Magdalena Kurnik-Łucka

• MSc, PhD
• Research Associate at Jagiellonian University

Background/Objectives: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder comprise a range of neurodevelopmental disorder caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Recent investigations have revealed that among patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, serum cobalamin (vitamin B12) levels are substantially higher than those of healthy controls. Patients with fetal alcoh...

Background/Objectives: Nutrition plays a significant role in preventive medicine, as up to 80% of chronic diseases could be avoided by adhering to healthy dietary principles. The aim of our study was to identify dietary habits, awareness, and nutrition knowledge in a random sample of Polish healthcare students and professionals. Methods: Initially,...

The present study sought to investigate the effects of chronic prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on nociceptive responses to mechanical and thermal stimuli in rats. The Von Frey and Hot Plate tests were employed to assess the nociceptive responses of 10 control rats and 7 experimental rats whose mothers had been administered ethanol from day 5 to day...

In the first part of this article, the role of intestinal epithelial tight junctions (TJs), together with gastrointestinal dopaminergic and renin–angiotensin systems, are narratively reviewed to provide sufficient background. In the second part, the current experimental data on the interplay between gastrointestinal (GI) dopaminergic and renin–angi...

Background: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a consequence of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) associated with a range of effects, including dysmorphic features, prenatal and/or postnatal growth problems, and neurodevelopmental difficulties. Despite advances in treatment methods, there are still gaps in knowledge that highlight the need for...

Eating disorders are a heterogeneous group of diseases affecting mainly young people in devel-oped countries. Among them, anorexia nervosa (AN) is the one with the highest mortality, up to five times higher compared to healthy individuals. The etiology of this medical condition is complex and still un-certain. However, disturbances of the autonomic...

Salsolinol (1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-6,7-diol) is a close structural analogue of dopamine with an asymmetric center at the C1 position, and its presence in vivo, both in humans and rodents, has already been proven. Yet, given the fact that salsolinol colocalizes with dopamine-rich regions and was first detected in the urine of Parkin...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by distinct etiopathogenetic concepts that are gradually being linked together to unravel the dominant pathophysiological pathways underlying the disease. Excessive food restrictions, often accompanied by over-exercise and undertaken to lose weight, lead to the development of numerous compli...

The perception of the enteric nervous system has immensely changed since the first detection of salsolinol in the urine of Parkinsonian patients treated with L-DOPA medication. Salsolinol is a tetrahydroisoquinoline derivative with either neurotoxic or neuroprotective properties, whose pathophysiological role in Parkinson’s disease or alcohol addic...

Up to 2% of pregnancies may be extrauterine. Despite reproductive problems, they might increase the risk of serious complications. We present a case report of a 31-year-old woman with two extrauterine pregnancies - tubal and ovarian, which occurred at the same side with little time difference. In addition, we aimed to examine possible reasons under...

A dopamine derivative, 1-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline, known as salsolinol (SAL), has increasingly gained attention since its first detection in the urine of Parkinson’s disease patients treated with levodopa, and has been proposed as a possible neurotoxic contributor to the disease. Yet, so far, the neurobiological role of S...

Anorexia nervosa, one of the most deadly mental disorders, is a pathophysiologically complex mosaic of numerous extensively investigated pathways, and the current state of knowledge cannot provide us with one definite answer regarding its etiopathogenesis. Although classified as a psychiatric disorder, traditionally viewed as a consequence of the p...

Platelet aggregation contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. After activation it leads to dense granule secretion and 5-HT release. The question arises; how platelet aggregation is endogenously controlled during blood circulation. In preliminary studies, we observed that human platelets aggregate more rapidly when suspended in b...

A direct association between health-related quality of life (HQoL) and nutrition remains unclear, although lifestyle habits are known to impact on human health. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate an association between dietary habits, such as vegetable and fruit consumption, in particular, and HQoL. SF-36 (RAND-SF-36) and the Dietary Habit...

The need for mass population vaccination against Covid-19 poses a public health problem. Allergic symptoms occurring after the 1st dose of the vaccine may result in resignation from the administration of the 2nd dose. However, the majority of patients with mild and/or non-immediate symptoms may be safely vaccinated. The only absolute contraindicati...

Background: an increased prevalence of gastro-duodenal ulceration was described almost sixty years ago as prodromal to idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, while duodenal ulcers have been rarely diagnosed in patients with schizophrenia. The cytoprotective role of dopamine in animal models of gastrointestinal ulcerations has also been described. Interest...

Cancer is a growing public health problem; it is responsible annually for millions of deaths worldwide. Fluoropyrimidines are highly effective and commonly prescribed anti-neoplastic drugs used in a wide range of chemotherapy regimens against several types of malignancies. 5-fluorouracil and its prodrugs affect neoplastic cells in multiple ways by...

Pharmacists may play an important role in disease prevention through the public education about dietary and lifestyle behaviors, however their expertise is constantly ignored. The study primarily aimed to identify nutrition knowledge and dietary habits among Polish pharmacists. A total sample screened consisted of 1412 respondents, yet 667 (573 fem...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) causes the highest number of deaths among all psychiatric disorders. Reduction in food intake and hyperactivity/increased anxiety observed in AN are also the core features of the activity-based anorexia animal model (ABA). Our aim was to assess how the acute ABA protocol mimics common AN complications, including gonadal and ca...

The perception of the enteric nervous system has immensely changed since the first detection of salsolinol in the urine of Parkinsonian patients treated with L-DOPA medication. Salsolinol is a tetrahydroisoquinoline derivative with either neurotoxic or neuroprotective properties, whose pathophysiological role in Parkinson’s disease or alcohol addic...

Anorexia nervosa represents a disorder with the highest mortality rate among all psychiatric diseases, yet our understanding of its behavioral, physiological, and neurochemical components still remains incomplete. Clearly, societal pressures (i.e., cultural values of thinness and fitness), obsessional temperament, and perfectionism cannot be illust...

Background: pharmacists remain on the frontline of public health around the globe and their performance directly impacts patients' safety. So far, to our knowledge, no European study has been dedicated to their heath-related quality of life (HQoL). Therefore, the primarily aim of our study was to evaluate HQoL of Polish pharmacists utilizing the S...

Scientific reports suggest that pharmacists can play an important role, especially through nutritional consultation, in supporting patients in the treatment of chronic diseases. At the same time, it is worth noting that the quality of life of pharmacists may indirectly affect the quality of their services. The aim of our work was to examine nutriti...

Background: Prophylactic strategies are urgently needed for prevention of severe inflammatory responses to respiratory viral infections. Bacterial-host interactions may modify the immune response to viral infections. Methods: We examined the contribution of Intranasal administration of two different Bifidobacterium longum strains or its isolated...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) represents a disorder with the highest mortality rate among all psychiatric diseases, yet our understanding of its pathophysiological components continues to be fragmentary. This article reviews the current concepts regarding AN pathomechanisms that focus on the main biological aspects involving central and peripheral neurohor...

Background pharmacists remain on the frontline of public health around the globe and their performance directly impacts patients’ safety. So far, to our knowledge, no European study has been dedicated to their heath-related quality of life (HQoL). Therefore, the primarily aim of our study was to evaluate HQoL of Polish pharmacists utilizing the SF-...

Purpose Although anorexia nervosa is classified as a psychiatric disorder associated with socio‐environmental and psychological factors, a deeper insight into the dominant neurobiological basis is needed to develop a more effective approach of treatment. Given the high contribution of genetic predisposition and the underlying pathophysiology of neu...

Salsolinol (6,7-dihydroxy-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline), widely available in many edibles, is considered to alter the function of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system and thus, multiple hypotheses on its either physiological and/or pathophysiological role have emerged. The aim of our work was to revisit its potentially neur...

In order to improve targeted therapeutic approaches for asthma patients, insights into the molecular mechanisms that differentially contribute to disease phenotypes, such as obese asthmatics or severe asthmatics, are required. Here we report immunological and microbiome alterations in obese asthmatics (n = 50, mean age = 45), non-obese asthmatics (...

The autonomic innervation of the uterus is involved in multiple pathophysiological processes in both humans and animals. Pathological conditions such as adenomyosis or inflammatory pelvic disease are usually accompanied by significant alterations in uterine innervation. In the current study, we focused on autonomic innervation of uterine fibroids,...

Background: Anorexia nervosa is a widely prevalent eating disorder that o en leads to life-threatening complications. Since it mostly concerns females, many authors have focused on studying the reproductive system in anorexic women. Recently discovered telocytes may give a new insight into the pathophysiology of gynecological complications in thes...

Interactions between the host and the microbiota are thought to significantly influence immunological tolerance mechanisms at mucosal sites. We recently described that the loss of an exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Bifidobacterium longum 35624™ eliminated its protective effects in colitis and respiratory allergy murine models. Our goal was to investig...

Salsolinol (1-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline) is a tetrahydroisoquinoline derivative whose presence in humans was first detected in the urine of Parkinsonian patients on l-DOPA (l-dihydroxyphenylalanine) medication. Thus far, multiple hypotheses regarding its physiological/pathophysiological roles have been proposed, especially...

Objectives: Previous studies have reported that exogenous salsolinol might contribute to myenteric cell death and altered gastrointestinal motility. Because the entire gut mucosal, entero-endocrine and motor functions are integrated by the enteric nervous system, the aim of the present study was to investigate if prolonged intraperitoneal salsolin...

Salsolinol (1-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline) is thought to regulate dopaminergic neurons and to act as a mediator in the neuroendocrine system. We have previously reported that exogenous salsolinol evokes enteric neuronal cell death, leading to the impairment of myenteric neurons density and abnormal intestinal transit in rats...

Impairment of the enteric nervous system has been suggested to occur within the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, in the current study, we consider salsolinol (1-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline, SAL) as a substance that can potentially induce myenteric neurodegeneration. Male Wistar rats were subjected to continu...

Objectives: The brain and the gut communicate bi-directionally through the brain-gut axis. The key role in such interactions plays autonomic nervous system and its major component, the vagus nerve. There is growing evidence that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has a suppressive effect on both short- and long-term feeding in animal models. In the pre...

The catechol isoquinoline derivatives are endogenous compounds present in the mammalian brain and the representative one is referred to as salsolinol. It may be formed from aromatic amines leading to neurotoxic N-methyltetrahydroquinolinium ions that may play a role in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Neuroinflammation and apoptosis is tho...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with a broad spectrum of non-motor symptoms, which are poorly understood and foremost, may precede motor impairment. These symptoms include weight changes and gastrointestinal dysregulation. In our experiment, we applied salsolinol given peripherally and continuously in rats to induce changes in the enteric ne...

There is growing evidence that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) exerts a suppressive effect on both short- and long-term feeding in animal models. We previously showed that VNS with high-frequency (10 Hz) electrical impulses decreased food intake and body weight in rats. In the present study, we investigated the effect of VNS with a low frequency (1 H...

Mast cells in the gastrointestinal tract have been found in close spatial contact with the regulatory cells of gastrointestinal motility: interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) and myenteric neurons, suggesting their functional interaction. Because of the regulatory role of mast cells even the slight damage or change in activity of these cells may cause...

IFNγ -stimulated iNOS induction is severely ablated in MKP-2 deficient macrophages but not due to JAK/STAT pathway disruption. Macrophages from MKP-2+/+ (+/+) or MKP-2−/− (−/−) mice were challenged with IFN-γ for the indicated times. iNOS expression (Panel A) and phosphorylation of JAK (Panel B) and STAT (Panel C) were assessed by Western blotting....

MKP-2 deletion enhances LPS-stimulated JNK activation and c-Jun phosphorylation in mouse bone marrow macrophages. Macrophages from MKP-2+/+ (open bars) and MKP-2−/− (closed bars) mice were incubated with LPS (100ng/ml) for the indicated times and whole cell lysates prepared and assessed for JNK activity by in vitro kinase assay (Panel A) and p-c-Ju...

In this study we generated a novel dual specific phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) deletion mouse using a targeted deletion strategy in order to examine the role of MAP kinase phosphatase-2 (MKP-2) in immune responses. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced a rapid, time and concentration-dependent increase in MKP-2 protein expression in bone marrow-derived macropha...

Some previous studies have shown suppressive effect of the vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) on long - term feeding regulation in rats. We assessed body weight, interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), myenteric plexus neurons, mast cells in the stomach, duodenum and colon and c-Fos expression in nodose vagal ganglia in the rats with VNS. Male Wistar rats we...

Vagal nerve stimulation, because of its involvement in the short- and long-term regulation of food intake, might become a useful tool in the treatment of obesity. However, both peripheral and central mechanisms of its action are still poorly understood. There is a strong evidence that intestinal mucosal mast cells play a general transduction role b...