Journal of Applied Biomedicine, 2005 (vol. 3), issue 1

Editorial

Systems dynamics of biology

David Lloyd

J Appl Biomed 3:1-12, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.001

As more information accumulates on the detailed dynamics of life processes, emphasis on steady state behaviour gives way to the recognition that the organism is a multi-oscillator. Systems biology takes account of the controls and balances on inputs and outputs between the environment and the open system of the functioning organism. The matching of the system to its periodic environment performed by biological clocks (circadian, tidal, lunar, annual) is belatedly acknowledged and exploited in applied biomedicine, even as detailed mechanisms continue to be elucidated. Ancestral shorter-period (ultradian) oscillations, rhythms and clocks are all-pervasive...

Original Research Article

Biochemical and haematological differentiation of opiate addicts from healthy subjects. A case control study

José Fernando Díaz-Flores Estévez, Felicitas Díaz-Flores Estévez, Carlos Hernández Calzadilla, Elena María Rodríguez Rodríguez, Carlos Díaz Romero, Lluis Serra-Majem

J Appl Biomed 3:37-46, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.004

The biochemical and haematological parameters of nutritional interest were determined in the serum of opiate addicts in order to compare them with those obtained in healthy subjects. The blood of 106 opiate addicts in detoxification treatment (n=19) or in Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program (MMTP) (n=87) was studied. Opiate addicts presented lower levels in the number of red cells, cholesterol, albumin, retinol, α-tocopherol, folic acid, K and Se and higher levels in the number of leukocytes, GOT, GPT and Na, than the control group. The opiate addicts in MMTP had higher levels of glucose, triglycerides, Mg and P than the opiate addicts in...

Reviews

Humic substances - compounds of still unknown structure: applications in agriculture, industry, environment, and biomedicine

Eladia M. Peña-Méndez, Josef Havel, Jiří Patočka

J Appl Biomed 3:13-24, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.002

Humic substances as part of humus-soil organic matter - are compounds arising from the physical, chemical and microbiological transformation (humification) of biomolecules. They are important because they constitute the most ubiquitous source of non-living organic material that nature knows. Approximately 80% of the total carbon in terrestrial media and 60% of the carbon dissolved in aquatic media are made up of humic substances. Humic substances have important roles in soil fertility, and are considered to have primal relevance for the stabilization of soil aggregates. They can be divided into three components according to their solubility: humic...

How does lithium mediate its therapeutic effects?

Anna Strunecká, Jiří Patočka, Milan Šárek

J Appl Biomed 3:25-35, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.003

For the psychiatrist, lithium is an effective drug for both the treatment and prophylaxis of bipolar disorder. The molecular mechanisms underlying its therapeutic actions have not yet been fully explained. The effects of lithium on a number of enzymes and biological processes have been studied. Inositol monophosphatase and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) have been suggested as the relevant intracellular targets for lithium action. The discovery of the role of GSK-3, the Wnt signalling system, and the anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 has led to the suggestion that there could be a therapeutic use for lithium in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's...

Changes in behaviour and in the circadian rhythms of melatonin and corticosterone in rats subjected to a forced-swimming test

Sergio Damián Paredes, Soledad Sánchez, Rubén Víctor Rial, Ana Beatriz Rodríguez, Carmen Barriga

J Appl Biomed 3:47-56, 2005 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2005.005

We studied the influence of physical activity stress on the circadian rhythms of melatonin and corticosterone in 3-month old male Wistar rats. Every two hours for 24 h around the clock, an animal from the stressed group was first made to swim for two hours, and was then subjected to a further ten minutes of forced swimming using a modification of the apparatus employed in the Porsolt test. The capacity to resume swimming after the exhausting 2-hour swim was measured by the number of swimming movements that were made by the animal in the additional 10-min swimming period. Blood was collected immediately after the trial, and the plasma melatonin and...