No abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of twelve-week consumption of chokeberry extract on redox status, body composition, lipid profile and biochemical parameters in active handball players. The study included 16 handball players, aged 16-24 years (20.26±2.86 years). Every morning before training players received 30mL of liquid chokeberry extract for 12 weeks, during regular competition season. The research consisted of morphofunctional and biochemical testing, which was performed at three points (at the beginning of the study, 6 and 12 weeks after extract consumption). After the chokeberry extract treatment, we noticed significant changes in three main aspects. The 12-week supplementation with chokeberry extract decreased the levels of pro-oxidants (TBARS and nitrites) and increased catalase activity. Analyzing the dynamic of body composition showed a decrease in body fat (9.4±0.5 vs. 7.3±0.6kg), as well as its percent in a body (11.4±0.4 vs. 8.8±0.4%). On the other hand, the analysis showed an increase of high-density lipoprotein (1.3±0.3 vs. 1.6±0.2mmol/L) and hemoglobin (144.4±11.7 vs. 151.7±9.9g/L) after 6-week treatment. At the same time, a decrease in leukocytes (7.2±2.8 vs. 6.5±1.2 109/L) and an increase in red blood cells count (4.9±0.4 vs. 5.5±0.5 109/L) were noticed. Overall, these results emphatically show that the use of chokeberry extract dietary supplement induced a wide range of beneficial effects in the examined group of athletes.

This research was a prospective, cross-sectional observational study of 128 health workers in the central part of the Republic of Serbia. The study surveyed health workers (physicians, pharmacists and nurses) who worked during peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Serbia in June and November 2020. The Maslach Burnout Survey for Medical Personnel addresses three scales: (a) emotional exhaustion (EE) measures feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work; (b) depersonalization (DP) measures an unfeeling and impersonal response toward recipients of one’s service, care treatment, or instruction; and (c) personal accomplishment (PA) measures feelings of competence and successful achievement in one’s work. Linear regression and the chi-square test were used to test a relationship between the input variables (x) and the single output variable (y). We can conclude that most health workers had a high degree of emotional exhaustion, but also a low degree of depersonalization and a high degree of sense of personal achievement. Nurses and physicians had similar answers on the pandemic during their work, but pharmacists had different answers.

This investigation is aimed at examining the effects of pharmacological PostC with potassium cyanide (KCN) on functional recovery, gene expression, cytochrome c expression, and redox status of isolated rat hearts. Rats were divided into the control and KCN groups. The hearts of male Wistar albino rats were retrogradely perfused according to the Langendorff technique at a constant perfusion pressure of 70 cmH2O. After stabilisation, control hearts were subjected to global ischemia (5 minutes), followed by reperfusion (5 minutes), while experimental hearts underwent global ischemia (5 minutes) followed by 5 minutes of reperfusion with 10 μmol/L KCN. The following parameters of heart function were measured: maximum and minimum rates of pressure development, systolic and diastolic left ventricular pressure, heart rate, and coronary flow. Levels of superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, nitrites, and index of lipid peroxidation (measured as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) were measured in coronary venous effluent, and activity of catalase was determined in heart tissue. Expression of Bax, Bcl-2, SOD-1, SOD-2, and cytochrome c was studied as well. It was shown that expression of Bax, Bcl-2, and SOD-2 genes did not significantly differ between groups, while expression of SOD-1 gene and cytochrome c was lower in the KCN group. Our results demonstrated that KCN improved the recovery of myocardial contractility and systolic and diastolic function, enhanced catalase activity, and diminished generation of prooxidants. However, all possible mechanisms and potential adverse effects of KCN should be further examined in the future.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of atorvastatin and simvastatin on myocardial contractility during the different degrees of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in rats. Study was conducted on adult male Wistar albino rats (n = 90; 4 weeks old; 100 ± 15 g body mass) in which HHcy was achieved by dietary manipulation. Animals were exposed to pharmacology treatment with atorvastatin in dose of 3 mg/kg per day i.p. or simvastatin in dose of 5 mg/kg per day i.p. at the same time every day, according to equivalent therapeutic doses of these statins (10 mg atorvastatin = 20 mg simvastatin). After the dietary manipulation and pharmacological treatment and confirmation of HHcy, all animals were sacrificed, hearts were isolated, and cardiac function was tested according to the Langendorff technique. Size of recovery of maximum rate of left ventricular development (dp/dt), minimum rate of left ventricular development (dp/dt), systolic left ventricular development, diastolic left ventricular development, heart rate, and coronary flow at the 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 cmHO coronary perfusion pressure were measured in state of physiological condition (homocysteine less than 15 μmol/L), mild HHcy, and moderate HHcy. Atorvastatin treatment significantly attenuated homocysteine-induced impairment of myocyte contractility and dominantly decreased dp/dt, dp/dt, and heart rate and induced greater changes in systolic left ventricular development compared with simvastatin. Treatment with atorvastatin seems able to revert systolic abnormalities and improve contractility during the different degrees of HHcy.