Maternal overweight affects fertility and can have an impact on the offspring
Dušan Fabian, Janka Kubandová, Štefan Čikoš, Ján Burkuš, Soňa Czikková, Juraj Koppel
The relationship between mammalian body condition and reproductive disorders has been the subject of much research, with findings that have been the subject of considerable debate. The majority of clinical and experimental studies have documented the negative impact of maternal obesity in humans or overweight females resulting from increased body fat accumulation in animals on various reproductive parameters. Conversely, a number of papers report no or even a positive effect. In our study, we investigated the effect of maternal body condition on oocyte quality and zygote production and its possible impact on somatic and behavioural parameters of naturally-born offspring. The objective was to produce females with different types of body condition using a standardised two-generation animal model.
The fertilised ova of female mice with slightly increased body fat volume demonstrated an elevated number of spontaneously ovulated oocytes and a superior fertilisation index in comparison to the control group. In contrast, female mice with elevated body fat levels (both moderately and highly increased) exhibited an elevated number of immature oocytes and oocytes undergoing degeneration, a notable reduction in neutral lipid stores within the cytoplasm of mature oocytes, and a diminished reduction in signal intensity within the physiological DNA-cytosine demethylation pathway in the parental primordial nuclei of zygotes. Furthermore, the presence of a fatty maternal phenotype was associated with a reduction in the average body weight of newborn mice and mice at five weeks of age. Additionally, several deviations from normal behaviour were observed in adult offspring, as evidenced by the open field and forced swimming tests.
The results of our study indicate that alterations in maternal body condition can influence the reproductive process at multiple stages, including the earliest stages, such as during ovulation, fertilisation and the initial phase of preimplantation development in vivo. Furthermore, they may also exert an influence on the somatic parameters and behaviour of the offspring. The impact of the obesity-like phenotype is contingent upon the degree of its development (i.e. the amount of maternal fat reserves) and may affect individual reproductive parameters in disparate ways. In the majority of cases, however, the negative influence is predominant. The data also suggest that the changes observed in the offspring may have their origin in epigenetic or metabolic modifications that have already occurred during the earliest stages of embryonic development.
FABIAN, Dušan – KUBANDOVÁ, Janka – ČIKOŠ, Štefan – BURKUŠ, Ján – FABIANOVÁ, Kamila – RAČEKOVÁ, Eniko – CZIKKOVÁ, Soňa – KOPPEL, Juraj. The effect of maternal body condition on in vivo production of zygotes and behavior of delivered offspring in mice. In Theriogenology : international journal of animal reproduction Theriogenology (Los Altos), 2015, vol. 83, p. 577-589. (2014: 1.798 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.950 – SJR, Q1 – SJR, karentované – CCC). (2015 – Current Contents). ISSN 0093-691X.
Chlorophyll as a modulator of the effect of probiotics
Viola Strompfová, Ivana Kubašová, Andrea Lauková
The long-term application of probiotic strains derived from the lactic acid-producing bacteria group has the potential to disrupt the acid-base balance as a consequence of the increased production of organic acids within the digestive tract. Accordingly, a combination of the selected probiotic strain, Lactobacillus fermentum CCM 7421, and chlorophyll, a substance with mild alkalizing properties, was tested. The results obtained under in vitro conditions demonstrated the feasibility of co-application at concentrations of 0.05 to 0.25% (copper gluconate of chlorophyllin used) without detrimental impact on the growth of the probiotic strain CCM 7421, with a slight decline in numbers observed at a concentration of 1% (up to 1.1 log BUN/ml). However, the addition of 1% chlorophyllin had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of the tested staphylococci, Listeria monocytogenes and Citrobacter freundii. In an in vivo experiment, the effect of a 14-day application of chlorophyllin alone (60 mg/day/pes) as well as in combination with L. fermentum strain CCM 7421 (108 KTJ/day/pes) was tested. The number of lactic acid-producing bacteria in the faeces remained unaltered in both groups, whereas the number of coliforms exhibited a notable decline in the chlorophyllin-alone group. The combined application group exhibited a reduction in Clostridium-like bacterial counts. A buffering effect of chlorophyllin was observed in the combined group, with faecal pH values 0.7 lower in the strain-alone group compared to those in the combined group of dogs. With regard to the monitoring of nonspecific cellular immunity parameters, the addition of the strain and chlorophyllin resulted in the stimulation of the phagocytic activity of leukocytes and their respiratory burst. Therefore, the combination of a probiotic bacterium and chlorophyll is a viable and preferable option to the administration of chlorophyll alone, particularly given the thinner consistency of the faeces when chlorophyll is used alone. However, it is essential to ensure a uniform distribution of chlorophyll in the diet when using a concentrated preparation, or at the very least to administer it at different times throughout the day.
STROMPFOVÁ, Viola – KUBAŠOVÁ, Ivana – FARBÁKOVÁ, J. – GANCARČÍKOVÁ, Soňa – MUDROŇOVÁ, Dagmar – MAĎARI, Aladár – LAUKOVÁ, Andrea. Experimental application of Lactobacillus fermentum CCM 7421 in combination with chlorophyllin in dogs. In Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2015, vol. 99, p. 8681-8690. (2014: 3.337 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 1.332 – SJR, Q1 – SJR, karentované – CCC). (2015 – Current Contents). ISSN 0175-7598.
New bacteria from Varroa destructor
Slavomíra Vaníková, Peter Pristaš, Peter Javorský
Varroa destructor is the most significant and pervasive parasite in apiculture. In addition to the detrimental impact they have on the health of bees and hives, mites can also transmit a number of microbial diseases. The culturable ecto-microflora of the bee tick was studied using culture approaches. A combination of MALDI-TOF (Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization – time of flight) mass spectrometry and 16S rRNA analysis was employed to isolate and subsequently identify numerous bacterial isolates from tick bodies. The bacterial ecto-microflora of the bee tick was dominated by Gram-positive bacteria of the genera Bacillus (B. altitudinis, B. cereus) and Microbacterium (M. oxydans, M. paraoxydans). Gram-negative bacteria are represented by representatives of the genera Brevundimonas (B. vesicularis) and Rhizobium (R. radiobacter). No representatives of bacteria pathogenic to bees were detected in the study population. Furthermore, the occurrence of most of the detected species has not been observed in bees or bee products to date. Bacterial isolates related to B. altitudinis and M. oxydans are likely to represent bacterial species new to science.
VANÍKOVÁ, Slavomíra – NOSKOVÁ, Alena – PRISTAŠ, Peter – JÚDOVÁ, Jana – JAVORSKÝ, Peter. Heterotrophic bacteria associated with Varroa destructor mite. In Apidologie, 2015, vol. 46, no.3, p. 369-379. (2014: 1.676 – IF, Q1 – JCR, 0.807 – SJR, Q1 – SJR, karentované – CCC). (2015 – Current Contents). ISSN 0044-8435.
Polo-like kinase 1 orchestrates important events in the cell
Peter Šolc, Adéla Brzaková, Vladimír Baran, Alexandra Mayer, Pavlína Samalová, Jan Motlík
In a mouse oocyte model, the novel functional activities of the protein kinase PLK1 were determined. The experiments demonstrated that PLK kinase is activated during the initial stages of meiotic maturation of the oocyte in the vicinity of MTOCs (microtubule organizing centres) and subsequently on kinetochores. Initiation of meiotic maturation is accompanied by the breakdown of the nuclear membrane, a process that is independent of CDK1 activity and dependent on PLK1 kinase. Furthermore, PLK1 activity is crucial for the recruitment of centrosomal proteins to MTOCs, which regulate the formation of the division spindle and the stability of microtubule attachment to chromosome kinetochores. In light of these findings, the inhibition of PLK1 activity results in cell cycle arrest in metaphase, which subsequently leads to disruption in chromosome alignment and the activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). In contrast to the mitotic cycle, the blockage of meiosis in metaphase I is not resolved by the inactivation of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Furthermore, experiments have demonstrated that PLK1 kinase is essential for the activation of APC/C (anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome) by actively promoting the degradation of EMI1 (a physiological inhibitor of APC/C). This function of PLK1 is crucial for oocyte entry into anaphase I. Furthermore, our findings corroborate that PLK1 regulates chromosomal segregation and chromosome condensation during the transition from the first to the second meiotic division of the oocyte. Collectively, these results delineate the role of PLK1 kinase during meiotic maturation (division) of the oocyte and elucidate the distinctions between the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles.
ŠOLC, Peter – KITAJIMA, T. – YOSHIDA, S. – BRZAKOVÁ, Adéla – KAIDO, M. – BARAN, Vladimír – MAYER, A. – SAMALOVÁ, Pavlína – MOTLÍK, Jan – ELLENBERG, J. Multiple requirements of PLK1 during mouse oocyte. In PLoS ONE, 2015, vol. 10., iss. 2, article nr. e0116783. (3.234 – IF2014). ISSN 1932-6203.