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By way of reference tests the quality of the supplied virus free Saaz semi-early red bine hop was verified in large scale conditions as a sensory equivalent raw material. As regards its contents of alpha-bitter acid (5,38 % w/w. in dry substance by the HPLC method) the investigated material highly exceeds the parallelly purchased hops (crop average - 3,5 % w/w in dry substance by the HPLC method) with the very similar contents of essentials oils. The process of warming of the virus free hops offers an important economic improvement both for cultivators and breweries. The cultivation of the virus free Saaz semi-early red bine hop brings a 15 - 20 % higher yield, on the other hand its warming leads to a cost reduction in hopping by 30 % at the minimum. The experience acquired from the use of the virus free hop for the production of 10 % beers will be utilized further on in next tests in brewing of the 12 % Budweiser Budvar beer(In Czech, English summary only)

Activated cholesterol-laden macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions are believed to influence the progression of this disease. The induction of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity was investigated in control and cholesterol-laden J774 macrophages, obtained by pre-incubation with oxidized or acetylated low density lipoproteins (oxLDL, acLDL). Loading with oxLDL caused a small induction of NOS activity in unstimulated cells, as indicated by nitrite and citrulline accumulation in the supernatant. However, it suppressed the iNOS activity resulting from stimulation of the cells with lipopolysaccharide with or without interferon-γ. AcLDL had no inhibitory effect, indicating that cholesterol accumulation as such was not responsible. Since the induction of NOS in macrophages is inhibited by glucocorticoids, the possibility that a glucocorticoid-like factor, formed during oxidation of LDL, may cause the inhibition, was investigated. However, addition of the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone did not prevent the oxLDL-dependent NOS inhibition, indicating that the glucocorticoid receptor is not involved in the suppressive effect of oxLDL.