Objective
To define which oxidative stress markers could be used as diagnostic tools in the assessment of post-infarction heart failure (HF).
Methods
This observational study enrolled patients with ...HF that were divided into three subgroups (ejection fraction EF ≥ 50%; EF 40–49%; EF < 40%) and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. The plasma concentrations of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, catalase activity and free thiols were determined in all participants.
Results
The study enrolled 81 patients with HF and 68 healthy control subjects. There were significant differences in the values of oxidative stress markers between patients and controls. Oxidative stress parameters did not differ between the subgroups of patients, except for AOPP, which was significantly higher in the EF < 40% group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed an association between AOPP and HF in the EF ≥ 50% group, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified a cut-off value of 60.89 µmol/l for AOPP.
Conclusions
Based on the ROC curve analysis of AOPP and the higher significance in the multivariate analyses for patients with EF ≥ 50%, these current results suggest that AOPP could be a useful additional tool in the assessment of post-infarction HF.
Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the intensity of oxidative stress in the brain of animals chronically exposed to mobile phones and potential protective effects of melatonin in reducing ...oxidative stress and brain injury. Materials and methods: Experiments were performed on Wistar rats exposed to microwave radiation during 20, 40 and 60 days. Four groups were formed: I group (control)- animals treated by saline, intraperitoneally (i.p.) applied daily during follow up, II group (Mel)- rats treated daily with melatonin (2 mg kg-1 body weight i.p.), III group (MWs)- microwave exposed rats, IV group (MWs＋Mel)- MWs exposed rats treated with melatonin (2 mg kg-1 body weight i.p.). The microwave radiation was produced by a mobile test phone (SAR＝0.043-0.135 W/kg). Results: A significant increase in the brain tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and carbonyl group concentration was registered during exposure. Decreased activity of catalase (CAT) and increased activity of xanthine oxidase (XO) remained after 40 and 60 days of exposure to mobile phones. Melatonin treatment significantly prevented the increase in the MDA content and XO activity in the brain tissue after 40 days of exposure while it was unable to prevent the decrease of CAT activity and increase of carbonyl group contents. Conclusion: We demonstrated two important findings; that mobile phones caused oxidative damage biochemically by increasing the levels of MDA, carbonyl groups, XO activity and decreasing CAT activity; and that treatment with the melatonin significantly prevented oxidative damage in the brain.
Abstract
Background
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a severe condition, often co-occurring with depression and anxiety, that strongly affects the quality of life (QoL) in some patients. Conversely, ...depressive and anxiety symptoms are associated with a 2–3 fold increase in mortality risk and were shown to act independently of typical risk factors in CHF progression. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of depression, anxiety, and QoL on the occurrence of rehospitalization within one year after discharge in CHF patients.
Methods
148 CHF patients were enrolled in a 10-center, prospective, observational study. All patients completed two questionnaires, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Questionnaire Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36) at discharge timepoint.
Results
It was found that demographic and clinical characteristics are not associated with rehospitalization. Still, the levels of depression correlated with gender (p ≤ 0.027) and marital status (p ≤ 0.001), while the anxiety values were dependent on the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, levels of depression (HADS-Depression) and anxiety (HADS-Anxiety) did not correlate with the risk of rehospitalization. Univariate logistic regression analysis results showed that rehospitalized patients had significantly lower levels of Bodily pain (BP, p = 0.014), Vitality (VT, p = 0.005), Social Functioning (SF, p = 0.007), and General Health (GH, p = 0.002). In the multivariate model, poor GH (OR 0.966, p = 0.005) remained a significant risk factor for rehospitalization, and poor General Health is singled out as the most reliable prognostic parameter for rehospitalization (AUC = 0.665, P = 0.002).
Conclusion
Taken together, our results suggest that QoL assessment complements clinical prognostic markers to identify CHF patients at high risk for adverse events.
Clinical Trial Registration
: The study is registered under
http://clinicaltrials.gov
(NCT01501981, first posted on 30/12/2011), sponsored by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
In this work, for the first time, the phenolic composition of wine of the autochthonous Bosnian-Herzegovinian variety ‘Blatina’, the Montenegrin variety ‘Vranac’ and the internationally recognized ...varieties ‘Merlot’ and ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ grown in Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina was characterized. The characterization was carried out for all four varieties under the same conditions and with the same oenological procedures during the 2016 and 2017 research. It was found that the variety ‘Blatina’ has statistically significant lower values for gallic acid, vanillic acid, (+)-catechin, quercetin glycoside, rutin and malvidin-3-glycoside acetate than the other three observed varieties. For the indicators of quercetin and peonidin-3-glycoside, the variety ‘Blatina’ has significantly higher average values than the other three varieties. In the content of (−)-epicatechin, the variety ‘Blatina’ has significantly higher average values than ‘Vranac’ and ‘Merlot’, but statistically a significantly lower value than the variety ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’. For morin, the variety ‘Blatina’ has significantly lower average value than ‘Vranac’ and ‘Merlot’, but statistically significantly higher value than the variety ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’. As an indicator of malvidin-3-glycoside, the variety ‘Blatina’ has a significantly higher average value than ‘Merlot’ and ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, but statistically a significantly lower value than the variety ‘Vranac’. For the indicator malvidin-3-glycoside para-coumarate, the variety ‘Blatina’ has a significantly higher average value than ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, but statistically a significantly lower value than the varieties ‘Vranac’ and ‘Merlot’. The influence of the year and the joint influence of variety and year is very significant for all analyzed indicators.
Typicality and style of wine are closely related to the varietal character of grapes, ecological properties of the locality, and the specificities of the winemaking process. For this reason, ...autochthonous and indigenous grape varieties are increasingly the subject of many studies. To protect their uniqueness, in the region of Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina), indigenous grape varieties are part of the current grape and wine production. Therefore, the subject of a two-year study (2018-2019) were indigenous wine varieties: Blatina, Trnjak, and Vranac. Variations in the values of the analyzed parameters were a consequence of the significant and/or highly significant influence of the variety and year. Blatina stood out from other varieties with the highest average cluster weight (364.90 g) and the highest wine color intensity (10.71). Trnjak had the highest total anthocyanin content in the grape skin and total polyphenol content in the grape seeds (1090.198 mg/kg grapes; 1755.195 mg/kg grapes), while Vranac had the highest polyphenol content in the grape skin (1823.961 mg/kg grapes), the highest TSS level (21.55% Brix), and consequently, the highest alcohol content in the wine (12.07% v/v).
Background
Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving hemodialysis (HD) often experience bleeding. However, mechanisms behind this bleeding tendency are incompletely understood but may ...involve platelet dysfunction. We, therefore, studied platelet-dependent thrombus formation in flowing whole blood inside a microchip coated with collagen, and its association with circulating von Willebrand factor (VWF).
Methods
Blood samples were obtained in 22 patients before and after HD. The area under the 10 min flow pressure curve in a microchip (AUC10) reflecting total platelet thrombogenicity was measured, using the Total Thrombus-formation Analysis System (T-TAS01). AUC10 < 260 indicates platelet dysfunction. VWF activity and antigen in plasma were also assayed.
Results
VWF levels were moderately elevated and increased further after HD (
P
< 0.01 or lower). In contrast, AUC10 before and after HD was < 260 in 17/22 patients and < 130 in 15/22 patients, with no statistically significant difference in pre- vs post-HD measurements, indicating reduced platelet thrombogenicity, but with some variability as 5/22 patients showed normal platelet responsiveness. AUC10 and VWF activity or antigen levels in plasma were not correlated, either before or after HD.
Conclusions
Most ESRD patients display moderate-to-severe platelet dysfunction as assessed by shear-induced platelet-dependent thrombus formation with T-TAS01. HD does not influence platelet function despite HD-induced elevations in VWF. T-TAS01 should be further evaluated as a tool in the assessment of bleeding risk in patients on HD.
Graphical abstract
Abstract
Purine nucleotide liberation and their metabolic rate of interconversion may be important in the development of hypertension and its renal consequences. In the present study, blood ...triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) breakdown pathway was evaluated in relation to uric acid concentration and xanthine dehydrogenase/xanthine oxidase (XDH/XO) in patients with essential hypertension, patients with chronic renal diseases on dialysis, and control individuals. The pattern of nucleotide catabolism was significantly shifted toward catabolic compounds, including ADP, AMP, and uric acid in patients on dialysis program. A significant fall of ATP was more expressed in a group of patients on dialysis program, compared with the control value (p < 0.001), while ADP and AMP were significantly increased in both groups of patients compared with control healthy individuals (p < 0.001), together with their final degradation product, uric acid (p < 0.001). The index of ATP/ADP and ATP/uric acid showed gradual significant fall in both the groups, compared with the control value (p < 0.001), near five times in a group on dialysis. Total XOD was up-regulated significantly in a group with essential hypertension, more than in a group on dialysis. The activity of XO, which dominantly contributes reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, significantly increased in dialysis group, more than in a group with essential hypertension. In conclusion, the examination of the role of circulating purine nucleotides and uric acid in pathogenesis of hypertension and possible development of renal disease, together with XO role in ROS production, may help in modulating their liberation and ROS production in slowing progression from hypertension to renal failure.
Introduction. Standard biomarkers for the diagnosis and follow-up of chronic kidney disease patients are appropriate neither in early diagnostics, adequate follow-up and progression assessment nor in ...complication development risk assessment. For that reason, a search for new, more suitable biomarkers continues. Various studies suggested microRNAs as a potential solution, as they are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, kidney cancer and kidney function impairment in general. Methods. Internet search engines were used to find and select relevant literature data and electronic databases. Results. Research published so far, in oncology especially, have reported various single microRNAs and panels of microRNAs as candidates for routine diagnostic implementation. Chronic kidney disease is, however, quite complex in terms of etiology of the disease occurrence, since there are many causes that can lead to kidney tissue damage and impairment of its function and finally full development of the chronic kidney disease. MicroRNAs are stable in bodily fluids, and hemodialysis procedure does not affect their levels. Also, high RNase activity in chronic kidney disease patients does not accelerate microRNA degradation in their samples. Conclusions. Literature data suggest that microRNAs are appropriate candidates for diagnostic use in chronic kidney disease. However, there are challenges that are yet to be overcome in order to use microRNAs routinely.
Bois noir is one of the most important diseases caused by ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ affecting grapevine in the Euro-Mediterranean area. ‘Ca. P. solani’ characterization plays a significant role ...in its diagnosis, control and understanding of its epidemiology. In the present study, two genes encoding membrane proteins, namely vmp1 and stamp, were used to assess the genetic variability of 18 ‘Ca. P. solani’ grapevine isolates from the Herzegovina region (B&H), previously characterised as tuf-b type. Nested-PCR/RFLP and sequence analyses of vmp1 gene showed the presence of three profiles V17, V14 and V4 where V17 was highly prevalent. Phylogenetic analysis of stamp gene revealed the presence of four different genotypes, where Rqg50 was the most frequent. Finally, the combined results of tuf, vmp1 and stamp genes, reported three previously identified genotypes from Serbia, Austria and Montenegro, and two newly described ones (DB1 and DB2). Although performed only on ‘Ca. P. solani’ isolates from infected grapevines, this study provides useful molecular information to get better insight on BN epidemiology in B&H.
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