The Caenorhabditis elegans cuticle plays an important role against toxicity to bisphenol A and bisphenol S.

Caenorhabditis elegans represents a favorite non-mammalian animal model, which is often used to study the effect of foreign substances on living organisms. Its epidermal barrier is a primary biological barrier that protects nematodes from the toxicity of chemicals. In this study, we investigated the effect of Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical, and its structural analog Bisphenol S (BPS), which is often used as a substitute for BPA in some products, on the behavior of C. elegans wild type (N2) and C. elegans bli-1 mutant strain, which is characterized by the production of abnormal cuticle blisters. We found that exposure of C. elegans wild type (N2), as well as its mutant strain bli-1, to selected concentrations of BPA (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 5 µM) and BPS (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 5 µM) resulted in significant changes in reproduction, habituation behavior, and body length of nematodes. Based on our findings, we can conclude that BPS, which was supposed to be a safer alternative to BPA, caused almost identical detrimental effects on C. elegans behavior. Furthermore, compared to the wild type of C. elegans, these effects were more pronounced in the bli-1 strain, which is characterized by a mutation in an individual collagen gene responsible for proper cuticle formation, underlying the role of the epidermal barrier in bisphenol toxicity. Taken together, our data indicate the potential risks of using BPS as a BPA alternative.

Laboratory methods for diagnostics of HIV infection and HIV-associated neuroinfections.

HIV Infection resulting in AIDS remains serious global public health problem. In the fight with the global health problem plays a key role a simple, reliable and fast diagnostics. An important method in diagnostics is the identification and detection of viral capside p24 antigen levels. Fourth generation tests for the diagnostics of HIV infection simultaneously detect the presence of HIV antibodies and p24 antigen. Based on the monitoring of CD4 count, we can estimate the stage in which the infection is, and we can also suggest a therapeutic approach. Cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common neurological opportunistic disease manifested in HIV infected patients. Cryptococcal meningitis is the second most common cause of the opportunistic neuroinfections. Despite of significant advances in the diagnostics and treatment of HIV infection, this disease is still unable to get completely under control. The future perspective in HIV diagnostics are biosensors.