes. To identify genetic variants predisposing to DKD, we performed genome-wide association analyses in 19,406 individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using a spectrum of DKD definitions based on albuminuria and renal function. We identified 16 genome-wide signif...

Background and aim: Little is known about the diagnostic value of hepatic steatosis index (HSI) and fatty liver index (FLI), as well as their link to metabolic syndrome in type 1 diabetes mellitus. We have screened the effectiveness of FLI and HSI in an observational pilot study of 40 patients with type 1 diabetes. Methods: FLI and HSI indices w...

Development of complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), including diabetic nephropathy, is a complex multi-stage process, dependent on many factors including modification of nitric oxide (NO) production and impaired DNA repair. The goal of the present work was to study in vivo effects of a 1,4-dihydropyridine AV-153, known as antimutagene and DNA-b...

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), a key player of proteostasis network in the body, was implicated in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) pathogenesis. Polymorphisms in genes encoding proteasome subunits may potentially affect system efficiency. However, data in this field are still limited. To fulfil this gap, single nucleotide polymorphisms in t...

Impaired degradation of proteins by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is observed in numerous pathologies including diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications. Dysregulation of proteasomal degradation might be because of altered expression of genes and proteins involved in the UPS. The search for novel compounds able to normalize expression o...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications cause numerous health and social problems throughout the world. Pathogenic actions of nitric oxide (NO) are responsible to a large extent for development of complications of DM. Search for compounds regulating NO production in DM patients is thus important for the development of pharmacological drugs. Di...

In diabetes mellitus (DM), both hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia can initiate accumulation of fat in the liver, which might be further mediated by inducible nitric oxide synthase. We have studied changes in GLUT1, nitric oxide (NO(·) ) concentration and liver damage in two rat DM models. STZ model was induced by strepozotocin 50 mg/kg. HS model w...

Background The spatial distribution of inflammatory and DNA reparation markers in the kidney tissue in diabetes is poorly understood. Aim The present study investigated the role of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase (eNOS and iNOS), Poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) xanthine oxidase (XO) in the pathogenesis of streptozotocin-induced d...

Background Pathogenic action of nitric oxide (NO) is responsible to a large extent for development of complications of the diabetes mellitus (DM). NO overproduction is largerly responsible for development of diabetic nephropathy. Thus search for compounds modifying NO production appears to be important for development of pharmacological remedies fo...

Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy is a major complication of diabetes mellitus. Involvement of abnormal nitric oxide (NO) production, both via nitric oxide synthase (NOS) dependent and independent pathways (for example, xantine oxoridoreductase (XOR)) has been discussed. New compounds to treat diabetic nephropathy are searched intensively, some no...

Background and objective: Glucose transport via GLUT1 protein could be one of additional mechanisms of the antidiabetic action of sulfonylureas. Here, the GLUT1 gene and the protein expression was studied in rats in the course of severe and mild streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and under glibenclamide treatment. Material and methods: Sev...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications cause numerous health and social problems throughout the world. Pathogenic action of nitric oxide (NO) is responsible to a large extent for development of complications of the disease. Thus search for compounds modifying NO production in DM patients appears to be important for development of pharmacologi...

Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce the diabetic rat model. STZ rats were treated with mildronate (100 mg/kg daily, per os or intraperitoneally for 6 weeks). Body weight, blood glucose, triglyceride, ketone body concentrations, glycated hemoglobin percent (HbA1c%), glucose tolerance, and the development of neuropathic pain were monitored throug...

Anti-ischaemic drug mildronate suppresses fatty acid metabolism and increases glucose utilization in myocardium. It was proposed that it could produce a favourable effect on metabolic parameters and glucose transport in diabetic animals. Rats with streptozotocin diabetes mellitus were treated with mildronate (100 mg/kg daily, per os, 6 weeks). Ther...

Metformin improves hyperglycaemia via mechanisms which include activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Recent findings indicate that some metabolic actions of metformin occur also by AMPK-independent mechanisms. To study the action of metformin on expression of GLUT1 glucose transporter in rat streptozotocin model of diabetes mellitus. S...

Association Study of Genetic Variants in the 14q11 - 14q13 Proteasomal Genes Cluster with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) in Latvian Population The possible role of proteasomes in the development of autoimmune diseases was hypothesised after discovery of the involvement of proteasomal LMP2 and LMP7 subunits in antigene processing. The objective...

Myostatin (MSTN), a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, is a highly conserved, potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth in many species from rodents to humans. Loss of MSTN activity in cattle, mice, and humans leads to a profound phenotype of muscle overgrowth associated with more numerous and larger fib...