Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute heart failure syndrome characterised by catecholamine-induced oxidative tissue damage. Punica granatum, a fruit-bearing tree, is known to have high polyphenolic content and has been proven to be a potent antioxidant. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) pre-treatment on isoprenaline-induced takotsubo-like myocardial injury in rats. Male Wistar rats were randomised into four groups. Animals in the PoPEx(P) and PoPEx + isoprenaline group (P + I) were pre-treated for 7 days with 100 mg/kg/day of PoPEx. On the sixth and the seventh day, TTS-like syndrome was induced in rats from the isoprenaline(I) and P + I groups by administering 85 mg/kg/day of isoprenaline. PoPEx pre-treatment led to the elevation of superoxide dismutase and catalase (p < 0.05), reduced glutathione (p < 0.001) levels, decreased the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (p < 0.001), H2O2, O2− (p < 0.05), and NO2− (p < 0.001), in the P + I group, when compared to the I group. In addition, a significant reduction in the levels of cardiac damage markers, as well as a reduction in the extent of cardiac damage, was found. In conclusion, PoPEx pre-treatment significantly attenuated the isoprenaline-induced myocardial damage, primarily via the preservation of endogenous antioxidant capacity in the rat model of takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy.

Background/Aim: Due to the numerous beneficial effects of pomegranate that can be explained through its antioxidative effects, the aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant potential of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) prepared from pomegranate that was harvested in the southeast region of Herze-govina (Bosnia and Herzegovina), through in vitro and in vivo studies. Methods: In PoPEx total phenols, flavonoids, flavonols, flavan-3-ols and antho-cyanins content was determined, as well as several antioxidative assays, including 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH), 2,2'-azino bis(3-ethylbenzothi-azoline-6-sulphonic acid) assay (ABTS), iron (III)-2,4,6-tripyridyl-S-triazine complex assay (FRAP), reduction of copper(II) ions (CUPRAC) assay, Briggs-Rauscher oscillatory reactions, neutralisation of OH radicals and lipid peroxidation assay. In vivo studies were performed by administrating 100 mg/ kg of body weight of PoPEx to the rats by gavage for 7 days, after which the rats were euthanised and prooxidative parameters (thiobabrituric acid reactive substances-TBARS as an index of lipid peroxidation, nitrites-NO 2 , hydrogen peroxide-H 2 O 2 and superoxide anion radical O 2-) were determined in plasma, as well as antioxidative parameters (superoxide dismutase-SOD, reduced gluta-thione-GSH and catalase-CAT) in erythrocyte lysates. Results: High content of phenolic compounds was found in PoPEx, which resulted in high antioxidative potential in all in vitro tests performed. In vivo study showed that PoPEx administration caused a significant decrease in TBARS, NO 2-, as well as an increase in reduced glutathione (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control group, while H 2 O 2 and O 2 * showed a lowering trend and SOD and CAT showed an increasing trend in PoPEx group, but without statistical significance. Conclusion: PoPEx demonstrated high antioxidative capacity measured in vitro and in vivo and can be potentially used as a supplement treatment in the prevention of various inflammatory conditions.

Carvacrol is the main compound of essential oils extracted primarily from Thymus and Origanum species. Its various biological activities were confirmed: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-tumour, antinematodal and vasorelaxant action. Although vasodilation mediated by carvacrol was previously described, the exact mechanism of its action has not yet been established. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate carvacrol vasoactivity on human umbilical arteries (HUA) and different pathways involved in its mechanism of action using tissue bath methodology. Carvacrol caused a significant decrease in vascular tension of 5-HT-pre-contracted umbilical arteries, with EC50 of 442.13 ± 33.8 µM (mean ± standard error of the mean - SEM). At 300 µM, carvacrol shifted downward the 5-HT concentration-response curve with statistical significance of p < 0.001 obtained for the four highest concentrations. At concentration of 1 mM, carvacrol completely abolished BaCl2-induced contraction in Ca2+-free Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution (p < 0.001). Isopentenyl pyrophosphate, the antagonist of TRPV3 channel, was able to decrease the efficacy of carvacrol (p < 0.001). The vasorelaxant effect of carvacrol seems to involve the blocking of L-type of Ca2+ channels on smooth muscle cells. However, the role of TRPV3 channels in carvacrol-induced vasodilation of HUA cannot be excluded either.

Background and Objectives: Cigarette smoking among the youth population has increased significantly in developing countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, no extant literature assesses the prevalence of tobacco use, nor identifies factors associated with smoking. This study determined the prevalence of cigarette smoking among a specific cohort of students and assessed factors related to tobacco use in this population. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1200 students at all faculties of Banja Luka University. Data were collected from questionnaires adapted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and the Global Health Professional Student Survey (GHPSS) standardized questionnaires and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s χ2 test, and logistic regression. Results: When the prevalence of cigarette smoking within the last thirty days was recorded, we found that 34.1% of students smoked within this period. Nearly three-quarters (74.9%) of the student population had smoked or experimented with cigarette smoking. However, medical students were 27.2% less likely to smoke than their counterparts from other faculties. Overall, 87% of all students were aware of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, 79% were aware of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and 65% reported that it was difficult to quit. Increased spending of personal money was associated with a higher probability of smoking, while exposure to secondhand smoke increased the odds of smoking by 62%. Conclusion: Policies, strategies, and action plans should be introduced in order to reduce the prevalence of smoking among university students and to create a smoke-free environment at the various universities involved.

Background/Aim: Organophosphorus compounds (OP) bind to acetylcholinesterase (AChE) causing an irreversible inhibition of the enzyme. When doing in vivo studies of OP intoxication, to precisely measure AChE activity in the brain tissue it is necessary to remove as much blood from the brain as possible. By doing so, interference of the OPs present in the blood is avoided. Usually this demands expensive equipment, therefore, the aim of this study was to find a simple and economical method to eliminate the blood from brain blood vessels. Methods: Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups named Control (C), Control washout (CW), Paraoxon (Pox) and Paraoxon washout (PoxW) group. Rats in Pox and PoxW were treated with 0.25 mg/kg paraoxon subcutaneously (sc), while C and CW received 1 mL/kg sc saline instead. The "Marinković-Maksimović" ("MM") method was performed in rats from PoxW and CW groups. Activity of AChE was measured both in erythrocyte lysate and in brain tissue using spectrophotometry. Results: Macroscopic examination revealed that the elimination of blood was achieved in CW and PoxW groups. Activity of AChE in homogenised brain tissue was expectedly lower in the Pox and PoxW group, when compared to C and CW group, respectively. The CW group had a lower value of AChE activity in the brain tissue compared to C group, while activity of AChE in the PoxW group was statistically higher than in the Pox group (p = 0.044). Conclusion: The MM method provides good elimination of blood from the brain. Together with blood, present confounding factors that interfere with analysis in homogenised brain tissue, were also eliminated.

The article sheds light on the status of arts science in the context of its development at the University of arts in Belgrade in the last fourty or so years. It points out the current questions on classification of scientific fields and scientific areas, the relations of scientific and artistic education, as well as theory and practice, and the interrelations of individual disciplines. It presents the contributions to the deliberation of the key matters of classification and definition of arts science, especially the works of Milan Damnjanović and Miško Šuvaković.

The voluminous monographic study by Jelena Milojković Đurić (Sremski Karlovci – Novi Sad, Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića, 2008, 238) is dedicated to presenting the development of Serbian literature, music, visual arts and theatre at the beginning of the 20th century. It searches for the spirit of the time, which can be recognized primarily through comparativist research. The aim of this study, in the author’s words, is the desire to read and understand more accurately the works of art which were emerging at the time because in that way one can also gain a perception of the artists who created them, and define the ‘extent of their belonging to their time (...), which they authenticated and made relevant by their views and choices in their artistic lives, and often in their personal and socialpolitical ones too’ (5). Although the contents and the manner of thematization through the seven chapters of this study imply that the development trends in various areas – visual arts, literature, music and theatre (chapters two to five) – are analyzed as separate entities, the comparativist approach is consequently applied in all the parts of the book, and parallels are drawn on the notional and semantic plane of various phenomena in different branches of artistic activity. However, the comprehensiveness of the approach is the most prominent in the first chapter of the study (Skerlić’s, Jovanović’s and Mokranjac’s period in the development of Serbian culture, a suggestion for new periodization) and in the last two, which integrally illuminate artistic events in the beginning of the second decade of the century and during the First World War. As the result of such a set-up, the reader encounters a very interesting problematized study of the development processes in Serbian culture and art during a period of tumultuous changes and intensive growth. Jelena Milojković Đurić possesses a unique literary talent. Using some of the language constructions and expressions from the times she writes about, without the standard reference apparatus (the sources are referred to parenthetically, but in an unusual way, with integral data instead of abbreviations), she shapes a dynamic text which enlivens the images of a by-gone era, the portraits of the protagonists, their mutual relationships, the social circumstances and broader context of events. Attention is focused on the key events and thus the material is chosen carefully. The selected opuses of numerous creators are skilfully examined, usually in a dialogue with the critics who lived during that period. Reviews

This paper presents analyses of the texts published in the Composer Speaks section in the New Sound magazine, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its continual publishing. It sums up the achieved results, and classifies the collected materials, with special emphasis on methodology issues concerning the status of the interview as a scientific method, indicating its importance in musicological research. The most significant results are viewed from this perspective, drawing attention to the value of the contributions achieved in the research of Serbian music and the development of Serbian musicology.

: On the occasion of the hundredth birthday anniversary of the youngest repre-sentatives of the Prague group of Serbian composers, Vojislav Vučković (1910–1942) and Stanojlo Rajičić (1910–2000), the search for the answer to the question of taking a stand towards that developmental phase of their creative path which concerns the so-called turn ing point from the pre-war expressionism towards socialistic realism becomes increasingly important. First, because the historical distance can now be considered sufficient for mak-ing relevant judgments; and second, because that phase in their work was important for general development of Serbian music of the time. And finally, because their attitude towards the questions of engaged and social art gives fundamentally important answers, which have relevant theoretical and artistic meanings.