Dr. Lucijan MohorovicUniversity of Zagreb, Faculty of Medicine Rijeka, Croatia
Biography
Dr Lucijan Mohorovic attained his MD, and specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology, from the School of Medicine of the University of Rijeka. His specialist education continued with Postgraduate studies in Social medicine and Ecology, obtain the Mr.sc. with a thesis :The social and economic impacts on demographic growth of population in Labin district from 1869-1910?), Rijeka1983 , after which he completed his PhD Doctorate in Medicine with a thesis entitled: " THE INFLUENCE OF COAL COMBUSTION PRODUCTS ON THE COURSE OF PREGNANCY AND ITS OUTCOME IN MICRO- REGIONAL CONDITIONS?.
He is currently engaged as a Research Assistant at the Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine of the University of Rijeka, For more than 20 years he has focused on the protection of a healthy environment, originating from medical praxis in obstetric and gynecological primary care and long-term empirical observation of, and scientific research into, coal burning products which are harmful to reproductive health in the air-polluted environment around a coal power plant.
Research interest.Claimed to hypothesis, for people who continuously inhale environmental toxins in fuel burning products, methemoglobin as a product of hemoglobin oxidation takes on an important role, causing increased systemic oxidative stress of vital organs.
Strong exogenous oxidants such as NOx (nitrogen oxides: NO and
NO2) reversibly oxidize oxyhemoglobin (Fe2+) to methemoglobin
(Fe3+), and irreversible methemoglobinemia can arise because of
the disruption of the oxidant/antioxidant balance, supported by the
synergic SO2 metabolites degradation of antioxidant thiols. The
formation of methemoglobin-ferric iron (Fe3+) from hemoglobin ferrous iron (Fe2+) leads to the destruction of erythrocytes, so that free hemoglobin from hemolysis can be directly cytotoxic and can alter the state of endothelial cells and cause endothelial dysfunction. From methemoglobin and heme catabolism, cytotoxic redox-active ferric iron is released into the bloodstream, which contributes to endothelial injury and the development of neurovascular diseases Vascular endothelial cells are direct targets for free hemoglobin and for its oxidative derivative methemoglobin which readily releases heme, an abundant source of redox-active ferric iron which impacts on brain vascular endothelial dysfunction and apoptosis performing ferric-iron brain accumulation on the endothelium and cause brain capillary defects, and gradually manifest harmful effects on the brain from maternal/fetal complications in pregnancy, which manifest in new-born hyperbilirubinemia, mild disorders among children and adults such as dyslexia, and/or learning and memory deficiencies in the ageing process, and to significant neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer?s disease, Parkinson?s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Research Interest
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis