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Preventive effects of folic acid in nutrition
Chalánková, Veronika ; Bušová, Milena (advisor) ; Tláskal, Petr (referee)
This thesis is focused on folic acid and its preventive effects on human health. Folic acid has many important functions in the human body and is especially important during pregnancy. It is essential for the proper development of the fetus and its adequate intake is the prevention of serious congenital malformations, such as neural tube defects, premature birth, abortion and other pathologies. The increased need for this vitamin is not easy to supplement with a regular diet. It is therefore recommended to take it in the form of food supplements (400-600 µg/day) during pregnancy and at least one month before the planned conception. For these reasons, it is necessary to focus on supporting the primary prevention of folic acid use, preferably in all fertile women. Folic acid also plays a crucial role in hematopoiesis and the main manifestation of its deficiency is megaloblastic anemia. Folic acid is further associated with the prevention of cardiovascular and cancer diseases and influencing the development of cognitive functions. The practical part of this thesis was focused on monitoring the saturation of pregnant women with this vitamin. The work contains a laboratory analysis of the content of the metabolite folic acid 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) in the urine of pregnant women in order to...
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The importance and need of folic acid during pregnancy
Mádle, Zuzana ; Starnovská, Tamara (advisor) ; Karbanová, Miroslava (referee)
Pregnancy places great strain upon the body of a woman. Many things contribute to a successful pregnancy, such as healthy eating habits, healthy lifestyle, adequate physical activity, fresh air, good mental health. It is recommended to begin folic acid supplementation even before conception. Folic acid, known as folate, is one of the B vitamins. Pregnancy places greater need for folic acid intake, especially in the early stages, where insufficiency or even deficiency can manifest in a pathological pregnancy, oftentimes fatal. The specific link between the two is not yet very well known. However, several studies have confirmed that there is a positive effect that comes with increased folic acid intake before conception and during the first few weeks of pregnancy, most notably reduced occurrence of neural tube birth defects. General population generally doesn't have adequate intake of folic acid, so there is usually a folic acid deficit before and during pregnancy as well. This can be countered by consuming food high in folate, targeted food enrichment or direct consumption of supplements containing folic acid. The Czech Republic currently doesn't enrich food with folic acid, therefore it is recommended to increase its intake via supplementation. Research investigation through paper questionnaires...
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Folate and its role in early embryonic development of higher vertebrates.
Zahradníková, Hana ; Tlapáková, Tereza (advisor) ; Procházková, Michaela (referee)
Folate or vitamin B9 is an essential water-soluble nutrient that takes part in important cellular processes. These include amino acid metabolism, methylation, and nucleotide synthesis, the last two of which play a key role in early embryonic development. It was approximately 30 years ago when folic acid supplementation was confirmed to help prevent embryonic neural tube defects and since then an intake of 400 µg of folate a day has been recommended to all women of childbearing age. Despite this, folate deficiency is a relatively common phenomenon and during pregnancy can lead to congenital malformations and pregnancy complications. This bachelor thesis summarizes the latest findings on the association of neural tube defects and miscarriages with single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding folate metabolism enzymes in humans, focusing mainly on the gene encoding the enzyme 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). Furthermore, this thesis deals with potential mechanisms of the folate's protective effect which could participate in the prevention of neural tube defects and are studied mainly on model organisms. Key words: folate, embryo, neural tube defects, MTHFR, homocysteine, miscarriage, single-nucleotide polymorphisms
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Generation and Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II (GCPII)-Deficient Mice
Vorlová, Barbora ; Šácha, Pavel (advisor) ; Eckschlager, Tomáš (referee) ; Bařinka, Cyril (referee)
Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) is a transmembrane glycoprotein, which consists of short intracellular and transmembrane domains, and a large extracellular domain possessing carboxypeptidase activity. In the human body, GCPII fulfils a neuromodulatory function in the brain and facilitates folate absorption in the small intestine. In addition to the brain and small intestine, high level of GCPII is also present in the prostate and kidney. However, GCPII function in these tissues has not been determined yet. To study the role of GCPII in detail, several research groups attempted to inactivate GCPII encoding gene Folh1 in mice. Surprisingly, the experiments led to rather conflicting results ranging from embryonic lethality to generation of viable GCPII-deficient mice without any obvious phenotype. This dissertation project aimed to dissect the discrepancy using alternative strategy for gene modification. For this purpose, we designed TALENs that specifically targeted exon 11 of Folh1 gene and manipulated mouse zygotes of C57BL/6NCrl genetic background. We analysed all genetically modified mice of F0 generation for presence of TALEN-mediated mutations and established 5 different GCPII-mutant mouse colonies from founder mice that altogether carried 2 frame-shift mutations and 3 small in-frame...
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Variability of skin colour: causes and implications
Mašek, Jan ; Černý, Viktor (advisor) ; Hora, Martin (referee)
Melanin acts as a solar radiation filter. Genes are responsible for the amount and the type of the melanin produced, however also an UV radiation is able to induce a melanin synthesis. It appears that the UV radiation has been the determining factor in the human evolution to which the skin colour had to adapt. The original colour of skin was fair and pigmentation has developed after the loss of fur. High levels of UV radiation in equatorial Africa presented a selection pressure for dark pigmentation due to its negative effect on skin. On the other hand, it is important that the skin is bright enough so that a part of the UV radiation could pass through and launch the synthesis of vitamin D. When anatomically modern humans spread out of Africa, a decrease in pigmentation occurred in order to adapt for new levels of the UV radiation in new regions. Nutrition and sexual selection also have an effect on the formation of the skin colour but they have rather secondary importance. The variability of this trait is high between populations but very low within the populations, what testifies to a very intense natural selection. It has also been proven that there is a connection between civilization diseases, such as cancer. Differences in the skin colour have also been and still are important for social...
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