Influence of insecticides application on channel lenght in stem of maize plants caused by feeding of larvae of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn.)

In maize plants the attack of European corn borer can cause significant damages, which can lessen by insecticide application in crop protection. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of insecticides on the total length of channels in maize plant stem formed by the feeding of larvae Ostrinia nubilalis. The research was carried out in Maize Research Institute different FAO ripening groups (ZP 434, ZP 600 and ZP 666) and three insecticides chlorantraniliprole (200 g l-1), bifenthrin (100 g l-1) and lufenuron (50 g l-1)+(cypermethrin (50 g l-1) + chlorpyrifos (500 g l-1)), which were applied only after the maximum flight of the first generation to protect plants from attack of European corn borer. The result showed significantly different total length of channels in the stem of plants, caused by feeding of the larvae of European corn borer, which varied from the lowest on treatment with insecticide chlorantraniliprole in maize genotype ZP 600 (170.00 cm) to the highest in maize genotype ZP 666 (278.33 cm) on the control variant (without insecticide application). For all treatments, the average value of total length of channels in stem, was the lowest 192.92 cm in ZP 434, slightly higher 195.42 cm in ZP 600, while the highest average value of total length of channels was 233.34 cm in maize genotype ZP 606. The established differences for total length of channels depended on genotype and type of insecticide applie

Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Patients with Diabetic Foot

Background and Objectives: Diabetic foot (DF) development is driven by complex interactions of hyperglycemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress (OS). We aimed to investigate OS and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with DF and their potential to improve early diagnosis and management of DF. Materials and Methods: The prooxidant–antioxidant balance (PAB), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total oxidative status (TOS), total sulfhydryl groups (SHG), routine biochemical parameters, and complete blood count were determined in 42 patients with type-2 DM, of which 23 patients had DF, while 19 patients were without DF complications. The neutrophils-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was evaluated as a biomarker of inflammation. Results: Patients with DF had significantly higher (p < 0.05) PAB levels (170 ± 33.9 U/L) compared to those without DF complications (142 ± 31.3 U/L). In addition, patients with DF had significantly reduced SOD activities (p < 0.01). NLR values were significantly higher in the DF group (median: 2.8; interquartile range: 2.0–4.3) than in the group without DF (median: 1.4; interquartile range: 1.4–2.1; p < 0.01). A positive correlation was found between the PAB and NLR index (r = 0.449; p < 0.05). The diagnostic accuracy of both PAB (AUC = 0.741; p < 0.01) and NLR (AUC = 0.760; p < 0.01) was estimated as acceptable. Conclusions: In conclusion, the development of DF is associated with enhanced OS and inflammation processes. PAB and NLR could be useful non-invasive biomarkers of DF development

Effect of Cold Acclimation on Selected Metabolic Enzymes During Diapause in The European Corn Borer Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn., is a pest Lepidopteran species whose larvae overwinter by entering diapause, gradually becoming cold-hardy. To investigate metabolic changes during cold hardening, activities of four metabolic enzymes – citrate synthase (CS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured in whole-body homogenates of pupae, non-diapausing and diapausing larvae acclimated to 5 °C, −3 °C and −16 °C. The highest CS activity was detected in non-diapausing larvae, reflecting active development, while the highest in vitro LDH activity was recorded in diapausing larvae at temperatures close to 0 °C, evidencing a metabolic switch towards anaerobic metabolism. However, in-gel LDH activity showed that production of pyruvate from lactate is triggered by sub-zero temperatures. The activities of both aminotransferases were highest in non-diapausing larvae. Our findings suggest that during diapause and cold hardening the aminotransferases catalyse production of L-alanine, an important cryoprotectant, and L-aspartate, which is closely tied to both transamination reactions and Krebs cycle. The results of this study indicate that, during diapause, the activity of metabolic enzymes is synchronized with exogenous factors, such as temperatures close to 0 °C. These findings support the notion that diapause is metabolically plastic and vibrant, rather than simply a passive, resting state

Značaj određivanja produkata uznapredovale glikacije i biomarkera lipidnog i redoks statusa kod pacijenata sa dijabetes melitusom

Non-enzymatic glycation, oxidative stress (OS) and dyslipidemia are the main metabolic alterations behind the development of macrovascular complications (cardiovascular diseases) of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, clinical relevance of biomarkers of these processes in patients with microvascular complications (nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy) is less understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine advanced glycation products (AGEs), biomarkers of OS, and dyslipidemia in 100 DM patients (33 without microvascular complications and 77 with complications) and 30 subjects without DM. AGEs levels were higher in patients with complications than in those without complications (median: 5.72; interquartile range: 4.60- 6.54 U/mL vs. median: 4.84; interquartile range: 4.10-5.40 U/L; P<0.05). In addition to AGEs, the group with diabetic retinopathy had higher plasma total antioxidant capacity (P<0.05), while the group with diabetic nephropathy had smaller LDL size than the patients without these complications (25.48±1.26 nm vs. 26.21±1.19 nm; P<0.05). The patients with co-existing cardiovascular disease were further characterized by dysfunctional HDL particles, as evidenced by increased small HDL particles (P<0.05) and reduced paraoxonase- 1 activities. Significant increase in both pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance and ischemia- modified albumin (P<0.05), with simultaneously decreased activity of superoxide-dismutase (P<0.05) was found in patients with progressive diabetic neuropathy, indicating the highest degree of oxidative damage. It can be concluded that patients with microvascular complications of DM have aggravated redox imbalance and lipid profile alterations. In addition to metabolic control, strategies aimed at lowering OS and correcting dyslipidemia can contribute to the prevention of microvascular complications of diabetes.Neenzimska glikacija, oksidativni stres (OS) i dislipidemija su glavni metabolički procesi koji dovode do razvoja makrovaskularnih komplikacija (kardiovaskularnih bolesti) dijabetesa melitusa (DM). Međutim, klinički značaj određivanja biomarkera ovih procesa kod pacijenata sa mikrovaskularnim komplikacijama (retinopatija, nefropatija, neuropatija) nije dovoljno razjašnjen. Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitivanje produkata uznapredovale glikacije (AGE), biomarkera OS i dislipidemije kod 100 pacijenata sa DM (33 bez mikrovaskularnih komplikacija i 77 sa komplikacijama) i 30 ispitanika bez DM. Nivo cirkulišućih AGE je bio značajno viši u grupi pacijenata sa komplikacijama (medijana: 5,72; interkvartilni raspon: 4,60-6,54 U/mL) u odnosu na pacijente bez komplikacija (medijana: 4,84; interkvartilni raspon 4,10-5,40 U/L; P<0,05). Pored povišenih koncentracija AGE, pacijenti sa dijabetesnom retinopatijom su imali i povišene vrednosti totalnog oksidativnog statusa (P<0,05), a pacijenti sa dijabetesnom nefropatijom manje dijametre LDL čestica (25,48±1,26 nm) u poređenju sa sa pacijentima bez komplikacija (26,21±1,19 nm; P<0,05). Nadalje, kod pacijenata sa pridruženim makrovaskularnim komplikacijama (kardiovaskularnim bolestima) utvrđeno je prisustvo disfunkcionalnih HDL čestica, na osnovu povećanog udela malih HDL čestica (P<0.05) i smanjene aktivnosti paroksonaze- 1. Pacijenti sa progresivnom dijabetesnom neuropatijom su imali značajno povišene vrednosti prooksidativno-antioksidativnog balansa i ishemijom modifikovanog albumina (P<0,05), uz istovremeno sniženje aktivnosti superoksid-dismutaze (P<0,05), što ukazuje da je stepen oksidativnog oštećenja u ovoj grupi bio najveći. Može se zaključiti da, pored adekvatne metaboliče kontrole, strategije usmerene ka sniženju OS i korekciji dislipidemije, mogu doprineti prevenciji razvoja mikrovaskularnih komplikacija dijabetesa.VIII Kongres farmaceuta Srbije sa međunarodnim učešćem, 12-15.10.2022. Beogra

We Are (Not) in the Same Boat: Sociodemographic Differences in Mental and Social Health during the First Year of Coronavirus Pandemic

The study explores changes in mental and social health over two time points during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as differences in mental and social health among five sociodemographic groups determined by gender, age, socioeconomic status, education and employment status. The online survey was conducted during August and September 2020, and again during January 2021 on a probabilistic sample of adults in Croatia. A total of 958 adults participated in both time points. Our results indicate that, when there are any, changes in mental health are small, while changes in social health are slightly larger. Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic seems to disproportionately affect different socioeconomic groups. Women, young adults, people with low socioeconomic status, with primary education and unemployed generally had worse mental health in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Also, some social health indicators deteriorated more among older participants, people with low socioeconomic status, primary education and unemployed. Future studies should continue to monitor changes in mental and social health and appropriate interventions for the most vulnerable should be planned and introduced

Expression of cs, ast, alt and ldh genes during diapause of the european corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis (Hbn.)

Many insect species overcome unfavourable environmental conditions by entering diapause, a type of hypometabolic resting state which features accumulation of energy reserves, lowered oxidative metabolism rates, synthesis of protective metabolites and expression of specific genes. In order to better understand the changes occuring at the transcriptional level during diapause of the economically important European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis (Hbn.), the expression of genes encoding selected metabolic enzymes was measured in this study. The selected enzymes are markers of aerobic (citrate synthase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase) and anaerobic metabolism (lactate dehydrogenase). Total RNA was isolated from whole-body non-diapausing (ND) and diapausing (D) 5th instar larvae acclimated to different temperatures (15°C, 5°C, –3°C, – 16°C) due to a close link between diapause and cold hardiness in this species. QPCR was performed and relative gene expression was determined using rps3 as the reference gene and the ND group as control. Relative expression of cs gene did not differ between groups, suggesting that this enzyme is regulated posttranslationally. Relative expressions of ast and alt genes were significantly higher in the ND group compared to diapausing larvae, while the expression of ldh was higher in the diapausing groups. A temperature effect on relative gene expression of cs, ldh and alt was determined. Higher cs expression was recorded in diapausing larvae acclimated to 5°C compared to D(15°C), probably compensating for lowered CS enzyme activity. Cold acclimation leads to higher expression of ldh in diapausing larvae, especially in D(–3°C) group, as expected. Lastly, acclimating diapausing larvae to 5°C and –3°C resulted in higher expression of alt in these groups compared to D(15°C) larvae, leading to an increase of the cryoprotective alanine synthesis

Management of inorganic elements by overwintering physiology of cold hardy larvae of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis, Hbn.)

The European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis, Hbn.), enters diapause, a strategy characterized by arrest of development and reproduction, reduction of metabolic rate and the emergence of increased resistance to challenging seasonal conditions as low sub-zero winter temperatures. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of inorganic elements in the ecophysiology of O. nubilalis, analysing their content in the whole body, hemolymph and fat body, both metabolically active, non-diapausing and overwintering diapausing larvae by ICP-OES spectrometer following the US EPA method 200.7:2001. O nubilalis as many phytophagous lepidopteran species maintain a very low extracellular sodium concentration and has potassium as dominant cation in hemolymph of their larvae. Changes in hemolymph and the whole body sodium content occur already at the onset of diapause (when the mean environmental temperatures are still high above 0 ºC) and remain stable during the time course of diapause when larvae of this species cope with sub-zero temperatures, it seems that sodium content regulation is rather a part of diapausing program than the direct effect of exposure to low temperatures. Compared to non-diapausing O. nubilalis larvae, potassium levels are much higher in the whole body and fat body of diapausing larvae and substantially increase approaching the end of diapause. The concentration of Ca, Mg, P and S differed in the whole body, hemolymph and fat body between non-diapausing and diapausing larvae without a unique trend during diapause, except an increase in their contents at the end of diapause