Estrogen affects a variety of brain functions, including higher functions. The estrogen level is persistently high during pregnancy and then declines rapidly with delivery, which causes the brain to be subjected to marked effects during this period. Thus, pregnant and parturient women are prone to altered mental activity and have a higher probability of anxiety and depressive...
This research investigated the effects of benzimidazole (BZ) and electrical stimulation (ES) on peripheral nerve regeneration after short- and long-term injury and assessed functional recovery by means of stereological, histological, and electrophysiological analyses. Fifty-four male albino Wistar rats were divided into nine groups of six animals each. No treatment or surgery was...
This study aimed to quantitatively analyze subchondral vascularization during the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) in the elderly, particularly regarding the timing of initial blood vessel emergence and when their density peaks. A total of 129 independent areas from 43 human femoral heads, obtained through arthroplasty for OA or hemiarthroplasty for fractures, were analyzed...
Fibroblasts, the most abundant cell type in the human body, play crucial roles in biological processes such as inflammation and cancer progression. They originate from the mesoderm or neural-crest-derived ectomesenchyme. Ectomesenchyme-derived fibroblasts contribute to facial formation and do not express HOX genes during development. The expression and role of the HOX genes in...
Bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) are integral components of the bone marrow microenvironment, playing a crucial role in supporting hematopoiesis. Recent studies have investigated the potential involvement of BM-MSCs in the pathophysiology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, the exact contribution of BM-MSCs to leukemia progression remains unclear...
Occasionally, tissue samples cannot be processed completely and are stored under varying conditions for extended periods. This is particularly beneficial in interinstitutional studies where a given research setting may lack the expertise or infrastructure for sample processing, imaging and data analysis. Currently, there is limited literature available on the controlled storage...
At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, uncertainties about the virus and its dangers during pregnancy caused great uncertainty and fear, especially among pregnant women. New data suggest an increased risk of obstetric complications, including maternal complications, preterm labor, intrauterine growth restriction, hypertensive disorders, stillbirths...
Preeclampsia, a severe pregnancy complication linked to defective placentation, poses significant maternal risks and is characterized by dysregulated angiogenic factors, including placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1). Women with HIV/AIDS and receiving ART may face an increased susceptibility to preeclampsia development due to...
Alveolar epithelial type I (AE1) cells with their wide spatial expansion form approximately 95% of the outer surface area of the air-blood barrier inside the lung. Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) investigations led to the hypothesis that AE1 cell mitochondria are preferentially distributed as aggregates in those parts of AE1 cells that are located above...
The use of cold formalin fixation (CFF; i.e., fixating tissue samples with 4 °C precooled formalin) recently attracted further attention owing to its putative improved ability to preserve nucleic acid compared with standard room temperature formalin (SFF). In this study, we aimed to assess the effect of four formalin-based fixation protocols (SFF, CFF, delayed formalin fixation...
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a condition that includes symptoms, such as obesity, hyperglycemia, and hypertension, which elevate cardiovascular risk. An impaired angiogenic response of endothelial cells (ECs) in heart and peripheral organs has been proposed in MetS, but the mechanisms of this phenomenon have not been thoroughly explored. Results obtained from evaluating the whole...
Sepsis has a high mortality rate and leads to multi-organ failure, including lung injury. Inactive rhomboid protease family protein (iRhom2) has been identified as accountable for the release of TNF-α, a crucial mediator in the development of sepsis. This study aimed to evaluate the role of iRhom2 in sepsis and sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI). TNF-α and IL-6 secretion in...
The consumption of fructose is increasing day by day. Understanding the impact of increasing fructose consumption on the small intestine is crucial since the small intestine processes fructose into glucose. ∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a key cannabinoid, interacts with CB1 and CB2 receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, potentially mitigating inflammation. Therefore, this...
Genes encoding Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are expressed by germ cells in the mouse testis. Nevertheless, the expression of TLRs by germ cells has only been demonstrated for TLR-3, TLR-9, and TLR-11. Furthermore, the expression of each TLR in relation to the stage of spermatogenesis remains uncertain. We aimed in the present study to examine the expression pattern of all TLRs in...
Telocytes (TCs) are characterized by a small oval-shaped cell body with long prolongations that are called telopods (Tps). PDGFR-β and c-kit markers may assist for the immunohistochemical identification of TCs; however, by these means they cannot be identified with absolute specificity. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is considered as a gold standard method for TCs...
Long-term radiofrequency radiation (RFR) exposure, which adversely affects organisms, deteriorates testicular functions. Misfolding or unfolding protein accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) initiates an intracellular reaction known as ER stress (ERS), which activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) for proteostasis. Since both RFR exposure and ERS can cause male...
Skin represents the main barrier against the external environment, but also plays a role in human relations, as one of the prime determinants of beauty, resulting in a high consumer demand for skincare-related pharmaceutical products. Given the importance of skin aging in both medical and social spheres, the present research aims to characterize microscopic changes in human skin...