Atherosclerosis Research Lab
The Atherosclerosis Research Lab (ARL) follows the tradition of more than 30 years of lipid analyses performed at the Research Angiologic Unit, the part of 4th Department of Internal Medicine. Nowadays, ARL is a joint workplace of the Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics and the 4th Department of Internal Medicine. The present staff includes six university researches and two high school researches in the Lipid Lab Unit.
The lab specializes on lipid analytes, especially fatty acids (their profile in individual lipid classes, with possible separation by TLC and cis/trans isomer analyses) as well as minor sterols (aka noncholesterol sterols). We are also interested in lipoprotein particles; these are analyzed after sequential ultracentrifugation or in case of distribution measurements, with the help of Lipoprint® system useful for HDL/LDL particles. Other areas of interest cover the parameters of oxidative stress, both oxidatively modified lipid molecules (conjugated dienes in LDL, HODEs, sdLDL), and enzyme activities belonging to the antioxidant system (glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, paraoxonase, superoxid dismutase as well as catalase).
The ARL is also capable for analyses of homocysteine, a novel risk factor for atherosclerosis. The new methods include NO analyses in various matrices (direct NO in gaseous phase or as a result of reduction of nitrate/nitrite compounds in liquids).
The cross-talk of analytical methods with molecular biology within the last decades, and with clinical background enables us to have a deeper insight into the metabolism of the abovementioned analytes and their influence (in accordance with both classical and novel risk factors) on cardiovascular diseases, several comorbidities of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, such as GIT diseases (NAFLD/NASH), neurodegenerative diseases (depressive disorders, early/mild forms of Alzheimer dementia) and some tumors (pancreatic carcinoma). Furthermore, the relationships between the fatty acid profiles, oxidative stress and prognosis (as well as its possible changes) of critical care patients are investigated.
The ARL is one of the leading research places in the Czech Republic focused on lipids; our traditional collaborators include the Academy of Sciences (Institute of Physiology, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry), Institute of Endocrinology, the Faculty of Science of Charles University as well as the applied biomedical research (BioVendor).
The launch of the LC-MS/MS system (QqQ platform) allowed us to perform lipidomic analyses and further study of metabolic pathways connected with lipid metabolism, such as the assessment of oxidative stress and redox state: oxysterols, lactosylceramides and the oxidized/reduced glutathione ratio. The platform enables us also to gain deeper insight to lipid linked metabolic pathways such as nicotinic acid metabolome. The specialized analyses linked to nutritional state of human organism was extended with the analyses of aminoacids and bile acids (with the cooperation with the Hepatology and Gastroenterology unit).
