Biomedical subjects

A Barczyk

Publications and source records attributed to A Barczyk.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Interleukin-17 in sputum correlates with airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a novel cytokine secreted by activated human memory CD4+ T cells. In vivo IL-17 recruits neutrophils into the airways via the release of CXC chemokines (interleukin-8) from bronchial epithelial cells. Since neutrophils are implicated in pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) chronic bronchitis (CB) and asthma, we hypothesized that there would be increased concentration of IL-17 in the airways of these patients. To test this hypothesis, we measured levels of IL-17 in induced sputum of COPD patients, chronic bronchitis and asthmatics and compared them with healthy controls. METHODS: Levels of IL-17 in induced sputum were measured via ELISA method in 19 COPD, 16 CB, 10 asthma and 11 control subjects. Airway responsiveness to methacholine was performed in people with FEV1 higher than 70% of predicted. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in IL-17 levels between control group and the other groups. However, levels of IL-17 in sputum of COPD patients were significantly lower than in asthma (P=0.004) and in CB (P=0.01) groups. Medians and (ranges) were as follows: asthma--37.6 pg/ml (18.8-55.7 pg/ml), CB 293 pg/ml (18.8-49.7 pg/ml) and COPD 24.6 pg/ml (0-34.1 pg/ml). Comparison of healthy control subjects (PC20 > 8 mg/ml) to a group with bronchial hyperreactivity, which consisted of asthmatics and CB patients, whose PC20 was less than 8 mg/ml, revealed that levels of IL-17 were significantly increased in the second group (P=0.02). Also, levels of IL-17 were significantly increased (P=0.02) in the asthmatic patients with bronchial hyperreactivity compared to healthy subjects. Moreover levels of IL-17 in sputum of all studied subjects correlated negatively with PC20 (r=-0.51, P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: According to our results IL-17 is probably not involved in pathogenesis of stable COPD, but it may play a role in people with airway hyperresponsiveness.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Sperm capacitation and primary sex ratio.

The observations of many years enabled determination of maternal factors which influence the sex of progeny. Factors on side of the father have long been neglected, even though the sex of progeny depends on the sex chromosome in fertilizing spermatozoon. The data obtained by penetration method 'hamster oocyte - human sperm' show differences in the proportion of sperm cells, depending on the method of capacitation used. On this basis the hypothesis has been formulated that the factor which precludes the proportion of sex at fertilization may be different time of capacitation of sperm cells. The cause of the phenomenon remains unclear.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

[Levels of CC-chemokine (MCP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta) in induced sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and patients with chronic bronchitis].

BACKGROUND: MCP-1, MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta are CC-chemokines, which act as chemoattractants for inflammatory cells like macrophages, lymphocytes and eosinophils. These cells are known to be important for development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis (CB). METHODS: Sputum was obtained from 14 patients with COPD, 12 patients with CB and 14 healthy persons by means of the sputum induction method. The MCP-1, MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta levels were measured in induced sputum via ELISA method. RESULTS: MIP-1 alpha levels in sputum were significantly higher in CB patients compared to healthy persons (p = 0.01). Median and (range) were following: CB patients--22.7 pg/ml (9.2-95.9 pg/ml), control subjects--17.5 pg/ml (0-27.1 pg/ml). The MIP-1 beta levels in sputum were significantly higher in COPD patients compared to healthy persons (p = = 0.003). Median and (range) were following: COPD patients--173.2 pg/ml (30.6-1880 pg/ml), control subjects--19.0 pg/ml (0-570.5 pg/ml). No significant differences were detected among studied groups for MCP-1 levels in induced sputum. There was positive correlation in CB group between levels of MIP-1 beta and number of eosinophils in gram of sputum (r = 0.81 and p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MIP-1 alpha maybe important for development of chronic bronchitis and MIP-1 beta for development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. MIP-1 beta is probably a chemoattractant for eosinophils in patients with chronic bronchitis.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

[Risk factors of venous thromboembolism].

Authors discussed the known risk factors of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which is complex disease with two manifestations: deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Acquired risk factors of VTE are following: age over 40 years, bed rest, surgery, trauma, cancer, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, use of oral contraceptives, hormone-replacement therapy, pregnancy and puerperium, previous VTE, long lasting travel and presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Group of genetic defects predisposing to thromboembolic events are called thrombophilia. The best known causes of thrombophilia are: resistance to activated protein C (factor V Leiden), the prothrombin 20210A, protein C deficiency, protein S deficiency, antithrombin deficiency, hyperhomocysteinemia and abnormality in the fibrinolytic system. Genetic predisposition to thrombosis may be detected in up to one-third of patients with VTER and more than 50% of patients with familial thrombosis. Detection of factor V Leiden is important for patients: with recurrent incidences of VTE, with other known causes of thrombophilia and in members of families with frequent occurrence of VTE. It is important also to detect deficiency of: protein C, protein S and especially of antithrombin in patient with previous VTE, because such patients have 8 to 10 fold increase risk of next incident of VTE. Chronic prevention of thrombosis should be used in all these cases.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

[Survey of diagnostic methods used in the management of pneumonia].

Routine examinations done in patients with pneumonia are following: chest radiograph, Gram stain and culture of sputum. For patients who require hospitalization two sets of blood culture should also be performed. Gram stain and culture of pleural fluid are advised in patients with pleural effusion. Serological testing is important in the diagnosis of atypical pneumonia, but they usually provide retrospective information useful mainly in epidemiological studies. Less frequently used methods are following: bacterial antigen-detection and molecular biology techniques, which may be applied to sputum samples and other biological specimens (pleural fluid, blood, urine etc.). Invasive diagnostic techniques (bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), protected specimen brush (PSB) or transtracheal aspiration (TTA)) are performed mainly in patients with nosocomial pneumonia especially in critically ill ones. For intubated and mechanically ventilated patients those methods are used to confirm the diagnosis of pneumonia, but for other nosocomial patients the aim is to find causative organism. In spite of higher efficiency of invasive techniques (comparing to non-invasive), one should remember that they may cause dangerous complications and thus before applying them it is necessary to consider if potential benefits overweight risk.

Health Surveys↗

PubMed1999

[Practical management of nosocomial pneumonia].

Among all nosocomial infections, pneumonia is the second most common (after urinary tract infections) but has the highest mortality rate. Proper antibiotic treatment based on adequate diagnostic methods appears to decrease morbidity and mortality. Practical management of nosocomial pneumonia was shown on graphic diagrams.

Bacterial Infections↗

PubMed1999

[Rational empiric antibiotic therapy of nosocomial pneumonia].

Antibiotic therapy is the method of choice for treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. It can be divided into empiric and specific therapy. First of them is based on predicting potential pathogens which may cause pneumonia. Important factors modifying the choice of initial empiric therapy are following: clinical history (e.g. time in hospital, type of hospital department, prior usage of antimicrobial agents), severity of pneumonia, presence of other risk factors and information given by direct microscopic examination of pulmonary secretions. Based on them it is frequently possible to select group of possible pathogens and then choose effective antibiotics with broad coverage. After a few days when specific etiology is found and antibiogram is performed antibiotic with narrow coverage should replace previous one. Specific therapy possesses several advantages when comparing with empiric therapy. It is more effective and cheaper. But necessity to wait a few days for the result of culture and its relatively low reliability are clear disadvantages.

Aminoglycosides↗

PubMed1998

[A proposal for management of severe acute bronchial asthma].

The term acute severe asthma has recently replaced status asthmaticus to describe severe asthma attack. Perhaps, this change was associated with better asthma treatment, which prevents currently patients from occurrence of such a severe exacerbation of this disease, to call it status asthmaticus. "Global Initiative for Asthma Global strategy for asthma management and prevention" contains rational guidance on management of this disease, but provide little information about status asthmaticus. This fact was the main reason to prepare present proposal, which was based on suggestion of Global Initiative for Asthma, other current scientific papers and our own experience. We hope that this proposal will begin further discussion, which will bring us closer to more rational solution of this problem.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1998

[Sperm penetration assay in normozoospermia].

The ability of human spermatozoa to fertilization was assessed using hamster oocyte penetration test. The sperm examined after preservation in liquid nitrogen was obtained from 18 males with normozoospermia, 12 infertile and 6 fertile. There was very significant difference between these two groups. Hamster oocyte penetration test could be useful in male infertility diagnostics, especially when routine sperm analysis is normal.

Humans↗

PubMed1998

[Aberration of somatic karyotype in normozoospermic males from infertile couples].

During the complex investigation of couple infertility, a group of 40 normozoospermic males having low density of semen was selected. Cytogenetic analysis revealed 2 cases of somatic karyotype aberrations: 47,XYY and 46,XY,t(14;19), and 2 cases of chromosomal polymorphisms: 46,XYq+ i 46,XY,14p+. In the article the mechanism of fertility disturbances evoked by these findings is discussed in aspects of the function of spermatozoa and its genetic material content.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

[A method for visualization of chromosomes from human sperm and its application].

A cytogenetic technique for analysis of human sperm chromosomes is described in this article. It is based on penetration of hamster oocytes after enzymatic treatment and inhibition of cell division during pronuclei stage. Two different methods of capacitation of sperm, that is necessary for them to penetrate the eggs have been considered. Attention is paid to manipulations and technical difficulties on consecutive steps of realisation of this method. This method is applied mainly in analysis of chromosome segregation in males, that are carriers of chromosome aberrations. The possibility of using this method in other clinical cases and basic research has been presented.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

[A method for demonstrating chromosomes from human sperm and its application].

A cytogenetic technique for analysis of human sperm chromosomes is described in this article. It is based on penetration of hamster oocytes after enzymatic treatment and inhibition of cell division during pronuclei stage. Two different methods of capacitation of sperm, that is necessary for them to penetrate the eggs have been considered. Attention is paid to manipulations and technical difficulties on consecutive steps of realization of this method. This method is applied mainly in analysis of chromosome segregation in males, that are carriers of chromosome aberrations. The possibility of using this method in other clinical cases and basic research has been presented.

Animals↗