Evaluation of the Effects of Prostate Radiation Therapy on Occludin Expression and Ultrasonography Characteristics of the Bladder.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of radiation dose in prostate radiation therapy (RT) on occludin expression and ultrasonography characteristics of the bladder. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Urine samples of 64 prostate RT patients were collected before, at regular intervals during, and 3 months after RT. Occludin expression analysis was performed, and bladder wall echogenicity and echotexture were investigated by ultrasound and the gray-scale histogram analysis method. The bladder equivalent uniform dose (EUD) was derived from individually produced dose treatment plan for each patient. Clinical scoring for bladder-specific symptoms was done using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Acute Radiation Morbidity Scoring Criteria Scale. RESULTS: Thirty patients (47%) experienced at least 1 of the studied bladder symptoms (grade ≥1 endpoints), including urinary pain, frequency, urgency, straining, incontinence, hematuria, dysuria, and nocturia. For these patients there were significant changes in urine occludin levels after starting the treatment compared with the baseline urine samples (P=.023). The mean bladder EUD that caused a significant change in occludin level, which occurred after the 15th RT session, was 26.9 Gy (range, 13.2-36.5 Gy, P=.020). In all patients a significant reduction in bladder echogenicity (P=.0137) and a significant change in its echotexture (P=.047) was found after the 10th RT session, after which the EUD to the bladder reached 17.9 Gy (range, 8.8-24.3 Gy). CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in occludin expression level and bladder wall echogenicity and echotexture occurred during prostate RT. Our findings suggest that a significant reduction in bladder echogenicity and increase in occludin expression during treatment can be associated with acute urinary complications.

ELISA reader does not interfere by mobile phone radiofrequency radiation.

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of mobile phones can physically cause electromagnetic interference (EMI) in medical environments; can also cause errors in immunoassays in laboratories. The ELISA readers are widely used as a useful diagnostic tool for Enzymun colorimetric assay in medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the ELISA reader could be interfered by the exposure to the 900 MHz cell phones in the laboratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human serum samples were collected from 14 healthy donors (9 women and 5 men) and each sample was divided into four aliquots and was placed into four batches for the in-vitro quantitative determination of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). During colorimetric reading of the first, second, and third batches, the ELISA reader (Stat Fax 2100, Awareness Technology, Inc., USA) was exposed to 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 W exposure of 900 MHz radiation, respectively. For the forth batch (control group), no radiation was applied. All experiments were performed comparing ELISA read out results of the I, II, and III batches with the control batch, using the Wilcoxon test with criterion level of P = 0.050. RESULTS: The final scores in the exposed batches I, II, and III were not statistically significant relative to the control batch (P > 0.05). The results showed that 900 MHz radiation exposure did not alter the ELISA measured levels of hCG hormone in I (P = 0.219), II (P = 0.909), and III (P = 0.056) batches compared to the control batch. CONCLUSION: This study showed that ELISA reader does not interfere by mobile phone RF radiation at a closed contact (less than 5 cm distance). However, we recommend that medical institutions discuss these issues in the context of their specific use of technologies and frame a policy that is clear and straightforward to guide staff, patients, and visitors.

Effects of gamma irradiation on microbial load and quality characteristics of veal.

BACKGROUND: Veal is a rich nutrient medium that provides a suitable environment for proliferation of veal spoiling microorganisms and common food-borne pathogens. In this study, the effects of irradiation on the veal microbiological quality and half life of minced beef during chilled storage was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty samples of minced veal were irradiated with doses of 2, 5, 7, and 10 kGy (Cobalt-60, gamma cell 220) and evaluated for their microbiological quality up to 10 days. RESULTS: The results showed that gamma irradiation reduced the number of microorganisms in all the irradiated minced veal samples, with 2, 5, 7, and 10 kGy (P < 0.01). Moreover, the half life of the samples were increased considerably (P < 0.01). In addition, the results indicated that there was a significant difference in the number of coliformes between untreated and irradiated samples (P < 0.05). While, Staphylococcus aureus could not be detected in the irradiated samples with doses of 7 and 10 kGy. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that irradiation could be employed as an effective mean to inactivate common food-borne pathogens namely S. aureus and increases the half life of veal.

Mobile phone radiation interferes laboratory immunoenzymometric assays: Example chorionic gonadotropin assays.

The radiofrequency radiation is of concern in hospital laboratories as the microwaves have many health effects even on immune functions. The aim of this study was, however, to evaluate the effects of cell phone radiation on chorionic gonadotropin immunoassays of human serum. Two cell phones with 0.69 and 1.09W/kg (head SAR) emitting 900MHz radiation were used. Sixty wells with five human serum concentrations (0, 10, 100, 250, 500mIU/mL) were used in three batches. The well heads in each batch were exposed to 900MHz emitted from these phones, and the 0.69, 1.09W/kg exposed batches were compared with the unexposed controls. Radiation exposure from mobile phones altered the measured serum levels especially in the wells with 100, 250, 500mIU/mL hormone concentrations. Exposure at 1.09W/kg SAR caused a significant loss compared to 0.69W/kg SAR exposure. In conclusion, the microwave exposures may require attention in laboratories using immunoassays.

Effects of radiofrequency radiation on human ferritin: an in vitro enzymun assay.

Ferritin is a macromolecule and is responsible for the long term iron storage function in human serum and plasma. Recent studies have highlighted the role of cell phone exposure on central nervous system, immune function and reproduction. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the human serum ferritin level could be interfered by the exposure to the 900 MHz GSM cell phones. Fifty human serum wells from 25 normal healthy donors were labeled with ruthenium to form a sandwich complex based on an immunoassay technique. All of them were placed into two batches, and the well heads in the first batch were exposed to 900 MHz exposure emitted from a speech mode cell phone (Nokia, Model 1202, India) for 30 min. Unexposed batch was served as the control sample under identical conditions and was compared with the exposed one in quantitative determination of ferritin using the Wilcoxon test with criterion level of P = 0.050. Human serum wells in the exposed batch showed a significant decrease in serum ferritin relative to the control batch (P = 0.029). The average ± SD ferritin level in the exposed batch was 84.94 ± 1.04 µg/L while it was 87.25 ± 0.83 µg/L for the unexposed batch. Radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones may lead to oxidative stress and rapid diffusion of the human ferritin level in an in vitro enzymun assay. Also, the enzyme activity can be affected. Effects of exposure from mobile phones must be considered further.