Hedgehog-Gli (Hh-Gli) signaling pathway is one of the new molecular targets found upregulated in breast tumors. Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling has a key role in the development of hormone-dependent breast cancer. We aimed to investigate the effects of inhibiting both pathways simultaneously on breast cancer cell survival and the potential interactions between these two signaling pathways. ER-positive MCF-7 cells show decreased viability after treatment with cyclopamine, a Hh-Gli pathway inhibitor, as well as after tamoxifen (an ERα inhibitor) treatment. Simultaneous treatment with cyclopamine and tamoxifen on the other hand, causes short-term survival of cells, and increased migration. We found upregulated Hh-Gli signaling under these conditions and protein profiling revealed increased expression of proteins involved in cell proliferation and migration. Therefore, even though Hh-Gli signaling seems to be a good potential target for breast cancer therapy, caution must be advised, especially when combining therapies. In addition, we also show a potential direct interaction between the Shh protein and ERα in MCF-7 cells. Our data suggest that the Shh protein is able to activate ERα independently of the canonical Hh-Gli signaling pathway. Therefore, this may present an additional boost for ER-positive cells that express Shh, even in the absence of estrogen.

-Essential signaling processes such as changes in calcium mobilization, protein phosphorylation and gene expression are known to be modulated by hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). A lot of silver maple trees in the city of Osijek (Croatia) were noticed to have bleached leaves by early summer as well as during the whole vegetation season. In this study we aimed to investigate the processes that regulate H 2 O 2 levels in healthy (green) and prematurely aged (bleached) leaves. For that purpose, photosynthetic performance and antioxidative response of green and bleached silver maple leaves were studied. Bleached leaves had higher hydrogen peroxide level, a three-fold level of total soluble proteins as well as a lower level of ascorbic acid. Concentrations of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophylls and total carotenoids as well as maximum quantum yield of photosystem II were lower in bleached leaves. This indicated their impaired photosynthetic performance. Further more, bleached leaves were characterized by lower specific activities of the main antioxidative enzymes, which influenced their reactive oxygen species scavenging capability. The higher level of H 2 O 2 content in bleached leaves as the consequence of reduced antioxidative enzyme specific activities as well as ascorbic acid level could be the reason for the down-regulation of photosynthetic performance and premature aging of those leaves.

The aim of this study was to detect molar–incisor hypomineralization (MIH) and caries prevalence in eight-year-old children with early mixed dentition in Eastern Croatia. There is a lack of data on MIH in Croatia. There were 729 children examined in total: 356 (48.83%) were female and 373 (51.16%) were male. The presence of MIH was found in 95 children, the prevalence of MIH was 13%, and the remaining 634 (87%) did not have any changes associated with MIH. The prevalence of caries overall in the population of examined children was 11.48%. In the group of children with MIH, the prevalence of caries was 24.14%, while in the group of children with no MIH, the prevalence of caries was 11.18%. Teeth had a Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index of 1.2, the value of the SiC index was 1.4, and the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) index for deciduous teeth was 5.8. Children with MIH had a caries index of DMFT 2.1, and the value of the SiC index was 2.6. The index of caries for non-MIH children was DMFT 1.1 and the SiC index was 1.2. MIH prevalence in Croatia is more common in girls than in boys. MIH has a significant impact on children’s development and is a major factor in the occurrence of caries.

Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is utilized in health services research to examine trends in oral health and population-based needs assessment. To determine the impact of oral diseases on everyday life, measures of oral quality of life are needed. In addition to common disease-based measures, they assess the need for oral care to evaluate oral health care programs and treatment management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the OHRQoL among Croatian university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 895 students (mean age 22 ± 4 years; 54.75% were females). The data collection was carried out through a self-administered short-form oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire which comprises 14 items that describe 7 subscales. Each subscale is named according to its constitutive items: functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability and social handicap. The quality of data was descriptively analysed and internal consistency reliability was assessed by Chronbach’s alpha coefficient. Pearson’s correlation was performed on the OHIP-14 total score and 7 subscale scores. The level of significance was set to p < 0.05. The prevalence of reported impact on OHRQoL was 31.84% and the mean OHIP-14 score was 11.66 ± 8.72. Chronbach’s alpha for the OHIP-14 total score was 0.91 (range for subscales: 0.70–0.87). Total OHIP-14 score was correlated with each of the seven subscales (correlation range: 0.56–0.84). The psychological discomfort and physical pain subscales recorded the highest impact with 56.09% and 24.47%, respectively, while the least impact was recorded in the physical disability subscale with 13.35%. The mean OHIP-14 score of the students in this study reflects that the oral health status of most of the students did not significantly affect their OHRQoL. However, the psychological discomfort and physical pain subscales were the most severely affected aspects of their OHRQoL. The OHIP-14 had reasonable reliability in relation to subjective global oral health indicators among students and thus appears to be a useful OHRQoL measure in this context.

Treatment of glioblastoma is challenging due to its aggressive and highly invasive nature, and no significant advances in survival have been achieved recently. The aim of our retrospective study was identification of predictive factors and consequent survival outcome in patients who underwent surgical and oncologic treatment of glioblastoma. The study was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery, Osijek University Hospital Centre. The authors designed a retrospective cohort study in 63 patients who underwent surgical and oncologic treatment between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2017. Data were collected by reviewing medical records of the patients with histologically proven glioblastoma. Statistical analysis of study results revealed a significant impact of postoperative radiotherapy (p=0.002) and chemotherapy (p=0.016) on progression-free survival and overall survival (p=0.001 and p=0.009, respectively). Postoperative Karnofsky performance scale (p=0.027) was found to be significant in progression-free survival, and so was the interval between surgery and commencement of oncologic therapy (p=0.049). In conclusion, overall survival and prognosis in the treatment of glioblastoma remain poor, although prompt approach in postoperative adjuvant treatments improved progression-free survival.