Research areas

Research areas

This newly established Centre is focused on areas within three major fields: oncologic research, cardiologic research and degenerative diseases linked to ageing. Among the goals of the research centre integrated in one complex project are the following:

1. The isolation and identification of potentially biologically-active natural substances (primarily flavonoids, phenolic acids, phytoestrogens and carotenoids) as well as the confirmation of their anti-oxidation activity and the possibilities of their use in the prevention and treatment of lifestyle diseases and degenerative diseases linked to ageing. The next part of this research will be the development of a process for the isolation of biologically-active substances, to be followed with new analytical methods for the determination of these substances in particular plant materials, leading to the study of their stability and an assessment of their anti-oxidation activity. Selected isolated biologically-active substances will be tested in vitro using selected enzymes as potential places of activity inhibition. Attention will be focused on the glycation of proteins as an important ageing factor.
2. The study of biologically-active natural substances with a great potential to affect key enzymes in oncological therapy using anthracycline drugs. These substances will be tested with enzymes in vitro for the confirmation of their inhibition potential. New human reductases with a potential impact on resistance in tumor therapy will be purified, characterized and isolated. New and modern analytical procedures (HPLC/FD, HPLC/MS, UHPLC/MS/MS) used for the analyses of biological active substances in various kinds of biological materials e.g. markers of activation of the immunity system for monitoring of tumor diseases (neopterin), antioxidants (vitamins A and E) and selected newly used statins and their metabolites in human serum, will be developed and validated.
3. The isolation and identification of biological active substances of natural origin using cholinesterase activity (AChE) and butyrylcholiesterase activity (BuChE), particularly from selected plants of the Amaryllidaceae, Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae families. This could contribute to the development of new potential drugs within the scope of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s. The most active of the isolated substances will be subjected to in vitro tests on the duality effect (both cholinesterases) and on the effect on β-secretases and muscarine receptors. Considering the fact that oxidation stress contributes significantly to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, the isolated substances are studies in terms of their anti-oxidative activity (DPPH test, ABTS+ radical and Fe-chelating activity). Analogues or derivatives of the isolated substances could be prepared to broaden the portfolio of tested substances, and these analogues or derivatives could be tested in same way as the original substances.
4. To study the possibility of a decrease in high levels of plasmatic lipids (LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) as one of the most important steps in the prevention and treatment of civilization cardiovascular diseases. In most cases treatment takes the form of an interference phenotype or an insufficient change in lifestyle, thus it is necessary to use pharmacological therapy. Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase, are the well tolerated drug of choice for patients with dyslipidemia, which leads to atherosclerosis and an increased risk of heart attack. A huge variability in the effects following the same therapy for different patients has been proven, and it is obvious that it is mainly caused by the different genetic background of each patient. There is evidence of the importance of polymorphisms and genetic variants in the apoproteins (apoE, apoAV, apoAI) and enzymes (P4503A4, hepatic lipase, P4507A1) which affect the efficiency of treatment with different statins. The analysis of statins newly used in therapy (rosuvastatin, pitavastatin) along with pharmacokinetic study on animal and human models enable the detection of potentially different responses of individuals to therapy according to genotype, thus the pharmacological effect of such treatments of cardiovascular diseases may be improved.