AbstractThe association between micronutrients and gastric cancer is still unclear. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between dietary intake of micronutrients and risk for gastric cancer. We used data from hospital-based case control study conducted at Clinical Centre Nis (Serbia) from 2005 and 2006. Patients (n=102) with first histologically confirmed gastric cancer and matched non-cancer patients (controls, n=204) were interviewed using structured questionnaire and FFQ (Food frequency questionnaire). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a significant positive association between gastric cancer and dietary intake of sodium (OR=6.22; 95%CI 1.99–7.86), but a significant negative association between potassium (OR 0.01; 95%CI 0.00–0.08), iron (OR 0.05; 95%CI 0.01–0.56), vitamin C (OR 0.05; 95%CI 0.01–0.38), vitamin E (OR 0.04; 95%CI 0.01–0.29) and niacin (OR 0.07; 95%CI 0.00–0.38) dietary intake. Intake of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc, retinol, β carotene, tiamin, vitamin B6, and folic acid was not significantly related to gastric cancer risk.In conclusion, we found that a dietary pattern of high consumption of antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, niacin), iron and potassium and low consumption of foods that are sources of sodium, decreased risk for gastric cancer. Our results require confirmation in future studies.

SUMMARYContents of lead and arsenic were determined in 617 tobacco samples and 80 samples of cigarettes. The mean content of lead in tobacco was 0.93 μg/g (range 0.02-8.56 μg/g) and arsenic was 0.15 μg/g (range <0.02-2.04 μg/g). The mean content of lead in cigarettes was 1.26 μg/g (range 0.02-6.72 μg/g) and arsenic was 0.11 μg/g (range <0.02-0.71 μg/g). There was a large variability in lead and arsenic content among samples of tobacco and samples of cigarettes. Positive correlation between lead and arsenic contents in tobacco was found (r=0.22; p<0.0001).Based on our data and data from literature we compare the content of lead and arsenic in tobacco and cigarettes in other studies and discuss the influence of smoking to lead and arsenic exposure and health.In conclusion, at the same time with the implementation of tobacco use prevention programmes it is advisable to implement continuous monitoring of lead and arsenic in tobacco and cigarettes in order to reduce the health risk due to exposure of these metals.

Urban noise is an important environmental stressor, and sleep disturbance is its major health effect. Substantial inter-individual variance in these effects might partly be explained by different sensitivity to noise. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of urban noise on sleep and the relation between selfestimated sensitivity to noise and sleep disturbance. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was performed on 911 adult residents of Niš, Serbia, of whom 388 were men (42.6 %) and 523 women (57.4 %). The streets were regarded as noisy if night equivalent noise level (Leq) was higher than 45 dB(A) and quiet if night Leq was ≤45 dB(A). Noise sensitivity was measured with the Weinstein ' s Noise Sensitivity Scale. The study showed that respondents from noisy area signifi cantly more often reported diffi culty in falling asleep, being woken up, poor sleep quality, tiredness after sleep, and use of sleep medication than residents from quiet streets (p<0.001). Noise sensitivity signifi cantly correlated with sleep disturbances (p<0.001).

The present study assesses the short-term association between black smoke (BS) and sulphur dioxide (SO 2) levels in urban air and the daily number of emergency room admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Niš, Serbia. Generalised linear models extending Poisson regression were fitted controlling for time trend, seasonal variations, days of the week, temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, precipitation, rainfall, snowfall, overcast, and wind velocity. The emergency room admissions for all ages for COPD were significantly associated with previous-day level of BS and lag 0-2 (1,60% and 2,26% increase per 10 μg/m 3 , respectively). After controlling for SO 2 , single lagged (lag 1 and lag 2) as well as mean lagged values of BS (up to lag 0-3) were significantly associated with COPD emergencies. No effect was found for SO 2 , even after controlling for black smoke. The present findings support the conclusion that current levels of ambient BS may have an effect on the respiratory health of susceptible persons.

Retinoids are natural and synthetic compounds related to retinoic acid that act through interaction with two basic types of nuclear receptors: retinoic acid receptors (RARalpha, RARbeta and RARgamma) and retinoid X receptors (RXRalpha, RXRbeta and RXRgamma) as ligand-activated, DNA-binding, transacting, transcription-modulating proteins involved in a general molecular mechanism responsible for transcriptional responses in target genes. Function of retinoids in organisms affecting broad spectrum of various biochemical and molecular biology reactions is unimaginable without fully functional nuclear receptors--retinoid inducible transcription factors. Retinoic acids exert tumour-suppressive activity due to their antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects. A number of novel retinoids and rexinoids acting through cognate nuclear receptors have been tested both in vitro and in vivo, using cell culture or animal models for breast cancer. This article briefly summarizes the role and properties of nuclear retinoid/rexinoid receptors as well as selected effects of retinoic acids or selected synthetic retinoids and rexinoids with respect to their potential use in chemoprevention of breast cancer.