Septicaemia caused by gram-negative pathogens is a dangerous infection which is associated with high incidence of liver dysfunction. The severe and acute hepatotoxicity is presumably due to massive release of endotoxin into systemic circulation after bacterial killing. The direct toxic effect of endotoxin is probably due to the increased production of reactive oxygen intermediates as O 2 - , p...

Na–K–Cl cotransporter isoform 1 (NKCC1) plays an important role in maintenance of intracellular Na , K , and Cl levels in astrocytes. We propose that NKCC1 may contribute to perturbations of ionic homeostasis in astrocytes under ischemic conditions. After 3– 8 hr of oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD), NKCC1-mediated Rb influx was significantly increased in astrocytes from NKCC1 wild-type (NKC...

Serotonin (5-HT) and other contractile agonists stimulate Na(+)-H+ exchange in vascular smooth muscle. Since intracellular alkalinization, per se, stimulates contraction, we tested whether 5-HT-induced contraction was associated with an increased pHi. In HCO3(-)-free buffer (pHo 7.4), 5-HT (10(-5) M) increased pHi, as measured by 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein fluorescence, f...

Developing population dynamics models for zebrafish is crucial in order to extrapolate from toxicity data measured at the organism level to biological levels relevant to support and enhance ecological risk assessment. To achieve this, a dynamic energy budget for individual zebrafish (DEB model) was coupled to an individual based model of zebrafish population dynamics (IBM model). Next, we fitte...

Several studies have tried to find an efficient agent to prevent or reverse gentamicin (Gm) induced acute kidney injury (AKI). In this study, we assessed the potential renal protective effects of Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl against Gm-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Thirty-five male Wistar rats were categorized in five groups (n = 7 per group). Control group was treated with...

Drug-eluting balloons (DEBs) have emerged as a new application in percutaneous coronary intervention. DEBs have proven successful in the treatment of in-stent restenosis, but their role in de novo lesions is less clear. This paper provides a review of the current studies where DEBs have been used in coronary de novo lesions, either as part of a DEB-only strategy or in combination with another d...

The aim of this 3 × 3 factorial experiment on broilers was to investigate the effect of different dietary levels of potassium and chloride on chicken performance, carcass composition and dry matter content in excreta. 360 one-day-old Ross 308 chickens were allocated to 9 groups, in 5 replications of 8 birds (4 ♂ and 4 ♀). Chickens from 1 to 42 days of age were kept in cages with wire floors to ...

During the second and third postnatal weeks, there is a developmental switch from sodium channel isoform Na(v)1.2 to isoform Na(v)1.6 at initial segments and nodes of Ranvier in rat retinal ganglion cells. We used quantitative, real-time PCR to determine if the developmental appearance of Na(v)1.6 channels is accompanied by an increase in steady-state level of Na(v)1.6 mRNA in the retina. Betwe...

THE SERUM Na concentration is the primary determinant of plasma osmolality, and, as such, it has key role in regulating the transcellular distribution of water. Typically, osmolality is tightly regulated (between 285 and 290 mosM/kg) and maintained through modulation of arginine vasopressin (AVP) secretion and changes in renal tubular reabsorption/excretion of free water. Thirst plays a seconda...