Refugiados en Serbia: de camino hacia una vida mejor

Más de 450 000 personas pasaron a través de Serbia desde que comenzó 2015 hasta mediados de noviembre. Sin embargo, en 2014 las cifras fueron ya elevadas e iban en aumento

Antigenotoxic effect of plant extracts

This report reviews our study of antigenotoxic compounds from medicinal and aromatic plants performed over several years. The studies of this type are aimed at understanding the protective mechanisms which may be relevant for the primary prevention of cancer and other mutation-related diseases. Antigenotoxic potential in this study is estimated with prokaryotic and eukaryotic tests measuring spontaneous and induced mutations, recombination, mutagenic repair, chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei. Our results indicate that monoterpenoids from sage act as modulators of DNA repair pathways, whereas sage antioxidants interfere with metabolic activation enzymes. The potential use of sage extracts in cancer prevention is discussed

The anthropogenic impact on water quality of the river Danube in Serbia: Microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring

The aim of this work was to examine the impact of urban wastewaters on the water quality of the Danube River in Serbia. Samples of water and sediments for microbiological analysis and genotoxicity monitoring were collected from 6 sites during spring and/or autumn 2010. Sanitary analysis, i.e. enumeration of total and fecal coliforms and intestinal enterococci, indicated moderate to critical fecal contamination, while organic load assessment (oligotroph to heterotroph ratio, index of phosphatase activity) revealed the category of moderately polluted water. Mercury-resistant bacteria were detected in all water samples, with high numbers at locations positioned downstream of Belgrade. There was no correlation of the microbiological parameters of the sediment and water samples. Genotoxicity monitoring, performed by the comet assay on hemocytes of mussels Sinanodonta woodiana, indicated a significant increase of DNA damage in mussels collected from the studied sites compared with the control group.Projekat ministarstva br. 173025 i br. 4300

Geographical and biological analysis of the water quality of Bovan Lake, Serbia

In this work we performed a complex geographical analysis of the Bovan Lake basin, Serbia, as well as an analysis of the physical, chemical and biological parameters of water reservoir during a one-year period. The basic sanitary characteristics and physical, chemical and biological parameters, necessary for understanding locality conditions, were studied, and the saprobity index, class of quality, index O/H, degree of saprobity, degree of trophicity and category based on the phosphatase activity index (PAI), were determined. Our results classify the ecosystem as polytrophic. The degree of saprobity is oligosaprobic - beta mesosaprobic, with a catarobic degree in winter, classifying the water as III - IV class of quality. Due to the presence of organic residues, a domination of heterotrophic bacteria in comparison to oligotrophic bacteria is evident. The ability of autopurification is weak. The results indicate the need for continual monitoring of the water quality and environmental protection of Bovan Lake

Ispitivanje antivirusne aktivnosti ekstrakata žalfije Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae)

In the present study, we examined cytotoxicity and extracellular and intracellular antiviral activity of frac­tionated extracts of wild and cultivated sage Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) in vitro using the WISH-VSV model system. Extracts were obtained by fractionating depigmented ethanol extracts of sage plants with supercritical CO2 at different pressures. Cytotoxicity was determined by examining cellular morphology in situ with the aid of a colorimetric micromethod and by cell staining with trypan blue. The fraction of distilled cultivated sage obtained at CO2 pressure of 300 bars and temperature of 60°C (149/3) was the most cytotoxic, with CTD10 44 μg/ml. That of non-distilled cultivated sage obtained at CO2 pressure of 500 bars and temperature of 100°C (144/5) was the least toxic (CTD10 199 μg/ml). Moreover, 144/5 had an antiviral effect at the intracellular level: when added 5 hours before VSV infection, it caused 100% reduction of CPE at concentrations of 99.5 and 199.0 μg/ml; when added after virus penetration had occurred, the same concentrations caused 35 and 60% reduction, respectively. The obtained results indicate that antiviral activity of 144/5 involves inhibition of the early steps of the virus infective cycle without a direct virucidal effect. Abbreviations: WISH - human amnion epithelial cells, VSV - vesicular stomatitis virus, HSV - herpes simplex virus, CPE - cytopathic effect, IS - selectivity index, TCID50 - tissue culture infective dose, CTD10 - 10% cytotoxic concentrations.U radu je ispitivana antiviralna aktivnost različito frakcionisanih ekstrakata divlje i gajene žalfije Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) u in vitro uslovima koristeći WISH-VSV model sistem. Ekstrakti su dobijeni frakcionisanjem depigmentisanog etanolnog biljnog ekstrakta pod različitim pritiskom CO2. Citotoksičnost je određivana praćenjem ćelijske morfologije in situ, i bojenjem ćelija sa tripan plavim. Frakcija gajene žalfije dobijena na CO2 pritisku od 300 bara i temperaturi od 60°C (149/3) je pokazala najveću citotoksičnost (CTD10 44 μg/ml). Frakcija nedestilisane gajene žalfije dobijena na CO2 pritisku od 500 bara i temperaturi od 100°C (144/5) je pokazala najmanju toksičnost (CTD10 199 μg/ml). Takođe, frakcija 144/5 je pokazala i antiviralni efekat na intracelularnom nivou: kada se ćelije tretiraju 5 sati pre VSV infekcije, redukcija CPE je bila 100% na koncentraciji od 99.5 i 199.0 μg/ml; kada se ćelije tretiraju posle ulaska virusa u ćeliju na istim koncentarcijama redukcija CPE iz­nosi 35% odnosno 60%. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da frakcija 144/5 ima antiviralnu aktivnost koja se ostvaruje krozinhibiciju ranih stupnjeva viralne infekcije bezdirektnog virucidalnog efekta