Single and combined effects of estrone and 17β-estradiol on male goldfish / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the single and combined effects of estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2) on goldfish (Carassius auratus).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Batch tests were conducted. Serum levels of vitellogenin (VTG) and E2, gonadosomatic indices (GSI), gonadal DNA damage and liver 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity were measured after exposure for 14 days.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The VTG level increased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner. The serum E2 level was significantly higher and the GSI level was significantly lower in goldfish after exposed to the 3 drugs. DNA damage occurred in treated samples and EROD activity was significantly suppressed 7 days after exposure. The joint effect of E1 and E2 was additive with regard to VTG induction.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results of our study highlight a series of effects of steroidal estrogens on goldfish. Further study is needed to confirm their effect as a whole.</p>

Effects of selected metal oxide nanoparticles on multiple biomarkers in Carassius auratus / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the biological effects of nanoscale copper oxide (nCuO), zinc oxide (nZnO), cerium dioxide (nCeO2) and their mixtures on Carassius auratus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Juvenile fish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to aqueous suspensions of nCuO, nZnO, and nCeO2 (alone and in mixtures) at concentrations of 20, 40, 80, 160, and 320 mg/L. The biomarkers-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in brain, sodium/potassium-activated ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase) in gill, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in liver-were determined after 4 days of exposure. Integrated biomarker response (IBR) was calculated by combining multiple biomarkers into a single value.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>AChE and SOD activities were significantly inhibited by all test metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) at high concentrations (⋝160 mg/L) with the exception of nCeO2. Na+/K+-ATPase induction exhibited bell-shaped concentration-response curves. CAT activity was significantly inhibited at concentrations equal to or higher than 160 mg/L. The order of IBR values was nCeO2 ≈ nZnO/nCeO2 ≈ nCuO/nCeO2 < nCuO/nZnO/nCeO2 < nZnO < nCuO < nCuO/nZnO. The joint effect seemed to be synergistic for nCuO/nZnO mixtures, additive for the ternary mixture and less than additive or antagonistic for the binary mixtures containing nCeO2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Concentration-dependent changes of enzymatic activities (AChE, Na+/K+-ATPase, SOD, and CAT) were observed in fish exposed to nanoscale metal oxides. IBR analysis allowed good discrimination between the different exposures and might be a useful tool for the quantification of integrated negative effects induced by NPs toward fish.</p>

Effect of electro-acupuncture intervention on cognition attention bias in heroin addiction abstinence-a dot-probe-based event-related potential study / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the changes of cognitive attention-related brain function in the heroin addicts before and after electro-acupuncture (EA) intervention for exploring the concerned neuro-mechanism of addictive relapse and the central action role of EA intervention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adopting event-related potential (ERP) technique, the ERP at 64 electrode spots in 10 heroin addicts (test group) were recorded before and after EA intervention with dot-probe experimental form during implementing cognitive task on positive emotional clue (PEC), negative emotional clues (NEC), and heroin-related clue (HRC). The P200 amplitude components on the selected observation points (Fz, Cz, and Pz) were analyzed and compared with those obtained from 10 healthy subjects as the control.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Before EA, the ERP of attention on HRC in the test group was higher than that on PEC and NEC (P<0.05) and significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05); after EA, the P200 amplitude of attention on HRC at Cz and Pz was significantly lowered (P<0.05) and that on PEC at Fz was significantly elevated (P<0.05). After EA, the P200 amplitude at Pz was ranked as NEC > PEC > HRC, but in the control group, it showed PEC > HRC at all three observation points and PEC > NEC at Pz.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Heroin addicts show attention bias to HRC, which could be significantly reduced by EA intervention, illustrating that EA could effectively inhibit the attention bias to heroin and so might have potential for lowering the relapse rate.</p>

Biodegradation of complex bacteria on phenolic derivatives in river water / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To isolate, incubate, and identify 4-chlorophenol-degrading complex bacteria, determine the tolerance of these bacteria to phenolic derivatives and study their synergetic metabolism as well as the aboriginal micrpbes and co-metabolic degradation of mixed chlorophenols in river water.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Microbial community of complex bacteria was identified by plate culture observation techniques and Gram stain method. Bacterial growth inhibition test was used to determine the tolerance of complex bacteria to toxicants. Biodegradability of phenolic derivatives was determined by adding 4-chlorophenol-degrading bacteria in river water.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The complex bacteria were identified as Mycopiana, Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas, and Flavobacterium. The domesticated complex bacteria were more tolerant to phenolic derivatives than the aboriginal bacteria from Qinhuai River. The biodegradability of chlorophenols, dihydroxybenzenes and nitrophenols under various aquatic conditions was determined and compared. The complex bacteria exhibited a higher metabolic efficiency on chemicals than the aboriginal microbes, and the final removal rate of phenolic derivatives was increased at least by 55% when the complex bacteria were added into river water. The metabolic relationship between dominant mixed bacteria and river bacteria was studied.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The complex bacteria domesticated by 4-chlorophenol can grow and be metabolized to take other chlorophenols, dihydroxybenzenes and nitrophenols as the sole carbon and energy source. There is a synergetic metabolism of most compounds between the aboriginal microbes in river water and the domesticated complex bacteria. 4-chlorophenol-degrading bacteria can co-metabolize various chlorophenols in river water.</p>

Prediction of toxicity of phenols and anilines to algae by quantitative structure-activity relationship / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To measure the toxicity of phenol, aniline, and their derivatives to algae and to assess, model, and predict the toxicity using quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) method.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Oxygen production was used as the response endpoint for assessing the toxic effects of chemicals on algal photosynthesis. The energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (E(LUMO)) and the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital (E(HOMO)) were obtained from the ChemOffice 2004 program using the quantum chemical method MOPAC, and the frontier orbital energy gap (deltaE) was obtained.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The compounds exhibited a reasonably wide range of algal toxicity. The most toxic compound was alpha-naphthol, whereas the least toxic one was aniline. A two-descriptor model was derived from the algal toxicity and structural parameters: log1/EC50 = 0.268,logKow - 1.006deltaE + 11.769 (n = 20, r2 = 0.946). This model was stable and satisfactory for predicting toxicity. CONCLUSION Phenol, aniline, and their derivatives are polar narcotics. Their toxicity is greater than estimated by hydrophobicity only, and addition of the frontier orbital energy gap deltaE can significantly improve the prediction of logKow-dependent models.</p>

Research Advance in Environmental Estrogens of Effluent from Sewage Treatment Plants / 环境与健康杂志

The conception,sources and research focus on environmental estrogens of effluent from sewage treatment plants were briefly introduced and the advances on environmental estrogens of effluent from sewage treatment plants were reviewed in the present paper.The study and applications of biomarker-vitellogenin (Vtg) was also discussed.The future research direction of environmental estrogens was proposed.

Biodegradability of chlorinated anilines in waters / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the bacteria tolerating chlorinated anilines and to study the biodegradability of o-chloroaniline and its coexistent compounds.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Microbial community of complex bacteria was identified by plate culture observation techniques and Gram stain method. Bacterial growth inhibition test was used to determine t he tolerance of complex bacteria to toxicant. Biodegradability of chlorinated anilines was determined using domesticated complex bacteria as an inoculum by shaking-flask test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The complex bacteria were identified, consisting of Xanthomonas, Bacillus alcaligenes, Acinetobacter Pseudomonas, and Actinomycetaceae nocardia. The obtained complex bacteria were more tolerant to o-chloroaniline than mixture bacteria in natural river waters. The effects of exposure concentration and inoculum size on the biodegradability of o-chloroaniline were analyzed, and the biodegradation characteristics of single o-chloroaniline and 2, 4-dichloroaniline were compared with the coexistent compounds.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The biodegradation rates can be improved by decreasing concentration of compounds and increasing inoculum size of complex bacteria. When o-chloroaniline coexists with aniline, the latter is biodegraded prior to the former, and as a consequence the metabolic efficiency of o-chloroaniline is improved with the increase of aniline concentration. Meanwhile, when o-chloroaniline coexists with 2,4-dichloroaniline, the metabolic efficiency of 2,4-dichloroaniline is markedly improved.</p>

QSARS for acute toxicity of halogenated benzenes to bacteria in natural waters / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To measure the acute toxicity of halogenated benzenes to bacteria in natural waters and to study quantitative relationships between the structure and activity of chemicals.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The concentration values causing 50% inhibition of bacteria growth (24h-IC50) were determined according to the bacterial growth inhibition test method. The energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and the net charge of carbon atom of 20 halogenated benzenes were calculated by the quantum chemical MOPAC program.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The log1/IC50 values ranged from 4.79 for 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene to 3.65 for chlorobenzene. A quantitative structure-activity relationship model was derived from the toxicity and structural parameters: log1/IC50 = -0.531(E(LUMO)) + 1.693(Qc) + 0.163(logP) + 3.375. This equation was found to fit well (r2 = 0.860, s = 0.106), and the average percentage error was only 1.98%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Halogenated benzenes and alkyl halogenated benzenes are non-polar narcotics, and have hydrophobicity-dependent toxicity. The halogenated phenols and anilines exhibit a higher toxic potency than their hydrophobicity, whereas 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene is electrophile with the halogen acting as the leaving group.</p>

Quantitative structure-activity relationships for the toxicity of substituted benzenes to Cyprinus carpio / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To measure the 96h-LC50 values of 32 substituted benzenes to the carp and to study the relationship between quantitative structure-activity and structural parameters of chemicals.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The acute toxicity values of 32 substituted benzenes to the carp were determined in a semistatic test. The energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, and the highest occupied molecular orbital, the dipole moment and the molecular weight of substituted benzenes were calculated by the quantum chemical method MOPAC6.0.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The range of the toxicity of studied compounds was broad, and the most toxic compound was pentachlorophenol, while the least toxic compound was 4-methylaniline. By the stepwise regression analyses, a series of Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) equations were derived from all compounds and subclasses. The equation log1/LC5o=0.759logP + 2.222 (R2 (adj)=0.818) was found to fit well and the average predicted percentage error was 6.16%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The toxicity of anilines and phenols to the carp could be modeled well by logP alone, whereas the toxicity of the halogenated benzenes and nitrobenznes not containing hydroxyl or amino group can be controlled by hydrophobic and electronic factors.</p>

Correlation study of toxicity of substituted phenols to river bacteria and their biodegradability in river water / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation of toxicity with biodegradability (BODT) in order to promote QSBR development and understand the degradation mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Toxicity of substituted phenols to river bacteria was determined by the turbidities that were measured using a spectrophotometer (UV-190) at 530 nm against a blank control. The biodegradability of substituted phenols was expressed as BODT and the DO concentrations were determined by the iodometric titration method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The BODT and toxicity(log 1/IC50) of 12 substituted phenols to bacteria from the Songhua River were determined respectively. The correlation of biodegradability with toxicity was developed: BODT=8.21 (+/-2.22) pKa -32.44 (+/-8.28) log 1/IC50 +89.04 (+/-38.20), n=12, R2=0.791, R2(adj)=0.745, SE=9.134, F=17.066, P=0.001.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The BODT of substituted phenols was influenced by their toxicity and the ionization constant pKa. The stronger the toxicity, the less readily the compound was degraded by river bacteria.</p>

Primary research of pharmacological effects of PEC on mice / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study pharmacological effects of PEC (the oral liquid which consists of Panax quinquefolium, Epimedium brevicornum, Schisandra chinensis Bail and Cervus eplaphus) on mice.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Experiments were carried out through swimming test, step-through, spontaneous activity and sleeping time.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>When 5-10 mL x kg(-1) of PEC was given orally for 7 days, it could prolong swimming duration of mice in water tank, and increase the tolerant ability against oxygen-deficiency. PEC could also improve cognitive-deficiency induced by taking off sleep with force in mice after given orally for 7 days. The PEC could increase the spontaneous activity in mice, antagonize the inhabitation induced by Valium, and shorten the sleeping time caused by sodium pentobarbital.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PEC has strong potential neuro-pharmacological activities such as anti-fatigue, improving cognitive-deficiency in mice.</p>