Effects of depsidones from Hypogymnia physodes on HeLa cell viability and growth.

The anti-proliferative activitiy of Hypogymnia physodes methanol extracts (ME) and its main constituents, physodalic acid (P1), physodic acid (P2), and 3-hydroxy physodic acid (P3), was tested on human cancer HeLa cell lines. Three lichen depsidones, P1, P2 and P3, were isolated from H. physodes ME using column chromatography and their structures were determined by UV, ESI TOF MS, 1H and 13C NMR. The content of P1, P2 and P3 in ME was determined using reversed-phase highperformance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection. P1-3 represented even 70 % of the studied extract. The HeLa cells were incubated during 24 and 72 h in the presence of ME and depsidones P1, P2 and P3, at concentrations of 10-1000 µg/ml. Compounds P2 and P3 showed higher activity than compound P1. Half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50, µg/ml) of P1, P2, P3 and ME for 24-h incubation were 964, 171, 97 and 254 µg/ml, respectively, while for 72-h incubation they were 283, 66, 63 and 68 µg/ml. As far as we know, this is the first report on the effect of H. physodes ME and their depsidones on HeLa cells.

Clinical and urodynamic outcomes of tension-free vaginal tape procedure.

The tension--free vaginal tape procedure (TVT) has been regarded as a safe, minimally invasive method for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence. In a prospective multicenter study we evaluated safety and efficacy of TVT procedure for the treatment of female stress incontinence. From 1998. to 2003, a total of 42 patients, mean age 60 years (range 34-76) with urodynamically verified stress urinary incontinence underwent the TVT procedure. The mean follow-up period was 28 months (range 14 to 32). Intra- and postoperative complications were few, including bladder perforations (4.7%), vaginal hematoma (2.4%), complete urinary retention (2.4%), transient urinary retention (19%) and urinary tract infection (7.1%). Postoperatively, voiding time and functional urethral length significant increased. The subjective and objective cure rates were 85.7% and 90.5%, respectively. We conclude that the TVT procedure is associated with high cure rate and low morbidity.

Annulation of the cyclohexane ring by tandem free radical alkylation of a nonactivated delta-carbon atom-intramolecular carbanion cycloalkylation

Annulation of the cyclohexane ring by a combination of free radical and ionic reactions sequences was achieved. Free radical alkylation of the remote nonactivated delta-carbon atom involves addition of delta-carbon radicals, generated by 1,5-hydrogen transfer in alkoxy radical intermediates, to radicophilic olefins, while the polar sequence involves enolate anions as intermediates which undergo a cycloalkylation reaction. Thus, the cyclohexane ring was constructed using diverse acyclic and cyclic structures as precursors of alkoxy radicals.

[Risk factors for development of cerebrovascular stroke]. / Faktori rizika u pojavi cerebrovaskularnog insulta.

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays stroke has a dominant place in the structure of neurological morbidity. According to data of the World Health Organization, stroke is the third highest cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed countries of the world, immediately following ischemic heart disease and malignant diseases. The appearance of the disease is influenced by many etiological factors, that is risk factors. Natural risk factors are: heredity, sex, age, geographical and climatic factors. Other diseases being risk factors include: hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. Bad habits as risk factors are: eating habits, obesity, smoking, alcoholism and physical and mental inactivity. The paper presents a review of risk factors, their categorization and the influence of each individual risk factor on the development of stroke. HEREDITY: Hereditary factors have a significant role in development of stroke and they may serve as a basis for determining the person's susceptibility to stroke in a certain period of life. SEX: It has been proved that persons of female sex in the period prior to menopause are less susceptible to atherosclerosis risk and its side effects--ischemic heart disease and stroke. It is due to the fact that in this period of life women have a higher concentration of high-density lipoproteins, which are known to protect blood vessels against atherosclerosis. AGE: The incidence of stroke is higher at an older age, although nowadays there is evidence that younger people may develop the disease as well. CLIMATIC FACTORS: It has been noticed that the frequency and intensity of insult are connected with abrupt changes of the front (weather conditions with certain values of atmospheric factors). A high correlation between the frequency of cerebrovascular insult and abrupt change of the front is evident during spells of warm front in cold months and during spells of cold front in warm months. Moreover, changes during the circadian cycle are of utmost importance. HYPERTENSION: Hypertension is one of the factors contributing to the development of cerebrovascular insult, apart from heart diseases and diabetes. HEART DISEASES: The most frequent heart diseases correlating with stroke are: endocardial diseases, myocardial diseases in the form of chronic heart failure or heart attack, atrial fibrillation, hypertrophy of the left chamber and congestive heart failure. DIABETES MELLITUS: Diabetes as an associated risk factor correlates with stroke. EATING HABITS: A special emphasis is placed on nutrition as a risk factor in development of stroke. Inadequate nutrition contributing to the development of stroke is primarily nutrition which includes a high percentage of fats and leads to hyperlipoproteinemias. Therefore the basic principle in the nutrition of a patient with hyperlipoproteinemias is to limit the overall intake of fats, to reduce the quantity of saturated fats and to increase the intake of unsaturated fatty acids. In order to prevent stroke it is recommended to consume sea fish, legumes rich in diet plant fibres, oats and corn cereals, whole grain rice, fruit and vegetables rich in vitamins C and E. OBESITY: It has been proved that obesity or increase in body weight increases the risk of developing stroke by 1.4 to 2.5 times. SMOKING: Smoking accelerates the process of atherosclerosis leading to the incidence of myocardial and brain stroke. In proportion to the length of smoking and the number of cigarettes, a relative risk of development of stroke goes from 2.4 to 6.1 for men and from 3 to 3.7 for women. ALCOHOL DRINKING: A research performed by Finnish authors has shown that in chronic alcoholism the risk of developing stroke is twice as high in men and five times as high in women in relation to the general population. Alcohol reduces the regional cerebral flow by its toxic effect on the cerebral metabolism and thus induces vasospasm and hemoconcentration. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

[Chronic consumption of alcohol and its damaging effects on the body]. / Hronicno konzumiranje alkohola i njegovi stetni uticaji na organizam.

It is widely accepted that alcohol metabolism passes through different mechanisms: alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in stomach epithelial cells, activity of ADH in the liver, microsomal-ethanol-oxydizing system (MEOS), hepatocyte catalase activity, and nonoxydizing metabolic pathway (production of fatty acid ethylesters). Alcohol causes numerous direct and indirect toxic effects on human organism. The first are directed to epithelial cells of stomach and liver cells, as well as the generation of excessive amounts of metabolites: NADH, acetaldehyde and acetate. These amounts of NADH lead to hyperlactacidaemia, hypoalbuminaemia and fat infiltration to the liver. The activity of MEOS causes drug metabolism changes in the liver and increased rate of hepatotoxic and cancerous substances. Acetaldehyde increases lipid peroxidation, immunity disorders, decrease in enzymatic activities and restoration of nucleoproteins, while acetate decreases lipolitic processes in cells.

Liver, plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid content after chronic diazepam treatment in the rat.

Male Wistar rats were maintained on a nutritionally adequate diet and diazepam was administered in a dose of 10 mg/kg/day. Control animals were pair-fed an adequate diet. Feeding was continued for 180 days, and the effects on the liver, plasma and erythrocyte phospholipid content were studied. It was found that the contents of sphingophospholipids and phosphatidylinositol + phosphatidylserine were significantly reduced in the erythrocytes of diazepam-treated rats. There was a significantly increased content of phosphatidylcholine in the liver an erythrocytes after 180 days of diazepam treatment. Such treatment did not cause statistically significant changes in the plasma of diazepam-treated rats. These investigations are in agreement with the hypothesis that extended or chronic use of drugs such as diazepam may alter membrane-dependent processes.

Thermal-image generation by line-scanning technique: a new computer model.

A new computer model for the generation of thermal images of a flat terrain by the line-scanning technique from a moving platform is presented. The model is based on a bottom-up simulation process and the pixel-by-pixel generation of infrared thermal images. The terrain is modeled by a periodic repetition of an arbitrary two-dimensional temperature distribution over a flat area. The double discrete Fourier series of the terrain temperature, including correlation length and the transfer function of the scanning optics, is used. Several computer-generated thermal images are produced to illustrate the model. The geometrical deformations, the space filtration, and the gray-level variation with the scanning angle on generated images are in agreement with theoretical predictions.

Thermal images generated by a line-scanning technique: statistical properties.

The analysis of statistical parameters of computer-generated therfial images by a line-scanning technique indicates an approach to efficient image transmission.

The effect of long-term ingestion of glucocorticoids on liver and serum plasma in rats.

The effect of chronic hydrocortisone administration (0.5 mg/kg) on the liver and plasma lipid content was assessed in Wistar rats. It was found after that the liver cholesterol content was significantly increased 6 months of hydrocortisone treatment. At the same time, the distribution of liver phospholipid fractions was altered. The fatty acid composition of liver lipids showed a significant increase of 22:6 n-3. Decreased levels of cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were found in the plasma of the hydrocortisone-treated rats.

[The effect of food containing various quantities of fats on the level of fatty acids in rat liver tissue]. / Uticaj hrane s raznim vrstama masti na sadrzaj masnih kiselina u tkivu jetre pacova.

We studied the influence of different quantities of fat in the diet (sunflower oil, pork fat) on the fat content in hepatic tissues of the rat. 20g of fat were given comprising 44% of the total energetic value of the diet. The study was done in male rats of the Wistar strain, 2 months old at the commencement of the experiment. The study lasted 6 months. The results showed that the saturated fatty acid content of the liver (16:0; 18:0) was higher in animals who were fed with sunflower oil. The content of unsaturated fatty acids (18:2; 18:3, 20:4) was higher in the liver of animals fed on pork fat. The content in dokosaheksaenic fatty acid (22:6) was higher in the hepatic tissue of the animals fed with pork fat.

[Various quantities of sunflower seed oil in the diet, long-term administration of hydrocortisone and liver tissue lipids in rats]. / Razlicite kolicine suncokretovog ulja u ishrani, dugotrajna primena hidrokoritzona i lipidi tkiva jetre pacova.

The influence of different quantities of vegetable oil/sunflower oil/and the long-term ingestion of hydrocortisone on the total lipid content of the liver in rats and cholesterol was studied. The rats were of Wistar strain, males, 2 months old at the beginning of the experiment. The sunflower oil comprised 5 g%/diet A/ and 20 g%/diet B/ in the diet of rats. Two groups of animals were on diet A or B and took as much water as required. Another two experimental groups were on similar diets A or B, with an additional ingestion of 0.5 mg/kg of hydrocortisone natrium-succinate over the whole period of experiment. The experiment lasted 6 months. The study showed that the major participation of the sunflower oil/20 g%/ induced the increase of the total lipid content of the liver, with significant increase of cholesterol. Long-term ingestion of glucocorticosteroids/hydrocortisone natrium-succinate/induced the significant increase of the content of total lipids and cholesterol in the liver tissue in rats, independent of ingestion of sunflower oil in diet.

Synthesis of some phenothiazine derivatives as potential affinity ligands for the central dopamine receptors.

Syntheses of several phenothiazine ligands as potential affinity probes for the D1- and D2-dopamine receptors derived from 4-(3-(10-(2-trifluoromethyl)phenothiazinyl)propyl)-1-(2-aminoethyl )-piperazine hydrochloride are described and their interactions with D1- and D2-dopamine receptors of the bovine caudate nucleus have been characterized. The bromoacetylamido-, maleinimido-, and isothiocyanato-derivatives expressed low selectivity and moderate affinity for both categories of dopamine receptors. 4-(3-(10-(2-Trifluoromethyl)phenothiazinyl)propyl)-1-(2- (isothiocyanatobenzoyl)ethyl)-piperazine hydrochloride did not discriminate among the two subclasses of the dopamine receptors, but showed an extremely strong irreversible binding to the D1-receptors and thus is promising as a highly specific affinity ligand for biochemical and pharmacological studies of the D1-dopamine receptors.

Phospholipid and ganglioside composition in rat cerebral cortex and cerebral white matter after chronic diazepam treatment.

Male Wistar rats with an initial weight of 170 g were maintained on a nutritionally adequate diet, and diazepam was administered in a dose of 10 mg/kg/d. Control animals were pair-fed on adequate diet. The feeding was continued for 180 days, and the effects on cerebral cortex and white matter lipid contents were studied. A generalized increase in the lipid phosphorus and lipid-N-acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc) level was found. The increase was statistically significant for phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine, ganglioside GM1, GD1a and GDIb in the cerebral cortex, as well as for phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidic acid in the cerebral white matter. There were no significant differences in the content and patterns of gangliosides in the cerebral white matter after the chronic diazepam treatment.

Brain lipids in rat after chronic diazepam treatment.

Male Wistar rats with an initial weight of 170g were maintained on a nutritionally adequate diet, and diazepam was administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg/d. Control animals were pair-fed an adequate diet. The feeding was continued for 180 d, and the effects on brain lipid contents were studied. It was found that the contents of the phospholipids, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine, the monogalactosyl glycolipids, hydroxy and nonhydroxy fatty acyl galactocerebroside, sulfoglycolipids, and the gangliosides, GM1, GD1a, GD1b, and GT1b, were significantly reduced in the brain of diazepam-treated rats. There was a significantly increased content of phosphatidylinositol after 180 d of diazepam treatment. The results suggest that changes in brain lipid content may mediate the adaptive changes that occur upon prolonged exposure to diazepam.

Influence of high-protein diets on brain phospholipid, ganglioside and monogalactosyl glycolipid content previously altered by long-term low-protein and ethanol administration.

A previous study was undertaken to determine the influence of the combined effects of ethanol consumption and a low-protein diet on brain membrane (phospholipids and gangliosides) and myelin (monogalactosyl glycolipids) lipids. Male Wistar rats chronically consuming ethanol were fed isoenergetic diets containing 22% protein (controls) or 6% protein (protein-deprived) from 60 to 240 days of age. Protein malnutrition initiated at 60 days of age affected phosphatidylglycerol, sphingophospholipid, monosialoganglioside GM1 and cerebroside containing nervonic fatty acid by 240 days of age. Among the effects of ethanol was an increase of the relative proportion of lipid galactose in monogalactosyl glycolipids and of N-acetylneuraminic acid in the trisialoganglioside GT1b, while there was decrease of the lipid phosphorus in the investigated phospholipids and of the disialoganglioside GD1a. The low-protein diet generally interfered with ethanol effects except for monosialo GM3, GM2 and GM1 gangliosides. The present study was carried out to investigate whether the ethanol-induced effect on these brain lipids could be elevated when we switched these animals to diets with 21 or 34% protein during the following 90 days. It was found that increasing protein intake and cessation of drinking ethanol returned the investigated brain phospholipids, monogalactosyl glycolipids and gangliosides to control values.