Journal of Applied Biomedicine, 2013 (vol. 11), issue 2
Editorial
Artificial neural networks in medical diagnosis
Filippo Amato, Alberto López, Eladia María Peña-Méndez, Petr Vaòhara, Ale¹ Hampl, Josef Havel
J Appl Biomed 11:47-58, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0031-x 
An extensive amount of information is currently available to clinical specialists, ranging from details of clinical symptoms to various types of biochemical data and outputs of imaging devices. Each type of data provides information that must be evaluated and assigned to a particular pathology during the diagnostic process. To streamline the diagnostic process in daily routine and avoid misdiagnosis, artificial intelligence methods (especially computer aided diagnosis and artificial neural networks) can be employed. These adaptive learning algorithms can handle diverse types of medical data and integrate them into categorized outputs. In this paper,...
Original Research Article
Evolution of the circadian profile of human milk amino acids during breastfeeding
Cristina Lucía Sánchez, Javier Cubero, Javier Sánchez, Lourdes Franco, Ana Beatriz Rodríguez, Montserrat Rivero, Carmen Barriga
J Appl Biomed 11:59-70, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0020-0
Human milk is a living fluid that changes with time, composition and volume. Circadian rhythms regulate a variety of biological processes in living organisms; and perhaps the most evident function is the sleep-wake cycle. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the circadian rhythm of breast milk amino acids and their evolution throughout the breastfeeding period. Human breast milk samples from 77 donors were collected every 3 hours over a 24-h period. The rhythmicity of the amino acids was determined by cosinor analysis. Colostrum samples showed no circadian rhythm in most amino acids except tryptophan. However, daily variations were observed...
Circadian variation in haematological toxicity of the immunosuppressive agent "Mycophenolate Mofetil" in rats
Ichrak Dridi, Wafa Ben-Cherif, Karim Aouam, Mohsen Hassine, Mossadok Ben-Attia, Alain Reinberg, Naceur Abderrazak Boughattas
J Appl Biomed 11:71-78, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0024-9
Because of biological rhythms, drug efficiency and toxicity vary according to the time of administration of the drug. This study investigates whether the haematological toxicity of the immunosuppressive agent Mycophenolate Mofetil varies according to the circadian dosing-time in rats. 300 mg/kg of Mycophenolate Mofetil was injected by i.p. route to different groups of animals at six different circadian stages (1, 7, 13, and 19 hours after light onset, i.e., HALO). Mycophenolate Mofetil treatment induced a significant decrease at 7 HALO in red blood cells (-18%), in haemoglobin rate (-15%) and in white blood cells (-54%). These parameters followed...
Meloxicam synergistically enhances the in vitro effects of sunitinib malate on bladder-cancer cells
Regina Arantes-Rodrigues, Rosário Pinto-Leite, Lio Fidalgo-Gonçalves, Isabel Gaivão, Aura Colaço, Paula Oliveira, Lúcio Santos
J Appl Biomed 11:79-92, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0034-7
To evaluate the in vitro effects of sunitinib malate and meloxicam in isolation, and to analyse the ability of meloxicam to enhance the cytotoxicity of sunitinib malate in three human bladder-cancer cell lines. Cell lines were treated with sunitinib malate and meloxicam, either in isolation or combined. Leishman staining, MTT method, comet assay, MDC staining and M30 CytoDEATH antibody were performed. The Chou and Talalay method was applied. Sunitinib malate and meloxicam supressed cell proliferation in bladder-cancer cells in isolation, in a concentration-dependent manner. Treatment of bladder-cancer cells with a combination of sunitinib malate...
Alpha-tomatine activates cell cycle checkpoints in the absence of DNA damage in human leukemic MOLT-4 cells
Jana Kúdelová, Martina Seifrtová, Lenka Suchá, Pavel Tom¹ík, Radim Havelek, Martina Øezáèová
J Appl Biomed 11:93-103, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0033-8
Alpha-tomatine is a major glycoalkaloid found in the roots, leaves, stems and fruit of tomatoes Lycopersicon esculentum. Recently, alpha-tomatine has been recognized as a potential anticancer drug. In the present study, we identified the signaling cascades involved in the antitumor effect of alpha-tomatine on MOLT-4 leukemic cells. Alpha-tomatine inhibited the proliferation and decreased the viability of MOLT-4 cells in a dose-dependent manner. An increase in the activity of caspases 9 and 3/7 was not observed. However, an increase in the amount of p53 and its phosphorylation on serine 15, as well as an increased amount of mitochondrial protein...
Construction and evaluation of a novel Bacillus subtilis spores-based enterovirus 71 vaccine
Yin-Guang Cao, Zhi-Hui Li, Ying-Ying Yue, Nan-Nan Song, Li Peng, Le-Xin Wang, Xinxin Lu
J Appl Biomed 11:105-113, 2013 | DOI: 10.2478/v10136-012-0032-9
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection and its associated hand-foot-mouth disease is a significant public health problem. The purpose of this study is to develop a novel vaccine to prevent EV71 infection. Bacillus subtilis spores were engineered to express VP1 protein of EV71 with CotB as carrier protein. The recombination was tested in adult mice for the ability to induce immune responses. Mice were inoculated orally and intranasally simultaneously with the spores. The vaccine's efficacy on stimulating immune responses was evaluated by measuring the titer of anti-VP1 IgG and IgA with enzyme-linked-immunosorbent serologic assay (ELISA), and the number...