In vitro chemoprotective and anticancer activities of propolis in human lymphocytes and breast cancer cells

Propolis has been used in folk medicine for centuries due to its healing properties. Ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEP) are rich sources of phenolic acid and flavonoids. Natural phenolic compounds may exert chemoprotective activity in cancer cells due to their ability to scavenge free radicals. The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the genotoxic and anti-mutagenic effects of the EEP on human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and their cytotoxic potential on the human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231 cells). Both cell cultures were treated with six concentrations (1, 10, 50, 100, 250 and 500 μg/ml) of EEP1 and EEP2, separately and in combination with mitomycin C (MMC). Our results show that the EEP1 and EEP2 samples of propolis after separate and combined treatments with MMC did not influence the nuclear division index (NDI). In the combined treatment, both tested EEPs significantly reduced MMC-induced micronuclei (MN) in PBLs. At 48 h after exposure of the MDA-MB-231 cell line to a combined treatment of EEP samples with MMC, the IC50 values were significantly reduced (23.79 and 19.13 μg/ml, for EEP1+MMC and EEP2+MMC, respectively, in comparison to the single treatment. In conclusion, the tested ethanolic extracts of propolis exhibited a certain level of in vitro antimutagenic activity in PBLs from healthy subjects, and anticancer activity in breast cancer cell line. The presented findings suggest that the ethanolic extracts of propolis show potential in anticancer therapeutic strategy

Kako poplave modifikuju genotoksični odgovor slatkovodnih riba?

U ovom radu ispitivan je potencijal dve vrste roda Abramis (Abramis bjoerkna i Abramis sapa) kao bioindikatora genotoksičnog potencijala vode reke Save primenom komet testa. Izabrani lokalitet pripada oblasti intezivne poljoprivredne aktivnosti, izložen je otpadnim vodama grada Obrenovca i nalazi se u blizini najveće termoelektrane u Srbiji, “Nikola Tesla”. Uzorkovanje je vršeno od januara do avgusta 2014. godine, obuhvatajući mesec maj kada je došlo do intezivnih poplava u slivu reke Save. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da se ispitivane vrste mogu koristiti za procenu genotoksičnog potencijala

Integralna zaštita jabuka od prouzrokovača truleži u skladištima

One of the major causes of poor quality and fruit loss (during storage and transport) are diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi. Economic losses which are the consequence of the phytopathogenic fungus activity after harvest exceed the losses in the field.The most important postharvest fungal pathogens of apple fruits are: Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr., Penicillium expansum (Lk.) Thom., Cryptosporiopsis curvispora (Peck.) Grem., Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc., Monilinia sp., Gloeosporium album Osterw, Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler, Cladosporium herbarium Link., Cylindrocarpon mali (Alles.) Wollenw., Stemphylium botryosum Wallr. The use of available protection technologies can significantly reduce losses caused by pathogens in storage. The concept of integrated pest management (IPM) in apple fruits i.e. sustainable approach in control of causal agents of postharvest fruit rot, using cultural, physical, biological and chemical measures, to minimize economic, health and risks to consumers and environment, is presented in the paper.Jedan od najznačajnijih uzročnika smanjenja kvaliteta plodova voćaka i mogućih gubitaka posle berbe jesu bolesti prouzrokovane fitopatogenim gljivama. Ekonomski gubici koji nastaju kao posledica delovanja fitopatogenih gljiva posle berbe vrlo često premašuju gubitke u samom procesu proizvodnje. Kao najznačajniji patogeni plodova jabuke u skladištu navode se gljive: Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr., Penicillium expansum (Lk.) Thom., Cryptosporiopsis curvispora (Peck.) Grem., Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc., Monilinia sp., Gloeosporium album Osterw, Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler, Cladosporium herbarium Link., Cylindrocarpon mali (Alles.) Wollenw., Stemphylium botryosum Wallr. Primena raspoloživih tehnologija zaštite može značajno umanjiti gubitke prouzrokovane patogenima u skladištu. U radu je prikazan koncept integralne zaštite jabuke (Integrated Pest Management – IPM), odnosno održivog pristupa u suzbijanju prouzrokovača truleži plodova u skladištima primenom agrotehničkih, fizičkih, bioloških i hemijskih mera, na način na koji se minimalizuju ekonomski, zdravstveni i rizici po potrošače i životnu sredinu

Uticaj otpadnih voda na reku Dunav – ekogenotoksikološki aspekt ekspedicije JDS3

Narušavanje kvaliteta površinskih vodotokova otpadnim vodama se odražava na kvalitet akvatičnih ekosistema ali i na kvalitet života i zdravlja ljudi. Variranje u stepenu prerade otpadnih voda najčešće je posledica razlika u nacionalnim zakonskim regulativama što je veoma evidentno u slučaju reke Dunav, u nekim od podunavskih zemalja voda se prerađuje dok se u drugim nikakav tretman ne primenjuje pre ispuštanja. JDS3 (The Joint Danube Survey 3) je bila najveća rečna ekspedicija u 2013. godini koja je obuhvatila svih X sektora reke. Zbog obima uzoraka i različitih analiza, JDS je predstavljao idealnu priliku da se ispita prisustvo genotoksičnog zagađenja u ovoj reci. Komet test je rađen na hemocitama školjki Unio sp. i Sinanodanta woodiana. Najviši nivo genotoksičnog potencijala detektovan je u sektoru VI (Panonska ravan) gde veliki problem predstavljaju otpadne vode koje se bez prerade ispuštaju u Dunav. Ova studija je dala mapu zagađenja i kritičnih tačaka zagađenja duž reke Dunav i ukazala na bitnost prerade otpadnih voda za očuvanje i poboljšanje kvaliteta reke Dunav. Uvođenje molekularnih markera u monitoring kvaliteta voda znatno doprinosi razumevanju prirode i porekla zagađenja

Removal of Cs Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Using Matrices of Natural Clinoptilolite and its Safe Disposal

The possibility to use natural zeolite - clinoptilolite as a host material for radioactive Cs immobilization has been investigated. Cs-exchanged form of clinoptilolite which was prepared by treatment of clinoptilolite powder with 0.25 M CsCl solution was compacted. Both, powder and powder compact of exchanged clinoptilolite were thermally treated at 1200 C-0. The XRPD analysis showed that Cs was successfully immobilized after heat treatment by formation of stable cesium dodecaoxo-alumopentasilicate in both, powder sample and compact. The newly formed compound showed satisfactory Cs ions retention during leaching test. The sintered compact showed somewhat better resistance to Cs leaching than the thermally treated powder. The compressive strength of sintered compact was close to 200 MPa which is more than enough for easy handling and safe storage

DNA damage and histopathological alterations in liver and gills of common bream Abramis brama (L.) as biomarkers of the Danube River pollution

Biomarkers are used in ecosystem health assessment because they provide information about the biological effects of pollution. Aquatic ecosystems are often the ultimate recipients of different pollutants, which may have potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic effects on aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of untreated urban wastewater during different seasons on the DNA damage level and histopathological alterations in gills and liver of common bream (Abramis brama). This study was carried out at the site Višnjica, situated downstream from Belgrade, which is identified as one of the major hotspots of fecal pollution along the Danube River. Sampling was performed in February, April, August and November 2014. DNA damage in fish tissues was assessed by alkaline comet assay. Histopathological alterations were quantified by combining pathological significance and the extent for each lesion. Subsequently, lesion scores within organs are summed in order to calculate histopathological index. The highest level of DNA damage in both tissues was observed in August. Liver had the lowest level of DNA damage in February, and gills in April. Gills had a significantly higher level of DNA damage in comparison to liver during all months, except in April. Histopathological index of the liver had the highest values in April and of the gills in November. Both tissues had the lowest value of histopathological index in August. In general, histopathological alterations in liver were more severe in comparison to gills during all months, except in November. The presence of DNA damage acted as an early-marker signal in fish, while histopathological alterations reflected state of fish organs when exposed to contaminants during long term pollution. This study confirmed the potential of untreated urban wastewaters to trigger responses on different levels of biological organization in fish

The impact of different extracts of six Lamiaceae species on deleterious effects of oxidative stress assessed in acellular, prokaryotic and eukaryotic models in vitro

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Origanum majorana L., Origanum vulgare L., Teucrium chamaedrys L., Teucrium montanum L., Thymus serpyllum L. and Thymus vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae) on the effects of free radicals using different model systems. The extracts were characterized on the basis of the contents of total phenolics, phenolic acids, flavonoids and flavonols, and also using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection. Antioxidant activity in vitro was assessed using DPPH assay. The genoprotective properties were tested using plasmid relaxation assay on pUC19 E. coli XL1-Blue, while SOS/umuC assay on Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002 and Comet assay on human lung fibroblasts were used to assess the antigenotoxicity of the extracts. Ethanolic extracts had the most phenolics (up to 236.20 mg GAE/g at 0.5 mg/mL), flavonoids (up to 42.47 mg QE/g at 0.5 mg/mL) and flavonols (up to 16.56 mg QE/g at 0.5 mg/mL), and they exhibited the highest DPPH activity (up to 92.16% at 0.25 mg/mL). Interestingly enough, aqueous extracts provided the best protection of plasmid DNA (the lowest IC50 value was 0.17 mg/mL). Methanolic extracts, on the other hand, most efficiently protected the prokaryotic DNA, while all the extracts had a significant impact against genomic damages inflicted on human fibroblasts. O. vulgare extracts are considered to be the most promising in preserving the overall DNA integrity against oxidative genomic damages. Moreover, HPLC-DAD analysis highlighted rosmarinic acid as the most abundant in the investigated samples (551.45 mg/mL in total in all the extracts), followed by luteolin-7-O-glucoside (150.19 mg/mL in total), while their presence correlates with most of the displayed activities. The novelty of this study is reflected in the application of a prokaryotic model for testing the antigenotoxic effects of Lamiaceae species, as no previous reports have yet been published on the genoprotective potential of these species

The impact of the Danube River pollution on biomarkers response in the liver and gills of common bream Abramis brama (L., 1758)

The Danube, the second largest river in Europe, is of great importance for all the countries in the basin for production of drinking water, water supply for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes. Along the stream, the river receives incompletely treated or untreated wastewaters, which deteriorates its quality. Measurements of physico-chemical, chemical and microbiological parameters are considered the basis of monitoring because they cover a wide spectrum of information for proper water management. However, aquatic ecosystems are often exposed to different pollutants which may exhibit harmful effects on different levels of biological organization. Fish are widely used bioindicators in ecogenotoxicological studies, because of their position in the aquatic trophic chain and importance in human diet. This research was conducted on the Danube River locality Višnjica, situated on the right river bank (1162 rkm), one of the main hotspots of fecal pollution. Discharge of the largest waste water collector in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, which receives domestic and industrial waste, is situated a few km upstream of the sampling site. Sampling was performed in February, April, August and November 2014, with the aim to evaluate the impact of seasonal variation on water quality parameters and response of biomarkers in the common bream (Abramis brama). Water quality was assessed by using basic physico-chemical parameters and microbiological indicators of fecal pollution. In gills and liver of bream, metal and metalloid concentrations were assessed as an accumulation biomarker, comet assay was applied to assess DNA damage as a biomarker of exposure, while histopathological analysis was performed as a biomarker of effect. According to number of Escherichia coli and enterococci critical and excessive level of fecal pollution was present on the site, indicating the presence of high amounts of untreated waste waters. During the entire period gills had higher concentrations of metals and metalloids in comparison to the liver. Both tissues showed the highest metal accumulation and the highest level of DNA damage in August, which may be attributed to increased activity and feeding during summer, but also to low flow rate and water level which may increase pollutant concentrations in the river. The highest level of histopathological alterations in the gills was recorded in November and in liver in April, probably due to higher level of precipitation during these months and introduction of pollutants through the urban and agricultural runoff. In terms of elements concentrations and DNA damage gills were more affected, while in terms of histopathological alterations liver had higher level of histopathological alterations. These results showed that urban wastewaters have a high potential in inducing genotoxic and histopathological effects in fish, and highlighted the urgent need for implementation of wastewater treatment facilities

Evaluation of genotoxic potential throughout the upper and middle stretches of Adige river basin

In this study a comprehensive genotoxicological survey throughout the upper and middle stretches of Adige river basin is presented. The study was carried out at 7 sites located along the Adige main course and one the most significant tributaries, the Noce creek, both presenting different levels of pollution pressure. To give an insight into the nature of the genotoxic activity we employed the battery of prokaryotic and eukaryotic assays. Mutagenicity in water samples was evaluated by SOS/umuC test in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002. The level of DNA damage as a biomarker of exposure (comet assay) and biomarker of effect (micronucleus assay) and the level of oxidative stress as well (Fpg - modified comet assay) were studied in blood cells of Salmo cenerinus Nardo, 1847 and Salmo marmoratus Cuvier, 1829. Within the applied bioassays, comet assay showed the highest potential for discriminating the sampling sites which are under lesser extent of pressure (sampling sites 1-Barnes at Bresimo and 4-Noce downstream S. Giustina) from the sites under high pressure (sampling sites 5-Noce at Mezzolombardo and 6/7-Adige upstream and downstream municipality of Trento). Significant correlation between the standard and Fpg - modified comet assay indicated that oxidative stress could be a major contributor to observed DNA damage in collected specimens

How flooding modifies genotoxic response in freshwater fish?

U ovom radu ispitivan je potencijal dve vrste roda Abramis (Abramis bjoerkna i Abramis sapa) kao bioindikatora genotoksičnog potencijala vode reke Save primenom komet testa. Izabrani lokalitet pripada oblasti intezivne poljoprivredne aktivnosti, izložen je otpadnim vodama grada Obrenovca i nalazi se u blizini najveće termoelektrane u Srbiji, “Nikola Tesla”. Uzorkovanje je vršeno od januara do avgusta 2014. godine, obuhvatajući mesec maj kada je došlo do intezivnih poplava u slivu reke Save. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da se ispitivane vrste mogu koristiti za procenu genotoksičnog potencijala