Croatian medical journal
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Dishevelled (DVL) proteins, three of which have been identified in humans, are highly conserved components of canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways. These multifunctional proteins, originally discovered in the fruit fly, through their different domains mediate complex signal transduction: DIX (dishevelled, axin) and PDZ (postsynaptic density 95, discs large, zonula occludens-1) domains serve for canonical beta-catenin signaling, while PDZ and DEP (dishevelled, Egl-10, pleckstrin) domains serve for non-canonical signaling. In canonical or beta-catenin signaling, DVL forms large molecular supercomplexes at the plasma membrane consisting of Wnt-Fz-LRP5/6-DVL-AXIN. ⋯ Therefore, DVLs are considered to be key regulators that rescue cytoplasmic beta-catenin from degradation. The potential medical importance of DVLs is in both human degenerative disease and cancer. The overexpression of DVL has been shown to potentiate the activation of Wnt signaling and it is now apparent that up-regulation of DVLs is involved in several types of cancer.
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Croatian medical journal · Oct 2014
ReviewEfficacy and tolerability of mono-compound topical treatments for reduction of intraocular pressure in patients with primary open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension: an overview of reviews.
To evaluate the existing evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of topical mono-compound intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering drugs in treatment of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT). ⋯ No high quality evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of the most commonly used mono-compound IOP-lowering drugs for POAG/OHT exists. Moderate quality evidence indicates latanoprost as a treatment with the most favorable trade-off between benefits and harms.
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Croatian medical journal · Oct 2014
ReviewEfficacy and tolerability of mono-compound topical treatments for reduction of intraocular pressure in patients with primary open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension: an overview of reviews.
To evaluate the existing evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of topical mono-compound intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering drugs in treatment of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT). ⋯ No high quality evidence on relative efficacy and tolerability of the most commonly used mono-compound IOP-lowering drugs for POAG/OHT exists. Moderate quality evidence indicates latanoprost as a treatment with the most favorable trade-off between benefits and harms.
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Croatian medical journal · Aug 2014
ReviewMeasurement of cerebrospinal fluid formation and absorption by ventriculo-cisternal perfusion: what is really measured?
The generally accepted hypothesis on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hydrodynamics suggests that CSF is actively formed mainly by the choroid plexuses, circulates unidirectionally along the brain ventricles and subarachnoid space, and is passively absorbed mainly into the dural venous sinuses. CSF formation rate (Vf) has been extensively studied using the ventriculo-cisternal perfusion technique and the results have been used as the key evidence confirming the mentioned hypothesis. ⋯ This technique allows "calculation" of the CSF formation even in dead animals, in an in vitro model, and in any other part of the CSF system outside the ventricles that is being perfused. Therefore, this method is indirect and any dilution of the indicator substance in the perfusate caused by other reasons would result in questionable and often contradictory conclusions regarding CSF formation rates.
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Croatian medical journal · Aug 2014
ReviewUpdate on the core and developing cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer disease.
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder, whose prevalence will dramatically rise by 2050. Despite numerous clinical trials investigating this disease, there is still no effective treatment. Many trials showed negative or inconclusive results, possibly because they recruited only patients with severe disease, who had not undergone disease-modifying therapies in preclinical stages of AD before severe degeneration occurred. ⋯ Hence, there is an urgent need for detection and validation of novel CSF biomarkers that would enable early diagnosis of AD in asymptomatic individuals. This article reviews recent research advances on biomarkers for AD, focusing mainly on the CSF biomarkers. In addition to core CSF biomarkers, the potential usefulness of novel CSF biomarkers is discussed.