Role of serotonin in development of esophageal and gastric fundal varices

AIM: To determine the effect of free serotonin concentrations in plasma on development of esophageal and gastric fundal varices. METHODS: This prospective study included 33 patients with liver cirrhosis and 24 healthy controls. Ultrasonography and measurement of serotonin concentration in plasma were carried out in both groups of subjects. The upper fiber panendoscopy was performed only in patients with liver cirrhosis. RESULTS: The mean plasma free serotonin levels were much higher in liver cirrhosis patients than in healthy controls (219.0 +/- 24.2 nmol/L vs 65.4 +/- 18.7 nmol/L, P lt 0.0001). There was no significant correlation be-tween serotonin concentration in plasma and the size of the esophageal varices according to Spearman coefficient of correlation (r(s) = -0.217, P > 0.05). However, the correlation of plasma serotonin concentration and gastric fundal varices was highly significant (r(s) = -0.601, P lt 0.01). CONCLUSION: Free serotonin is significant in pathogenesis of portal hypertension especially in development of fundal varices, indicating the clinical value of serotonergic receptor blockers in these patients

The restriction of silver banknotes circulation in the Kingdom of Serbia before and during World War One

State interventionism, which was present in the economic policy of the Kingdom of Serbia in the late 19th and early 20th century, significantly put at risk the implementation of the main tasks of the central Serbian issuing institution to develop the Serbian economy with cheap loans. The state intervention measures introduced in 1894 restricted the circulation of banknotes in silver. A direct consequence of the restricted circulation of money in the late 1880s and early 1890s was the emergence of the phenomenon of agio. After contrary views of the royal government and the National Bank on the issue of agio had been expressed, the state restricted the volume of the silver banknotes circulation by law. It is exactly the aim of this paper to highlight the effects produced by the state intervention in the operations of the National Bank, and the impact thus made on the economic activity and macroeconomic balance

Simultaneous ultrafiltration and diafiltration

A model with simultaneous ultrafiltration and diafiltration, which includes the rejection coefficients, is presented in this study. Adding a diafiltration solution at a constant, lower rate than the filtrate rate results in a constant decrease of the solution volume in the tank. This enables the simultaneous attainment of the desired macrosolute concentration and microsulute dilution. The proposed model, based on incomplete macrosolute rejection and incomplete mi-crosolute permeation through a membrane, as well as constant permeate flux, is compared to the classical constant volume, diafiltration process. The obtained results show that less diafiltration volume is necessary with this process. Simultaneously, the duration of the process, for higher purification requirements, is shorter in this case

Physico-chemical characteristics of gamma irradiation crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)/magnetite ferrogel composite

Magnetic field sensitive gels, ferrogels are new promising class of hydrogels. The coupling of hydrogels and magnetic particles has potential application in soft actuators such as artificial muscles or for hyperthermia application. Here a composite of magnetite particles (Fe3O4) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel is developed using gamma irradiation as a crosslinking agent. PVA and Fe3O4 were chosen because of their well-established biocompatibility, radiation crosslinking potential (PVA), mild magnetic properties and the Curie point near desired heating temperature range (Fe3O4). Physico-chemical characteristics of these systems show the effect of the presence of particles in the process of radiation-induced crosslinking. Obtained PVA/Fe3O4 ferrogel composite has greater swelling capacity, activation energy of dehydration and dehydration rate compared to PVA hydrogel, crosslinked under the same conditions. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 45005 i br. 172056

Assessment of depression and anxiety in patients with chronic liver disease

Background/Aim. In recent years mental health of patients including those with chronic liver disease (CLD), has become interesting because its disturbance leads to reduced quality of life, that is associated with worsening of clinical outcome, reduced compliance and increased mortality. The aim of the study was to determinate the frequency and severity of depression and frequency of anxiety in patients with CLD and to assess the contribution of selected socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory risk factors for depression and anxiety. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, we used the Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS) in patients with CLD. Results. The study included 54 male and 43 female patients. Depression was present in 62.9%, and anxiety in 13.4% of the patients. A higher HDRS was noted in the patients older than 50 years (p = 0.022) and unemployed patients (p = 0.043). The patients with at least one episode of gastrointestinal bleeding had a significantly higher frequency of anxiety than those without bleeding (p = 0.018). A higher HARS score was present in the women (p = 0.011), unemployed patients (p = 0.008) and those with non-alcoholic liver disease (p = 0.007). There was a significant correlation between the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and the value of the HDRS score, and between serum potassium and sodium levels and HDRS score. Conclusion. Age and the mean corpuscular volume have significant influence on the HDRS score while unemployment, gastrointestinal bleeding, serum potassium and serum sodium have predictive value for HARS score

CARD15 gene polyrnorphisms in Serbian patients with Crohn's disease: genotype-phenotype analysis

Objective Genetic heterogeneity and incomplete phenotype penetrance complicate genetic analysis of Crohn's disease (M. Studies in western Europe have shown that CARD15 polymorphisms increase susceptibility to CD, but frequencies vary within different European populations. The aim here was to evaluate the prevalence of CARD15 mutations and their phenotypic correlation in a Serbian population. Materials and methods 131 patients with CD, 65 patients with ulcerative colitis, and 88 healthy controls were genotyped for three common mutations (R702W, G908R, Leu1007insC) by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. chi(2) and Student's t-test were used for statistical assessment. Results At least one CARD15 disease-associated allele was found in 35.11 % patients with CD, 14.77% of healthy controls (P=0.001), and 7.69% patients with ulcerative colitis (P= 0.0001). The L1007fs mutation showed a significant association with CD (P lt 0.0001). The frequency of R702W mutant allele was almost equal in the control group and CD patients Univariate analyses established that CARD15 carriers had a significantly higher risk of isolated ileal location [P=0.042; odds ratio (OR) 2.30; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-5.191, fibrostenotic behavior (P lt 0.0001; OR 9.86; 95% CI: 4.29-22.62), surgical resection (P=0.036; OR 2.2; CI, 1.046-4.626), and earlier onset of disease (P=0.026). Conclusion This study confirms that CARD15 carriers, especially L1007fs mutants, in central Europeans have an increased risk of CD and it is associated with earlier onset, ileal, fibrostenotic disease and a higher risk of surgery. Any influence of latitude is not matched by an east-west divide on the genotype frequency and phenotype of CD within Europe

Valorization of walnut shell ash as a catalyst for biodiesel production

The catalytic activity of the walnut shell ash was investigated in the biodiesel production by the sunflower oil methanolysis. The catalyst was characterized by the TG-DTA, XRD, Hg porosimetry, Ny physisorption, SEM, and Hammett method. In addition, the effects of the catalyst loading and the methanolto-oil molar ratio on the methyl esters synthesis were tested at the reaction temperature of 60 degrees C. The walnut shell ash provided a very fast reaction and a high FAME content (over 98%). As the reaction occurred in the absence of triacylglycerols mass transfer limitation, the pseudo-first-order model was employed for describing the kinetics of the reaction. The catalyst was successfully reused four times after the regeneration of the catalytic activity by recalcination at 800 degrees C