Microalgae from the freshwater basins and seas are a valuable source of broad-spectrum biologically active substances that can affect cells immune system their functional state. Cytokines involved in all vital processes proceeding living (proliferation, maturation, differentiation, apoptosis/ necrosis). A study was performed order to assess effects standard food formula for experimental animals...

Transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced pressure overload (PO) causes adverse cardiac remodeling and dysfunction that progresses to heart failure (HF). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the potent antioxidant, resveratrol, significantly attenuates PO-induced HF in wild-type mice. Male C57BL6 mice were subjected to either sham or TAC surgery. One group of TAC mice was given...

Visceral adipose tissue (AT) inflammation is linked to the complications of obesity, including insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes. Recent data from our lab showed that germline deficiency in STAT4 reduces inflammation and improves IR in obese mice. The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of selective STAT4 deficiency in subsets of hematopoietic cells to IR and AT ...

Evidence from epidemiology suggests that developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia. DVD deficiency in rats is associated with altered brain morphology and enhanced hyperlocomotion in response to MK-801 and amphetamine. The aim of this study was to determine if similar phenotypes were associated with DVD deficiency in two strains of mice (C57B...

Coccidioides posadasii causes coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever, in the endemic regions of the Southwestern United States. The susceptibility to C. posadasii infection has been attributed to a decreased Th1 cellular response. APCs, especially dendritic cells (DCs), play an important role in the activation of Th1 response. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of a DC-based vaccine again...

BACKGROUND Clinical features of thyroid dysfunction vary with age, and an oligosymptomatic presentation of hyperthyroidism is frequently observed in the elderly. This suggests age modulation of thyroid hormone (TH) action, which may occur, for example, by alterations in TH production, metabolism and/or TH action in target organs. OBJECTIVES In this paper, we address possible changes in TH tra...

PURPOSE To investigate the role of a water and mucin secretagogue (3% diquafosol sodium eye drops) on the tear function and conjunctival ocular surface changes in Sod1(-/-) in comparison to the wild-type (WT) mice. METHODS Fourteen eyes of 7 Sod1(-/-) male mice with C57BL/background and 14 eyes of 7 C57BL6 strain wild-type male mice were examined at 40 weeks in this study. All mice had applic...

METHODS. Retinal oxygenation response ( PO2) was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and either carbogen or 100% oxygen inhalation challenge in C57BL/6J control (C) mice. Retinal PO2 during carbogen breathing was also measured in PKC knockout (C57BL6-Prkcb1; [KO]), 4 month C57BL/6J diabetic (D), and 4-month diabetic PKC KO (D KO) mice. Retinal PKC protein expression was a...

Aging is accompanied by increased oxidative stress (OS) and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGE formation in food is temperature-regulated, and ingestion of nutrients prepared with excess heat promotes AGE formation, OS, and cardiovascular disease in mice. We hypothesized that sustained exposure to the high levels of pro-oxidant AGEs in normal diets (Reg(AGE)) contribute...

BACKGROUND Branched chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation is a recently identified strategy to promote longevity in mice. A proteomic approach was used to identify proteins which are differentially expressed in the sera of mice following supplementation with selected branched chain amino acid enriched mixture (BCAAem). FINDINGS 12 male mice (C57Bl6, 9 months-old) were randomly assigned to u...