Projects / Programmes
Aplikativna in bazična fiziologija in patofiziologija v medicini (Slovene)
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.03.00 |
Medical sciences |
Neurobiology |
|
| 3.06.00 |
Medical sciences |
Cardiovascular system |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B007 |
Biomedical sciences |
Medicine (human and vertebrates) |
| B640 |
Biomedical sciences |
Neurology, neuropsychology, neurophysiology |
| B530 |
Biomedical sciences |
Cardiovascular system |
| B220 |
Biomedical sciences |
Genetics, cytogenetics |
Researchers (45)
Organisations (1)
Significance for science
Research team of the programme P3-0019 has published over 200 publications since 2004 (SCI, COBISS 1.01). More than 30 articles were published in journals ranking within the 1st quarter of top journals in the field; several of them are ranking 1st or 2nd top journal in the field and/or have IF ) 5. Articles, published in the period between 2004 -2008 have been cited by other authors (individual articles up to 20 hetero-citations). One of the members of the research group has been nominated a full member of the EASA (European Academy of Sciences and Arts) for his research achievements, especially in the field of toxicology, and for his involvement in changes of medical education in EU. Results of the studies on the effects of microcystins have lead to a re-evaluation of EU standards on maximal allowed concentration of those substances in water. An important segment of the research has been focused on problems of CO poisoning. These results have been published in journals with IF ) 5 and other top journals in the field The initial study has focused on markers for objective assessment of the severity of CO-poisoning, followed by a study of objective measurements of treatment success, and on treatment strategies. In CO-poisoned patients without loss of consciousness no significant long-term functional differences in outcome have been shown in hyperbaric versus normobaric oxygen studies. The results of this are important because it can be concluded that both immediate normobaric and hyperbaric oxygen therapy equally prevent hyppocampal cell injury in CO-poisoned rats without the loss of consciousness. Therefore, the immediate normobaric oxygen therapy must be used in all cases of CO-poisoning in order to prevent the long-term consequences of intoxication. This is especially important for regions where hyperbaric facilities are scarce or scattered over large distances. Progress has been made also on the study of functional brain recovery after stroke, in cardiovascular research, and in the field of toxinology. A noninvasive assessment of neurovascular coupling is of great importance. For this reason, we simultaneously studied graded responses of visually evoked cerebral blood flow (CBF) velocity responses (VEFR) and visual-evoked potentials (VEP) to visual contrasts. We concluded that a simultaneous recording of VEFR and VEP to graded visual contrasts could allow an assessment of neurovascular coupling. The work introduced a noninvasive, interdisciplinary approach to study the alterations in neurovascular coupling in various diseases. The pathogenesis and pathohistology of CSX, a syndrome characterized by anginal chest pain and normal coronary arteries on coronary angiography, is poorly understood, therefore one of our goals was to analyse morphological changes in small blood vessels of the CSX patients with increased CRP levels (above 5 mg/l). Morphological analysis of small blood vessels in EMB in CSX female patients with increased CRP levels revealed signs of inflammation and apoptosis of endothelial cells, indicating the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of CSX, and reaffiming the role of inflammatory cytokines in the development of atherosclerosis. MC-LR belongs to a family of cyanobacterial toxins. Chronic intoxication with low doses of this toxin promotes liver tumour formation and induces kidney injury. One of the goals of our programme was to study whether chronic exposure to relatively low doses of MC-LR has toxic effects on hearts of treated animals. The reuslts show that MC-LR induces enlargement of cardiomyocytes, loss of cell cross-striations, lowers myofibril volume fraction and causes mononuclear infiltration in the interstitial tissue. The TUNEL staining of the heart sections of rats in all groups showed no apoptotic cells. This allows the conclusion that long-term exposure to relatively low doses of MC-LR represents a considerable risk of injury of the heart.
Significance for the country
Relevant socio-economic achievements of the programme team P3-0019 are based on the transfer of knowledge into practice. This comprises (1.) the introduction of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional MRI (fMRI) into the planning of neurosurgical procedures (user: UKC), (2.) the development of a prototype of a measuring device operating under high magnetic fields and RF pulses (cooperation with Iskra ISD company), (3.) the contribution to European standards regarding the water quality (research in the field of ecotoxinology), (4.) the new and original approach to MR image analysis (in collaboration with NIH, Bethesda), (5.) the development of software for EKG analysis (collaboration with NASA, and company Cardiosoft). This year a long-term collaborative project has started with the company HeartWare, USA (contribution of $ 400.000).The goal of the project is to assess the effect of laminar flow produced by cardiac pumps on microcirculation in vital organs, including the brain. Programme team has organized scientific meetings (B.01), and its members have been editors of conference proceedings (C.04 and 07), have proven leadership skills (D.01, 02, 07 – 10) and have received the international recognition (E.03). The team includes a large number of university teachers, and it is active in the promotion of science. The team is active in basic as well as applied research; therefore a number of clinical scientists and practitioners have been included into the team, too. For the development of applications one young scientist from the company Iskra ISD has been included into the team. This has resulted in several applied results (F.01-06, 08, 11, 17, 19, 21, 22, 30 and 31). An important goal of our programme was the transfer of knowledge, especially the development and introduction of new diagnostic procedures (based on MR imaging and image analysis) into clinical practice. In collaboration with the company Iskra ISD a prototype of a measuring device has been developed for and tested in clinical MR tomographs. Since then it has been used for new research studies using fMRI. Research results and expertise in the field of image analysis have been applied into the clinical practice immediately. Initial transfer of knowledge consisted of the use of fMRI in neurosurgery. For each examined patient we could show the location of brain pathology in relation to cortical regions involved in movement, perception, language and speech. This has enabled neurosurgeons to plan the procedures with minimal damage to the basic functions of the brain. In Slovenia such planning of surgery has not been in use before. However, for normal functioning of the brain intact connections between different regions are crucial, and fMRI could not resolve this problem, there DTI and tractography were introduced in research and into clinical practice. This was further »upgraded« by automatic segmentation. As the new method seems to be very robust, we are developing the procedure , which will enable an automatic recognition of pathology. The importance of the achievement is the fact that all the results are tested and introduced into clinical practice, which is confirmed by the attached document written and signed by the users – neurosurgeons (V. Dolenc, who is, according to the Soc. of Neurological Surgeons, a worldwide expert on surgery of cavernous sinus and of vascular lessions). The achievement has been presented to users at several meetings, lectures to end-users, and in publications. Additional achievements comprise development of a new product (prototype), and a patent covering a device for non-invasive measurement of the compliance of small arteries.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
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Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
