Vegetables, as an important source of vitamins and minerals, are highly recommended in a healthy diet. At the same time, vegetables can contain elevated amounts of nitrates and nitrites, which are the possible nitrosating agents responsible for the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines. In young children, they can cause methemoglobinemia. Determining the level of nitrates and nitrites, as well as the possible reduction in their concentrations during culinary processing, is especially important for the diet of young children, who are introduced to leafy vegetables during the first year. For some types of vegetables that are often found in the diet, maximum permissible concentrations have not yet been established. Our goal was to estimate the reduction factors of nitrates and nitrites and suggest the best ways to properly prepare foods. For this purpose, samples of Swiss chard, spinach, and white cabbage were collected from the market to determine the nitrate and nitrite content. Vegetable samples were subjected to culinary preparations: soaking, cooking, and a combination of soaking and cooking. Quantitative and qualitative determination of nitrates and nitrites in vegetables was carried out on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a diode array detector (DAD). The obtained results showed that the highest nitrate concentrations were in Swiss chard samples, followed by spinach, and the lowest in white cabbage samples. The impact of culinary preparation was highest on spinach samples. Considering the average nitrate concentrations achieved after cooking or soaking and cooking, there was no risk of exceeding the ADI limit. However, the ADI values would be exceeded at the maximum nitrate concentrations.

Although the role of inflammation and adverse cardiac remodeling in myocardial infarction (MI) have been extensively explored, gaps in knowledge on the complex interaction between these processes still exist. Data suggest that DNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1), an activating receptor implicated in NK cell education, may be involved in cardiac remodeling following coronary artery occlusion. In the present study, we aimed to explore the dynamic of DNAM-1+ monocytes and NK cells in peripheral blood in the early phase following reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation MI (STEMI). The study enrolled 49 patients older than 18 years of age diagnosed with STEMI, referred to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Blood samples were obtained at three distinct points (at admission, 3 h, and 24 h after pPCI) and analyzed using flow cytometry. The number of circulating DNAM-1+ monocytes (CD16++ and CD14++) and CD56dimCD16++NK cells was significantly reduced 3 h after pPCI and subsequently returned to initial levels 24 h after procedure (p = 0.003, p < 0.001, and p = 0.002, respectively). Notably, such dynamic was dependent on age of patients. A positive correlation between high sensitivity troponin I levels and number of CD16++DNAM-1+ monocytes in peripheral blood 3 h after pPCI was observed (r = 0.431, p = 0.003). In conclusion, in the present study we delineated the post-reperfusion dynamic of DNAM-1-expresing leukocytes. Additionally, we demonstrated that the number of CD16++ DNAM-1+ monocytes correlate with the extent of myocardial injury.