Medical research progresses on sodium dichloroacetate / 药学实践杂志

Sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) is a small molecule drug usually administered orally. It has therapeutic effects against several diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and several solid tumors. In this review, the research progresses of DCA in mechanism of action, pharmacological action and toxicological studies were summarized from the recent literatures on the pharmacological actions of DCA.

Acrilamida en los alimentos: Valores de referencia, recomendaciones y acciones de mitigación

RESUMEN Diversas agencias internacionales han considerado que la acrilamida puede producir efectos dañinos en la salud de la población debido a una serie de estudios toxicológicos realizados en modelos animales, en los cuales se observan efectos cancerígenos, genotóxicos, neurotóxicos, inmunológicos y en la salud reproductiva. A pesar de la creciente preocupación en diversos países sobre los potenciales efectos en salud humana, los organismos encargados de determinar límites toxicológicos no han definido aún los límites máximos de acrilamida que pueden estar presente en los diferentes tipos de alimentos para que sean inocuos para la población. El objetivo de esta actualización es revisar las regulaciones existentes sobre la acrilamida y enfatizar la necesidad de establecer límites que la industria alimentaria pueda aplicar efectivamente, además de la necesidad de contar con valores máximos diarios tolerables para prevenir los efectos nocivos para la salud de la población.

ABSTRACT Several international agencies have considered that acrylamide can induce deleterious effects in human health due to a series of toxicological studies conducted in animal models, in which carcinogenic, genotoxic, neurotoxic, immunological and reproductive effects have been observed. Despite a growing concern about these effects on human health, agencies responsible for determining toxicological limits in various countries have not yet defined the maximum levels of acrylamide that may be present in the different types of food to be safe for the population. The objective of this updated review is to evaluate the existing regulations on acrylamide and emphasize the need to establish limits that the food industry can effectively apply, in addition to the need to have tolerable daily maximum values to prevent harmful effects on the population health.

Modern Pharmacological Toxicology and Clinical Application of Antitumor Nanometer Realgar / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Realgar is toxic and belongs to drug of poison attack, with anti-cancer, anti-pest, dry wet and expectorant effects. Ancient doctors often used realgar to treat carbuncle, boil, abdominal pain and other diseases. Modern doctors use it to treat malignant tumors and blood diseases. The toxicity of realgar results in a small range of safety in its drug use. Modern scholars combine traditional Chinese medicine with nano-technology means to grind realgar into nano-realgar. Compared with realgar, nano-realgar has an improved bioavailability and reduced toxicity in vivo. Modern pharmacological researches use nano-realgar to interven lung cancer cells, skin cancer cells, cervical cancer cells, ovarian cancer cells and leukemia cells in experiments, which confirmed that nano-realgar has effects in inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis and cell differentiation, inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis and angiogenesis, but with antiviral, sterilization of analgesic effects. Modern toxicological studies have been conducted in mice through intragastric treatment with different concentrations of nano-realgar preparation. The symptoms and signs of mice and various auxiliary examination indexes were recorded at different time periods. It was concluded that nano-realgar has regular effects on blood biochemical indexes at safe doses. In clinical trials, nano-realgar was applied to treat damaged wound surface of malignant tumor. It was found that nano-realgar can promote healing of wound surface of tumor, alleviate pain, relieve clinical symptoms, such as bleeding, purulence and odor, and improve quality of life of patients. In addition, with a simple usage and good patient compliance, administration with nano-realgar requires no hospitalization, can save medical resources, and is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

Toxicity studies for indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from Malang city, East Java on Aedes aegypti larvae

Objective: To investigate the toxicity of indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis (B. thuringiensis) isolates from Malang City for controlling Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) larvae. Methods: Soil samples were taken from Purwantoro and Sawojajar sub-districts. Bacterial isolation was performed using B. thuringiensis selective media. Phenotypic characteristics of the isolates were obtained with the simple matching method. The growth and prevalence of spores were determined by the Total Plate Count method, and toxicity tests were also performed on the third instar larval stage of Ae. aegypti. The percentage of larval mortality was analysed using probit regression. The LC50 was analysed by ANOVA, and the Tukey HSD interval was 95%. Results:Among the 33 selected bacterial isolates, six were obtained (PWR4-31, PWR4-32, SWJ4-2b, SWJ4-4b, SWJ-4k and SWJ5-1) that had a similar phenotype to reference B. thuringiensis. Based on the dendrogram, all of the bacterial isolates were 71%similar. Three isolates that had a higher prevalence of reference B. thuringiensis were PWR4-32, SWJ4-4b and SW5-1, of which the spore prevalence was 52.44%, 23.59%, 34.46%, respectively. These three indigenous isolates from Malang City successfully killed Ae. aegypti larvae. The PWR4-32 isolates were the most effective at killing the larvae. Conclusions:Six indigenous B. thuringiensis isolates among the 33 bacterial isolates found in the Sawojajar and Purwantoro sub-districts were toxic to the third instar larvae of Ae. aegypti. The PWR4-32 isolates were identical to the reference B. thuringiensis and had 88%phenotype similarity. The PWR4-32 isolates had the highest spore prevalence (52.44%), and the early stationary phase occurred at 36 h. The PWR4-32 isolates were the most effective at killing Ae. aegypti larvae (LC50-72 h=2.3í108 cells/mL).

Toxicity studies for indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from Malang City, East Java on Aedes aegypti larvae

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the toxicity of indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis (B. thuringiensis)isolates from Malang City for controlling Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) larvae.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Soil samples were taken from Purwantoro and Sawojajar sub-districts. Bacterial isolation was performed using B. thuringiensis selective media. Phenotypic characteristics of the isolates were obtained with the simple matching method. The growth and prevalence of spores were determined by the Total Plate Count method, and toxicity tests were also performed on the third instar larval stage of Ae. aegypti. The percentage of larval mortality was analysed using probit regression. The LC50 was analysed by ANOVA, and the Tukey HSD interval was 95%.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 33 selected bacterial isolates, six were obtained (PWR4-31, PWR4-32, SWJ4-2b, SWJ4-4b, SWJ-4k and SWJ5-1) that had a similar phenotype to reference B. thuringiensis. Based on the dendrogram, all of the bacterial isolates were 71% similar. Three isolates that had a higher prevalence of reference B. thuringiensis were PWR4-32, SWJ4-4b and SW5-1, of which the spore prevalence was 52.44%, 23.59%, 34.46%, respectively. These three indigenous isolates from Malang City successfully killed Ae. aegypti larvae. The PWR4-32 isolates were the most effective at killing the larvae.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Six indigenous B. thuringiensis isolates among the 33 bacterial isolates found in the Sawojajar and Purwantoro sub-districts were toxic to the third instar larvae of Ae. aegypti. The PWR4-32 isolates were identical to the reference B. thuringiensis and had 88% phenotype similarity. The PWR4-32 isolates had the highest spore prevalence (52.44%), and the early stationary phase occurred at 36 h. The PWR4-32 isolates were the most effective at killing Ae. aegypti larvae (LC50-72 h=2.3×10(8) cells/mL).</p>

Assessment of chlorpyrifos toxicity on certain organs in rat, Rattus norvegicus.

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide of phosphorothioate group was orally administered to male rats at the doses of 3, 6 and 9 mg kg-1d-1 for 90 days. Animals exposed to high dose (9 mg kg-1d-1) showed signs of toxicity including piloerection, diarrhoea, nose and eye bleeding, reduced body weight and death of animals. Organ weight ratio of different vital organs did not show any change except increase in adrenal weight and decrease in the weight of testes in animals of high dose (9 mg kg-1d-1). A dose dependent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in RBC (22-60%) and brain (7-52%) was observed. Microscopic examination of different tissues of male rats showed minor histopathological changes in brain, liver, testis, epididymis and adrenal. The activity of testicular enzymes SDH, G-6-PDH and testicular content of sialic acid and cholesterol were found increased in animals of high dose (9 mg kg-1d-1). There was decrease in RBC counts and levels of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT) with increase in WBC counts. While, total protein was decreased significantly at all the dose levels in testes and epididymis, glucose level showed a significant decrease at high dose. A dose dependent increase was observed in the level of serum triglycerides. There was no change in sperm motility and sperm morphology at any dose level except a decrease in sperm counts (114.1x 106 g-1 in high dose for group against 158.9 x 106 g-1 controls). It is suggested that chlorpyrifos at 9mg/kg/d dose for 90 days has caused toxicological changes along with mild testicular and spermatotoxic effects in male rats.