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Glaucoma is a heterogenous, chronic, progressive group of eye diseases, which results in irreversible loss of vision. There are several types of glaucoma, whereas the primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) constitutes the most common type of glaucoma, accounting for three-quarters of all glaucoma cases. The pathological mechanisms leading to POAG pathogenesis are multifactorial and still poorly understood, but it is commonly known that significantly elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) plays a crucial role in POAG pathogenesis. Besides, genetic predisposition and aggregation of abrogated proteins within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen and subsequent activation of the protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-dependent unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway may also constitute important factors for POAG pathogenesis at the molecular level. Glaucoma is commonly known as a 'silent thief of sight', as it remains asymptomatic until later stages, and thus its diagnosis is frequently delayed. Thereby, detailed knowledge about the glaucoma pathophysiology is necessary to develop both biochemical and genetic tests to improve its early diagnosis as well as develop a novel, ground-breaking treatment strategy, as currently used medical therapies against glaucoma are limited and may evoke numerous adverse side-effects in patients.

Higher prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases is strictly connected with progressive aging of the world population. Interestingly, a broad range of age-related, neurodegenerative diseases is characterized by a common pathological mechanism-accumulation of misfolded and unfolded proteins within the cells. Under certain circumstances, such protein aggregates may evoke endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress conditions and subsequent activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathways via the protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-dependent manner. Under mild to moderate ER stress, UPR has a pro-adaptive role. However, severe or long-termed ER stress conditions directly evoke shift of the UPR toward its pro-apoptotic branch, which is considered to be a possible cause of neurodegeneration. To this day, there is no effective cure for Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), or prion disease. Currently available treatment approaches for these diseases are only symptomatic and cannot affect the disease progression. Treatment strategies, currently under detailed research, include inhibition of the PERK-dependent UPR signaling branches. The newest data have reported that the use of small-molecule inhibitors of the PERK-mediated signaling branches may contribute to the development of a novel, ground-breaking therapeutic approach for neurodegeneration. In this review, we critically describe all the aspects associated with such targeted therapy against neurodegenerative proteopathies.

Purpose: The main aim of this study was investigate the association between the genetic polymorphism of antioxidant enzyme genes: SOD1, CAT and GSHPX1 and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in the Polish population., Methods: A total of 445 subjects including 200 patients with IBD and 245 controls were allowed in this study. We determined activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx1) and examination their association with the SNPs of respective genes ( SOD1 +35A/C, CAT C-262T and GSHPX1 Pro197Leu). RFLP technique was used to determine the selected genes polymorphisms. Antioxidant enzymes activity were evaluated in erythrocyte hemolysate of 23 patients with non-active IBD and 30 healthy participants., Results: The A/C genotype and the C allele frequencies of A/C polymorphism of SOD1 gene were significantly associated with the reduced risk of IBD (OR=0.43; 95% CI 0.23; 0.83). Alike, C/T (OR=0.45; 95% CI= 0.29; 0.70) and T/T genotype (OR=0.43; 95% CI= 0.21; 0.87) of GSHPX1 gene polymorphism diminished the susceptibility to IBD. A significant decrease of CAT ( P =0.028) and increase of GPx1 ( P =0.025) enzyme activities were seen in IBD patients compared to control., Conclusions: Our data confirm dysregulated antioxidant capacity in patients suffering from IBD. Both, the SOD1 A/C genotype as well as GSHPX1 C/T and T/T genotypes may be associated with a reduction risk of IBD in the Polish population., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Introduction: Dizziness is a common complaint among patients seen by primary care physicians, neurologist and otolaryngologist. It presents difficult clinical and diagnostic problems., Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and incidence of dizziness in the general population of the town and district Bytów, northern Poland, and to describe its clinical characteristics., Material and Methods: Epidemiological questionnaires were completed by 4,799 inhabitants of the town and district of Bytów. All participants were randomly selected from the patients' list of the Family Health Centre 'Salus' in Bytów. The main variables studied were gender, age, school education, work situation, clinical characteristics of dizziness symptoms and circumstances provoking dizziness., Results: Prevalence of dizziness was diagnosed among 16.4% of the inhabitants of the town and district of Bytów. Symptoms of dizziness appeared more often among the elderly and among women. Among young people, the condition shows as vertigo or presyncope, among people aged 50 or older, the condition showed as disequilibrium. The most common precipitant of dizziness was postural change. Dizziness was more likely to occur among those suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, increased blood lipids, hypothyroidism, cardiac arrhythmia and depression. Dizziness was more likely to occur among women using OCS or HRT, and individuals taking anti-epileptic drugs., Conclusions: The authors present the first Polish neurootologic survey of epidemiology of dizziness in the general population. This condition is common in the general population, and this study indicates its prevalence in 16.4% of the inhabitants of the town and district of Bytów. It is recommendable that epidemiological studies should be carried out.