Unusual shape and structure of lymphocyte nuclei is linked to hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes patients.

Type 2 diabetes is an endocrine disorder characterized with hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. Morphological changes in cell nuclei in diabetes were recently detected. The aim of this study was to compare electron microscopic features of lymphocyte nuclei in type 2 diabetes and healthy individuals using conventional computer assisted methods, fractal analysis and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) analysis of nuclear chromatin. Mononuclear cells taken from the peripheral blood of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients, metformin treated type 2 diabetes patients and healthy individuals were analyzed with transmission electron microscope. Irregular nuclear contours and lower amount of heterochromatin in lymphocytes were detected with conventional computer assisted methods in type 2 diabetes. Fractal analysis of chromatin structures and GLCM angular second moment (ASM) analysis detected differences in nuclear structure between metformin treated type 2 diabetes and two other groups. Irregularities in lymphocyte nuclei correlated with blood glucose, but not with cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Decrease in fractal dimension, indicating lower level of complexity, increase in GLCM ASM, indicating higher texture uniformity, and higher amount of euchromatin that we found in metformin treated type 2 diabetes could be indicators of higher transcriptional activity in these cells.

Iron oxide nanoparticles decrease nuclear fractal dimension of buccal epithelial cells in a time-dependent manner.

In this paper, we present results that iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) induce time-dependent structural changes in nuclei of buccal epithelial cells. The cells were treated with magnetite, Fe3 O4 nanoparticles (spherical shape, diameter 80-100 nanometres). The digital micrographs of the nuclei were made in 3 different time points: 15, 30 and 60 min after the treatment with IONPs, as well as in the control cells. A total of 120 nuclear structures (30 per sample) were analysed. Fractal analysis of nuclei was done in ImageJ software of the National Institutes of Health, (Bethesda, MD, USA). For each nuclear structure, the values of fractal dimension and lacunarity were calculated. There was a time-dependent reduction of nuclear fractal dimension in buccal epithelial cells after exposure to magnetite iron oxide nanoparticles. Negative trend was observed (p < 0.01). Nuclear lacunarity, as another fractal parameter was shown to increase, also in a time-dependent manner, after the treatment with IONPs. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate effects of magnetite nanomaterial on nuclear fractal complexity, and also the first to apply fractal analysis method in testing of the interaction between nanoparticles and cell nucleus in this experimental setting.

Internet use, Facebook intrusion, and depression: Results of a cross-sectional study.

Facebook has become a very popular social networking platform today, particularly among adolescents and young adults, profoundly changing the way they communicate and interact. However, some reports have indicated that excessive Facebook use might have detrimental effects on mental health and be associated with certain psychological problems. Because previous findings on the relationship between Facebook addiction and depression were not unambiguous, further investigation was required. The main objective of our study was to examine the potential associations between Internet use, depression, and Facebook intrusion. A total of 672 Facebook users took part in the cross-sectional study. The Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were used. For collecting the data, the snowball sampling procedure was used. We showed that depression can be a predictor of Facebook intrusion. Our results provides additional evidence that daily Internet use time in minutes, gender, and age are also predictors of Facebook intrusion: that Facebook intrusion can be predicted by being male, young age, and an extensive number of minutes spent online. On the basis of this study, it is possible to conclude that there are certain demographic - variables, such as age, gender, or time spent online - that may help in outlining the profile of a user who may be in danger of becoming addicted to Facebook. This piece of knowledge may serve for prevention purposes.

Time-dependent reduction of structural complexity of the buccal epithelial cell nuclei after treatment with silver nanoparticles.

Recent studies have suggested that silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) may affect cell DNA structure in in vitro conditions. In this paper, we present the results indicating that AgNPs change nuclear complexity properties in isolated human epithelial buccal cells in a time-dependent manner. Epithelial buccal cells were plated in special tissue culture chamber / slides and were kept at 37°C in an RPMI 1640 cell culture medium supplemented with L-glutamine. The cells were treated with colloidal silver nanoparticles suspended in RPMI 1640 medium at the concentration 15 mg L⁻¹. Digital micrographs of the cell nuclei in a sample of 30 cells were created at five different time steps: before the treatment (controls), immediately after the treatment, as well as 15 , 30 and 60 min after the treatment with AgNPs. For each nuclear structure, values of fractal dimension, lacunarity, circularity, as well as parameters of grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture, were determined. The results indicate time-dependent reduction of structural complexity in the cell nuclei after the contact with AgNPs. These findings further suggest that AgNPs, at concentrations present in today's over-the-counter drug products, might have significant effects on the cell genetic material.

The CD34-microvascular density in colorectal cancer patients.

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of the angiogenesis parameter CD34 microvascular density (MVD) on overall survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: Thirty-one CRC patients were followed-up for 72 months after curative colorectal operation. Blood vessels measurement was done using the CD34-MVD immunochemistry method, and light microscopy. RESULTS: MVD was inversely correlated with patients' survival. MVD value < 35 proved as independent good prognostic factor, and patients with this value lived during the 72-month follow up after surgery, while a MVD value > 65 was an independent poor prognostic factor and such patients died within 11 months after radical surgery for CRC (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: According to these results, the CD34-MVD seems to be a significant prognosticator of overall survival in CRC patients.

The effects of progressive exercise on cardiovascular function in elite athletes: focus on oxidative stress.

Some side-effects of excessive physical training are ascribed to reactive oxygen species production. In this work we investigated the effects of progressively imposed maximal physical effort (levels I to V), using progressive maximal exercise test, on peripheral blood lactate, NO (through NO2-), superoxide anion (O2-) and methemoglobin (MetHb) in a group of 19 elite soccer players. Blood lactate (mmol/L) was increased (4.55, level V vs. resting level, 1.95). The basal production of NO2- was in the direct relation with O2 consumption. Significant increase (p<0.05) in O2- values at effort level I (4.18) as compared to the resting value (4.01), and the significant increase (p<0.01 or p<0.05) in the MetHb (%) was found between II (18.79) and III (19.63) or between II and IV (19.24) effort levels, respectively. The regression lines of NO2- and O2- crossed at the level of the respiratory compensation point (RC), suggesting that RC could be of a crucial importance not only in the anaerobic and aerobic metabolism but in mechanisms of signal transductions as well. The results could be of the theoretical interest and also useful in designing an athlete training strategy.