Identifikacija monakolina i citrinina u crvenoj fermentiranoj riži primjenom LC/MS/MS tehnike

Red fermented rice, also known as red yeast rice, Hongqu, Anka or red Koji, is the fermented product of rice on which red yeast (Monascus purpureus) has been grown. For a thousand of years it has been used in China to make rice wine, as a food preservative for maintaining the color and taste of fish or meat and as a traditional medicine for digestive and vascular function. A complete and detailed description of its manufacture and medicinal properties are found in the ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia, published during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 a.d.). Over the past decade, there has been increased scientific interest in red yeast rice, as an alternative therapy for hyper cholesterolemia. Many studies have demonstrated that red yeast rice may be especially useful for treating patients who refuse to take statin drugs because of philosophical reasons or patients who are unable to tolerate statin therapy due to statin-associated myalgias. The major components found in red yeast rice, known as monacolins (polyketides), are reported to exhibit a cholesterol lowering action by inhibiting the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. Still, it is believed that the hypolipidemic effect of red yeast rice cannot be accounted for only by the monacolins, but by a synergy of all other components present in red yeast rice: plant sterols, isoflavones and isoflavone glycosides, selenium and zinc. The most important toxic component in red fermented rice is citrinin, a mycotoxin produced by red yeast (Monascus purpureus). It has been known to cause kidney and liver damage in humans. Therefore, Japan has issued an advisory limit of 200 ppb while the European Union has a recommended limit of 100 ppb. The aim of our work was to develop a new LC/MS/MS method for identification of active components, monacolin K (lovastatin) and monacolin K acid and toxic component, citrinin, present in red yeast rice capsules

Znanje, stavovi i mišljenja roditelja o dodacima prehrani: važnost savjetodavne uloge ljekarnika

In recent years, in most developed countries, the use of dietary supplements in general, and especially those intended for children is increasing. Despite the fact that most dietary supplements, especially those intended for children, can have side effects, legislation puts them in a group of foods, not drugs. Therefore there are not subject to such strict requirements of safety, quality and efficiency as medicines are. Because of higher availability, but also because of many other reasons, such as growing increase of self-care in general and growing concern of modern man for their own health, the opinion is prevailing that dietary supplements are safe. It is undisputed that the majority of food supplements for children can have very beneficial effects on their overall health. However, not enough attention is given to the fact that dietary supplements may have a positive effect only if these products are used for the right reason at the right time, in the right dose and in the right way. Do to the fact that children are a special group that are particularly vulnerable, one must keep in mind the issue of production and distribution practice, and the use of food supplements should be approached with caution. In order to avoid a number of potential risks that the use of dietary supplements in general especially those intended for children brings, dietary supplements should be subject to continuous scientific research, pharmaceutical expert supervision and appropriate legal controls. It is extremely important that the parents themselves acquire more knowledge about dietary supplements used by their children. Only if all above mentioned criteria are met, dietary supplements can achieve their optimum performance. The aim of this survey was to determine how much parents are familiar with dietary supplements intended for their children. In addition to evaluating the level of their knowledge on the composition, purpose and method of use of dietary supplements, in the present study we investigated the attitudes and opinions that parents generally have about dietary supplements. Based on the data of the survey conducted on a sample of parents (N = 415) it was found that parents perceive dietary supplements as safe. The research results unequivocally confirm the disturbingly low level of awareness of parents about dietary supplements for children. Such insight is ultimately a claim for an important advisory role of a pharmacist. In fact, the pharmacist should play a key role in advising parents to make an informed decision on the selection and manner of use of the food supplement for their child. Based on their knowledge, experience and expert assessment, pharmacists will decide whether there is a need for a certain dietary supplement, depending on the intended use and indications. If necessary they will recommend a different dietary supplement, explain in what cases to use it, and for how long, as well as how to use it. The pharmacist must raise parents’ awareness that dietary supplements contain active substance and that they should not be taken lightly and that the recommended daily dose should not be exceed. It is also necessary to point out that dietary supplements for children, especially those that contain plant extracts, may contain alcohol. The pharmacist, when dispensing medicines, should make a recommendation what dietary supplement may contribute to faster recovery, prevent or mitigate side effects and complications of pharmacotherapy. It is also important that the pharmacist emphasizes that certain dietary supplements should not be used with a certain drug because of possible interactions. In the end, it is necessary to point out that the pharmacist should play a key role in advising parents to make an informed decision on the selection of the dietary supplement for their child as well as the correct way of using it

Students' empathy and classroom climate as predictors of attitudes towards immigrants: a case study in three EU countries

The development of positive attitudes towards immigrants among students can be addressed at the individual level through their empathic abilities and at the school or classroom level, where the classroom climate plays an important role.In the present study, we have taken a closer look into the relationship between attitudes towards immigrants, two components of empathy (perspective taking, empathic concern), quality of student-teacher relations (both positiveand negative) and inclusive classroom climate(presented as perceived intercultural sensitivity of teachers) in a sample of 814 8th-grade students in three EU countries (Slovenia, Croatia, and Sweden). The findings showonlyempathy (especially perspective taking) was associated with better attitudes towards immigrantsin all three countries. Additionally, in two out of three countries, the importance of the relationship with teachers and inclusiveclassroomclimate was important as well. The results are discussed in the light of guidelines for school practice

Razvoj i validacija HSS-GC-FID metode za određivanje sadržaja lakohlapljivih sastavnica sirupa za iskašljavanje za djecu

A cough syrup is a medicinal product used in an attempt to treat coughing and related conditions. Traditional herbs are used for preparation of cough syrup. There are two main categories of herbs that are used in preparation of cough remedies: expectorants and antitussives. For productive coughs, treatment with expectorants may be attempted to loosen mucus from the respiratory tract. For dry coughs antitussives are used to suppress the body’s urge to cough. Herbal medicinal products may contain significant levels of ethanol arising from its use as an extraction solvent in liquid extracts and tinctures. Although the use of ethanol is necessary for extraction of pharmacologically active compounds, it was found that some herbal medicinal products contain large amounts (up to 60 %) of ethanol with even less clinical need or benefit. In young children ingestion of even modest amounts of ethanol may lead to permanent neurological damage as result of hypoglycemia. Therefore, special attention should be given to the ethanol content of herbal medicinal products for pediatric use. At the moment the safety evaluation of the ethanol content of herbal medicinal products for pediatric use is not harmonized between different European Union Member States. Moreover, the lack of guidelines relating to safe limits of ethanol as part of herbal medicinal products for pediatric use has also led to different national labeling practices. Therefore, the aim of our work was to develop and validate a new HSS-GC-FID method for quantification of ethanol and its main impurity, methanol, present in children’s cough syrup

Polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity and metal composition of traditional blackberry products

In this study, commercially available traditional blackberry products, namely blackberry wines and blackberry elixirs from Coastal Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, were investigated as sources of bioactive compounds, essential nutrients and metals. Samples were analysed for pH, total polyphenols and monomeric anthocyanins content, individual phenolic acids (gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid), antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS), reducing power (RPA), total nitrogen and phosphorus as well as metals (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Cr, Cd). The results of this study showed that the studied traditional blackberry products are rich sources of polyphenols and their consumption could increase the daily intake of dietary antioxidants in humans. In addition, both groups of traditional blackberry products could be considered safe for health and good additional sources of essential minerals such as manganese and potassium. The concentrations of the analysed undesirable toxic and potentially toxic metals in the studied blackberry products were below the maximum allowable concentrations defined by various regulations for wines and fruit wines

Lipofilnost salicilamida

Molecular lipophilicity was studied using salicylamide as a model drug. Log P value for the target compound was experimentally determined by the "shake-flask" method and calculated using nine different computer programs based on atom/fragment contributions, structural parameters, atom-type electrotopological-state indices and neural network modeling, and on topological structure descriptors. Our analysis demonstrates good agreement between the experimentally observed log P value of salicylamide and the value calculated by the CSLogP program, based on topological structure descriptors and electrotopological indices.U radu je dan pregled istraživanja molekularne lipofilnosti na primjeru salicamida. Log P vrijednost određena je eksperimentalnom («shake-flash») metodom i izračunata je pomoću devet različitih računalnih programa koji se temelje na atom/fragmentarnoj metodi, strukturnim parametrima, atom elektrotopologijskim indeksima uz modeliranje putem neuronskih mreža i topologijskim deskriptorima. Statistička obrada dobivenih rezultata pokazala je najbolju korelaciju eksperimentalno dobivene vrijednosti s log P vrijednošću dobivenom računalnim programoma CslogP, koji se temelji na topologijskim deskriptorima i elektrotopologijskim indeksima

Oleuropein in olive leaf, branch, and stem extracts: stability and biological activity in human cervical carcinoma and melanoma cells

Olive leaves as a main byproduct of olive oil and fruit industry are a valuable source of phytochemicals such as polyphenols, with multiple biomedical effects. Apart from leaves, olive branches and stems make up a significant amount of olive waste. It is well known that the drying process and long-term storage affect the stability and concentration of polyphenols present in raw materials. For that matter, two different means of storing olive waste, at room temperature and +4 °C, were compared by determining the content of the polyphenol oleuropein (OLE) in olive leaf, branch, and stem extracts (LE, BE, and SE) by HPLC-DAD method. Total phenols (TPC), o-diphenols (o-DPC), and total flavonoids (TFC) content in extracts were assessed by UV-Vis measurements. LE prepared from leaves stored at +4 °C had the highest OLE content, 30.7 mg g–1 of dry extract (DE). SE from stems stored at +4 °C was the richest in TPC and TFC (193 mg GAE/g DE and 82.9 mg CE/g DE, respectively), due to the higher purity of the extract. The biological activity of extracts was determined on cervical cancer (HeLa), melanoma (A375), metastatic melanoma (A375M) tumor cell lines, and on spontaneously immortalized cell line of keratinocytes (HaCaT), using the MTT assay. The data show that all extracts had a similar dose-dependent effect on cell viability in HeLa cells, while the effect of LE on melanoma A375 and A375M, and HaCaT cells was cell-line dependent

Chemical Constituents of Fruit Wines as Descriptors of their Nutritional, Sensorial and Health-Related Properties

Functional foods are foods that provide positive health effects apart from the provision of essential nutrients. Along with nutraceuticals, they represent the top trends in the food industry. Fruit wines are considered functional foods. When assessing the fruit wine quality, a wide range of descriptors are taken into consideration, namely physicochemical and sensorial properties of fruit wine. Furthermore, within the context of the new food products development (e.g. functional products), functional properties of fruit wines are also taken into consideration. Functional properties are determined by the content of the biologically active components, such as polyphenols, vitamins and micro- and macrominerals. It is also important to consider the food-safety issues regarding the fruit wines consummation, that is, the presence of pesticides, mycotoxins and biogenic amines in different fruit wines. This chapter aims to give an overview of various factors used to evaluate the quality and the functional properties of fruit wines