There is evidence indicating that a vegan diet could be beneficial in the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on the positive and negative aspects of a vegan diet regarding the risk of AD. Regarding AD prevention, a vegan diet includes low levels of saturated fats and cholesterol, contributing to a healthy blood lipid profile. Furthermore, it is rich in phytonutrients, such as vitamins, antioxidants, and dietary fiber, that may help prevent cognitive decline. Moreover, a vegan diet contributes to the assumption of quercetin, a natural inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO), which can contribute to maintaining mental health and reducing AD risk. Nonetheless, the data available do not allow an assessment of whether strict veganism is beneficial for AD prevention compared with vegetarianism or other diets. A vegan diet lacks specific vitamins and micronutrients and may result in nutritional deficiencies. Vegans not supplementing micronutrients are more prone to vitamin B12, vitamin D, and DHA deficiencies, which have been linked to AD. Thus, an evaluation of the net effect of a vegan diet on AD prevention and/or progression should be ascertained by taking into account all the positive and negative effects described here.
- MeSH
- Alzheimerova nemoc * etiologie prevence a kontrola MeSH
- dieta veganská * MeSH
- dieta vegetariánská MeSH
- dieta MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mikroživiny MeSH
- vegani MeSH
- vitaminy MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
BACKGROUND: The ability to understand emotions is often disturbed in patients with cognitive impairments. Right temporal lobe structures play a crucial role in emotional processing, especially the amygdala, temporal pole (TP), superior temporal sulcus (STS), and anterior cingulate (AC). Those regions are affected in early stages of Alzheimer ́s disease (AD). The aim of our study was to evaluate emotional prosody recognition (EPR) in participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) due to AD, AD dementia patients, and cognitively healthy controls and to measure volumes or thickness of the brain structures involved in this process. In addition, we correlated EPR score to cognitive impairment as measured by MMSE. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the ability of EPR tests to differentiate the control group from the aMCI and dementia groups. METHODS: Eighty-nine participants from the Czech Brain Aging Study: 43 aMCI due to AD, 36 AD dementia, and 23 controls, underwent Prosody Emotional Recognition Test. This experimental test included the playback of 25 sentences with neutral meaning each recorded with different emotional prosody (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger). Volume of the amygdala and thickness of the TP, STS, and rostral and caudal parts of AC (RAC and CAC) were measured using FreeSurfer algorithm software. ANCOVA was used to evaluate EPR score differences. ROC analysis was used to assess the ability of EPR test to differentiate the control group from the aMCI and dementia groups. The Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to explore relationships between EPR scores, structural brain measures, and MMSE. RESULTS: EPR was lower in the dementia and aMCI groups compared with controls. EPR total score had high sensitivity in distinguishing between not only controls and patients, but also controls and aMCI, controls and dementia, and aMCI and dementia. EPR decreased with disease severity as it correlated with MMSE. There was a significant positive correlation of EPR and thickness of the right TP, STS, and bilateral RAC. CONCLUSIONS: EPR is impaired in AD dementia and aMCI due to AD. These data suggest that the broad range of AD symptoms may include specific deficits in the emotional sphere which further complicate the patient's quality of life.
Epilepsy as a chronic neurological disorder is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked epileptic seizures. In about half of the people who suffer from epilepsy, the root cause of the disorder is unknown. In the other cases, different factors can cause the onset of epilepsy. In recent years, the role of gut microbiota has been recognized in many neurological disorders, including epilepsy. These data are based on studies of the gut microbiota-brain axis, a relationship starting by a dysbiosis followed by an alteration of brain functions. Interestingly, epileptic patients may show signs of dysbiosis, therefore the normalization of the gut microbiota may lead to improvement of epilepsy and to greater efficacy of anticonvulsant drugs. In this descriptive review, we analyze the evidences for the role of gut microbiota in epilepsy and hypothesize a mechanism of action of these microorganisms in the pathogenesis and treatment of the disease. Human studies revealed an increased prevalence of Firmicutes in patients with refractory epilepsy. Exposure to various compounds can change microbiota composition, decreasing or exacerbating epileptic seizures. These include antibiotics, epileptic drugs, probiotics and ketogenic diet. Finally, we hypothesize that physical activity may play a role in epilepsy through the modulation of the gut microbiota.
- MeSH
- dysbióza * MeSH
- epilepsie * metabolismus mikrobiologie patofyziologie MeSH
- Firmicutes * klasifikace metabolismus MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mozek patofyziologie MeSH
- střevní mikroflóra * MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis is considered one of the most fatal diseases worldwide, with an estimation of 10.1 million cases. In this study, whole-genome sequencing was used to determine the genomic characterisation of 40 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients with different nationalities hospitalised in the Czech Republic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Susceptibility testing for first-line drugs was performed. DNA was sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Spoligotype single-nucleotide polymorphisms and mutations in antibiotic-resistant genes were detected, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. RESULTS: Samples showing phenotypic resistance to at least one drug were 12 to streptomycin, 11 to isoniazid, 7 to rifampicin, 6 to ethambutol and 5 to pyrazinamide. Phenotypic and genotypic profiles did not match in all cases, suggesting the presence of a novel mutation in some cases and a low expression of resistant genes in others. The presented phylogeny enables the correct assignation of M. tuberculosis lineages and sublineages. Our results suggest that the most dominant lineage in our samples was lineage 4 (33/40). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study using this approach to be done in the Czech Republic. Lineage 4 was the predominant lineage identified among our samples. Nevertheless, the dominance of Lineage 4 along with other lineages suggests that infections can originate from different sources.
- MeSH
- antituberkulotika * farmakologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mnohočetná bakteriální léková rezistence * genetika MeSH
- multirezistentní tuberkulóza * MeSH
- mutace MeSH
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis * genetika MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease whose various pathophysiological aspects are still being investigated. Recently, it has been hypothesized that AD may be associated with a dysbiosis of microbes in the intestine. In fact, the intestinal flora is able to influence the activity of the brain and cause its dysfunctions.Given the growing interest in this topic, the purpose of this review is to analyze the role of antibiotics in relation to the gut microbiota and AD. In the first part of the review, we briefly review the role of gut microbiota in the brain and the various theories supporting the hypothesis that dysbiosis can be associated with AD pathophysiology. In the second part, we analyze the possible role of antibiotics in these events. Antibiotics are normally used to remove or prevent bacterial colonization in the human body, without targeting specific types of bacteria. As a result, broad-spectrum antibiotics can greatly affect the composition of the gut microbiota, reduce its biodiversity, and delay colonization for a long period after administration. Thus, the action of antibiotics in AD could be wide and even opposite, depending on the type of antibiotic and on the specific role of the microbiome in AD pathogenesis.Alteration of the gut microbiota can induce changes in brain activity, which raise the possibility of therapeutic manipulation of the microbiome in AD and other neurological disorders. This field of research is currently undergoing great development, but therapeutic applications are still far away. Whether a therapeutic manipulation of gut microbiota in AD could be achieved using antibiotics is still not known. The future of antibiotics in AD depends on the research progresses in the role of gut bacteria. We must first understand how and when gut bacteria act to promote AD. Once the role of gut microbiota in AD is well established, one can think to induce modifications of the gut microbiota with the use of pre-, pro-, or antibiotics to produce therapeutic effects.
- MeSH
- Alzheimerova nemoc chemicky indukované farmakoterapie mikrobiologie MeSH
- antibakteriální látky aplikace a dávkování škodlivé účinky MeSH
- dysbióza chemicky indukované mikrobiologie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mozek účinky léků fyziologie MeSH
- probiotika aplikace a dávkování škodlivé účinky MeSH
- střevní mikroflóra účinky léků fyziologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
Tuberculosis (TB) is considered one of the most serious infectious diseases worldwide. Effective control of tuberculosis infection involves multiple steps, such as reliable detection, treatment, an epidemiological control as a part of case management, and further surveillance and monitoring of TB spread in the human population. Due to the accelerating advances in molecular biology, especially in DNA sequencing, in the past decade, the application of these methods has become crucial for TB evolution studies, differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes, and their distribution. Currently, several molecular genetic methods are available. The oldest typing methods (e.g., IS6110-RFLP, spoligotyping, and MIRU-VNTR) can discover the chain of transmission to the patient. Currently, whole genome sequencing facilitates is furthermore able to identify the source of infection, the transmission trays among individuals sharing the same isolate, as well as determination of the TB evolution and its resistance to antituberculotic agents. It is obvious that this technique will become a new gold standard in genotyping methods in tuberculosis molecular epidemiological studies. In this article, molecular genetic typing methods with a special focus on whole genome sequencing and data management are reviewed.
- MeSH
- bakteriální léková rezistence genetika MeSH
- fylogeografie MeSH
- genom bakteriální * MeSH
- genotyp MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- molekulární epidemiologie normy MeSH
- molekulární typizace metody normy MeSH
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis klasifikace genetika MeSH
- sekvenování celého genomu * MeSH
- tuberkulóza diagnóza epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
- Publikační typ
- abstrakt z konference MeSH
Cílem přehledového článku je popsat zprostředkující roli strachu souvisejícího s bolestí a jeho bezprostřední a dlouhodobé důsledky při vzniku a udržování invalidity při chronické bolesti v dolní části zad. Tyto bolesti jsou jedním z nejčastějších problémů, kvůli kterému pacienti vyhledávají lékaře a jsou v pracovní neschopnosti. Strach spojený s bolestí může být u těchto pacientů příčinou udržování chronické bolesti a závažnou překážkou v léčbě. Vede v mnoha případech k závažnému funkčnímu poškození. Popisovaný model vyhýbání se strachu vysvětluje, proč a jak se u některých jedinců s akutní bolestí rozvine chronická bolest. Vyhýbání vede k snížení, udržování nebo exacerbaci strachu a generalizaci fobického stavu. Práce popisuje dostupné kognitivně-behaviorální diagnostické i psychoterapeutické metody léčby strachu souvisejícího s bolestí a vyhýbáním.
The aim of the article is to review the evidence for the mediating role of pain-related fear, and its immediate and long-term consequences in the initiation and maintenance of chronic low back pain disability. Low back pain is one of the most frequent reasons why patients ask for consultation and are on sick leave. In these patients, pain-related fear can cause prolongation of chronic pain and create an important barrier to successful treatment. In many cases, fear leads to compelling functional damage. The „fear-avoidance“ model described in the paper explains how and why some individuals with acute pain develop the chronic pain syndrome. Avoidance leads to reduction, continuation or exacerbation of fear and development of a phobic state. The article describes available cognitive-behavioural assessment and psychotherapeutic methods of pain-related fear and avoidance.
- MeSH
- adaptace psychologická MeSH
- chronická bolest * psychologie MeSH
- kognitivně behaviorální terapie MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lumbalgie * psychologie MeSH
- psychologické modely MeSH
- psychologické testy MeSH
- strach * fyziologie psychologie MeSH
- učení vyhýbat se MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
