The influence of vegetal extracts derived from red grape, blueberry fruits and hawthorn leaves on Zea mays L. plant growth and the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), a key enzyme of the phenylpropanoid pathway, was investigated in laboratory experiments. The extracts were characterized using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopies in order to obtain a pattern of the main functional groups. I...

The endothelial glycocalyx (eGC) plays a pivotal role in the physiology of the vasculature. By binding plasma proteins, the eGC forms the endothelial surface layer (ESL) which acts as an interface between bloodstream and endothelial cell surface. The functions of the eGC include mechanosensing of blood flow induced shear stress and thus flow dependent vasodilation. There are indications that le...

OBJECTIVE Digitalis preparations are commonly used by children and adults with heart diseases worldwide, although excessive doses may cause cardiac effects. The aim of the study is to evaluate the antiarrhythmic effect of Crataegus oxyacantha extract on digoxin-induced arrhythmias in anesthetized Wistar rats. METHODS Control and experimental groups were evaluated for arrhythmias induced by di...

Background & Aim: Medicinal plants can be a good replacement for common cancer treatment including chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery because they don’t have many side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of temperature on the free radical scavenging in the presence of medicinal plants. Experimental: For determination of free radical scavenging activity was use...

Rhagoletis pomonella is a model for incipient sympatric speciation (divergence without geographic isolation) by host-plant shifts. Here, we show that historically derived apple- and ancestral hawthorn-infesting host races of the fly use fruit odor as a key olfactory cue to help distinguish between their respective plants. In flight-tunnel assays and field tests, apple and hawthorn flies prefere...

background: hawthorn species decreases blood pressure and relaxes precontracted vessels. this study aimed at examining the antihypertensive effect and related mechanisms of hydroalcoholic extract of crataegus azarolus subspecies aronia fruit in rats with renovascular hypertension. methods: six groups of male sprague-dawley rats, each containing 6 to 8 rats, were studied. the groups comprised of...