Consumers have become more aware of healthy and safe food produced with low environmental impact. Organic agriculture is of particular interest in this respect, as manifested by 5.768 million hectares managed pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 in Europe. However, there can be a considerable risk that the avoidance of chemical inputs in organic farming will result in poor food quality. Here the results of a study on the quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in a 21 year agrosystem comparison between organic and conventional farming in central Europe are reported. Wheat was grown in a ley (grass/clover) rotation. The 71% lower addition of plant-available nitrogen and the reduced input of other means of production to the organic field plots led to 14% lower wheat yields. However, nutritional value (protein content, amino acid composition and mineral and trace element contents) and baking quality were not affected by the farming systems. Despite exclusion of fungicides from the organic production systems, the quantities of mycotoxins detected in wheat grains were low in all systems and did not differ. In food preference tests, as an integrative method, rats significantly preferred organically over conventionally produced wheat. The findings indicate that high wheat quality in organic farming is achievable by lower inputs, thereby safeguarding natural resources.

Tackykinins are involved in the inflammatory process of a large number of diseases. The role of the tachykinins in ischemic brain injury was evaluated by the serum levels of Substance P (SP), one of the most known tachykinins and detected by a competitive enzyme immunoassay. The study was performed in 15 human females and 3 human males with typical manifestation of complete stroke (12 cases) or transient ischemic attack (6 cases). The mean SP level in the serum of patients with transient ischemic attack (0.53+/-0.25 ng/ml) and of patients with complete stroke (0.31+/-0.14 ng/ml), showed significantly higher values than in controls (0.10+/-0.02 ng/ml). Moreover, in transient ischemic attack, the SP values were significantly higher than in cerebral complete stroke. But SP levels, based on the timings of classification of patients (i.e. before 12 hours: 0.34+/-0.15 ng/ml vs. 12 to 24 hours: 0.26+/-0.11 ng/ml) with brain injury, did not show any significant difference. Both values anyway were significantly higher than in controls. Our original results demonstrate the SP increase during cerebral ischemia. Further studies are necessary to verify if SP has an effective physiopathological role in the neurological ischemic damage, or if it is only a concomitant phenomenon. Our data, if confirmed, will be particularly important, not only to improve the knowledge of cerebral ischemic injury, but also for diagnosis and therapeutic approaches.

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Chemokines and their receptors are involved in several allergic diseases. We measured RANTES and MCP-llevels in sera of allergic rhinitis patients, and we also evaluated the effect of cetirizine, a secondgeneration HI antagonist, on these chemoattractant proteins.15 subjects were studied (10 males and 5 females; mean age: 26.7 years). They were suffering from perennial or seasonal allergic rhinitis induced by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (8 patients) or by grasses (7 patients). RANTES and MCP-l serum levels were detected with an enzyme immunoassay before and after two weeks of treatment with 10 mg of cetirizine daily, and again after two weeks of washout.Baseline serum levels ofRANTES and MCP-l chemokines were significantly higher (p < 0.02 and p =0.007, respectively) in allergic patients than in the healthy control group. Cetirizine resulted in a significant decrease in RANTES (p < 0.02) and MCP-l (p =0.003) versus baseline values. There is an increase in RANTES and MCP-l in allergic rhinitis, which is counteracted by cetirizine.Several biologically active substances are known to mediate allergic inflammation (1-5). Recently, interest is increasingly being focused on the role of chemokines in the pathophysiology of allergic diseases and on their potential as targets of therapy (6). Discovered over two decades ago (7,8), this burgeoning family of chemoattractant cytokines is involved in inflammatory reactions (9-11). Chemokines and chemokine receptors form a sophisticated system that regulates leukocyte and lymphocyte traffic across various compartments: from the tissue of origin and from the blood to the sites of inflammation. Chemokines affect the synthesis of cellular proteins, the production of other chemokines, and the behaviour of stimulated cells (12). There is low linkage specificity between chemokines and their membrane receptors: a receptor can bind different chemokines, and a chemokine can likewise bind different receptors.The role of chemokines in many inflammatory diseases is well established, but little is known about chemokines in allergic rhinitis. Consequently, the aim of this study was to measure serum levels of RANTES and MCP-l, which are CC chemokines, in patients with allergic rhinitis. The study was devoted to evaluate also the effect of cetirizine, a second-generation HI antagonist, on the RANTES and MCP-l serum levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS PatientsFifteen patients (10 males and 5 females) aged between 14 and 68 years (mean, 26.7 years) were enrolled in the study. Patients were suffering from perennial or seasonal allergic rhinitis. They all had a history of sneezing, nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, and nasal itching. Skin prick test and RAST showed hypersensitivity to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D.pt) in 8 patients and to grasses in the other 7 patients. Exclusion criteria were: 1) previous specific immunotherapy for D.pt or grasses; 2) use of drugs that

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