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Background: Innate immunity response to local dysbiosis seems to be one of the most important immunologic backgrounds of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and concomitant asthma. We aimed to assess clinical determinants of upper‐airway dysbiosis and its effect on nasal inflammatory profile and asthma risk in young children with CRS. Methods: We recruited one hundred and thirty‐three children, aged 4‐8 years with doctor‐diagnosed CRS with or without asthma. The following procedures were performed in all participants: face‐to‐face standardized Sinus and Nasal Quality of Life questionnaire, skin prick test, taste perception testing, nasopharynx swab, and sampling of the nasal mucosa. Upper‐airway dysbiosis was defined separately by asthma‐specific microbiome composition and reduced biodiversity. Multivariate methods were used to define the risk factors for asthma and upper‐airway dysbiosis and their specific inflammatory profile of nasal mucosa. Results: The asthma‐specific upper‐airway microbiome composition reflected by the decreased ratio of Patescibacteria/Actinobacteria independently of atopy increased the risk of asthma (OR:8.32; 95%CI: 2.93‐23.6). This asthma‐specific microbiome composition was associated with ≥ 7/week sweet consumption (OR:2.64; 95%C:1.11‐6.28), reduced biodiversity (OR:3.83; 95%CI:1.65‐8.87), the presence of Staphylococcus strains in the nasopharynx (OR:4.25; 95%CI:1.12‐16.1), and lower expression of beta‐defensin 2, IL‐5, and IL‐13 in the nasal mucosa. The reduced biodiversity was associated with frequent antibiotic use and with a higher nasal expression of IL‐17 and T1R3 (sweet taste receptor). In asthmatic children, reduced sweet taste perception was observed. Conclusions: Specific upper‐airway dysbiosis related to frequent sweet consumption, frequent antibiotic courses, and altered nasal immune function increases the risk of asthma in young children with CRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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As soon as the role of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in so-called civilization diseases, which include non-infectious chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure has been discovered, and the possibility of employing antioxidants as a remedy for these diseases have been proposed, scientists developed a broad spectrum of methods to determine antioxidant activity of pure chemicals and plant extracts, as well as dietary supplements. Most of these methods are based on simple redox reactions between antioxidant and ROS (for example ABTS, DPPH, or FRAP tests). However, chemical methods of assessing antioxidant activity are rarely biologically relevant. They do not mirror the real effect of antioxidants in living organisms, because they are used in non-physiological conditions of temperature and pH; neither they take metabolism nor intracellular transport under consideration. The perfect model for assessment of antioxidant activity in living organisms would be human or animal model, but such determinations are very complicated and often ambiguous. The current best alternative to chemical and human tests are assays employing cell culture models being less expensive than human tests, yet still reflecting biological systems more convincingly than chemical assays. Cellular antioxidant assays are performed under physiological pH and temperature, but most importantly, they take metabolism and intracellular transport under consideration. In this review, we present cellular tests used to determine antioxidant activity that are based on luminescence and fluorescence methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rational human diet, the important role of fruits and vegetables, which are a source of bioactive phytochemicals, is emphasized. Among fruits particular attention, due to a number of documented health-promoting properties, is focused on cranberry. This fruit is characterized by the high content of antioxidant phenolic compounds, which may support the natural antioxidant defense system of the body in the prevention of damage caused by oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, cranberry is suggested for the prevention of civilization diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension and cancer, whose etiology is associated directly with oxidative stress. The health-promoting potential of cranberry is also associated with its antibacterial activity resulting from the presence of proanthocyani-dins (PAC) type A with documented anti-adherence properties. The best-established medical applications of cranberry fruits are prevention and treatment of bacterial infections of the urinary tract (UTI), infections of gastric mucosa, and infections of the oral cavity. Due to the widespread use of cranberry and pharmaceutical preparations containing PACs in treating UTI, it is very important to evaluate the absorption, bioavailability and metabolism of these compounds in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: Crystal structure and oxygen storage properties of A-site ordered BaY1− x Pr x Mn2O5+δ (x =0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) perovskite-type oxides are reported, showing almost complete and reversible change (Δδ>0.94mol mol−1) occurring between fully reduced BaY1− x Pr x Mn2O5 and oxidized BaY1− x Pr x Mn2O6 during reduction in 5vol.%H2 in Ar atmosphere and oxidation in air at 500°C. All reduced compounds, as well as oxidized ones for x ≥0.5 possess tetragonal structure with P4/nmm (or P4/mmm for BaPrMn2O6) symmetry at room temperature. In the case of BaY0.75Pr0.25Mn2O6 and BaYMn2O6, good Rietveld refinements of XRD data were obtained assuming either monoclinic P121 or triclinic P-1 symmetry. The oxidation process causes a significant decrease of unit cell volume, which is additionally linearly dependent on average ionic radius of Y1− x Pr x . Due to a higher molar mass, an increasing Pr content causes a decrease of reversible oxygen storage capacity; nevertheless, Pr-containing materials show improved reduction rate and oxidize at lower temperatures. The optimized BaY0.75Pr0.25Mn2O5-BaY0.75Pr0.25Mn2O6 system showed very stable performance for 50cycles. The obtained results indicate that by an appropriate chemical modification, it is possible to enhance oxygen storage-related properties of BaY1− x Ln x Mn2O5+δ (Ln — lanthanides) oxides, and such materials are promising for oxygen storage technology application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]