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Human Organism (human + organism)
Selected AbstractsThe skin as a mirror of the ageing process in the human organism , results of the ageing research in the German National Genome Research Network 2EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2006CH. C. Zouboulis Intrinsic human skin ageing is influenced by the individual genetic predisposition and reflects degradation processes of the body. Hormones are decisively involved in intrinsic ageing with reduced secretion of pituitary, adrenal glands, and gonads, which leads to characteristic body and skin phenotypes. A number of advances were recently made in understanding skin ageing mechanisms and major molecular changes, especiallly of the extracellular matrix, were identified. Gene expression patterns compatible with mitotic misregulation and alterations in intracellular transport and metabolism were identified in fibroblasts of ageing humans and humans with progeria. Age-associated changes of extracellular matrix of the skin correlate well with changes been detected in the extracellular matrix of other organs of the human body. Within the National Genome Research Network 2 (NGFN-2) in Germany, the explorative project ,Genetic etiology of human longevity' targets the identification of age-related molecular pathways. For this purpose, skin models of ageing are used. Expression profiling employing cDNA microarrays from known and novel genes and RT-PCR are employed for gene detection and confirmation. Among the potential candidate genes several interesting target genes have been identified. The evaluation of ageing-associated genes in skin models will facilitate the understanding of global molecular ageing mechanisms in the future. [source] LDL lipid apheresis rapidly increases peripheral endothelial progenitor cell competenceJOURNAL OF CLINICAL APHERESIS, Issue 5 2009Daniel Patschan Abstract Background and Aim: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been shown to promote neovascularization under physiologic and pathologic conditions. Statins have been documented to increase the total number of circulating EPCs in long-term treated patients. Lipid apheresis is used to treat patient with refractory hyperlipidemia. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether lipid apheresis is associated with EPC mobilization. Methods: Thirteen patients with refractory hyperlipidemia (analysis at the beginning and at the end of a single lipid apheresis treatment) and 10 healthy controls were included into the study. For quantifying total peripheral EPCs, CD133+/Flk-1+ myelo-monocytic blood cells were enumerated by flow cytometry. The proliferative potential of EPCs was evaluated by a "colony-forming unit" assay. In some patients, EPC eNOS expression was evaluated before and after treatment. Results: Circulating EPCs and the cells' proliferative activity were lower in hyperlipidemia patients as compared to controls (0.14 ± 0.07 vs. 0.6 ± 0.14, P = 0.01, and 13.9 ± 4.9 vs. 45.6 ± 8.1, P = 0.0007). Lipid apheresis treatment was not associated with an increase in total EPCs. The cells' proliferative activity was strongly stimulated by lipid apheresis as reflected by an increase in the number of EPC colonies (13.9 ± 4.9 to 34.1 ± 7.3, P = 0.035). Analysis of EPC eNOS expression revealed a threefold increase in the cellular expression intensity after lipid apheresis. Conclusions: Patients with refractory hyperlipidemia exhibit lower peripheral EPC numbers and a lower proliferative activity of circulating EPCs than healthy controls. A single lipid apheresis treatment significantly stimulates EPC proliferation, it furthermore increases cellular eNOS. In summary, these results show that lipid apheresis mediates beneficial effects on the EPC system as an essential element in the process of vascular repair in the human organism. J. Clin. Apheresis 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Toward an "omic" physiopathology of reactive chemicals: Thirty years of mass spectrometric study of the protein adducts with endogenous and xenobiotic compoundsMASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS, Issue 5 2009Federico Maria Rubino Abstract Cancer and degenerative diseases are major causes of morbidity and death, derived from the permanent modification of key biopolymers such as DNA and regulatory proteins by usually smaller, reactive molecules, present in the environment or generated from endogenous and xenobiotic components by the body's own biochemical mechanisms (molecular adducts). In particular, protein adducts with organic electrophiles have been studied for more than 30 [see, e.g., Calleman et al., 1978] years essentially for three purposes: (a) as passive monitors of the mean level of individual exposure to specific chemicals, either endogenously present in the human body or to which the subject is exposed through food or environmental contamination; (b) as quantitative indicators of the mean extent of the individual metabolic processing which converts a non-reactive chemical substance into its toxic products able to damage DNA (en route to cancer induction through genotoxic mechanisms) or key proteins (as in the case of several drugs, pesticides or otherwise biologically active substances); (c) to relate the extent of protein modification to that of biological function impairment (such as enzyme inhibition) finally causing the specific health damage. This review describes the role that contemporary mass spectrometry-based approaches employed in the qualitative and quantitative study of protein,electrophile adducts play in the discovery of the (bio)chemical mechanisms of toxic substances and highlights the future directions of research in this field. A particular emphasis is given to the measurement of often high levels of the protein adducts of several industrial and environmental pollutants in unexposed human populations, a phenomenon which highlights the possibility that a number of small organic molecules are generated in the human organism through minor metabolic processes, the imbalance of which may be the cause of "spontaneous" cases of cancer and of other degenerative diseases of still uncharacterized etiology. With all this in mind, it is foreseen that a holistic description of cellular functions will take advantage of new analytical methods based on time-integrated metabolomic measurements of a new biological compartment, the "adductome," aimed at better understanding integrated organism response to environmental and endogenous stressors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 28:725,784, 2009 [source] Examining the "Whole Child" to Generate Usable KnowledgeMIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 4 2009Gabrielle Rappolt-Schlichtmann ABSTRACT Despite the promise of scientific knowledge contributing to issues facing vulnerable children, families, and communities, typical approaches to research have made applications challenging. While contemporary theories of human development offer appropriate complexity, research has mostly failed to address dynamic developmental processes. Research typically fragments or splits the human organism into "investigatable" units,biology, behavior, culture, genetics, relationships, innate modules of mind, etc.,resulting in the inevitable loss of the person as an integrated, embodied center of agency. This is problematic for generating knowledge that is usable because in educational practice the unit of analysis and application is the whole person. We discuss the problems inherent to generating usable knowledge when theory and research methodology are so deeply incongruent. In an illustrative example, we adopt a "person-in-context" perspective to demonstrate how research has led to the mischaracterization of maltreated children as immature, disorganized, and dysregulated. Using this "person-in-context" perspective in research can facilitate generating usable knowledge. [source] TWINNING, INORGANIC REPLACEMENT, AND THE ORGANISM VIEWRATIO, Issue 1 2010S. Matthew Liao In explicating his version of the Organism View, Eric Olson argues that you begin to exist only after twinning is no longer possible and that you cannot survive a process of inorganic replacement. Assuming the correctness of the Organism View, but pace Olson, I argue in this paper that the Organism View does not require that you believe either proposition. The claim I shall make about twinning helps to advance a debate that currently divides defenders of the Organism View, while the claim I shall make about inorganic replacement will help to put the Organism View on a par with its rival views by allowing it to accommodate a plausible intuition that its rivals can accommodate, namely, the intuition that you can survive a process of inorganic replacement. Both claims, I shall also argue, are important for those who are interested in the identity condition of a human organism, even if they do not hold the view that you are essentially an organism. [source] Effect of infection with Trichophyton mentagrophytes varietas interdigitale on phagocytosis in humansJOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 2 2004T Gregurek-Novak ABSTRACT Background and aim, Phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNLs) and macrophages is important in the defence of human organisms, especially in mycotic infections of the skin. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between phagocytosis and a chronic type of infection with Trichophyton mentagrophytes varietas interdigitale (T. m. var. interdig.). Materials and methods, A group of 256 patients was investigated from 1990 to 2000. They were all treated with terbinafine. The parameters for phagocytosis were analysed by the Hersy method. Results, The immunological status of all of the patients was altered. Ingestion, digestion and random mobility decreased significantly (P < 0.001). Out of 256 patients treated with terbinafine, 196 (76%) were cured completely and the values for phagocytosis became normal. Conclusion, This investigation confirms the defect in the function of phagocytes of patients chronically infected by T. m. var. interdig. Terbinafine was shown to be an effective antimycotic drug, both fungicidal and immunostimulative. [source] OUTLINING ETHICAL ISSUES IN NANOTECHNOLOGIESBIOETHICS, Issue 7 2009ANTONIO G. SPAGNOLO ABSTRACT Nanotechnologies are an expression of the human ability to control and manipulate matter on a very small scale. Their use will enable an even and constant monitoring of human organisms, in a new and perhaps less invasive way. Debates at all levels , national, European and international , have pointed out the common difficulty of giving a complete, clear definition of nanotechnologies. This is primarily due to the variety of their components, to the fact that there is not just one technology but several. The most significant medical applications of nanotechnologies are in the diagnostic and the therapeutic fields, eg biosensors and molecular imaging, providing diagnosis and drug delivery with no invasive methods involved. Like any other emerging field, such technologies imply new possibilities for improving health but, on the other hand, they are still at an experimental stage and therefore should be implemented under rigorous safety testing before going on general release. For this purpose, the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of nanotechnologies have been elaborated by study groups, in order to develop solutions before the results of the tests are diffused into medical practice. The aim of this paper is to define some of the ethical issues concerning biomedical applications and to evaluate whether there is a need for new or additional guidelines and regulations. [source] Cytomics, the human cytome project and systems biology: top-down resolution of the molecular biocomplexity of organisms by single cell analysisCELL PROLIFERATION, Issue 4 2005G. ValetArticle first published online: 11 AUG 200 In addition, differential molecular cell phenotypes between diseased and healthy cells provide molecular data patterns for (i) predictive medicine by cytomics or for (ii) drug discovery purposes using reverse engineering of the data patterns by biomedical cell systems biology. Molecular pathways can be explored in this way including the detection of suitable target molecules, without detailed a priori knowledge of specific disease mechanisms. This is useful during the analysis of complex diseases such as infections, allergies, rheumatoid diseases, diabetes or malignancies. The top-down approach reaching from single cell heterogeneity in cell systems and tissues down to the molecular level seems suitable for a human cytome project to systematically explore the molecular biocomplexity of human organisms. The analysis of already existing data from scientific studies or routine diagnostic procedures will be of immediate value in clinical medicine, for example as personalized therapy by cytomics. [source] | |||||||||||||