Mometasone Furoate and Nasal Vascularisation in Allergic Patients

Angiogenesis, the growth and proliferation of new blood vessels, is important in a variety of pathophysiological processes. However the role of angiogenesis in allergic rhinitis has not been well studied. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the vascularisation of the nasal mucous membrane of non-allergic, non-treated allergic and allergic patients treated with mometasone furoate. A small piece of the nasal mucous membrane was taken from the frontal pole of the lower nasal shell from 90 patients. The patients were divided in three groups, each containing 30 patients. First group of patients (GP1) had a negative inhalatory allergen test, patients in second group (GP2) had positive test but were not under treatment and the third group of patients (GP3) had positive results with the same test and were treated with mometasone furoate for 15 days before analysis. Immunhistochemical staining with anti-CD31 and VEGF-C was performed. Vascular phase was determined by using length density. Differences in expression of CD31 and VEGF-C were compared using one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post-hoc tests. Significantly lower values of CD31 and VEGF-C expression were observed in GP1 in compare with GP2 and GP3 (p<0.001, p=0.013, respectively). In GP3 the microvessel density was significantly lower than in GP2 (p<0.001), but higher than in GP1. Our results demonstrated that 15-day treatment with mometasone furoate results in a significant reduction of the density of vascular parameters in allergic patients

Phenolic compounds and biological activity of Capsicum annuum L.

The objective of this study was to evaluate antifungal and antioxidant activities of vegetable extracts (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Dora, cv. Strizanka, cv. Morava), grown in Serbia. Different experimental models have included the determination content of total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant capacity and minimum inhibitory concentration of the extract. The phenolic composition of different extracts was determined by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The highest amounts of phenols and highest antioxidant capacity were found in the cultivar Dora extracts. The highest phenolic content has been shown in cultivar Strizanka ethanol extract. All of the extracts showed strong antimicrobial activity. On the basis of the results obtained, the extracts were found to serve as a potential source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobial due to their marked activity. The obtained results may be useful in the evaluation of new dietary and food products.Key words: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), phenolic components, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity

Uv light impact on phthalates migration from children's toys into artificial saliva

Phthalates has been widely used in children?s toys as plastic plasticizers and softeners. Therefore, attention should be paid to plastic toys, especially those that children can put in their mouths. In this paper quantification of five phthalates: DMP, DnBP, BBP, DEHP and DnOP in plastic toys, as well as irradiation of toys with UV light was performed. After sample preparation and development of the liquid?liquid phthalate extraction method from artificial saliva phthalate quantitative determination using the GC?MS technique was performed. The mean recovery value for DEHP is 77.03?2.76 %. The determination of phthalate in the recipient models (artificial saliva and n-hexane) was performed after 6, 15 and 30 days of the migration test using the GC?MS technique. Based on the known mass % DEHP in the analyzed toys, the percentage of phthalate migration from each analyzed toy to the recipient model after 6, 15 and 30 days of the migration test was calculated. The results show that there is no significant migration of DEHP into artificial saliva, due to high polarity of the recipient (artificial saliva is polar), unlike n-hexane where the migration of DEHP is significant because it is a non-polar solvent

Increased risk of cognitive impairment and more severe brain lesions in hypertensive compared to non-hypertensive patients with cerebral small vessel disease

Although cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is traditionally associated with aging and hypertension (HT), there are patients exhibiting sporadic SVD, free of HT. We aimed to investigate the differences in clinical and neuroradiological presentation in SVD patients in reference to the presence of HT as a risk factor (RF). Vascular RF, cognitive and functional status were evaluated in a cohort of 424 patients. Patients were classified in two groups based on the presence of HT. Severity of vascular lesions was assessed using 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging with Age-Related White Matter Changes scale total score (tARWMC) and Fazekas scale periventricular (PV) and deep subcortical (DS) scores. No difference between groups in age and sex distribution was noted. In univariate analysis, HT was associated with vascular cognitive impairment (vCI) (OR 2.30, 1.53-3.45, P < 0.0001), functional status (OR 1.47, 1.11-1.95, P = 0.007), depression (OR 2.13, 1.23-3.70, P = 0.007), tARWMC (OR 1.10, 1.05-1.16 95% CI, P < 0.0001), Fazekas PV score (OR 1.34, 1.08-1.67 95% CI, P = 0.008), Fazekas DS score (OR 1.95, 1.44-2.63 95% CI, P < 0.0001) and total number of lacunes (OR 1.10, 1.02-1.18 95% CI, P = 0.009). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that HT was an independent RF for vCI (OR 1.74, 1.09-2.76 95% CI, P = 0.020) and higher Fazekas DS score (OR 1.57, 1.11-2.22 95% CI, P = 0.011). The Kaplan-Meier curve of estimates of survival of SVD patients without vCI revealed a higher proportion of patients with HT progressing to vCI over time when compared to HT-free cases. In patients with sporadic SVD, HT is a contributing factor to worse clinical outcomes and neuroradiological presentation

Increased risk of cognitive impairment and more severe brain lesions in hypertensive compared to non-hypertensive patients with cerebral small vessel disease

Although cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is traditionally associated with aging and hypertension (HT), there are patients exhibiting sporadic SVD, free of HT. We aimed to investigate the differences in clinical and neuroradiological presentation in SVD patients in reference to the presence of HT as a risk factor (RF). Vascular RF, cognitive and functional status were evaluated in a cohort of 424 patients. Patients were classified in two groups based on the presence of HT. Severity of vascular lesions was assessed using 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging with Age-Related White Matter Changes scale total score (tARWMC) and Fazekas scale periventricular (PV) and deep subcortical (DS) scores. No difference between groups in age and sex distribution was noted. In univariate analysis, HT was associated with vascular cognitive impairment (vCI) (OR 2.30, 1.53-3.45, P < 0.0001), functional status (OR 1.47, 1.11-1.95, P = 0.007), depression (OR 2.13, 1.23-3.70, P = 0.007), tARWMC (OR 1.10, 1.05-1.16 95% CI, P < 0.0001), Fazekas PV score (OR 1.34, 1.08-1.67 95% CI, P = 0.008), Fazekas DS score (OR 1.95, 1.44-2.63 95% CI, P < 0.0001) and total number of lacunes (OR 1.10, 1.02-1.18 95% CI, P = 0.009). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that HT was an independent RF for vCI (OR 1.74, 1.09-2.76 95% CI, P = 0.020) and higher Fazekas DS score (OR 1.57, 1.11-2.22 95% CI, P = 0.011). The Kaplan-Meier curve of estimates of survival of SVD patients without vCI revealed a higher proportion of patients with HT progressing to vCI over time when compared to HT-free cases. In patients with sporadic SVD, HT is a contributing factor to worse clinical outcomes and neuroradiological presentation

Cyclic Voltammetric Determination of Antioxidant Capacity of Cocoa Powder, Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Samples: Correlation with Spectrophotometric Assays and Individual Phenolic Compounds

Phenolic antioxidants in cocoa powder, dark chocolate and milk chocolate samples are quantified electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry with a glassy carbon electrode. Cyclic voltammograms were recorded from 0 to 800 mV at a scan rate of 100 mV/s. Phenolics with an ortho-diphenol group show the first oxidation peak in the potential range between 370 and 460 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 mol/L of the acetate buffer, pH=4. The first and third anodic current peaks, close to 670 mV, can be ascribed to the first and second oxidation of the catechin-type flavonoids that are present at a high concentration in samples. The second peak at around 560 mV can be ascribed to phenolic acids. Procyanidins B1, B2, B3 and B4 did not have any visible waves. Strong positive correlation was established between antioxidant activities deduced from cyclic voltammograms with those determined using spectrophotometric assays. HPLC method was used for the quantification of individual phenolic compounds