Cardiovascular (CV) complications are the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Arterial stiffness (AS) has been recognized as a strong and independent predictor for CV events in CKD. Our aim was to assess indices of AS in a group of Endemic (Balkan) Nephropathy (EN) patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD). Hypertenison was not co...

The mycotoxin, ochratoxin A (OTA), is thought to be responsible for Balkan endemic nephropathy. OTA accumulates in several tissues, especially in the kidneys and liver. The excretion of OTA into urine is thought to be mainly by tubular secretion, presumably via the organic anion transport system. Recently, several families of multispecific organic anion transporters have been identified: organi...

The freshwater shrimp genus Atyaephyra de Brito Capello, 1867 is a complex of cryptic species with morphologically overlapping features, which has led to invalid identifications until recently. The genus is distributed around the entire Mediterranean Basin and surrounding areas. In 2009 we used a molecular approach with 16S and Cox1 genes to identify the European and African populations and to ...

Toscana and sandfly fever Sicilian viruses (TOSV and SFSV, respectively), both transmitted by sand flies, are prominent human pathogens in the Old World. Of 1,086 serum samples collected from cattle and sheep during 2013 in various regions of Kosovo (Balkan Peninsula), 4.7% and 53.4% had neutralizing antibodies against TOSV and SFSV, respectively.

Sepsis is defined as a suspected or proven infection in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) . From the beginning of a systemic infection and over sepsis peaks of immune-mediators characteristic of SIRS and for the compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS) may be seen in sequence or in parallel 2 that enlighten the reason why broad investigation of inflammatory bioma...

The aim of this study was to correlate apoptotic cell rate from different nephron segments between control group and groups of patients with Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). Kidney specimens of20 patients with clinically and epidemiologically confirmed BEN were compared with biopsy material of 10 patients (group I, non BEN) without glomerular or tubulointerstitial disease. Out of 20 patients w...

Since 1998, when the First European Hemiptera Congress (EHC) took place in the small seaside resort Amaliapolis, Greece, the Hemiptera congresses are regularly held every two-three years: EHC 2 in Fiesa, Slovenia (2001), EHC 3 in St. Petersburg, Russia (2004), EHC 4 in Ivrea, Italy (2007) and EHC 5 in Velence, Hungary (2009). The nomination to host and organize the Sixth European Hemiptera Cong...

An analysis is presented of continuous data collected over 11 years based on 1,902,600 person/days of observation on the malaria experience of the people of Daraweesh, a village in eastern Sudan. Malaria transmission is hypo-endemic: the acquisition of clinical immunity with age is not as obvious as in more holo-endemic areas and malaria remained a problem in all age groups throughout the study...

Contemporary inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula belong to several ethnic groups of diverse cultural background. In this study, three ethnic groups from Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosniacs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs - as well as the populations of Serbians, Croatians, Macedonians from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegrins and Kosovars have been characterized for the genet...

Many clinicians regard tuberculosis as an adult pulmonary disease, but tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of disease, both pulmonary and extrapulmonary, and death in young children from TB-endemic countries, especially in areas affected by poverty, social disruption, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This article reviews the disease burden and the natural history of disease in c...