The Department of Physiology studies the molecular mechanisms of redox signaling and the maintenance of redox balance in homeostasis, adaptation and pathology. The research is oriented in two directions:
1. Biomedical and
2. ecophysiological research.

Biomedical research includes the study of the influence of various substances on the redox status in the tissues of laboratory animals: the role of plant extracts in redox-mediated contractility, the redox effects of atypical antipsychotics, the influence of various dietary supplements, studies of redox physiology and metallomics in various pathological conditions in humans, tests of various dietary supplements and drugs in laboratory animals, etc.

Ecophysiological research is carried out on various species of invertebrates and vertebrates under ex situ conditions (mussels, fish, amphibians, reptiles). The effects of diurnal activity fluctuations, hibernation, cosmetic additives, the influence of traffic noise, nanoparticles, herbicides and artificial light are investigated.

Research on laboratory animals is conducted in accordance with the principles of the institutional and national ethics committees, the ARRIVA (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) and 3R (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) guidelines, and in human research in accordance with the rules of the Declaration of Helsinki (Helsinki, 1975) and the SAGER guidelines (The Sex and Gender Equity in Research). The holistic principles of systems biology, i.e. the in silico approach, are increasingly being applied.

Four teams work in the Department of Physiology. Two teams deal with biomedical research, one team with ecophysiological research and one team with both biomedical and ecophysiological research. The research teams of the department cooperate with all departments of the Institute and institutions in the country and abroad. This enables specific multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and breaks down the traditional boundaries between biological disciplines, which forms the basis for the development of integrative biology.

Basic topics:
• Effects of various substances such as plant extracts, atypical antipsychotics, selenium nanoparticles, various restrictive diets, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist liraglutide on parameters of oxidative stress in humans and animals.
• Effects of various environmental factors on the oxidative status of herpetofauna and their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Effects of anesthetics, exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, anesthetic MS-222, effects of glyphosate, day-night variations in antioxidant status.