Effect of Gaseous Ozone and Storage Time on Polyphenolic Profile and Sugar Content in Fruits of Selected Vaccinium corymbosum L. Genotypes.

One of the best sources of antioxidant and health-promoting bioactive substances is the fruit of V. corymbosum. A potent oxidizing agent, ozone (O3), can effectively eliminate bacteria. The application of ozone gas to V. corymbosum fruit during storage had a favorable impact on the fruit's phenolic component and sugar content in the current investigation. After 7 days of storage, phenolic content in all highbush blueberry cultivars and clones tested increased on average by 28.60%, including anthocyanins by 34%. After 14 days of storage, an average increase of 16.50% in phenolic compounds was observed, including a 20.53% increase in anthocyanins. Among all the tested varieties, clone BOR-21 treated with a dose of 0.01 mL·L-1 ozone for 30 min after 14 days had the highest TPC-143.73 mg·100 g-1 f.w. The sugar content of berries treated with a dose of 0.01 mL·L-1 ozone for 30 min, on day 7 and day 14 of storage increased by 9.2% and 6.3%, respectively. On day 7, the highest amount of total sugar (22.74 g·100 g-1) was observed in Duke cultivar after being exposed to 0.01 mL·L-1 ozone for 15 min. The ozonation treatments enhanced the fruit's saturation with nutrients, which raises the fruit's value as food.

Before and After: Attitude and Adverse Effects Induced by the First and Second Doses of mRNA BNT162b2 Vaccine among Healthcare Professionals in the First Weeks after Their Introduction in Poland.

BACKGROUND: In the last days of December 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus vaccine BNT162b2 (Comirnaty, Pfizer-BioNTech) was introduced, for the first time, for wide use in Poland. According to the vaccination schedule, healthcare workers were the first to receive the vaccine. The aim of this study was to analyse the attitudes of those who were determined to be vaccinated, with particular reference to their concerns, attitudes towards vaccination advocacy and sources of knowledge on vaccination, as well as the incidence of adverse reactions. METHODS: The study had a three-stage design. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire before receiving the 1st and 2nd vaccine doses and 2 weeks after receiving the 2nd dose. A total of 2247 responses were obtained (1340 responses in the first stage, 769 in the second and 138 in the third). RESULTS: The main source of knowledge on vaccination was the Internet (32%; n = 428). Of the respondents, 6% (n = 86) reported anxiety before the 1st dose of the vaccine, which increased to 20% (n = 157) before the 2nd dose. A declaration of willingness to promote vaccination among their families was made by 87% (n = 1165). Among adverse reactions after the 1st dose of the vaccine, respondents most frequently observed pain at the injection site (n = 584; 71%), fatigue (n = 126; 16%) and malaise (n = 86; 11%). The mean duration of symptoms was 2.38 days (SD 1.88). After the 2nd dose of vaccine, similar adverse reactions-pain at the injection site (n = 103; 75%), fatigue (n = 28; 20%), malaise (n = 22; 16%)-predominated among respondents. Those who declared having had a SARS-CoV-2 virus infection (p = 0.00484) and with a history of adverse vaccination reactions (p = 0.00374) were statistically more likely to observe adverse symptoms after vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Adverse postvaccinal reactions are relatively common after Comirnaty vaccination but are usually mild and transient in nature. It is in the interest of public health to increase the knowledge of vaccine safety.

Serum Impedance in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Infections.

The role of disturbed immunoglobulin content during recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTI) might escape recognition in practical children's diagnostics. This study aims to investigate the potential changes in serum impedance caused by a constellation of decreases in the immunoglobulin IgA, IgG, and IgM content in RTI. The control group consisted of children suffering from RTI without any evident decreases in immunoglobulins. Serum bioelectrical properties were measured using impedance spectroscopy and immunoglobulins with an immunoturbidimetric analyzer. We found that the magnitude of serum impedance was significantly smaller in the sick children with immunoglobulin deficiency when compared with those of normal immunoglobulin profile, 134.1 ± 12.8 Ω vs 141.2 ± 16.9 Ω, respectively. We conclude that serum impedance, a parameter easily measured, has the potential to unravel the immunological underlining of RTI, particularly frequent and troubling infections in children. Screening for immunological disturbance is essential for the prompt implementation of a targeted treatment.

Immunoglobulin G Deficiency in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Infections with and Without History of Allergy.

Recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTI) are one of the most common diseases in childhood. Frequent infections adversely affect the development of a child and may lead to suspicion of immunodeficiency. An additional allergy component is thought conducive to infection occurrence. In this study, we retrospectively assessed medical records of 524 children hospitalized with RTI. Patients were divided into two groups: RTI-alone (n = 394) and RTI with a history of allergy (n = 130). Overall, we found that a great majority of children with RTI had the immunoglobulin G within the normal limit, irrespective of allergy. A variable IgG deficiency, most often affecting IgG1, IgG3, and IgG4 subclass, was present in less than one-third of children. Proportions of specific IgG subclass deficiency, varying from about 10% to 40%, were similar in both RTI-alone and RTI-allergy groups. The only significant effect was a modestly smaller proportion of children with IgG4 deficiency in the RTI-allergy group when compared with the RTI-alone group. We also found that IgG deficiencies were age-dependent as their number significantly increased with children's age, irrespective of allergy. The results demonstrate a lack of distinct abnormalities in the immunoglobulin G profile which would be characteristic to a clinical history of allergy accompanying recurrent RTI in children. Thus, we conclude that the assessment of IgGs could hardly be of help in the differential diagnostics of the allergic background of RTI.

Disorders of Humoral Immunity in Children with IgG Subclass Deficiency and Recurrent Respiratory Infections.

Respiratory tract infections in children are one of the most common causes for medical consultations. When the infections are of recurring nature, they are a major reason for the diagnostics for primary immunodeficiency that is in about 65% of cases underlain by disorders of humoral immunity. This study seeks to retrospectively evaluate the history of recurrent respiratory tract infections in children with humoral disorders and the associations among deficiencies in the immune system components. We evaluated 394 children aged 3 months to 18 years. We found 49.5% (195 cases) of children with IgG deficiencies, all of whom had normal IgE levels. There were 8.4% (33 cases) of IgA deficiency, 7.4% (29 cases) of IgM insufficiency, and 4.1% (16 cases) of CD19+ cells deficiency. The elevated level of CD19+ cells was found in 27.7% (109 out of the 394 children). Immunoglobulin deficiencies often coexisted with a deficiency in another immunoglobulin class above outlined. There was an interdependence between IgA abnormality and IgG, IgG3, and IgG4 abnormalities as well as between IgM abnormality and IgG and IgG1 abnormalities. We conclude that respiratory tract infections in children are often underlain by a convergence of IgG with both IgA and IgM abnormal states. The physiopathological meaning of this convergence for the infection course and resulting functional respiratory changes remains elusive.

Analysis of differences between total IgG and sum of the IgG subclasses in children with suspected immunodeficiency - indication of determinants.

BACKGROUND: Deficits in disorders of humoral immunity associated with a deficit of antibodies are the most common primary immunodeficiency. Total IgG and IgG subclasses measurements are used to diagnose, differentiate and control in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. METHODS: The purpose of the study was to analyze the structure patients group according to difference between total IgG and sum of the IgG subclasses and to determine factors affecting the level of this difference. This study was based on data collected from 670 children referred to the Department of Clinical Immunology and Pediatrics in order to diagnose the immune disorders. For all children the level of the total of immunoglobulins IgG and of the IgG subclasses (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4) were determined. The group of children was divided into subgroups according to gender, age (under 6 years of age, 6.5-12 years, and 12-18 years), and IgG abnormality (below the normal range, normal and above the normal range). In the patients group, the total IgG values were on average higher than sum of the IgG subclasses. RESULTS: Statistical analysis shown the all parameters under study (age, gender and IgG abnormality) influence statistically significant on the discrepancy between the sum of the IgG subclasses and total IgG. Assessment of IgG and IgG subclasses levels is based on different methods what causes the discrepancy between the sum of the IgG subclasses and total IgG. CONCLUSIONS: Standardization in that regard is crucial. In addition, we have shown the reliability of the results obtained. Despite the determination in two different laboratories and on different analyzers, as well as the freezing process does not affect the test results.

The identification of the relationship between chemical and electrical parameters of honeys using artificial neural networks.

A number of significant scientific studies have confirmed the health benefits of honey. Due to the high price of natural honey, it is a common target for adulteration which reduces its medicinal value. Adulteration detection methods require specific laboratory equipment and are very expensive. The development of measurement techniques enables the measurement of electrical characteristics of strained honey. Honey electrical parameters can possibly be used for its quality assessment. The identification of the relationship between chemical and electrical parameters of honeys and analysis to determine if there are frequency-dependent changes, can help in developing of that group of methods. The aim of this research was to determine how the chemical parameters of certain honeys influence the dielectric loss factor and the permittivity of strained honey measured in various frequencies. Another aim was to determine whether the percentage influence of certain chemical parameters of honeys on electrical characteristics significantly depends on frequency value. The research was based on neural network models and sensitivity analysis. The percentage influence of certain chemical parameters on electrical characteristics significantly depends on frequency value.