Multivalvulid myxosporeans of the genera Kudoa Meglitsch, 1947 and Unicapsula Davis, 1924 (Cnidaria: Myxozoa) are often the cause of unsightly cyst formation or postmortem myoliquefaction in the trunk muscle of commercial marine fish, which reduces the market value of infected individuals. Twenty species (18 Kudoa spp. and two Unicapsula spp.) have been recorded from carangid fish, although the majority of them, excluding polyxenous species, such as K. amamiensis Egusa et Nakajima, 1980, K. iwatai Egusa et Shiomitsu, 1983, K. nova Naidenova, 1975, K. quadratum (Thélohan, 1895) and K. yasunagai (Hsieh et Chen, 1984), are limited to a single or a few fish species. We report the occurrence of macroscopic cysts of Kudoa trachuri Matsukane, Sato, Tanaka, Kamata et Sugita-Konishi, 2011 in the trunk muscle of four new host fish species, i.e., Pseudocaranx dentex (Bloch et Schneider), Decapterus akaadsi Abe, D. muroadsi (Temminck et Schlegel) and Decapterus tabl Berry, fished from the Philippine Sea (Northwest Pacific Ocean), off southwestern of Japan. Myxospore morphology and genetic characteristics of the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) of these isolates were consistent with previous records of K. trachuri from Trachurus japonicus (Temminck et Schlegel) from around Japan. In addition, a new species of Kudoa that forms long filamentous pseudocysts in trunk myofibres was found in four of the six D. tabl collected in this study. We describe Kudoa longichorda sp. n. for this new isolate, based on its morphology of subquadrate myxospores with four shell valves and polar capsules and with small dimensions (length 4.3-5.5 μm, width 6.0-6.8 μm, thickness 4.8-6.3 μm, polar capsule length 2.3-3.1 μm, polar capsule width 1.1-1.7 μm), as well as 18S and 28S rDNA sequences distinct from those of known species.

• MeSH
• Cysts * MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Muscle, Skeletal MeSH
• Myxozoa * genetics   MeSH
• Fish Diseases * epidemiology   MeSH
• Fruit MeSH
• Parasitic Diseases, Animal * epidemiology   MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 28S genetics   MeSH
• Sequence Analysis, DNA MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

The taxonomy of myxosporeans was traditionally dependent solely upon the spore morphological and morphometric data. Intensive reports of intraspecific morphological variation, however, are increasingly challenging the taxonomic approaches for myxosporeans. In the present work, the morphological pleomorphism of myxospores of Myxobolus drjagini (Akhmerov, 1954) was observed. More interestingly, all of these pleomorphic myxospores occurred in the same plasmodium of M. drjagini, which refutes the previous hypothesis that morphological variation of M. drjagini was derived from its responses to differences in nutrition and immunological responses associated with different host tissues. Bearing the intraspecific morphometric and morphotype variation in mind, the combination of morphological, ecological and molecular data should be applied to the species identification and delimitation for myxosporeans. This is the first reported myxobolid species with high pleomorphic myxospores which are present in the same plasmodium.

• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Myxobolus * MeSH
• Fish Diseases * MeSH
• Parasitic Diseases, Animal * MeSH
• Plasmodium * MeSH
• Spores, Protozoan MeSH
• Gills MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Cancer is one of the biggest healthcare concerns in our century, a disease whose treatment has become even more difficult following reports of drug-resistant tumors. When this happens, chemotherapy treatments fail or decrease in efficiency, leading to catastrophic consequences to the patient. This discovery, along with the fact that drug resistance limits the efficacy of current treatments, has led to a new wave of discovery for new methods of treatment. The use of nanomedicine has been widely studied in current years as a way to effectively fight drug resistance in cancer. Research in the area of cancer nanotechnology over the past decades has led to tremendous advancement in the synthesis of tailored nanoparticles with targeting ligands that can successfully attach to chemotherapy-resistant cancer by preferentially accumulating within the tumor region through means of active and passive targeting. Consequently, these approaches can reduce the off-target accumulation of their payload and lead to reduced cytotoxicity and better targeting. This review explores some categories of nanocarriers that have been used in the treatment of drug-resistant cancers, including polymeric, viral, lipid-based, metal-based, carbon-based, and magnetic nanocarriers, opening the door for an exciting field of discovery that holds tremendous promise in the treatment of these tumors.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Kontext: Starší studie prokázaly, že se objem, hmota a funkce levé (LK) a pravé komory (PK) srdeční významně liší podle toho, zda se při výpočtu těchto parametrů zahrnou svalové trámce a papilární svaly (trabeculae papillary and papillary muscle, TPM). Metody: V kohortě 101 pacientů bylo provedeno vyšetření srdce magnetickou rezonancí (cardiac magnetic resonance, CMR). Kohorta zahrnovala celkem 26 pacientů bez patologických nálezů na CMR (referenční skupina), pacienty s ischemickou kardiomyopatií (IKMP), s dilatační kardiomyopatií (DKMP) a pacienty s hypertrofi í levé komory (vždy po 25 pacientech). Parametry LK a PK se stanovovaly pomocí dříve zavedených metod: 1. metoda zahrnující TPM a 2. metoda nezahrnující TPM do objemu příslušného srdečního oddílu. Výsledky: Ve srovnání s výpočtem při zahrnutí TPM znamenalo vyloučení TPM z celkového objemu LK a PK významně menší objem na konci diastoly a systoly (end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, EDV, ESV) a hmotu myokardu, a vyšší hodnoty tepového objemu (stroke volume, SV) a ejekční frakce (EF) (p = 0.001). Podíl TPM na hmotě LK a PK byl větší u DKMP (18,4 ± 3,8 %) a IKMP (17,8 ± 3,2 %) než u referenční skupiny (15,2 ± 2,5 %; obojí p < 0,05); výsledkem byl statisticky významně větší rozdíl mezi oběma použitým metodami (1. metoda – 2. metoda) při výpočtu ESV, EDV, SV, EF a hmoty myokardu u nemocných s DKMP a IKMP oproti referenční skupině. Závěr: Hodnoty parametrů LK při vyšetření srdce MR významně ovlivňuje to, zda jsou TPM považovány za součást krevního poolu LK nebo za součást hmoty LK. Aby se zabránilo chybné interpretaci výsledků vyšetření a chybným rozhodnutím, může být při dlouhodobém sledování pacientů naprosto zásadní systematické používání jedné z obou metod delineace LK.

Background: Prior studies revealed, that left and right ventricular (LV, RV) volume, mass and function differ signifi cantly, depending on trabeculae papillary and papillary muscles (TPM) have been included or excluded in LV and RV calculations. Methods: A cohort of 101 patients underwent CMR. It constituted of 26 patients without pathological fi ndings in CMR (reference group), patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (25 per group). Left and right ventricular parameters were determined using previously established methods: Method 1 inclusion and method 2 exclusion of TPM in cavity volume. Results: Compared with inclusion of TPM, exclusion of TPM in the LV and RV cavity volume resulted in signifi cantly lower end-diastolic and end-systolic volume (EDV, ESV) and myocardial mass, and larger stroke volume and ejection fraction (SV, EF) (p = 0.001). The fraction of the TPM on the LV and RV mass was highest in DCM (18.4 ± 3.8%,) and in CM (17.8 ± 3.2%) compared to the reference group (15.2 ± 2.5%, both p < 0.05), which resulted in a signifi cant larger difference between the two methods (method 1 – method 2) in calculating ESV, EDV, SV, EF and myocardial mass among DCM and ICM patients vs. reference group. Conclusion: Global CMR LV parameters are signifi cantly affected by whether TPM are considered as part of the LV blood pool or as part of LV mass. Therefore, a consistent method of LV cavity delineation may be crucial during longitudinal follow-up to avoid misinterpretation and erroneous clinical decision-making.

• MeSH
• Cardiomyopathy, Dilated * diagnostic imaging   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Hypertrophy MeSH
• Cardiomyopathies * diagnostic imaging   MeSH
• Clinical Studies as Topic MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging * methods   MeSH
• Papillary Muscles MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Heart diagnostic imaging   MeSH
• Stroke Volume MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH

Cellular-resolution in vivo fluorescence imaging is a valuable tool for longitudinal studies of retinal function in vision research. Wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (WSAO) is a developing technology that enables high-resolution imaging of the mouse retina. In place of the conventional method of using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor to measure the aberrations directly, WSAO uses an image quality metric and a search algorithm to drive the shape of the adaptive element (i.e. deformable mirror). WSAO is a robust approach to AO and it is compatible with a compact, low-cost lens-based system. In this report, we demonstrated a hill-climbing algorithm for WSAO with a variable focus lens and deformable mirror for non-invasive in vivo imaging of EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) labelled ganglion cells and microglia cells in the mouse retina.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH