Immunomodulatory treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) by macrolide antibiotics represents a challenging alternative to conventional therapy and surgery, still being at the very beginning. Immune and inflammatory processes in nasal and paranasal sinus mucosa, crucial in the etiopathogenesis of nasal polyps (NPs) are reflected in levels of various local...
Acute coronary syndromes are the leading cause of hospitalization and death. Results from recent studies suggest that apolipoprotein measurement and apoB: apoA-I are superior to traditional lipids in the estimation of coronary risk. We compared apolipoprotein concentrations and apoB:apoA-I with traditional lipid measures and atherogenic indices in patients diagnosed with acute...
Protein glycosylation is a ubiquitous and complex co- and post-translational modification leading to glycan formation, i.e. oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to peptide backbones. The significance of changes in glycosylation for the beginning, progress and outcome of different human diseases is widely recognized. Thus, glycans are considered as unique structures to...
The aim of the current preliminary case-control study was to identify glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) Ile105Val allele and genotype frequency and to evaluate its impact on susceptibility to pancreatic diseases in a Serbian population. This study has encom passed 157 patients with three major types of chronic pancreatic pathology: 47 with pancreatic cancer, 50 with chronic...
Quantitation of monoclonal immuno globulins and their fragments is used for monitoring the plasmaproliferative disease course and the effect of therapy. The aim of free light chains examination was to evaluate the significance of the FLC ratio as a prognostic factor for remission, progression and survival in different disease groups. The concentrations of immunoglobulins and free...
Genetic screening on chromosomopathy has been performed on 2000 pregnant women in their first trimester of pregnancy by determining Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A and free-beta HCG biomarkers in maternal serum. After obtaining a normal fetal karyo type, the pathological values of the biomarkers have been correlated with other pregnancy disorders, and the possible causes of...
Between September 2007 and February 2010, the occurrence of symptomatic deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was investigated in a cohort of 79 consecutive patients. A case-control study included 71 healthy controls matched with cases for sex and age. The prevalence of factor V G1691A mutation genotype was analyzed. Eighteen cases (22.79%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 13.53% to 32.03...
The present study aimed to investigate the expressions of interleukin-17 (IL-17), IL-21 and IL-23 in the serum of allergic rhinitis (AR) patients and to explore their relationship with special IgE (sFgE) in the serum. AR patients (n=24) and healthy subjects (n=12) were recruited and serum samples were collected. The serum level of IgE specific for inhalant allergens was...
Acylated ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide hormone bearing a fatty acid group based on octanoic acid (caprylic acid) at the serine which is located at position 3 and at the N-terminus. If this fatty acid is cleaved from acylated ghrelin, the remaining peptide is referred to as desacylated ghrelin. Free fatty acids (FFAs) can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. The purpose of...
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) on estrous cycle, sex hormone levels and ovary histological features. A total of 80 female SD rats were randomly divided into 8 groups (n=10 per group): short-course control group, short-course low-dose group, short-course medium-dose group, and short-course high-dose group, long-course control group...
Medical biochemistry is the usual name for clinical biochemistry or clinical chemistry in Serbia, and medical biochemist is the official name for the clinical chemist (or clinical biochemist). This is the largest sub-discipline of the laboratory medicine in Serbia. It includes all aspects of clinical chemistry, and also laboratory hematology with coagulation, immunology, etc...
In the evaluation of biomarkers three questions can be answered: what is the analytical validity of the marker, what is its clinical validity, and does the marker have clinical utility? In most cases, clinical validity will be expressed in terms of the marker's accuracy: the degree to which it can be used to correctly identify diseased patients or, more generally, patients with...
The discovery and development of new biomarkers continues to be a promising field. Since cardiovascular disease remains the principal cause of death in the developed countries, this is the area in which novel biomarkers have been most extensively evaluated. Arginine vasopressin (AVP or antidiuretic hormone) is one of the key hormones in the human body involved in cardiovascular...
Medical laboratories play a vital role in modern healthcare, and qualified specialists in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine are essential for the pro vision of high-quality preanalytical, analytical and consultative services. Laboratory medicine has undergone major transformations during the last decade. Ongoing technological developments have considerably improved the...
Neurological involvement is associated with significant morbidity in patients with rheumatic diseases, and may indicate heightened disease activity. Connective tissue diseases result from immunologic or autoimmune reactions. However, involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) may be a striking early or presenting feature with a wide variety of manifestations. Summary...
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The annual cardiovascular mortality rate in these patients is 9%, with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, ischemic heart disease and heart failure being the most prevalent causes of death. The aim of this study was to determine the cardiovascular mortality rate and estimate the influence of risk...
Intrauterine growth restriction is one of the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Prediction of intrauterine growth restriction is one of the priority tasks of perinatal protection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of serum ferritin in pregnant women, which could point to a group of patients in whom possible development of fetal growth...
Diabetes is a common metabolic disorder. Its microvascular and macrovascular complications contribute to death, disabilities, and reduction in life expectancy in diabetes. It is a costly disease, and affects not only the patient and family, but also the public health, communities and society. It takes an increasing proportion of the national health care expenditure. The...
During the inflammatory process endothelial cells are activated and a proadherent ability is assumed. The synthesis of reactive oxygen metabolites, which follows the immunological processes, can cause oxidative damage to endothelial cells leading to the clinical expression of disease including a variety of skin manifestations. In this study the activity of antioxidant enzymes...
The aim of the present study was to assess the serum proteins and enzymes level using polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic (PAGE) profiles in human subjects with osteoarthritis (OA). Forty-one subjects with confirmed OA were selected for the present study. Sera were collected from these individuals and loaded in equal amounts on native and denaturing PAGE separately. Software...
Lipoid pneumonia develops when lipids enter the bronchial tree. This form of pneumonia is common in some developing countries where it is a traditional practice to give infants oily products (ghee and olive oil) for various reasons. We have analyzed and identified the fatty acids found in homemade ghee and in olive oil and compared them to fatty acids found in bronchoalveolar...
The aim of the study was to assess the blood antioxidant capacity in men and women in relation to age. The subjects were 19 men (YM) and 19 women (YW) aged 25-32 years, and 11 men (OM) and 11 women (OW) aged 63-71 years, all sedentary. The following factors were determined: the activity of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase...
The glycation process includes the arrangement of proteins with chemically reversible early glycation products, Schiff bases and Amadori adducts. These early products endure slow and complex rearrangements to create advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) that are involved in diabetic complications. Here, the biophysical characteristics of in vitro glycated human serum albumin...
Methyltransferases (MTases), a large protein superfamily, commonly use S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) as the methyl group donor. SAM-dependant MTases methylate both nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) and proteins, and thus modulate their activity, function and folding. Methylation of G1405 or A1408 nucleotides of 16S rRNA in aminoglycoside-producing microorganisms confers the resistance to...