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The appearance of the face is one of the most important factors influencing our perception of beauty. However, few studies have attempted to quantitate what one perceives as beauty. Therefore, this study was conducted with the goal of providing physicians with anatomical data that demonstrate which facial traits most influence our perception of one's attractiveness. In the first phase of the study, faces of 60 participants (30 males and 30 females) were photographed. Next, the photographs were shown to another group of 120 study members (60 males and 60 females), who evaluated the facial features using a Visual Analogue Scale. The highest rated facial parts were then measured using the ImageJ program. In men, the most attractive parts of the face were Type 1:2 lips, a Type IV nose of medium width, blue eyes, brown hair, and a very narrow face. Among females, the most attractive parts of the face were Type 2:1 lips, Type III and V noses of medium width, dark brown eyes, blonde hair, and a narrow face. This is the first study in which the most aesthetically important facial parts have been comprehensively examined. The results obtained in our study show a higher degree of representativeness compared to other studies due to a different methodological approach and can be used as an aesthetic guide and can help in the planning of aesthetic surgery such as lip augmentation and rhinoplasty. Clin. Anat. 33:214-222, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Central composite experimental design was used for fast, simple, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) determination of hydrochlorothiazide, amlodipine and valsartan in combined dosage forms. This method avoids the disadvantages of the traditional analytical approach, which is time-consuming, involves a large number of runs, and does not allow establishing the multiple interacting parameters. On the basis of preliminary experiments and physicochemical characteristic of analyzed substances, three independent variables (methanol content, pH of the mobile phase, and column temperature) were selected as input, while as dependent variables, six responses (retention time of hydrochlorothiazide, retention time of amlodipine, retention time of valsartan, asymmetry of hydrochlorothiazide peak, asymmetry of amlodipine peak, and asymmetry of valsartan peak) were chosen. Face centered central composite design enables an estimation of factors which have the most importance. After optimizing experimental conditions, a separation was conducted on a Zorbax C-8 (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m) column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile-acetate buffer 40: 20: 40 (v/v/v), pH adjusted to 3.5 with acetic acid, flow rate of 1 mL/min and column temperature of 40 C-deg. The method was successfully applied to the simultaneous separations of these active drug compounds in their commercial dosage forms.

The pKa values of twelve β-hydroxy-β-arylalkanoic acids and ibuprofen were determined using a modified RP-HPLC method. The stationary phase was octadecyl modified (C-18) silica gel, and the mobile phases were mixtures of methanol and one of ten different buffers (60:40 volume ratio). The mean retention time of each compound was plotted against the pH of each of the ten used mobile phases. The inflection point of the obtained sigmoidal curve represents the s w pKa of a compound. Using s w pKa in previously established equations for the specific methanol/buffer mixture, the w w pKa values (in pure water) were calculated. The obtained w w pKa values for the synthesized compounds were in a range from 3.40 to 3.74, and the w w pKa for ibuprofen was 4.27. The Predicted pKa values for this type of compounds in the MarvinSketch 5.11.5. Program were in poor correlation with the experimental results, while in ACD/ /I-Labs pKa values were calculated as a wide range. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 172041]

Retention behaviour of twenty-one chalcones synthesized in our laboratory was tested in three thin-layer chromatography (RP-TLC) systems (acetonitrile–water, ethanol–water and acetone–water) and chromatography parameters $$ {R}_M^0 $$ , S and C0 were calculated. The most suitable RP-TLC system (acetonitrile–water) and chromatography parameter (C0) for lipophilicity prediction of tested compounds were selected on the basis of the highest correlations with calculated logP values. In selected system, compound 12 had the highest, whereas 47 had the lowest C0 value. QSRR analysis was performed and three models representing relationships between C0 and selected molecular descriptors were created—MLR(C0), PLS(C0) and SVM(C0). Interpretation of molecular descriptors which form statistically the most reliable SVM(C0) model identified the most important structural and physico-chemical properties that influence retention behaviour of tested compounds. In addition, descriptors with the highest influence on $$ {R}_M^0 $$ as well as on C0 calculated in the remaining two RP-TLC systems were identified and interpreted.

One of the most commonly used surfactants in the production of split virus influenza vaccine is nonionic surfactant Triton X-100. After splitting of the virus is accomplished, Triton X-100 is removed from the vaccine by subsequent production steps. Because of toxicity of Triton X-100, which remains in the vaccine in residual amounts, a sufficiently sensitive method for its detection and quantification needs to be defined. Two methods for determination of Triton X-100 residuals were developed: the UV-spectrophotometry and HPLC methods. For both methods, preparation of vaccine samples and removal of proteins and virus particles were crucial: samples were treated with methanol (1:1) and then centrifuged at 25 000 × g for 30 min. After such treatment, the majority of vaccine components that interfered in the UV region were removed, and diluted samples could be directly measured. The chromatographic system included C18 column, step methanol gradient, and detection at 225 nm with a single peak of Triton X-100 at 12.6 min. Both methods were validated and gave satisfactory results for accuracy, precision, specificity, linearity, and robustness. LOQ was slightly lower for the HPLC method. Hence, it was shown that both methods are suitable for analysis of residual amounts of Triton X-100, with the advantages of the UV method being its simplicity and availability in most laboratories.

An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in favour of oxidants, potentially leading to damage, is termed oxidative stress. Antioxidants (AO), either enzymatic or non-enzymatic, are the ones that can reduce diverse effects of pro-oxidants such as DNA, proteins and lipids damage. Chalcones (1,3-diaryl-2-propen- 1-ones) are open chain flavonoids that are widely biosynthesized in plants. Aim of this study was to test antioxidative potency of 15 chalcones (Chs) in in vitro model in serum (native conditions), so as with exogenously induced oxidative stress. Material and methods: Oxidative stress was induced in serum samples of healthy individuals with 0.25 mmol/L terc-buthyl-hydroperoxide (TBH), and then we monitored the effects of various concentrations of chalcones on oxidative stress parameters: total antioxidative status (TAS), total oxidative status (TOS), total concentration of sulfhydryl group (SHG) and prooxidative-antioxidative balance (PAB), and calculated prooxidative score, antioxidative score, and oxy score (OS). Nonparametric repeated measures ANOVA (Friedman's test) was used for comparison of antioxidative potency of samples with 15 different chalcones, in a native state and upon TBH influence. Spearman's nonparametric correlation analysis was used for estimation of relation between different parameters. Results: Negative Oxy Score (OS) values for Chs11-15 showed significantly stronger antioxidative potency compared to other investigated chalcones (p < 0.05). Ch11, Ch13 and Ch14 remained with negative OS even after TBH addition, whereas OS of Ch12 and Ch15 became positive, with small nominal values. Samples with Ch11 and Ch13 showed significant negative correlation between TAS and TOS (p < 0.05 for both), but in Ch14 sample the negative correlation existed between TAS and PAB (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Lower value of OS (i.e. better antioxidative potency) was noticed in samples with Ch11-Ch15. Electron-donor effects of substituent groups as a structural part of these chalcones could explain its antioxidative capability. Phenolic and methyl groups are responsible for antioxidative ability enhancement of five chalcones with the best activity.

Backgroung/Aim. Since combining conventional drugs with herbal medicinal products is in current research focus and possible of great interest as therapy improvement way, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of well-established antiatherosclerotic drug atorvastatin (CAS number 134523-00-5) and commercially available artichoke leaf tincture (ALTINC), used as combined therapy, as well as to compare effects of these two treatments separately. Methods. Experimental animals were divided into five groups: the group I (the control group of rats fed with standard diet during 11 weeks), and the remaining 4 groups of rats (II, III, IV and V) fed with standard diet during the first week and then with hypercholesterolemic diet during the next 10 weeks. The group II of rats were left without treatment, while in the groups III, IV and V were rats treated per os with atorvastatin (1.15 mg/kg body wright - b.w.), ALTINC (0.1 mL/kg b.w.) and their combination in same doses, respectively, for the last six weeks. Results. The cholesterol rich diet led to pronounced hyperlipidemia which could not be overcame with the therapy. However, the therapy showed positive effects on abdominal aorta wall thickness and parameters of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde - MDA, proxidative-antioxidative balance - PAB) and anti- oxidative protection (reduced glutathione - GSH, paraoxanase 1 - PON1, superoxide dismutase - SODA SH groups), especially ALTINC was successful in oxidative status improvement. Conclusion. Separate treatments comparison showed that artichoke leaf tincture is very potent antioxidant with beneficial effects in early stages of atherosclerosis. Since atorvastatin and constituents of ALTINC probably have different mechanisms of action, simultaneous use of both therapies could be beneficial but should be further investigated since our results showed that ALTINC is less effective when used in combination with atorvastatin. Uvod/Cilj. Savremena istraživanja sve više se okreću mogućnosti kombinovanja konvencionalne terapije sa biljnim lekovitim proizvodima. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je praćenje efekata atorvastatina (CAS broj 134523-00-5), poznatog leka koji se koristi u terapiji hiperlipidemije, i tinkture lista artičoke primenjenih pojedinačno, kao i u obliku kombinovane terapije. Metode. Eksperimentalne životinje bile su podeljene u pet grupa: grupa I bila je kontrolna i činili su je pacovi hranjeni standardnom hranom za glodare tokom 11 nedelja, dok su preostale četiri grupe (II-V) činili pacovi koji su hranjeni standardnom hranom tokom prve nedelje, a potom u narednih 10 hranom bogatom holesterolom. Grupa II nije dobijala nikakav tretman, dok su III, IV i V posle 4. nedelje od početka uzimanja hrane bogate holesterolom, tokom narednih šest nedelja tretirane per os, redom: atorvastatinom u dozi od 1,15 mg/kg, tinkturom artičoke u dozi od 0,1 mL/kg i njihovom kombinacijom u istim dozama. Rezultati. Hrana bogata holesterolom izazvala je uznapredovalu hiperholesterolemiju na koju terapija nije značajno delovala. Terapija je pokazala povoljan efekat na debljinu zida trbušne aorte, parametre oksidativnog stresa (malondialdehid - MDA, prooksidativni-antioksidativni balans - PAB) i anti-oksidativne zaštite (redukovani glutation - GSH, SH grupe, paraoksonazu1 - PON1, superoksid dismutazu - SOD). Tinktura lista artičoke pokazala se najboljom u poboljšanju oksidativnog statusa. Zaključak. Poređenje pojedinačne terapije pokazalo je da tinktura lista artičoke ima jako anti-oksidativno dejstvo i pokazuje povoljne efekte u početnim fazama aterosklerotskog procesa. S obzirom na to da atorvastatin i komponente tinkture lista artičoke verovatno deluju različitim mehanizmima, kombinovana primena može imati povoljne efekte, ali se mora dodatno ispitati jer dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da je tinktura lista artičoke manje efikasan kada se primenjuje zajedno sa atorvastatinom.

To protect organisms from ionizing radiation (IR), and to reduce morbidity or mortality, various agents, called radioprotectors, have been utilized. Because radiation-induced cellular damage is attributed primarily to the harmful effects of free radicals, molecules with radical-scavenging properties are particularly promising as radioprotectors. Early development of such agents focused on thiol synthetic compounds, known as WR protectors, but only amifostine (WR-2721) has been used in clinical trials as an officially approved radioprotector. Besides thiol compounds, various compounds with different chemical structure were investigated, but an ideal radioprotector has not been found yet. Plants and natural products have been evaluated as promising sources of radioprotectors because of their low toxicity, although they exhibit an inferior protection level compared to synthetic thiol compounds. Active plant constituents seem to exert the radioprotection through antioxidant and free radical-scavenging activities. Our research established that plants containing polyphenolic compounds (raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, grape, etc.) exhibit antioxidative activities and protect genetic material from IR.

The aim of the present study was to optimize a chromatographic method for the analysis of atorvastatin (acid and lactone forms), ortho- and para-hydroxyatorvastatin by using an experimental design approach. Optimization experiments were conducted through a process of screening and optimization. The purpose of a screening design is to identify the factors that have significant effects on the selected chromatographic responses, and for this purpose a full 23 factorial design was used. The location of the true optimum was established by applying Derringer's desirability function, which provides simultaneously optimization of all seven responses. The ranges of the independent variables used for the optimization were content of acetonitrile in mobile phase (60-70%), temperature of column (30-40 C degrees) and flow rate (0.8-1.2 mL min(-1)). The influences of these independent variables were evaluated for the output responses: retention time of first peak (p-hydroxyatorvastatin) and of last peak (atorvastatin, lactone form), symmetries of all four peaks and relative retention time of p-hydroxyatorvastatin. The primary goal of this investigation was establishing a new simple and sensitive method that could be used in analysis of biological samples. The method was validated and successfully applied for determination of atorvastatin (acid and lactone forms) and its metabolites in plasma.

An experimental design method was used for fast, simple, and accurate high-performance-pressure liquid chromatograpy (HPLC) determination of losartan and hydrochlorothiazide in combined dosage forms. This method avoids the disadvantages of the traditional analytical approach, which is time-consuming, involves a large number of runs, and does not allow the determination of multiple interacting parameters. On the basis of preliminary experiments, three independent variables (methanol content, pH value of the mobile phase, and flow rate) were selected as input, and as dependent variables, five responses (retention time of hydrochlorothiazide, retention time of losartan, asymmetry of hydrochlorothiazide peak, asymmetry of losartan peak, and resolution) were chosen. A full 2(3) factorial design was used to determine which factors had an effect on the studied response. Afterwards, experimental design was used to optimize these influencing parameters in the previously selected experimental domain. After optimizing the experimental conditions, a separation was conducted on a Zorbax C-8 (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m particle size) column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile-acetate buffer 45:20:35 v/v/v, pH 4.8 with flow rate of 0.82 mL min(-1) and column temperature of 25 A degrees C. The developed method was successfully applied to simultaneous separation of these active drug compounds in their commercial pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Two flavonoids, rutin and hesperidin, were investigated in vitro for anticoagulant activity through coagulation tests: activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT) and thrombin time (TT). Only an ethanolic solution of rutin at the concentration of 830 mu M prolonged aPTT, while TT and PT were unaffected. In order to evaluate whether the prolongation of aPTT was due to the decrease of coagulation factors, the experiment with deficient plasma was performed, showing the effects on factors VIII and IX. Since pharmacological activity of flavonoids is believed to increase when they are coordinated with metal ions, complexes of these flavonoids with Al(III) and Cu(II) ions were also tested. The results showed that complexes significantly prolonged aPTT and had no effects on PT and TT. Assay with deficient plasma (plasma having the investigated factor at less then 1%) revealed that complexes could bind to the coagulation factors, what may lead to a non-specific inhibition and aPTT prolongation. An effort was made to correlate stability of complexes with their anticoagulant properties.

A rapid and sensitive assay for quantitative determination of rutin in oral dosage forms based on isocratic reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed and validated. Using a C-18 reverse-phase analytical column, the following conditions were chosen as optimal: mobile phase methanol-water 1:1 (v/v), pH 2.8 (adjusted with phosphoric acid), flow rate = 1 mL min(-1) and temperature T = 40.0 degrees C. Linearity was observed in the concentration range 8-120 mu g mL(-1) with a correlation coefficient of 0.99982 and the limit of detection (LOD) = 2.6 mu g mL(-1), and limit of quantification (LOQ) = 8.0 mu g mL(-1). Intra- and inter-day precision were within acceptable limits. Robustness test indicated that the mobile phase composition and pH influence mainly the separation. The proposed method allowed direct determination of rutin in pharmaceutical dosage forms in the presence of excipients, but is not suitable for preparations where compounds structurally/chemically related to rutin may be present.

The current research provides a simplified sample preparation procedure for the accurate estimation of quercetin in pure and in the pharmaceutical dosage form. Direct spectrophotometric method for the determination of quercetin in the presence of ascorbic acid was established. The influences of medium, wavelength, pH, temperature and the ionic strengths on quercetin determination were investigated. The best conditions for calibration curve are: 50% ethanol, λ = 370 nm, pH = 4.2, T = 34 °C and I = 7.5 × 10 –5 M. Beer’s law is obeyed in the concentration range 1.0–12.0 μg ml –1 for quercetin. The corresponding detection limit is 0.76 μg ml –1 . The proposed method was verified by analyzing Quercetin + C capsules, Twinlab ® .