In this thesis different factors that promote or inhibit heart remodelling induced by angiotensin II were studied. The following conclusions can be drawn: 1. The presence of elevated levels of Ang II in the perfusion buffer did not increase myocardial injury during ischemia-reperfusion. However, the ability to protect the heart by ischemic postconditioning was lost. This seemed to be due to ...

Albeit a rare pregnancy complication, fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) due to anti-human platelet antigen (HPA)-1a antibodies carries a significant risk of intracranial bleeding in the fetus and newborn. Reduced birth weight is another possible complication of FNAIT. Currently, there is no specific treatment to prevent or treat FNAIT, neither exist screening programs identifying ...

Oral streptococci are important members of the oral microbiome that are gathering more attention due to the presence of antimicrobial resistance determinants and their association with mobile genetic elements. Mobile genetic elements such as the ICE, Tn916 are abundant in bacterial populations and have been implicated in the spread of antibiotic resistance. Despite their abundance, little is known ...

Prescriptions of antibiotics in Norway, and the effect of antibiotics on bacteria were investigated. The aim was to describe the consumption of antibiotics through prescriptions to patients and address how antibiotics can favour bacterial resistance. Several methods were applied, multivariate statistics, quantile regression and mathematical modelling of experimental conditions aided in the investigations. ...

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Challenges related to drug resistance, side effects, and poor response rates makes cancer treatment complicated. However, different forms of immunotherapy have been effective for some cancer patients. Oncolytic therapies which can be administered directly intratumorally represent a promising form of immunotherapy. The aim of oncolytic therapies ...

Infections caused by bacteria are the third leading cause of death worldwide. Antimicrobials are used to treat and prevent those infections and enabled the development of the modern healthcare system as we know it. However, those achievements are threatened by the global emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. There is an obvious need for developing new antimicrobials. Natural environments, ...

Appropriate antibiotic prescribing is associated with favourable levels of antimicrobial resistance and clinical outcomes. Literature has indicated that antibiotic treatment of hospitalised patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the leading cause of death due to infection in adults worldwide, have potential for improvement. The overall aim of this PhD-work has been to promote appropriate ...

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a treatment for mild-to-moderate upper extremity motor dysfunction in post-stroke patients. However, as the ideal time to initiate post-stroke treatment remains uncertain, more information is needed regarding the effects of CIMT and arm use in the early stages of stroke recovery. This thesis aimed to: 1) examine the correlations between arm motor ...

Despite differences in epidemiology, pathology, and treatment, growing evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between venous thromboembolism (VTE), a collective term for pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and arterial cardiovascular diseases (CVD, i.e., myocardial infarction [MI] and ischemic stroke). The aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of atherosclerosis, ...

Pain is a major burden both for affected individuals and for society. While it has been established that processing in the brain is key to the experience of pain, most of the research is done in healthy volunteers or patients with specific pain conditions. Less is known about how the status of the brain may relate to pain sensitivity in the general population. While clinical pain can differ because ...