Stable family, lower amount of pocket money weekly and good school performance are protective factors in prevention of substances use among adolescents.

The thymus is the primary lymphoid organ involved in the regulation of the immune and endocrine systems. It is particularly sensitive to various types of stress, which induce its atrophy. This study deals with the effect of repeated restraint stress on the weight, proliferation and apoptosis of the thymus in mice. During restraint, the animals were placed in 50-mL conical plastic tubes for 2 h every day for either 10 or 20 consecutive days. A significant reduction in thymus weight along with decreased cellularity and pronounced atrophy of the cortical part of the thymus was observed in animals exposed to repeated tube-restraint stress for 10 and 20 consecutive days. The observed changes in the thymus were the same, regardless of the number of days of exposure to stress. These findings provide a more comprehensive view of repeated tube-restraint, with special emphasis on its duration on stress-induced thymus atrophy. The presented findings could serve as a basis for further studies aimed at identifying the mechanisms responsible for the adaptive response of the thymus after repeated exposure to stress.

Treatment with bevacizumab alone or within combined treatment is more effective in treating DME than conventional macular laser treatment alone, both anatomically and functionally.

Background/Aim. Tea and coffee are one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world due to their beneficial health effects which are largely associated with their phenolic compounds composition, including chlorogenic acid. The main aim of this study was to determine 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA), as one of the major classes of chlorogenic acid, in various commercial tea and coffee samples present at the Serbian market. Methods. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of 5-CQA in plant extracts was applied to determine the content of this active compound in commercial tea and coffee samples. Mobile phase was aqueous 1.5% acetic acid - methanol (80:20, v/v) with the flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. Run time was 15 min and column temperature 25?C. The detection was performed at 240 nm. Results. The HPLC method was modified and revalidated. The 5-CQA content varied depending on the type of tea (white, green, black tea and mate) and the processing technology. Green tea had the highest 5-CQA content (16 mg/100 mL) among the analyzed tea samples. The content of 5-CQA in coffee samples ranged 0-36.20 mg/g of coffee and 0-46.98 mg/100 mL of beverage, showing that the content varied depending on the type of coffee, coffee processing technology and the formulation. Conclusion. The modified and revalidated HPLC method showed a good accuracy, repeatability, selectivity and robustness. The highest amount of 5-CQA was determined in green tea in comparison to white, black and mate tea because the increased oxidation level decreases the amount of 5-CQA. The obtained results for commercial coffee samples indicated that the formulation was the most important factor determining the amount of 5-CQA. It can be concluded that plant material selection, processing conditions and formulation have great influence on the amount of chlorogenic acid (5-CQA) in the final tea and coffee products. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. OI 172058]

Background Some findings indicate that university students are at higher risk of depression despite being a socially advantaged population, showing that 15 to 25% of them develop some type of mental disorder during graduation, and depression is one of the most prevalent. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its association with gender, material status, social health, and behavioral factors among university students. Methods The research represents a cross-sectional study conducted at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The research involved 455 first-year students. The average age of participants was 19.3 years (72.1% girls and 27.9% boys). Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms (cut point for depressive episode ≥10). Additional questions were focused on self-assessed material status, social health, and behavioral factors (smoking and alcohol use). The binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between depression and observed independent variables. Results The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive episode among students was 18.0%, with no gender differences. Out of the total, 11.0% of students had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting themselves. Multivariable logistic regression showed that self-assessed poor material status (OR = 2.04; 95%CI: 1.06-3.89), self-assessed poor social health (OR = 8.9; 95%CI:4.87-16.42) and smoking (OR = 2.18; 95%CI: 1.09-4.39) were significant predictors of depression among first-year university students. Conclusions High prevalence of depressive episode among university students call for the action for the promotion of mental health, particularly among those of lower socioeconomic status, and points out the importance of social health and social network in the prevention of mental disorders. Key messages Students on the first year of University should be screened for depressive symptoms. It is important to educate students on how to create a strong support network and to implement intervention programs for improving mental health through fostering healthy lifestyles change.