Maternal diet during pregnancy has been associated with brain development and cognitive function in offspring, but the mechanisms mediating these relationships remain poorly understood. We conducted a longitudinal neuroimaging follow-up of a prenatal birth cohort and used Food Frequency Questionnaires completed by the mother in mid-pregnancy to calculate prenatal Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and tested its relationship with brain gyrification, an index of early brain development, and IQ in young adults (n = 179, age 28-30). The longitudinal gyrification data were available for a subset of these individuals (n = 77, age 23-24). A higher maternal pro-inflammatory diet during pregnancy, as represented by higher DII, was associated with worse verbal IQ but not performance IQ in young adulthood. These findings were independent of sex and remained significant after adjusting for maternal education, maternal stressful life events during pregnancy, maternal smoking during pregnancy, prenatal supplements (e.g. folic acid, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamins), and maternal age at birth. Moreover, higher DII was associated with altered cortical gyrification in the early as well as the late 20, particularly in men. Gyrification of the anterior middle and inferior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between prenatal DII and verbal IQ in young adulthood. These findings support the use of cortical gyrification as a proxy marker of early brain development and suggest it may underlie the relationship between maternal diet during pregnancy and its long-term impact on cognitive skills in offspring. They also have important implications for pregnant women who might be able to optimize the brain development and verbal IQ of their children through an anti-inflammatory diet.

• Klíčová slova
• Dietary inflammatory index (DII), IQ, Local gyrification index (LGI), Maternal diet during pregnancy, Sex differences, Young adulthood,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Cytokine licensing with pro-inflammatory molecules, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the therapeutic potential of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). While licensing has demonstrated benefits for immunomodulation, its effects on other key MSC functions, including differentiation and paracrine activity, remain incompletely explored. In this study, we evaluated the transcriptomic, metabolomic, and functional changes induced by short-term TNF-α/IFN-γ priming of Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs (WJ-MSCs). METHODS: WJ-MSCs were expanded and exposed to TNF-α and IFN-γ (10 ng/ml each) for 24 h. Transcriptomic analysis was performed using RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes related to immune modulation and lineage commitment. Metabolomic profiling was conducted using high-resolution mass spectrometry to assess changes in metabolic pathways. Functional assays evaluated the effects of cytokine priming on induced differentiation and growth factor secretion. RESULTS: Cytokine licensing induced notable alterations in gene expression, upregulating pathways linked to immune response, inflammation, and cytokine signalling. However, short-term cytokine treatment significantly attenuated the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSCs, as evidenced by the reduced expression of RUNX2, ALP, CEBPA, and PPARG. The priming had a negligible effect on EGF, FGF-2, HGF, LIF, and SCF secretion. The production of VEGF-A and VEGF-C was elevated, although the levels remained low. Metabolomic analysis revealed enhanced kynurenine pathway activity, indicative of increased tryptophan catabolism, accompanied by elevated levels of fatty acids and polyamines. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that TNF-α/IFN-γ priming reprograms WJ-MSCs by enhancing their immunomodulatory capacity at the expense of differentiation potential. These results highlight the need for tailored strategies to optimize MSC functionality for specific clinical applications.

• Klíčová slova
• Adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation, Cytokine priming, Metabolomics, Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells, Secretome, Transcriptomics, Wharton’s jelly,
• MeSH
• buněčná diferenciace * účinky léků   MeSH
• cytokiny * farmakologie   MeSH
• imunomodulace * účinky léků   MeSH
• interferon gama * farmakologie   MeSH
• kultivované buňky MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mezenchymální kmenové buňky * metabolismus   cytologie   účinky léků   imunologie   MeSH
• TNF-alfa * farmakologie   MeSH
• Whartonův rosol * cytologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• cytokiny * MeSH
• interferon gama * MeSH
• TNF-alfa * MeSH

The importance of electrode shape, alongside electrode size, as key factors in controlling the reversibility or otherwise of electrochemical responses, is recognized at the microscopic level but is explored here via finite-element simulation on the macroscopic scale. Reduced overpotential is seen for concave surfaces relative to flat or convex surfaces, providing an unexplored avenue for the design and fabrication of electrodes, including composites for diverse applications where enhanced reversibility is desirable, such as in sensors and battery materials where the promotion of electrocatalytic responses is important.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

OBJECTIVES: Chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry (CXMS) offers the distance constraints critical for building the structural model of protein and protein complexes and understanding dynamics of biological systems. Originally developed for protein structural models, CXMS has evolved into method for studying protein complex formation, ligand-induced conformational changes, and quantitative structural analysis using isotopically labeled cross-linkers. METHODS: In this study we tested the potential of isotopically labeled MS-cleavable cross-linker to track the stability of the therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: A novel isotopically labeled MS-cleavable cross-linker was synthesized, and its reactivity was successfully tested on peptide and protein standards. Further, the novel cross-linker was utilized to test the stability of selected therapeutical monoclonal antibodies, bevacizumab and trastuzumab, adopting the data-independent acquisition. CONCLUSION: This study reports the advantages of using combination of 13C isotopically labeled MS-cleavable cross-linkers and data-independent mass spectrometry analysis for the automated identification of cross-linked products and thus monitoring the structural rearrangement of protein structure.

• Klíčová slova
• Chemical cross-linking, antibody, data-independent analysis, mass spectrometry, protein structure, stable isotopes,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Olaparib treatment significantly improved objective response rate (primary end point) and progression-free survival versus nonplatinum chemotherapy in patients with BRCA-mutated platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer in the open-label phase III SOLO3 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02282020). We report final overall survival (OS; prespecified secondary end point), post hoc OS analysis by number of previous chemotherapy lines, and exploratory BRCA reversion mutation analysis. Two hundred sixty-six patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to olaparib tablets (300 mg twice daily; n = 178) or physician's choice of single-agent nonplatinum chemotherapy (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, or topotecan; n = 88). OS was similar with olaparib versus chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR], 1.07 [95% CI, 0.76 to 1.49]; P = .71, median 34.9 and 32.9 months, respectively, full analysis set). OS with olaparib was favorable in patients with two previous chemotherapy lines (HR, 0.83 [olaparib v chemotherapy] [95% CI, 0.51 to 1.38]; median 37.9 v 28.8 months); however, a potential detrimental effect was seen in patients with at least three previous chemotherapy lines (HR, 1.33 [95% CI, 0.84 to 2.18]; median 29.9 v 39.4 months). BRCA reversion mutations might have contributed to this finding. No patient randomly assigned to olaparib with a BRCA reversion mutation detected at baseline (6 of 170 [3.5%]) achieved an objective tumor response.

• MeSH
• deoxycytidin analogy a deriváty   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• doba přežití bez progrese choroby MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• doxorubicin analogy a deriváty   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• ftalaziny * terapeutické užití   škodlivé účinky   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• gemcitabin MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lokální recidiva nádoru * farmakoterapie   MeSH
• nádory vaječníků * farmakoterapie   genetika   mortalita   patologie   MeSH
• paclitaxel aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• PARP inhibitory * terapeutické užití   škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• piperaziny * terapeutické užití   škodlivé účinky   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• polyethylenglykoly aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• protein BRCA1 genetika   MeSH
• protein BRCA2 genetika   MeSH
• protokoly protinádorové kombinované chemoterapie * terapeutické užití   škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• topotekan aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• klinické zkoušky, fáze III MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• BRCA1 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• BRCA2 protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• deoxycytidin MeSH
• doxorubicin MeSH
• ftalaziny * MeSH
• gemcitabin MeSH
• liposomal doxorubicin MeSH Prohlížeč
• olaparib MeSH Prohlížeč
• paclitaxel MeSH
• PARP inhibitory * MeSH
• piperaziny * MeSH
• polyethylenglykoly MeSH
• protein BRCA1 MeSH
• protein BRCA2 MeSH
• topotekan MeSH

Spectroscopic data often contain artifacts or noise related to the sample characteristics, instrumental variations, or experimental design flaws. Therefore, classifying the raw data is not recommended and might lead to biased results. Nevertheless, most issues may be addressed through appropriate data pre-processing. Effective pre-processing is particularly crucial in critical applications like liquid biopsy for disease detection, where even minor performance improvements may impact patient outcomes. Unfortunately, there is no consensus regarding optimal pre-processing, complicating cross-study comparisons. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of various pre-processing methods and their combinations to assess their influence on classification results. The goal was to identify whether some pre-processing methods are associated with higher classification outcomes and find an optimal strategy for the given data. Data from Raman optical activity and infrared and Raman spectroscopy were processed, applying tens of thousands of possible pre-processing pipelines. The resulting data were classified using three algorithms to distinguish between subjects with liver cirrhosis and those who had developed hepatocellular carcinoma. Results highlighted that some specific pre-processing methods often ranked among the best classification results, such as the Rolling Ball for correcting the baseline of Raman spectra or the Doubly Reweighted Penalized Least Squares and Mixture model in the case of Raman optical activity. On the other hand, the selection of filtering and/or normalization approach usually did not have a significant impact. Nonetheless, the pre-processing of top-scoring pipelines also depended on the classifier utilized. The best pipelines yielded an AUROC of 0.775-0.823, varying with the evaluated spectroscopic data and classifier.

• Klíčová slova
• Chiroptical spectroscopy, Classification, Data pre-processing, Diagnostics, Liquid biopsy, Machine learning, Vibrational spectroscopy,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

5-MeO-DMT is a short-acting psychedelic that is anecdotally reported to induce a radical disruption of the self and a paradoxical quality of aroused, waking awareness that is nevertheless devoid of any specific perceptual contents. Here, we conducted an exploratory observational study of the phenomenological and neuronal effects of this compound. We collected micro-phenomenological interviews, psychometric questionnaires, and electroencephalography (EEG) in naturalistic ceremonial settings where 5-MeO-DMT was ingested. Results revealed that the 5-MeO-DMT experience followed a dynamic progression that-only in the most extreme cases-manifested as a complete absence of self-experience and other phenomenal content with preserved awareness. Furthermore, visual imagery, bodily self-disruption, narrative self-disruption, and reduced phenomenal distinctions occurred in a variable fashion. EEG analyses revealed the 5-MeO-DMT experience was characterised by (global) alpha and (posterior) beta power reductions, implying a mode of brain functioning where top-down models are inhibited. Our preliminary phenomenological findings confirm the potential utility of 5-MeO-DMT as a pharmacological model for deconstructed consciousness while noting the limitations of employing retrospective questionnaires for this purpose. Considering the exploratory nature of this study and its limitations inherent to its naturalistic nature, further research employing real-time experience sampling and phenomenologically trained participants in controlled environments could expand our findings to meaningfully inform the potential of this tool for the scientific study of consciousness.

• Klíčová slova
• EEG, awareness, neurophenomenology, psychedelic, self, serotonin,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

INTRODUCTION: The provision of optimal care for older adults with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) poses significant challenges due to the interplay of multiple medical, pharmacological, functional and psychosocial factors. To address these challenges, the I-CARE4OLD project, funded by the EU-Horizon 2020 programme, developed an advanced clinical decision support tool-the iCARE tool-leveraging large longitudinal data from millions of home care and nursing home recipients across eight countries. The tool uses machine learning techniques applied to data from interRAI assessments, enriched with registry data, to predict health trajectories and evaluate pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. This study aims to pilot the iCARE tool and assess its feasibility, usability and impact on clinical decision-making among healthcare professionals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A minimum of 20 participants from each of the seven countries (Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Czechia and the USA) participated in the study. Participants were general practitioners, geriatricians and other medical specialists, nurses, physiotherapists and other healthcare providers involved in the care of older adults with CCC. The study design involved pre-surveys and post-surveys, tool testing with hypothetical patient cases and evaluations of predictions and treatment recommendations. Two pilot modalities-decision loop and non-decision loop-were implemented to assess the effect of the iCARE tool on clinical decisions. Descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate analysis will be conducted. All notes and text field data will be translated into English, and a thematic analysis will be performed. The pilot testing started in September 2024, and data collection ended in January 2025. At the time this protocol was submitted for publication, data collection was complete but data analysis had not yet begun. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approvals were granted in each participating country before the start of the pilot. All participants gave informed consent to participate in the study. The results of the study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated during national and international scientific and professional conferences and meetings. Stakeholders will also be informed via the project website and social media, and through targeted methods such as webinars, factsheets and (feedback) workshops. The I-CARE4OLD consortium will strive to publish as much as possible open access, including analytical scripts. Databases will not become publicly available, but the data sets used and/or analysed as part of the project can be made available on reasonable request and with the permission of the I-CARE4OLD consortium.

• Klíčová slova
• Aged, Chronic Disease, Clinical Decision-Making, Digital Technology, GERIATRIC MEDICINE,
• MeSH
• chronická nemoc terapie   MeSH
• klinické rozhodování * metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• pilotní projekty MeSH
• prognóza MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• strojové učení * MeSH
• systémy pro podporu klinického rozhodování * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Extracellular vesicles can play an important role in the processes occurring after stem cell transplantation, preventing cell apoptosis, stimulating immunological processes, and promoting the synthesis of extracellular matrix. Human follicular fluid (FF) can be a source of a subpopulation of cells with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) properties. Moreover these subpopulations of FF cells can differentiate into osteoblasts. In presented studies flow cytometry of ovarian FF cells confirmed positive expression of MSCs markers such as: CD44, CD90, CD105, CD73 and negative expression of a hematopoietic marker: CD45. The CD90+, CD105+, CD45- cell subpopulation has been obtained during magnetic separation using appropriate antibodies conjugated with microbeads. The extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by the cells during osteodifferentiation process differed from those secreted by cells culture in the basal medium. Based on the previous and current electron microscopy research, changes in size, number, and shape would support the notion that released EVs could be crucial to the ovarian FF cell subpopulation differentiation process. Osteogenic differentiation has been confirmed via Alizarin red staining. Therefore, follicular fluid (FF) can be a new source of a cell subpopulation with MSC properties, with the cells capable of differentiating into the osteogenic lineage. EVs could play a key role as mediators in tissue regeneration, especially bone tissue regeneration.

• Klíčová slova
• Extracellular vesicles, Human granulosa cells, Osteodifferentiation,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Trained immunity is defined as an enhanced state of the innate system which leads to an improved immune response against related or non-related pathogens. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, a live attenuated Mycobacterium bovis strain, is currently one of the main inductors of trained immunity. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of heat-inactivated M. bovis (HIMB) against Plasmodium berghei and Borrelia burgdorferi and characterize the immunological mechanisms involved. BALB/c and C3H/HeN mice were randomly assigned in similar number to either immunized group receiving two oral doses of HIMB with a 4-week interval, or control group treated with PBS. All the BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally infected with P. berghei while the C3H/HeN mice were subcutaneously infected with B. burgdorferi. Pathogen burden was significantly reduced in both immunized groups when compared to controls. The number of macrophages significantly decreased in the liver or in the spleen of the mice that had been immunized prior to the challenge with P. berghei or B. burgdorferi, respectively. Furthermore, the immunized groups showed an apparent upregulation of IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-1α in the liver (P. berghei challenge) or a significant increase in IL-1α producing cells in the spleen (B. burgdorferi challenge). Our findings suggest that oral immunization with heat-inactivated mycobacteria limits pathogen burden through stimulation of the innate immune response in two vector-borne diseases in mice.

• Klíčová slova
• Borrelia burgdorferi, Mycobacterium bovis, Plasmodium berghei, Trained immunity, Vector-borne disease,
• MeSH
• adjuvancia imunologická * aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• BCG vakcína * imunologie   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• Borrelia burgdorferi imunologie   MeSH
• cytokiny MeSH
• inaktivované vakcíny imunologie   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• interferon gama imunologie   MeSH
• interleukin-1alfa imunologie   MeSH
• játra imunologie   MeSH
• lymeská nemoc * prevence a kontrola   imunologie   MeSH
• makrofágy imunologie   MeSH
• malárie * prevence a kontrola   imunologie   MeSH
• Mycobacterium bovis * imunologie   MeSH
• myši inbrední BALB C MeSH
• myši inbrední C3H MeSH
• myši MeSH
• Plasmodium berghei imunologie   MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální krev   MeSH
• slezina imunologie   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• TNF-alfa imunologie   MeSH
• vysoká teplota MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• myši MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• adjuvancia imunologická * MeSH
• BCG vakcína * MeSH
• cytokiny MeSH
• inaktivované vakcíny MeSH
• interferon gama MeSH
• interleukin-1alfa MeSH
• protilátky bakteriální MeSH
• TNF-alfa MeSH