To investigate the cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)/guanylate cyclase C (GC-C) -independent signaling pathway in astrocytes, which are a suitable model due to their lack of GC-C expression.Patch clamp was performed and intracellular Ca[2+] concentrations ...

Measuring brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity by positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT) via the accumulation of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) after a meal or in obese or diabetic patients fails as the method of choice. The main reason is that 18F-FDG competes with the postprandial high glucose plasma concentration for the same glucose transporter on the membrane of BAT cells. In addition, BAT uses fatty acids as a source of energy as well, which is not visible with PET-CT and could be changed along with glucose concentration in obese and diabetic patients. Therefore, to estimate the physiological importance of BAT in animals and humans, a new infrared thermography method used in recent publications is applied. After overnight fasting, BAT activity was measured by infrared thermography before and after a meal in human volunteers and female wild-type mice. The camera software calculates the object's temperature using distance from the object, skin emissivity, reflected room temperature, air temperature, and relative humidity. In mice, the shaved area above the BAT was a region of interest for which average and maximal temperatures were measured. The phase of the estrous cycle in female mice was determined after an experiment by vaginal smears stained with cresyl violet (0.1%) stain solution. In healthy volunteers, two skin areas of the neck were selected: the supraclavicular area (above the collarbone, where BAT cells are present) and the interclavicular area (between the collarbones, where there is no BAT tissue detected). BAT activity is determined by the subtraction of those two values. Also, the average and maximal temperatures of skin areas could be determined in animals and human participants. Changes in BAT activity after a meal measured by infrared thermography, a non-invasive and more sensitive method, were shown to be sex, age, and phase of the estrous cycle dependent in laboratory animals. As part of diet-induced thermogenesis, BAT activation in humans was also proven to be sex, age, and body mass index dependent. Further determining the pathophysiological changes in BAT activity after a meal will be of great importance for participants with high glucose plasma concentrations (obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2), as well as in different laboratory animals (knock-out mice). This method is also a variable tool for determining possible activating drugs that could rejuvenate BAT activity.

Introduction: Guanylate cyclase C (GC-C) has been detected in the rodent brain in neurons of the cerebral cortex, amygdala, midbrain, hypothalamus, and cerebellum.Methods: In this study we determined GC-C protein expression in Brodmann areas (BA) 9, BA10, BA11, and BA32 of the human prefrontal cortex involved in regulation of feeding behavior, as well as in the cerebellar cortex, arcuate nucleus of hypothalamus and substantia nigra in brain samples of human 21 male and 13 female brains by ELISA with postmortem delay < 24 h.Results: GC-C was found in all tested brain areas and it was expressed in neurons of the third cortical layer of BA9. The regulation of GC-C expression by feeding was found in male BA11 and BA10-M, where GC-C expression was in negative correlation to the volume of stomach content during autopsy. In female BA11 there was no correlation detected, while in BA10-M there was even positive correlation. This suggests sex differences in GC-C expression regulation in BA11 and BA10-M. The amount of GC-C was higher in female BA9 only when the death occurred shortly after a meal, while expression of GC-C was higher in BA10-O only when the stomach was empty. The expression of GC-C in female hypothalamus was lower when compared to male hypothalamus only when the stomach was full, suggesting possibly lower satiety effects of GC-C agonists in women.Discussion: These results point toward the possible role of GC-C in regulation of feeding behavior. Since, this is first study of GC-C regulation and its possible function in prefrontal cortex, to determine exact role of GC-C in different region of prefrontal cortex, especially in humans, need further studies.

To determine the changes in skin temperature and brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity throughout the estrous cycle as well as the regularity of the estrous cycle in mice.We assessed the differences in the duration of the estrous cycle and its phases between ...

Background: Patch test results obtained with the European Baseline Series (EBS) in its current version serve both contact allergy surveillance and (re‐)assessing the diagnostic value of EBS allergens. Objectives: To present results of current EBS patch testing, obtained in 59 departments in 14 European countries during 2021 and 2022. Methods: Anonymised or pseudonymised individual data, and partly aggregated results, on demographic/clinical characteristics and patch test results with the EBS were prospectively collected, centrally pooled, and retrospectively analysed. Results: In 2021 and 2022, 18 832 patients were patch tested with the EBS. Sensitization to nickel remained most common (18.85 (18.29–19.43)% positivity (95% confidence interval)). Fragrance mix I and Myroxylon pereirae resin yielded very similar results with 6.39 (6.04–6.76)% and 6.5 (6.15–6.87)% positivity, respectively. Concerning preservatives, methylchloroisothiazolinone/methylisothiazolinone (MCI/MI) 0.02% aq. yielded 5.52 (5.11–5.96)% and MI 0.2% aq. yielded 5.28 (4.94–5.64)% positives. Testing formaldehyde 2% aq. identified almost one percentage point more positive reactions than 1% aq. (2.05 (1.81–2.32)% vs. 1.22 (0.99–1.48)). Positive reactions to the recently added allergens were most frequently seen to propolis (5.47 (5.12–5.84)%) and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (3.63 (3.32–3.96)%). Conclusions: Compared to the previous reporting period, surveillance results with the EBS were mostly stable. The results regarding Quaternium 15 (0.4 (0.29–0.53)% positives) justified its exclusion from the 2023 EBS version.