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Vliv personality proaktivní vs reaktivní u okouna říčního na náchylnost k infekci Aeromonas sp.
ČERNÝ, Jan
The existence of intra-specific differences in the life strategies of animals is described by the so-called proactive and reactive personality, where proactive individuals are characterized by a higher willingness to take risks and explore new environments compared to reactive individuals who choose a passive and inactive approach to new challenges in the environment. This concept is often defined in fish as the shy-bold continuum, with the bold individual (BI) exhibiting proactive behaviour and the shy individual (SI) typically exhibiting a reactive approach. Several studies have already been written confirming the influence of personality on fish performance traits, such as growth in three spined-sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) or stress tolerance in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) or rainbow trout (Onchorhyncus mykkis). The aim of our experiment was to describe the existence of a link between personality and immunological resistance to Aeromonas sp. infection and stress tolerance in European perch. In our experiment, 1000 European perch were subjected to two behavioral tests for personality (open field, number of cm swum in 30 min; novel object, exploring zones of proximity to an unknown object). The top 20 BI fish (highest values in both tests) and the top 20 SI fish (zero values in both tests) were selected. Representatives of both behavioral groups BI and SI were then subjected to an induction stress challenge (lowering the tank level to 5 cm above the dorsal fin) and then metabolic activity values (ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, glucose, osmolytes, and cortisol) were measured, with the only significant difference shown by cortisol concentration (2.5-fold higher in SI compared to BI 30 min after stimulation and 5-fold higher in SI compared to BI in control). In immunological resistance testing, phagocytic capacity (natural immunity) was assessed first, and no significant differences were observed between SI and BI groups. Next, head kidney and peritoneal cells from representatives of the BI and SI groups were stimulated in vivo with A. salmonicida infection and then RNA was extracted to analyze gene expression of 46 immune genes 1, 3 and 7 days after stimulation to assess the adaptive immune system response. A 1.2-1.3-fold increase in the level of the ighm gene was observed in the head kidney of BI versus SI 1 day after stimulation, while the level of the identical gene showed a 2.2-fold increase in BI versus SI peritoneal cells. Furthermore, an increase in gene levels was observed in BI compared with SI for cc125 (1.2-fold in the head kidney) and Cd74 (1.3-1.5-fold in both peritoneum and head kidney). The results of this work suggest that personality has a significant effect on stress tolerance, does not affect natural immunity, but does affect the level of the adaptive immune system in European perch, with BI individuals appearing to be more resistant to both stress and infection by Aeromonas hydrophila.
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Use of animal models in the study of the mechanisms of subjective tinnitus.
Dittrichová, Jana ; Tureček, Rostislav (advisor) ; Kašík, Petr (referee)
Tinnitus, phantom hearing sensation, is one of the major audiological disorders affecting a significant proportion of the human population. However, the mechanisms underlying this condition remain unclear. Animal models represent an important tool in the investigation of the pathogenesis of hearing diseases. The present bachelor thesis reviews the most important findings on the possibilities of detecting tinnitus in laboratory animals, especially rats and mice, its neural correlates in the mammalian auditory system, as well as the risk factors that lead to its development and maintenance. It was found that the most common causes of tinnitus are sensorineural hearing loss induced by exposure of animals to excessive noise or ototoxic agents, as well as their genetic predisposition. These factors cause maladaptive changes in the central auditory pathway that are likely responsible for the chronic course of the disease. The changes found include, in particular, hyperactivity of neurons of the auditory nuclei of the brainstem and increased synchrony in the area of the primary auditory cortex. Using animal models, it was also found that a significant proportion of the observed pathophysiological changes result from attenuated GABAergic inhibition in the auditory pathway. This suggested a direction for...
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Beneficial Effects of 11β-HSD1 Inhibition on Cognitive Performance in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
Červinková, Tereza ; Červený, Lukáš (advisor) ; Musílek, Kamil (referee)
Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Candidate: Tereza Červinková Supervisor: PharmDr. Lukáš Červený, Ph.D. Title: Beneficial Effects of 11β-HSD1 Inhibition on Cognitive Performance in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease The increased life expectancy goes hand in hand with ageing-related cognitive impairments. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia being an irreversible and progressive brain disorder with loss of cognitive functions. Recent studies suggest that excess of glucocorticoid (GC) action exerts deleterious effects on the hippocampus and causes impaired spatialmemory. In addition, it has been demonstrated that aged mice with cognitive deficits show increased gene expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) in the hippocampus and parietal cortex. The Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone 8 (SAMP8) strain is a spontaneous animal model of accelerated ageing. Many studies indicate that SAMP8 harbour the behavioural and histopathological signatures of AD. In the present study, we evaluated the neuroprotective effects of 11β-HSD1 inhibition by a potent pyrrolidine-based compound RL-118 and/or effects of diet on cognitive performance in different groups of SAMP8 by conducting behavioural and...
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Beneficial Effects of 11β-HSD1 Inhibition on Cognitive Performance in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
Červinková, Tereza ; Červený, Lukáš (advisor) ; Musílek, Kamil (referee)
Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Candidate: Tereza Červinková Supervisor: PharmDr. Lukáš Červený, Ph.D. Title: Beneficial Effects of 11β-HSD1 Inhibition on Cognitive Performance in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease The increased life expectancy goes hand in hand with ageing-related cognitive impairments. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia being an irreversible and progressive brain disorder with loss of cognitive functions. Recent studies suggest that excess of glucocorticoid (GC) action exerts deleterious effects on the hippocampus and causes impaired spatialmemory. In addition, it has been demonstrated that aged mice with cognitive deficits show increased gene expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) in the hippocampus and parietal cortex. The Senescence-Accelerated Mouse Prone 8 (SAMP8) strain is a spontaneous animal model of accelerated ageing. Many studies indicate that SAMP8 harbour the behavioural and histopathological signatures of AD. In the present study, we evaluated the neuroprotective effects of 11β-HSD1 inhibition by a potent pyrrolidine-based compound RL-118 and/or effects of diet on cognitive performance in different groups of SAMP8 by conducting behavioural and...
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Application of new methods and technologies in mice models of autism research
Nováková, Rozálie ; Kubik-Zahorodna, Agnieszka (advisor) ; Telenský, Petr (referee)
Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting around 2 % of the world's population. The underlying pathology is still unknown, but it seems that this disorder might be caused by a complex combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. ASD individuals suffer not only from repetitive behavior, abnormal social behavior and impaired communication but also from many comorbid disorders. ASD mouse models offer a deeper insight into the pathology of ASD, possibly leading to the development of treatments, or even a cure. Since there are over a thousand risk-genes for ASD, and therefore many ASD mouse models, there is an increased pressure to develop new, effective, and more automatized behavioral assays. Two examples of this would be Intellicage and Digitally Ventilated Cage (DVC), where an explicit advantage to these systems is that they can both function as a home cage. Intellicage is a fully-automized home cage designed for the high-throughput and long-term investigation of spontaneous behavior and cognitive abilities of mice, and DVC, a standard IVC cage continuously measuring a mouse's activity. These may become useful tools not only for animal models of Autism Spectrum Disorder, but all studies involving behavioral assays.
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Inter-individual differences in behaviour of laboratory rats
Rudolfová, Veronika ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee)
Number of studies report that even when experimental animals are subjected to the exact same conditions, they differ in their behaviour. If these differences were stable in time and across several experimental procedures, we could talk about personality. This diploma thesis studies inter-individual differences in behaviour of laboratory rats (Long Evans strain) in a series of experiments conducted in early ontogeny and in adult age. Apart from analysing inter-individual differences in behaviour and personality of experimental animals, this thesis has two main aims. The first aim is assessing stability of inter-individual differences in behaviour throughout ontogeny. The second aim is to explore possible link between inter-individual differences in behaviour and performance in cognitive tests. We confirmed the existence of inter-individual difference in behaviour in laboratory rats. In this thesis we were, however, not able to assess personality of experimental animals. The differences in behaviour were best described by behaviour in Open field test and Elevated plus maze test. Our results also show marked differences between successive trials of these experiments. We also report that performance in Active allothetic place avoidance is not linked to performance in Morris water maze, even though both...
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Curcumin in the treatment of traumatic spinal cord injury
Kloudová, Anna ; Machová Urdzíková, Lucia (advisor) ; Martončíková, Marcela (referee)
Spinal cord injury is a very significant clinical as well as social problem with extensive consequences, affecting the patient and also his/her family. Great efforts have been devoted to searching for an effective treatment, which would improve their situation. This thesis evaluated the effects of the natural compound curcumin on spinal cord injury using an experimental balloon compression model. Male Wistar rats were randomized into two groups following the lesion induction, namely vehicle- or curcumin-treated. The behavioral recovery was evaluated using a set of locomotor and sensory tests and a histological and imunohistochemical analysis was performed. The qPCR method was used to observe the expression of some genes related to regeneration and immune response. It was demonstrated that curcumin improved locomotor recovery after the spinal cord injury, particularly in the early stages. Morphometric analysis of the gray and white matter sparing didn't confirm any differences between the two groups. Nevertheless, the glial scar formation was significantly reduced around the central part of the lesion in the curcumin treated group and also the NF-κB activity was substantially inhibited. The gene expression analysis demontrated downregulation of Gfap and Rantes genes and upregulation of the Irf5 gene...
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The role of whiskers in compensation of visual deficit and the influence of a neurodegenerative disorder on cross-modal compensation in a mousse model of retinal and olivocerebellar degeneration
Voller, Jaroslav ; Vožeh, František (advisor) ; Jagla, Fedor (referee) ; Mysliveček, Jaromír (referee)
Sensory deprivation in one modality can enhance the development of the remaining modalities via mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. Mice of C3H strain suffers from RD1 retinal degeneration that leads to visual impairment at weaning age. Independently on the retinal degeneration there is also present olivocerebellar degeneration caused by Lurcher mutation. This neurodegenerative disorder causes motor deficits, increased CNS excitability as well as changes in synaptic plasticity. The aim of this study was to evaluate a role of whiskers in compensation of the visual deficit and to assess the influence of the olivocerebellar degeneration on this process. To differentiate contribution of the whiskers from other mechanisms that can take part in the compensation, we investigated the effect of both chronic and acute tactile deprivation. We focused on motor skills (rotarod, beam walking test), gait control (CatWalk system), spontaneous motor activity (open field) and the CNS excitability (audiogenic epilepsy). In the seeing mice without olivocerebellar degeneration, the removal of the whiskers had no effect. In the blind animals without olivocerebellar degeneration, chronic tactile deprivation caused changes in gait and impaired the performance in motor tests. Some other compensatory mechanisms were involved but the...
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Zebrafish as a model to study the glutamate receptor mediated excitatory neurotrasmission
Chumchal, Lukáš ; Balík, Aleš (advisor) ; Pangrácová, Marie (referee)
Glutamate is the most prominent excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate brain and is used by most synaptic connections in the cortex. Signal transduction on these neurons is mediated by ionotropic glutamate receptors, including the NMDA receptor family. With the development of molecular biological methods and the advent of genomics, genetic changes found in ionotropic glutamate receptors were tested, as well as substances that modulate their activity. Since a large number of genetic changes found, rodents have ceased to be a sufficiently robust system for some, for example, behavioural studies. In these types of studies, the model organism Danio rerio could replace rodents. The use of this model organism could thus expand knowledge about the evolution and physiology of glutamate receptors. This work aims to summarize the current knowledge about the use of Dania rerio in the research of glutamate receptors, especially NMDA type in the central nervous system. This work also focuses on the description of specific behavioural tests available for the analysis of these receptors.
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Application of new methods and technologies in mice models of autism research
Nováková, Rozálie ; Kubik-Zahorodna, Agnieszka (advisor) ; Telenský, Petr (referee)
Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting around 2 % of the world's population. The underlying pathology is still unknown, but it seems that this disorder might be caused by a complex combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. ASD individuals suffer not only from repetitive behavior, abnormal social behavior and impaired communication but also from many comorbid disorders. ASD mouse models offer a deeper insight into the pathology of ASD, possibly leading to the development of treatments, or even a cure. Since there are over a thousand risk-genes for ASD, and therefore many ASD mouse models, there is an increased pressure to develop new, effective, and more automatized behavioral assays. Two examples of this would be Intellicage and Digitally Ventilated Cage (DVC), where an explicit advantage to these systems is that they can both function as a home cage. Intellicage is a fully-automized home cage designed for the high-throughput and long-term investigation of spontaneous behavior and cognitive abilities of mice, and DVC, a standard IVC cage continuously measuring a mouse's activity. These may become useful tools not only for animal models of Autism Spectrum Disorder, but all studies involving behavioral assays.
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