PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Djordjevic

Publications and source records attributed to J Djordjevic.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Involvement of nitric oxide in noradrenaline-induced changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in rat brown adipose tissue and heart.

The effect of exogenous noradrenaline (NA) (1.6 mg x kg(-1) i.p., 35 min prior sacrifice) on the activity of antioxidant enzymes (AOE) copper zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as lipid peroxides (LP) concentration were studied in the rat interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) and heart of saline (controls) and N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) treated rats (10 mg x kg(-1), i.p., during 3 days and 20 min before NA). NA differently affects both AOE activities and LP production in the IBAT and heart. Thus, NA inhibited the activity of all IBAT AOE and LP production while in the heart it markedly increased CAT activity only, but had no effect on any of SODs activities and LP concentration. L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase blocker, completely abolished the NA-induced inhibition of the IBAT AOE and LP production, whereas in the heart it was without effect. In conclusion, these results indicate that both NA and L-NAME effects on AOE activity and LP production are tissue specific and also suggest that nitric oxide mediates the NA-induced inhibition of AOE activity and LP production in the IBAT only.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed2005

Etomidate speech and memory test (eSAM): a new drug and improved intracarotid procedure.

BACKGROUND: The intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP) is an important part of comprehensive investigation of patients who are candidates for surgical treatment of epilepsy. Owing to repeated and lengthy shortages of amobarbital, causing delays in elective surgery, attempts have been made to find a suitable alternative anesthetic. The authors report their experience using etomidate, a widely used agent for the induction of anesthesia. METHODS: Sixteen consecutive patients requiring IAP to evaluate memory or to lateralize speech underwent the procedure using etomidate. Prior to the procedure a catheter was placed in the internal carotid artery and an angiogram was performed. EEG was recorded and read online by an electroencephalographer. An anesthetist injected the drug, administered by bolus followed by an infusion, which was maintained until each speech measure had been sampled and new memory items had been introduced. The infusion was then stopped and testing continued as in a standard IAP. RESULTS: In all cases (30 hemispheres) contralateral hemiplegia followed injection. EEG slow waves were observed in every injected hemisphere, with some contralateral slowing anteriorly in 18. Global aphasia with preserved attention and cooperation followed dominant-hemisphere injections. These phenomena remained during infusion, and upon its termination returned gradually to baseline over a period of about 4 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Etomidate is a viable alternative to amobarbital, and its administration by bolus followed by infusion offers an improvement over the traditional intracarotid amobarbital procedure. Cognitive tests can be performed during an assured hemianesthesia of the injected hemisphere.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The activities of antioxidant enzymes and monoamine oxidase and uncoupling protein 1 content in brown fat of hypo- and hyperthyroid rats.

We have studied the activities of antioxidant enzymes (AOE), namely, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and catalase (CAT), and the activity of catecholamine-degrading enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) content in brown fat (BF) of hypo- and hyperthyroid rats. We found that hypothyroidism decreased BF UCP1 content and increased MAO, MnSOD, and CAT activities. T3 increased UCP1 content and MnSOD activity and decreased CuZnSOD, MAO, and CAT activities, while T4 significantly altered (decreased) only CAT activity. This study shows that UCP1 content and MAO and AOE activities in rat BF are notably affected by changed thyroid status.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗
PubMed2004

Functional neuroimaging of odor imagery.

We used positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate brain regions associated with odor imagery. Changes in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) during odor imagery were compared with changes during nonspecific expectation of olfactory stimuli and with those during odor perception. Sixty-seven healthy volunteers were screened for their odor imagery (with a paradigm developed in a previous study), and 12 of them, assessed to be "good odor imagers," participated in the neuroimaging part of the study. Imagination of odors was associated with increased activation in several olfactory regions in the brain: the left primary olfactory cortical (POC) region including piriform cortex, the left secondary olfactory cortex or posterior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the rostral insula bilaterally. Furthermore, blood flow in two regions within the right orbitofrontal cortex correlated significantly with the behavioral measure of odor imagery during scanning. Overall, the findings indicated that neural networks engaged during odor perception and imagery overlap partially.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Odor-induced changes in taste perception.

We investigated odor-induced changes in taste perception (OICTP), by examining the influence of strawberry and soy sauce odors on perceived sweetness (Experiment 1) and saltiness (Experiment 2). We explored whether taste-smell interactions occur at the central level, by delivering odorants (strawberry, soy sauce, odorless water) and tastants (sucrose, sodium chloride) separately, and whether effects of imagined odors are comparable to those of physically presented odors. We found specific taste-smell interactions: sweetness enhancement induced by strawberry odor and saltiness enhancement induced by soy sauce odor. These interactions were elicited with separate delivery of olfactory and gustatory stimuli. Secondly, we found a similar but rather limited effect with the imagined odors: imagined strawberry enhanced perceived sweetness of water solutions, and imagined soy sauce enhanced perceived saltiness of weak sodium chloride solutions. We concluded that OICTP is a centrally mediated phenomenon, and that imagined odors can to some extent induce changes in perceived taste intensity comparable to those elicited by perceived odors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Effects of perceived and imagined odors on taste detection.

We assessed the influence of different odors on detection of a sweet tastant, and the ability of imagined odors to elicit the same effects as perceived odors on taste perception. The tastant used was sucrose, and the two odorants were strawberry and ham. In the first experiment, participants either smelled or imagined one of two odors during taste detection tasks (between-subject design), whereas in the second one, subjects completed both the odor imagery and perception conditions with taste detection tasks (within-subject design). The effect was odorant-specific: detection of sucrose was significantly better when subjects smelled strawberry than when they smelled ham. Furthermore, imagined odors influenced taste perception in the same way as did perceived odors. We concluded that the odor-specific effect on taste perception is an authentic perceptual phenomenon. Our results also support the notion that odor-induced changes in taste perception are mediated centrally. Finally, our findings are in agreement with reports supporting the existence of odor imagery.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The mind's nose: Effects of odor and visual imagery on odor detection.

We examined odor imagery by looking for its effects on detection of weak odors. Seventy-two healthy subjects performed a forced-choice odor detection task in one of three conditions: after being told to imagine an odor (odor imagery), after being told to imagine an object (visual imagery), or without having received imagery instructions (no-imagery control). For the two imagery conditions, the presented and imagined stimuli were either the same (matched) or different (mismatched). There was a significant difference between detection in the matched and mismatched conditions for odor imagery, but not for visual imagery. We conclude that our paradigm does measure odor imagery and that the effect of imagery on detection is both content- and modality-specific. Further, the difference between conditions was due to lower detection with mismatched odor imagery than without imagery, indicating that interference underlies the effect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Effect of fasting and refeeding on the activities of monoamine oxidase and antioxidant enzymes in rat hypothalamus and brown adipose tissue.

Fasting for 48 h and the same period of recovery induced by 48 h refeeding increased rat hypothalamic monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity. However, in the interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT), only refeeding induced a significant elevation of the enzyme activity. As far as hypothalamic antioxidative enzymes are concerned, the copper zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) activity was decreased in refed rats only. However, in the IBAT both food deprivation and refeeding induced a significant decrease in catalase (CAT) activity. Under the influence of fasting the adrenal glands were strongly activated as judged by the increased dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) activity and decreased cholesterol concentration. Refeeding brought both parameters to control levels indicating full recovery of these glands. As expected, fasting for 48 h induced a significant decrease in serum glucose but an increase in FFA concentrations. Thus, it can be concluded that both fasting and refeeding resulted in increased activation of hypothalamic MAO, whereas CuZnSOD activity was decreased only by refeeding. However, in the IBAT only refeeding increased MAO activity whereas both fasting and refeeding decreased that of CAT. In conclusion, it may be assumed that food deprivation for 48 h and the same duration of refeeding influenced MAO and antioxidative enzymes activities in the rat hypothalamus and IBAT in a tissue specific manner.

Adipose Tissue, Brown↗