Search results for "Random Allocation"
showing 10 items of 182 documents
Lung injury does not aggravate mechanical ventilation-induced early cerebral inflammation or apoptosis in an animal model.
2018
INTRODUCTION:The acute respiratory distress syndrome is not only associated with a high mortality, but also goes along with cognitive impairment in survivors. The cause for this cognitive impairment is still not clear. One possible mechanism could be cerebral inflammation as result of a "lung-brain-crosstalk". Even mechanical ventilation itself can induce cerebral inflammation. We hypothesized, that an acute lung injury aggravates the cerebral inflammation induced by mechanical ventilation itself and leads to neuronal damage. METHODS:After approval of the institutional and state animal care committee 20 pigs were randomized to one of three groups: lung injury by central venous injection of …
Musculoskeletal fitness and balance in older individuals (65–85 years) and its association with steps per day: a cross sectional study
2015
Background There is limited normative, objective data combining musculoskeletal fitness (MSF), balance and physical activity (PA) among older adults. The aims were therefore to; 1) describe MSF and balance in older Norwegian adults focusing on age- and sex-related differences; 2) investigate the associations among MSF, balance and objectively-assessed PA levels. Methods This was part of a national multicenter study. Participants (65–85 years) were randomly selected from the national population registry. We used ActiGraph GT1M accelerometers to measure PA. Balance and MSF were assessed using: one leg standing (OLS), handgrip strength (HG), static back extension (SBE), sit and reach (SR), bac…
Fatigue and Depressive Symptoms in Older People
2014
Fatigue is considered an important indicator of aging-related declines in health and functional abilities. Previous studies have indicated strong associations between fatigue and depressive symptoms among younger populations and in patient groups with specific diseases. However, it is not known how different measures of fatigue are associated with depressive symptoms among general older populations. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults reporting mobility-related or general feelings fatigue. The study population consisted of 75-year-old community-living individuals ( n = 561). Both, mobility-related and general …
L-Carnitine Supplementation and Physical Exercise Restore Age-Associated Decline in Some Mitochondrial Functions in the Rat
2008
In mammals, during the aging process, an atrophy of the muscle fibers, an increase in body fat mass, and a decrease in skeletal muscle oxidative capacities occur. Compounds and activities that interact with lipid oxidative metabolism may be useful in limiting damages that occur in aging muscle. In this study, we evaluated the effect of L-carnitine and physical exercise on several parameters related to muscle physiology. We described that supplementing old rats with L-carnitine at 30 mg/kg body weight for 12 weeks (a) allowed the restoration of L-carnitine level in muscle cells, (b) restored muscle oxidative activity in the soleus, and (c) induced positive changes in body composition: a decr…
Antioxidant potential of Himanthalia elongata for protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the small bowel
2016
Seaweed has been associated with the prevention and/or treatment of various diseases related to oxidative stress because of its antioxidant activity. We investigated the protective potential of extract of Himanthalia elongata against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in the intestine of rats.Seventy-two (72) male Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned into 12 groups as follows: sham, I/R only, I/R plus vehicle at 3 time points, and I/R plus extract at 3 time points. The degree of intestinal injury was determined by oxidative stress using lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase after mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion. A histological study was also perf…
Crowding effect on adult growth, pre-patent period and egg shedding of Fasciola hepatica
2006
Fascioliasis pathogenesis depends on fluke burden. In human hyperendemic zones, individual infection intensities reach very high levels and the majority of infected subjects should be in the advanced chronic phase. The rat model offers a useful approach for pathological research in the advanced chronic period. The influence of infection intensity per rat on fluke development, pre-patent period and egg shedding (eggs/g faeces/worm) was analysed in 3 groups (I: 1–3 worms/rat; II: 4–6; III: 7–9). Ontogenetic trajectories of fluke body measures followed a logistic model. Results showed that when the burden increases, the maximum values of fluke measures decrease. The crowding effect is manifest…
Gene therapy with iNOS enhances regional contractility and reduces delayed contrast enhancement in a model of postischemic congestive heart failure
2012
Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of transient local myocardial gene transfer of iNOS on cardiac function in a large mammal animal model of heart failure induced by chronic ischemia. Methods: Chronic myocardial ischemia was induced using a minimally invasive model in 16 landrace pigs. Upon demonstration of heart failure, eight animals were treated with liposome-mediated iNOS-gene-transfer by local intramyocardial injection; eight animals received a sham procedure to serve as control. Results: The transmurality of late enhancement (control: 46.4%, iNOS: 35.9%; p < 0.05) was significantly decreased in the ischemic area in the iNOS-treated group. Wall thickness at end-…
Hippocampo-cerebellar theta band phase synchrony in rabbits.
2009
Hippocampal functioning, in the form of theta band oscillation, has been shown to modulate and predict cerebellar learning of which rabbit eyeblink conditioning is perhaps the most well-known example. The contribution of hippocampal neural activity to cerebellar learning is only possible if there is a functional connection between the two structures. Here, in the context of trace eyeblink conditioning, we show (1) that, in addition to the hippocampus, prominent theta oscillation also occurs in the cerebellum, and (2) that cerebellar theta oscillation is synchronized with that in the hippocampus. Further, the degree of phase synchrony (PS) increased both as a response to the conditioning sti…
Conflict between co-occurring manipulative parasites? An experimental study of the joint influence of two acanthocephalan parasites on the behaviour …
2000
When two parasite species are manipulators and have different definitive hosts, there is a potential for conflict between them. Selection may then exist for either avoiding hosts infected with conflicting parasites, or for hijacking, i.e. competitive processes to gain control of the intermediate host. The evidence for both phenomena depends largely on the study of the relative competitive abilities of parasites within their common intermediate host. We studied the effects of simultaneous infection by a fish acanthocephalan parasite, Pomphorhynchus laevis, and a bird acanthocephalan parasite, Polymorphus minutus, on the behaviour of their common intermediate host, the amphipod Gammarus pulex…
Curcumin inhibits in vitro and in vivo chronic myelogenous leukemia cells growth : a possible role for exosomal disposal of miR-21
2015
// Simona Taverna 1 , Marco Giallombardo 1 , Marzia Pucci 1 , Anna Flugy 1 , Mauro Manno 2 , Samuele Raccosta 2 , Christian Rolfo 3 , Giacomo De Leo 1 , Riccardo Alessandro 1, 4 1 Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Sezione di Biologia e Genetica, Universita di Palermo, Italy 2 Istituto di Biofisica, CNR, Palermo, Italy 3 Phase I - Early Clinical Trials Unit Oncology Department and Center of Oncological Research (CORE), University Hospital Antwerp & Antwerp University, Belgium 4 Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare (IBIM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Palermo, Italy Correspondence to: Riccardo Alessandro, e-mail: riccardo.alessandro@unipa.it Keywords: e…