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Biomedical subjects

M Toborek

Publications and source records attributed to M Toborek.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Increased lipid peroxidation and antioxidant activity in methionine-induced hepatitis in rabbits.

The liver is especially susceptible to the toxic effects of methionine due to its role in sulfur amino acid metabolism. Therefore, the excessive amounts of this amino acid may induce liver damage. To test the mechanisms of methionine-related hepatotoxicity, liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase were measured in rabbits fed a methionine-enriched diet for 6 or 9 mo. Morphological studies of livers were also made. Feeding rabbits the methionine-enriched diet for 9 mo resulted in a significant increase in liver TBARS levels and antioxidant enzyme activities. Moreover, an inflammatory infiltration of portal triads in the treated rabbits were observed. These results indicate that methionine may induce hepatitis by increasing free radical processes.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Liposome-mediated high-efficiency transfection of human endothelial cells.

Liposome-mediated transfection of endothelial cells provides a valuable experimental technique to study cellular gene expression and may also be adapted for gene therapy studies. However, the widely recognized disadvantage of liposome-mediated transfection is low efficiency. Therefore, studies were performed to optimize transfection techniques in human endothelial cells. The majority of the experiments were performed with primary cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). In addition, selected experiments were performed using human brain microvascular endothelial cells and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells. To study transfection rates, HUVEC were transfected with the pGL3 vector, containing the luciferase reporter gene, complexed with several currently available liposomes, such as different Perfect Lipid (pFx) mixtures, DMRIE-C, or lipofectin. The optimal transfection rate was achieved in HUVEC transfected for 1.5 h with 5 microg/ml of DNA plasmid in the presence of 36 microg/ml of pFx-7. In addition, transfection with the VR-3301 vector encoding for human placental alkaline phosphatase revealed that, under the described conditions, transfection efficiency in HUVEC was approximately 32%. Transfections mediated by other liposomes were less efficient. The usefulness of the optimized transfection technique was confirmed in HUVEC transfected with NF-kappaB or AP-1-responsive constructs and stimulated with TNF or LPS. We conclude that among several currently available liposomes, pFx-7 appears to be the most suitable for transfections of cultured human endothelial cells.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Anti-kappa elastin antibody titer in the sera of patients with hyperlipoproteinemia type II, III and IV].

Titre of antibodies against elastin degradation product (kappa-elastin) was measured in patients with atherogenic types of hyperlipoproteinemia. The hemagglutination technique was used. A significant decrease in titres of the tested antibodies was found. It was the most prominent in IIa, III and IIb types of hyperlipoproteinemia and rather mild in IV type. The authors attempted to explain causes of antibodies titres decrease in tested patients and relate their results with those of other authors.

Autoantibodies↗