RESUMEN
Dementia is one of the big medical challenges of our time with Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease among its most common forms. In year 2000, 4.5 million people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the United States. In the case of Alzheimer's disease one of many contributing factors is a metabolic imbalance that leads to elevated oxidative stress levels. Consequences of this imbalance can be symptoms like apraxia, agnosia or sundowning. The use of field-effect transistors is a novel approach to study the effects of external stimuli on cells in vitro to provide researchers with a new tool for high resolution and high throughput studies to better understand cellular interaction and the effects of pharmacological compounds. In our study we use ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (FETs) to analyze the apoptosis inducing effects of hydrogen peroxide treatment on primary cells obtained from the subventricular zone of postnatal BALB/c mice. Upon apoptosis, the cell-substrate adhesion of the neurons is gradually weakened until complete detachment. In former studies we used our FET devices to conduct Electrical Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) experiments on the single cell level using morphologically different cell lines. Here we demonstrate that our novel approach of ECIS using FET devices can be expanded to primary neuronal tissue with high prospects for further studies in the field of pharmacological research.
Asunto(s)
Apoptosis/efectos de los fármacos , Técnicas Biosensibles , Ventrículos Laterales/efectos de los fármacos , Estrés Oxidativo/efectos de los fármacos , Animales , Adhesión Celular/efectos de los fármacos , Espectroscopía Dieléctrica , Peróxido de Hidrógeno/administración & dosificación , Ventrículos Laterales/citología , Ratones , Degeneración Nerviosa/tratamiento farmacológico , Degeneración Nerviosa/patología , Cultivo Primario de CélulasRESUMEN
Using a multichannel pulsed Doppler ultrasound device, studies of flow kinetics and vessel wall motility at the beginning of the internal carotid artery (ICA) were carried out. Regarding the results of special computer analysis in 120 subjects with healthy vessels, a dilation of the proximal ICA and a decrease in mean flow velocity which was related to the age of the individual could be assessed. Depending on age and risk factors, wall dyskinetics and turbulences in the dorso-lateral part of the vessel could be detected and confirmed by the flow imaging method. In a second study of 100 subjects (between 15 and 50 years of age) without risk factors, an age-dependent dilatation of ICA could be diagnosed by high resolution Duplex system. In the same study an increased incidence of wall thickening and plaques formation in the dilated area of the ICA was observed. The study of 234 patients with different risk factors showed that hypertonics developed an extended dilatation of the ICA and that wall thickening and plaque formation occurred significantly more often than in other risk groups.