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•Verbascum nigrum, V. phlomoides and V. thapsus extracts were analysed.•The main secondary metabolite in all species was verbascoside.•V. nigrum showed the strongest antioxidant ...activity and highest verbascoside content.•Verbascoside was the major contributor to the antioxidant capacity of the extracts.•In vitro simulated digestion showed variations in secondary metabolites contents.
The aim of this study was to determine the content of major secondary metabolites, namely, verbascoside, harpagoside, phenolic acids and flavonoids in Verbascum nigrum, Verbascum phlomoides and Verbascum thapsus methanol and water extracts by HPLC analysis and their antioxidant capacity. Also, the in vitro digestion simulation studies were performed on these extracts. Stability of individual compounds present in the extracts to digestive conditions was assessed using a simulated gastric and small intestinal model. Based on the obtained results, V. nigrum was marked as a plant with different secondary metabolites content, the highest total phenolics and phenolic acids amounts. Also, V. nigrum methanol extract showed the strongest antioxidant activity in different in vitro antioxidant methods. The main secondary metabolite in all species was verbascoside and its concentration was the highest in V. nigrum extract (118.60mg/g of dry extract). Verbascoside exhibited strong antioxidant activity and was identified as the major contributor to the antioxidant activity of Verbascum species. After simulated in vitro digestion, verbascoside contents and antioxidant activities of the extracts were significantly decreased, whereas phenolic acids were quite stable during simulated digestion. This work provides valuable information about Verbascum plants and their pharmacologically important secondary metabolites suggesting that V. nigrum could serve as attractive source of antioxidants for application in food and pharmaceutical industry in forthcoming research.
This paper presents new data for secondary metabolites and biological activity of the insufficiently studied European inland halophytes as remarkable indicators of Balkan saline habitats. Phenolic ...content, flavonoid concentrations and antioxidant activity were analyzed in fifteen terrestrial salt tolerant plants collected from eight saline habitats situated in two distinct semiarid regions of Serbia. Total phenols ranged from 31.86 to 212.71 mg of GA/g of extract (gallic acid equivalent – milligrams of gallic acid per gram of extract). Concentration of flavonoids ranged from 41.21 to 146.06 mg of RU/g of extract (rutin equivalent – milligrams of rutin per gram of extract). Antioxidant activity was determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical reagent; obtained values was ranged from 1785.81 to 17.55 μg/ml. A significant relation was noticed between the concentration of phenols and antioxidant activity. Parallel to the analysis of researched halophytes, Camellia sinensis and Ginkgo biloba were analyzed for comparison. The best antioxidant properties were determined for Statice gmelinii, Artemisia santonicum and Mentha pulegium. The results indicate a potential of studied halophytic species as candidates for natural sources of secondary metabolites with high biological activity, whereas their bioactive compounds might have a significant role in adaptations to salt and drought stress.
•Biological potential was assessed for 15 semiarid halophytes from central Balkan.•First report for endemic and/or rare salt tolerant plants regarding antioxidant effect.•The highest content of flavonoids was found in Atriplex tatarica and A. littoralis.•Antioxidant activity of some analyzed halophytes was similar to green tea and ginkgo.•Plants from saline semiarid habitats are sources of phenols with antioxidant activity.
The objective of this study was to determine eco-edaphic characteristics and influence of different substrates on mineral characteristics of facultative serpentinophyte. The total concentration of 20 ...elements Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Se, and Zn in soil samples and aboveground parts of medicinal plant species
Teucrium montanum
from various calcareous and serpentinite habitats in the territory of Serbia was determined. The concentration of the elements was established by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry–ICP-OES. The obtained results showed that the quantities of certain elements Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Cu, K, Li, P, Se, and Zn were detected more in the soil samples from calcareous habitats in comparison to the quantities of other metals Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, which were more frequently found in the soil samples from the serpentinite habitats. Analyzed plant samples from calcareous habitats contained higher concentrations of Al, Ca, Li, and Zn as opposed to serpentinite containing higher concentrations of Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, and Se. Examined species can accumulate macro- and microelements in different quantities, depending on the substrate type. Differences in the concentration of certain elements in the soil samples and aboveground parts of the
T. montanum
from calcareous and serpentinite habitats indicate significant phenotypic plasticity of the investigated species as well as the existence of specific serpentinite ecotypes developed by the activity of various edaphic factors.
To review the audiologic results in a cohort of patients surgically treated for cholesteatoma.
Retrospective review of patient records.
Tertiary referral center.
A retrospective study of patients ...operated on for acquired middle ear cholesteatoma during the period 1990 to 2002 was performed. A total of 758 patients were followed during a short-term period, and 611 patients were followed during a long-term period. The patients were divided into 3 age groups: children, adolescents, and adults. The localization of cholesteatoma was classified as attic, sinus, or tensa.
Closed tympanoplasty was always performed as the single procedure of choice on all the children, and reoperation or conversion to open tympanoplasty was made later if needed. Adult patients were treated with single classic canal wall up, or wall down (CWD), according to the propagation of disease and condition of middle ear.
Preoperative and postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) and pure-tone average were compared after short-term and long-term follow-up.
Average hearing improvement (reduction of ABG) amounted 20.0 dB for short-term and deteriorated to 18.0 dB during long-term analysis for all the patients. Preoperative hearing level was significantly worse for CWD than for intact canal wall technique. The ABG closure was much better in the group with attic cholesteatoma. Both preoperative and postoperative hearing levels were worse for children than for adolescents or adults. Revision operations and bilateral cholesteatoma gave worse total postoperative hearing. The long-term results of primary operations, when recurrent cholesteatoma did not occur, were stable. Damage to auditory ossicles correlated well with total preoperative and postoperative results. The most hearing improvement was verified for the frequencies between 500 and 3,000 Hz, and there was no sensorineural hearing loss.
The audiologic results of cholesteatoma surgery are preserved during long-term follow-up. We found that recurrent cholesteatoma was associated with diminished postoperative hearing. Poorer preoperative hearing level, CWD tympanoplasty, younger age, bilateral cholesteatoma, and ossicular damage, as well as revision surgery, were associated with reduced gains in hearing with surgical management. Surgical experience was important for ICW technique and for advanced damage of auditory ossicles. Recurrent cholesteatoma resulted in significantly worse hearing results for each analyzed parameter.
The purpose of this comparative analysis is the determination of the total quantity of metals (Mg, Ca, K, Ni, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb) in soil samples, above ground plant parts and tea made of ...plants
Teucrium montanum
and
T. chamaedrys
from different serpentine and calcareous habitats as well as of the total quantity of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. The obtained results showed that the quantities of certain metals (Mg, Fe, Ni and Mn) in the soil from the serpentine habitats were greater in comparison with other metals (Ca, Zn and Pb) which were more frequently found in the soil from the calcareous habitats. The results demonstrated that the analysed plant samples from the serpentine habitats contained higher quantity of Fe, Ni and Cr as opposed to the plant samples from the calcareous habitats which contained greater quantity of Ca and Zn. Although the studied species accumulate analysed metals in different quantities, depending on the substrate type, they are not hyperaccumulators of these metals. The use of these species from serpentine habitats for tea preparation is safe to a great extent, because in spite of the determined metal absorption by plant organs, the tea does not contain dangerous quantity of heavy metals. The results showed greater total quantity of phenolic compounds and the higher level of antioxidant activity in the plant samples from serpentine habitats in comparison with the samples from calcareous habitats, which is an indicator of one of the mechanisms of adaptation to the serpentine habitat conditions.
The principal aim of this paper is to show the influence of soil characteristics on the quantitative variability of secondary metabolites. Analysis of phenolic content, flavonoid concentrations, and ...the antioxidant activity was performed using the ethanol and ethyl acetate plant extracts of the species
L. (Asteraceae). The samples were collected from one saline habitat and two non-saline habitats. The values of phenolic content from the samples taken from the saline habitat ranged from 119.83 to 120.83 mg GA/g and from non-saline habitats from 92.44 to 115.10 mg GA/g. The amount of flavonoids in the samples from the saline locality varied between 144.36 and 317.62 mg Ru/g and from non-saline localities between 86.03 and 273.07 mg Ru/g. The IC
values of antioxidant activity in the samples from the saline habitat ranged from 87.64 to 117.73 μg/mL and from 101.44 to 125.76 μg/mL in the samples from non-saline habitats. The results confirmed that soil types represent a significant influence on the quantitative content of secondary metabolites. The greatest concentrations of phenols and flavonoids and the highest level of antioxidant activity were found in the samples from saline soil. This further corroborates the importance of saline soil as an ecological factor, as it is proven to give rise to increased biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and related antioxidant activity.
There are no results of comparative ecological studies of the radionuclide activity concentration in the plants and soil in relation to geological substrate. Presented research encompasses the ...comparative analysis of the concentration of four radionuclides, three natural (
40
K,
226
Ra,
232
Th) and one artificial (
137
Cs) in soil samples and aerial plant parts of
Teucrium montanum
from different natural habitats on serpentinite and calcareous geological substrate. The activity concentrations of radionuclides were measured with high purity germanium (HPGe) detector and expressed as Bq kg
−1
. The calculated activity concentrations of
40
K,
226
Ra,
232
Th, and
137
Cs in soil samples from serpentinite/calcareous habitats are in range 39.6–91.0/59.3–1018.8, 1.7–5.5/4.3–52.4, 2.4–10.9/5.9–72.9, and 57.2–844.9/29.6–701.5 Bq kg
−1
, respectively. The activity concentrations of
40
K,
226
Ra,
232
Th, and
137
Cs in plant samples are in range 152.9–445.9/228.0–521.4, n.d.–1.2/0.6–5.6, n.d./0.2–0.9, and 1.0–46.4/1.7–7.0 Bq kg
−1
, respectively. The obtained results showed that the quantities of
137
Cs are greater in the soil and plant material from the serpentinite habitats, while quantities of
40
K,
226
Ra, and
232
Th are greater in the soil and plant material from calcareous habitats. In general, the level of radioactivity in plants and soil depends on the type of the geological substrate. The content of radionuclides in plants is correlated with the radionuclide content in the soil. In addition to other specifics in physical and chemical properties, serpentinite habitats are characterized by an increased amount of Cs in the soil, which causes an increased amount of this radionuclide in plants such as
Teucrium montanum
.
In 1955 the Automotive Factory ‘Crvena Zastava’ (Red Flag factory) began to manufacture automobiles based on the FIAT license and became a driving force of the communist Yugoslavia transformation ...from an agrarian into industrialised, urban and motorised country. This paper explores Zastava’s experience of building and developing the Yugoslav automobile industry in the context of the Yugoslav self-management system from the 1950s to the 1980s. The article aims at showing that the concept of self-management was sensible in light of the multinational Yugoslavia break from the Soviet bloc, but that the net effect of its implementation proved problematic for the national automobile industry. Additionally, Zastava leadership attempts to achieve a larger industrial scale and financial autonomy clashed with the Yugoslavia trend towards decentralisation as much as the communist leadership’s fear of an alternative centre of power.
Vertical distribution of natural radionuclides,
137
Cs and heavy metals were measured in soil and plants collected from Kragujevac surroundings. The activities of
226
Ra,
232
Th,
40
K and
137
Cs, ...were measured by gamma spectrometry in plants, soil and milk. The mean absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose, external hazard index and excess lifetime cancer risk were (81 ± 13) nGy h
−1
, (99 ± 16) μSv, (0.5 ± 0.1) and (3.8 ± 0.6) 10
–4
, respectively. The Spearman linear correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between heavy metal concentration and radionuclide. Unmix 6.0, was used to systematize abovementioned parameters in order to establish a data pattern.
Teucrum chamaedrys L. is one of the known medicinal plants, useful for treatment of various health problems, especially digestive. In this study, we investigated methanol, ethyl-acetate and acetone ...extracts of T. chamaedrys in respect to their anticancer properties in SW480 colorectal cancer cells.
Cytotoxicity and proapoptotic potential were assessed by MTT cell viability assay and AO/EB double staining. Molecular mechanisms of induced apoptosis were determined by monitoring Fas receptor protein expression through immunofluorescence, Caspase 8 and 9 activity, as well as concentrations of O2.- spectrophotometrically. Additionally, mRNA expression of biotransformation enzymes (CYP1A1, CYP1B1, GSTP1) and membrane transporters (MRP1 and MRP2) involved in drug resistance were investigated by qPCR method. Qualitative analysis of individual phenolic compounds was performed by reversed phase HPLC-MS analysis.
Methanol extract shows the best cytotoxicity and selectivity compared to ethyl-acetate and acetone extracts, mainly causing apoptosis of SW480 cells, without affecting normal HaCaT keratinocytes. The increased expression of Fas receptor protein and caspase 8 activity indicate that the death receptor-mediated pathway plays a crucial role in the observed apoptosis. The increased caspase 9 activity and O2.- concentration suggest that mitochondria are also involved in the apoptosis. T. chamaedrys methanol extract inhibits mRNA expression of CYP1A1, CYP1B1, GSTP1, MRP1 and MRP2 in SW480 cells.
Induction of apoptosis and inhibition of CYP1A1, CYP1B1, GSTP1, MRP1 and MRP2 mRNA expression implies that T. chamaedrys can serve as a valuable source of bioactive compounds as dietary supplements or selective anticancer agents, with the ability to induce apoptosis and modulate drug resistance in colorectal cancer cells.
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