Allergy to propolis in Polish beekeepers

According to the literature propolis is a non-toxic and safe substance. However, propolis can induce allergy. Beekeepers may be the group most affected by contact allergy and propolis is an occupational contact allergen for them. To determine the prevalence of propolis contact allergy in beekeepers and theirs families and its possible association with other coexistent conditions. The questionnaire "Allergy to propolis among beekeepers" was distributed to beekeepers by hand through the Beekeepers Associations, especially the Provincial Association of Apiarists in Krakow. The study was conducted on adults of both genders who had given informed consent to participate in the study. The program Statistica was used for data management and statistical analysis. A total of 2540 questionnaires were distributed, including 1360 questionnaires from Malopolska region. Five hundred and fifty-eight questionnaires were returned, including 345 from Malopolska region. The response rate was 21.97% (25.4% Malopolska region). Among 558 beekeepers propolis contact allergy occurred in 17 cases (3.05%). Four hundred anf four of 558 beekeepers used propolis as a therapeutic agent. Eleven of 404 (2.72%) beekeepers reported propolis allergy. Only 5 beekeepers reported concomitant propolis allergy after contact with this substance during beekeeping and using propolis as a therapeutic agent. Among 2205 members of families who were using propolis only 14 patients (0.63%) reported propolis allergy. Allergy to propolis in Polish beekeepers does not seem to be a common phenomenon

Pharmacotherapy of Parkinson’s disease:Progress or regress?

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive disease of the central nervous system (CNS),characterized by a slow loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, leading to significantdecrease in dopamine (DA) levels in the striatum. Currently used drugs, such as levodopa(L-DOPA), amantadine, dopamine agonists (D) or anticholinergic drugs, are not effective enough,and do not eliminate the causes of disease. Many research centers are conducting researchon new forms of currently used drugs (e.g. Duodopa, XP21279, IPX066), new drugs of alreadyknown groups (e.g. safinamide), medicines that suppress side effects of L-DOPA (e.g. AFQ056,fipamezole), and, finally, compounds with a novel mechanism of action (e.g. PMY50028, A2Areceptor antagonists). A lot of scientific reports indicate an important role of A2A receptorsin the regulation of the central movement system, so a new group of compounds – selectiveantagonists of A2A receptors (e.g. istradefylline, preladenant, SYN115) – has been developed and their potential use in PD has been examined. Clinical studies of A2A receptor antagonistshave shown that this group of compounds can shorten off periods and at the same time theydo not worsen dyskinesias in patients with PD. Moreover, there is ongoing research on newforms of treatment, such as gene therapy. Attempts to apply the viral vector AAV-2, whichwill be able to infect neurons with a variety of genes, including the gene of glutamate decarboxylase(GAD), neurturin (NTN), or aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, are currently beingcarried out. The results of phase I and II clinical studies showed some efficacy of this form oftreatment, but the method requires further studies. An analysis of potential future therapiesof Parkinson’s disease suggests that some progress in this field has been made

Bee pollen allergy in Polish beekeepers and their families

A bee pollen allergy is rare and often confused with a pollen allergy. The possibility of inducing an allergy in pollen allergic patients by bee pollen is still controversial. To determine the prevalence of bee pollen allergy in beekeepers and their families and its possible association with other conditions. The questionnaire study was carried out on 493 Polish beekeepers. The questionnaire was based on the current literature and touched on several aspects of a bee products allergy. Only 19.4% (493 from 2540 questionnaires sent) of questionnaires were returned by 15 October 2011. From the total group, only 2 beekeepers reported adverse reactions after bee pollen ingestion. They presented only minor reactions. From 493 beekeepers, 43 responders reported other allergies. From that group, no one reported a concomitant bee pollen allergy. Additionally, beekeepers reported only 22 cases of bee pollen intolerance among their customers and in family members a bee pollen allergy occurred in 0.56% of cases. This preliminary study provides some new aspects on the bee pollen allergy. The thesis that a bee pollen allergy is associated with the occurrence of proteins from bee saliva rather than the occurrence of anemophilous plant pollen should be evaluated in future studies

Application of computational methods for the design of BACE-1 inhibitors : validation of in silico modelling

β-Secretase (BACE-1) constitutes an important target for search of anti-Alzheimer’s drugs. The first inhibitors of this enzyme were peptidic compounds with high molecular weight and low bioavailability. Therefore, the search for new efficient non-peptidic inhibitors has been undertaken by many scientific groups. We started our work from the development of in silico methodology for the design of novel BACE-1 ligands. It was validated on the basis of crystal structures of complexes with inhibitors, redocking, cross-docking and training/test sets of reference ligands. The presented procedure of assessment of the novel compounds as β-secretase inhibitors could be widely used in the design process

Is the mechanism of nitroglycerin tolerance associated with aldehyde dehydrogenase activity? : a contribution to the ongoing discussion

The aim of the study presented here was an attempt to answer the question posed in the title: Is the mechanism of nitroglycerin tolerance associated with aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity? Here, we investigated the effect of administration (separately or jointly) of lipoic acid (LA), nitroglycerin (GTN), and disulfiram (DSF; an irreversible in vivo inhibitor of all ALDH isozymes (including ALDH2)), on the development of tolerance to GTN. We also assessed the total activity of ALDH in the rat liver homogenates. Our data revealed that not only DSF and GTN inhibited the total ALDH activity in the rat liver, but LA also proved to be an inhibitor of this enzyme. At the same time, the obtained results demonstrated that the GTN tolerance did not develop in GTN, DSF and LA jointly treated rats, but did develop in GTN and DSF jointly treated rats. This means that the ability of LA to prevent GTN tolerance is not associated with the total ALDH activity in the rat liver. In this context, the fact that animals jointly receiving GTN and DSF developed tolerance to GTN, and in animals that in addition to GTN and DSF also received LA such tolerance did not develop, is - in our opinion - a sufficient premise to conclude that the nitrate tolerance certainly is not caused by a decrease in the activity of any of the ALDH isoenzymes present in the rat liver, including ALDH2. However, many questions still await an answer, including the basic one: What is the mechanism of tolerance to nitroglycerin