Natural therapeutic factors are widely used as an important adjuvant therapy in various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the role of balneal therapy on oxidative stress parameters in experimental myocardial ischemia induced in rats. 5 groups of 8 rats were used as follow: group 1- control group; group 2 - group swimming in distilled water (DW); group 3- group with myocardial ischemia (MI); group 4 - group with MI swimming in DW; group 5 - group with MI and swimming in carbonated mineral water (CMW). Myocardial ischemia was induced with Isoproterenol. The following oxidative stress/antioxidant blood parameters were assessed for each animal: nitric oxide (NOx), malondialdechyde (MDA), total oxidative stress (TOS), catalase (CAT) and total ant oxidative capacity of plasma (TAC). In group 5 all parameters assessed were significantly improved compared with group 3 and 4. Carbonated mineral water can be used as an adjuvant therapy for improving oxidative stress/antioxidant status in patients with cardiac ischemia, in order to reduce the amplitude of ischemic lesions and to contribute as a prophylactic therapy to a better quality of life for these patients. Continuing this research in humans through clinical studies would be warranted.

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Objective: To investigate the influence of salt mine medium from the Romanian Cacica and Dej Salt Mines upon the cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro obtained from Wistar rats' lung, in normal and Ovalbumin challenged "asthmatic" conditions. Materials and methods: Pulmonary fibroblasts cultures were prepared from Wistar rat lung. Cultures derived from lung rat develop with a monolayer of fibroblasts attached to the culture dish. Before cultures initiation, Wistar rats of 75-100 g weight were divided in two lots: control and ovalbumin challenged animals. Ten animals of each lot were send to Cacica and Dej Salt Mine for 14 days and maintained in the salt mine medium, as in speleotherapy treatment. Results: Speleotherapy of Wistar rats had induced significant differences in cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of primary pulmonary fibroblasts cultures. The data obtained support the protective effects of speleotherapy by comparing with ovalbumin sensibilised animals. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the fact that speleotherapy induces changes on the morphology and protein expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro, and these changes support the beneficial effects of speleotherapy.

Metabolic syndrome (syndrome X or insulin resistance syndrome) is a complex of metabolic disturbances that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Entity includes: dyslipidemia (altered lipid profile, with increasing levels of serum triglycerides and low serum levels of HDL-cholesterol, which promotes the development of atherosclerosis), high blood sugar (diabetes type II) or increased insulin resistance, hypertension, abdominal obesity syndrome, proinflammatory, prothrombotic syndrome. In the last 20 years, there was a continuous increase in individuals suffering from this syndrome, the cause remains unknown, but several studies also claim that it is a complex interaction between genetic, metabolic and environmental factors. Of environmental factors, diet low in micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium seems to be an essential contributor element (Feldsein et al, 2007, Cidalia Pereira et al, 2011). Decreased intake of sodium and increased intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium, proposed by Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension-DASH diet (Van Leer et al 1995, Meigl et al 2008) leads to optimized blood pressure. Even in the absence of increased sodium intake, low levels of magnesium in the blood and cells can induce in some conditions, hypertension, diabetes, insulin resistance or completely metabolic syndrom. Among the methods proposed to correct dietary intake of micronutrients, natural mineral water, often very complex in terms of chemical composition and versatile in terms of the intended effect is one handy, safe and simple. Although used in order to preserve the health from ancient times, scientific studies proving natural mineral water effects on the human body takes place only since the twentieth century. Carbonated mineral waters are the result of deep water filtering through volcanic soils, which contain CO2, carbon dioxide, thus obtained, will help dissolve other elements contained in the soil layers through which water, like calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, chlorides, ATC bromides, so finally carbonated water will have a complex and varied composition.

Objective: To investigate the influence of salt mine medium from the Turda Salt Mine upon the cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro obtained from Wistar rats' lung, in normal and Ovalbumin challenged-"asthmatic" conditions. Materials and methods: Pulmonary fibroblasts cultures were prepared from Wistar rat lung. Cultures derived from lung rat develop with a monolayer of fibroblasts attached to the culture dish. Before cultures initiation, Wistar rats of 75-100 g weight were divided in two lots: control and ovalbumin challenged animals. Five animals of each lot were send to Turda Salt Mine for 14 days and maintained in the salt mine medium, as in speleotherapy treatment. Results: Speleotherapy of Wistar rats had induced significant differences in cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of primary pulmonary fibroblasts cultures. The data obtained support the protective effects of speleotherapy by comparing with ovalbumin sensibilised animals. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the fact that speleotherapy induces changes on the morphology and protein expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro, and these changes support the therapeutical properties of Turda Salt Mine medium.