Department of Physiological Sciences

Chemoresistance : intricate interplay between breast tumor cells and adipocytes in the tumor microenvironment

Mentoor, Ilze; Engelbrecht, Anna-Mart; Van Jaarsveld, Paul J.; Nell, Theo (Frontiers Media, 2018-12-11)

Excess adipose tissue is a hallmark of an overweight and/or obese state as well as a primary risk factor for breast cancer development and progression. In an overweight/obese state adipose tissue becomes dysfunctional due ...

C-reactive protein is elevated only in high creatine kinase responders to muscle damaging exercise

Isaacs, Ashwin W.; Macaluso, Filippo; Smith, Carine; Myburgh, Kathryn H. (Frontiers Media, 2017-02-11)

The purpose of this study was to investigate if exertional rhabdomyolysis induced by an acute bout of plyometric exercise in untrained individuals was associated with histological characteristics of skeletal muscle, creatine ...

Investigating the effects of diet-induced obesity on acute Doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in a tumour-bearing model

Bock, Bianca Annina (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Introduction: Obesity is a well-known global pandemic that is fundamentally caused by an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. A major consequence to obesity are metabolic ...

A matter of life or death : autophagy in the context of prolonged doxorubicin therapy

Adonis, Muneeb (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Introduction Doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective treatment against a variety of cancers, and thus remains a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug. The chief side effect of DOX treatment is cardiotoxicity. ...

Dynamic interactions between skeletal muscle and breast cancer cells following chemotherapeutic treatment

Conradie, Daleen (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer found among women of South Africa with the prominent effective form of treatment being chemotherapy. Many cancer patients receiving chemotherapeutic ...

Harnessing Macrophages for Controlled-Release Drug Delivery : lessons From Microbes

Visser, Johan Georg; Du Preez Van Staden, Anton; Smith, Carine (Frontiers Media, 2019)

With the effectiveness of therapeutic agents ever decreasing and the increased incidence of multi-drug resistant pathogens, there is a clear need for administration of more potent, potentially more toxic, drugs. Alternatively, ...

Glycation abolishes the cardioprotective effects of albumin during ex vivo ischemia-reperfusion

Mapanga, Rudo F.; Joseph, Danzil E.; Saieva, Marco; Boyer, Florence; Rondeau, Philippe; Bourdon, Emmanuel; Essop, M. Faadiel (Wiley Open Access, 2017)

Hyperglycemia‐induced oxidative stress plays a key role in the onset/progression of cardiovascular diseases. For example, it can trigger formation of advanced glycation end (AGE) products with ischemia‐reperfusion performed ...

Potential for modulation of cancer-associated oxidative stress : an in vitro investigation

Tunstall, Rebecca (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04)

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While cancer is a chronic, complex disease associated with a multitude of steps in its initiation and progression, all cancers generally have similar underlying maladaptive physiological mechanisms which ...

Efficacy of lantibiotic treatment of staphylococcus aureus-induced skin infections, monitored by in vivo bioluminescent imaging

Van Staden, Anton Du Preez (American Society for Microbiology, 2016)

Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterial pathogen responsible for the majority of skin and soft tissue infections. Antibiotics are losing their efficacy as treatment for skin and soft tissue infections as a result of increased ...

Influence of lifestyle choices on metabolic risk has distinct gender and age differences

Smith, Carine; Essop, Mogammad Faadiel (Medknow Publications, 2014)

Background and Aim: We aimed to determine the incidence of metabolic syndrome risk factors in young and older university campus population. The infl uence of life-style choices on the physiological risk profi le was also ...

Assessment of endocrine stress status in athletes – new twists to the tale

Smith, C.; Myburgh, Kathryn H. (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2005)

Objective. Cortisol concentration at rest seems to be an insensitive marker for endocrine stress status in athletes. Therefore, the aim of this review was to identify potentially more sensitive parameters which could ...

The human transketolase-like proteins TKTL1 and TKTL2 are bona fide transketolases

Deshpande, Gaurang P.; Patterton, Hugh-George; Faadiel Essop, M. (BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2019-01-15)

Background: Three transketolase genes have been identified in the human genome to date: transketolase (TKT), transketolase-like 1 (TKTL1) and transketolase-like 2 (TKTL2). Altered TKT functionality is strongly implicated ...

Investigation of circulating extracellular vesicle microRNA following two consecutive bouts of muscle-damaging exercise

Lovett, Jason A. C.; Durcan, Peter J.; Myburgh, Kathryn H. (Frontiers Media, 2018-08-20)

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized vesicles that are known to be powerful mediators of intercellular communication via their microRNA (miR) content. A paucity of information on EV-mediated communication ...

Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) reverses the amyloid state of fibrin seen in plasma of type 2 diabetics with cardiovascular comorbidities

Pretorius, Etheresia; Mbotwe, Sthembile; Kell, Douglas B. (Nature Research, 2017-08-29)

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has many cardiovascular complications, including a thrombotic propensity. Many such chronic, inflammatory diseases are accompanied (and may be exacerbated, and possibly even largely caused) by amyloid ...