Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Simek

Publications and source records attributed to J Simek.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

[Effect of a food ration with a low-protein content on the processes of liver parenchyma recovery in rats after tetrachloromethane damage].

Male Wistar rats weighing 190-200 g were fed a low protein diet. Atrophy of cytoplasm was observed after a 3-week malnutrition. In early periods of liver regeneration (6 hr after CCl4 poisoning), an increase in DNA synthesis was accompanied by an increase in summary concentration of organelle membranes. Though their ploidy was higher than in the control, volume of hepatocytes and summary area of organelles surface membrane was smaller than in standard diet. These data show a reduced capacity for realization of genetic program during the regeneration period in protein-deficient rats.

Animals↗

The contribution of Jan Evagelista Purkynĕ to knowledge of the morphology and function of the gastric mucosa.

Histological studies of the gastric mucosa led Purkynĕ to the discovery of the cell as a fundamental structural unit of an organ (1837). This study led Purkynĕ to draw conclusions about the physiological role of the gastric mucosa in protein digestion. These conclusions included the activation of pepsinogen, the buffering role of saliva and bile, and the production of hydrochloric acid. Purkynĕ was thus the first to provide a general concept of the role of the stomach in food digestion.

Czechoslovakia↗

Structural and functional changes after the administration of tetrachlormethane in the liver of rats fed on diets with different protein contents.

Morphological and biochemical changes characterizing the degree of liver damage and the development of liver repair were studied in rats fed 21 days on a low protein diet (LPD), a standard diet (SLD) and a high protein diet (HPD) and then given a single i.p. injection of tetrachlormethane (CCl4) in a dose of 0.75 ml/kg body weight. The HPD was found to increase sensitivity to CCl4, but it also promoted the liver repair process, as seen from the increment in liver DNA synthesis and the total DNA content of the liver, increased ploidy of the hepatocytes and growth of the size of their nuclei and of the hepatocytes themselves. An increase in the total surface area of the membranes of the granular endoplasmic reticulum and the inner and outer membrane of the mitochondria, but a decrease in the surface area of the membranes of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, were also observed after the administration of CCl4. The LPD raised liver resistance to CCl4, but the development of liver repair activity differed from the process after the SLD and HPD, since polyploidy of the hepatocytes (especially the growth of octaploid cells) predominated and there was also an increase in the number of binuclear hepatocytes. Cell hypertrophy was expressed less in rats fed on the LPD than in animals given the HPD. As far as liver repair was concerned, the HPD showed no explicit advantages over the SLD.

Animals↗

Role of the functional state of the liver RES in the pathogenesis of toxic liver injury.

In rats to which E. coli endotoxin (250 micrograms/kg i.p.) was administered 24 h before they were given tetrachlormethane (CCl4) (1.5 ml/kg intragastrically), stimulation of liver DNA synthesis was observed during the first 48 h after administration of the hepatatoxin. In experimental rats to which prodigiosan (a Serratia marcescens polysaccharide, 250 micrograms/kg i.p.) was administered 24 h before CCl4 (1.5 ml/kg i.p.), liver damage 24 h after CCl4 poisoning was expressed less--judging from the size of liver necrosis and the size of glycogen-free zones in the liver lobules than in the controls. To elucidate the role of activated macrophages in the induction of liver resistance to CCl4, liver injury caused by this hepatotoxin was compared after the pre-administration of protein extract from the Kupffer cells or hepatocytes of prodigiosan-stimulated rats. In rats given the larger dose of Kupffer cell extract (6 mg/ml i.p.), the necrotic foci formed after the administration of CCl4 were significantly smaller. The results confirm the conception that liver macrophages participate in the development of resistance to CCl4.

Animals↗

Effect of long-term administration of a high protein or low protein diet on rat liver. Morphological and biochemical findings.

An increase in relative liver weight, the total liver DNA content, hepatocyte volume and the total surface area of the membranes of mitochondria and the granular and smooth endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes, but a decrease in the size of the nuclei, were found in adult male rats fed three weeks on a high protein diet compared with animals given a standard laboratory diet. Serum transaminase (ALT, AST) and alkaline phosphatase activity was practically the same as the control values. Rats fed three weeks on a low protein diet showed a decrease in relative liver weight, in the total liver DNA content, in hepatocyte and nuclear volume and in ploidy, and also in the surface area of the membranes of the mitochondria and the smooth and granular endoplasmic reticulum; conversely, the number of binucleate hepatocytes rose. Serum ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase activity was mildly, but statistically significantly elevated.

Alanine Transaminase↗

Effect of the activation of macrophages on the course of regeneration of rat liver following partial hepatectomy.

Stimulation of the Kupffer cells with E. coli endotoxin (the purified lipopolysaccharide) or with prodigiosan (a polysaccharide from Serratia marcescens) 24 h before partial hepatectomy (resection of 65-70% of the liver) stimulated and intensified the onset of liver regenerative activity (evaluated from changes in liver DNA synthesis, the H5 labelling index and the mitotic activity of the hepatocytes). Liver DNA synthesis increased together with the dose of endotoxin (i.v., from 25 to 1000 micrograms/kg body weight). If E. coli endotoxin was injected during or 3 h after partial hepatectomy, partial inhibition of liver DNA synthesis was observed. In mice stimulated with zymosan (a polysaccharide isolated from yeast), administered 5 days before performing partial hepatectomy, proliferation of the hepatocytes (evaluated from changes in the 3H labelling index and in the mitotic activity of the hepatocytes) was evaluated. The results confirm that proliferation is correlated to the state of reactivity of the Kupffer cells.

Animals↗

The time course of biochemical and histological changes following carbon tetrachloride-induced liver damage in rats of both sexes.

A detailed analysis is presented of the time changes in the development of liver damage 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after i.p. administration of carbon tetrachloride [CCl4] in a dose of 0.75 ml, i.e. 1 200 mg/kg body weight to rats of both sexes. The severity of liver damage was assessed from the histological and biochemical changes of AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase and GMT serum activity. From our experiments it follows that in male rats the level of transaminases increases earlier than in female rats, as early as 6 h after the administration of CCl4, reaching a maximum 12 h later. These changes prevail for a longer time period, the level of transaminases remaining increased even 72 h after CCl4 administration. In female rats the biochemical changes occur later reaching the maximum elevation of AST and ALT 24 h after CCl4 administration. The values slowly return to normal after 48 h, and after 72 h the levels of transaminases are identical with the control group. The above given biochemical results are in good agreement with the histological findings demonstrating a higher regenerative activity in female rats. This finding was also proved by specific liver DNA activity assay.

Alanine Transaminase↗

Effect of branched chain amino acids on liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy.

The authors investigated the effect of the enrichment of commercial amino acid solutions with branched chain amino acids on the development of liver regeneration. Partial (65-70%) hepatectomy was performed on male Wistar rats (140-160 g body weight). Starting with the day of the operation, amino acid solutions normally used in clinical practice and the same solutions enriched with branched chain amino acids were administered by stomach tube; 24, 48 and 96 h after the operation the animals were decapitated. The onset of DNA synthesis was found to be more rapid in animals given the enriched solutions. Once regeneration had started, the stimulant effect of an increased supply of branched chain amino acid on liver regeneration was smaller. Nevertheless, even in the later phase after partial hepatectomy branched chain amino acids had a stronger stimulant effect on liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy than an energy supply in the form of sorbitol.

Amino Acids, Branched-Chain↗