Contents of Chromium and Arsenic in Tea (Camellia sinensis L.): Extent of Transfer into Tea Infusion and Health Consequence.

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is the most popular beverage in the world after water. Due to acidophilic nature of tea plant, it has inherent tendency to uptake metals/metalloids including the toxic ones from the soil which is of great concern worldwide. In this study, level of chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As) were assessed in four hundred ninety-seven (497) black tea samples collected from six tea growing regions of Assam and North Bengal, India. The average concentration of Cr and As in the tested black tea samples was 10.33 and 0.11 µg g-1, respectively. Since tea is consumed as a beverage, transfer of Cr and As from black tea to its hot water extract (also known as tea infusion) was also accessed. The amount of Cr and As determined in the tea infusion was much less (< 0.20 to 1.38 µg g-1 for Cr and < 3.60 to 34.79 µg kg-1 for As) than those in the black teas with the transfer rate up to 5.96% and 8.53%, respectively. The present study showed that values of hazard quotient were well below one suggesting that intake of Cr and As from consumption of five cups of tea equivalent to 10 g black tea would not impose any health hazard.

Non-invasively Measured Carotid Artery Intima-Medial Thickness May Be a More Useful Marker of Coronary Artery Disease in Diabetic than Non-Diabetic Patients.

Carotid intima-medial thickness has long been proposed as a surrogate marker of atherosclerotic vascular disease in other vascular beds, most notably the coronary arteries with its practical implications. This observational study aimed at exploring the relationship of a hypothetical stronger relationship of carotid intima-medial thickness with coronary artery disease in diabetic patients than non-diabetic counterparts. Thirty diabetic patients and 74 non-diabetic patients who were referred for coronary angiogram in the Departments of Cardiology Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka Cantonment, Bangladesh from January, 2002 and December, 2003 were studied. Carotid ultrasound was done to determine intima-medial thickness and coronary angiogram to detect coronary artery lesions. Background demographic data and cardiovascular risk factors were determined. Of the 30 diabetic patients 24 subjects had CAD. Twenty two of these 24 patients showed increased carotid IMT. None of the patients without CAD had shown carotid artery intima-medial thickening (sensitivity 91% specificity 100%). In contrast, in the non-diabetic group 44 patients out of 63 with CAD showed increased carotid artery IMT. Four of the 11 non-diabetic patients without CAD showed positive carotid ultrasound study results (sensitivity 70%, specificity 63%). This study showed a strong association of coronary artery disease with carotid intima-medial thickness in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic subjects. This finding may be applicable for Bangladeshi diabetic population. This surrogate marker of coronary artery disease can be useful in the management of diabetes as regards their prevention of coronary artery disease. The practical and clinical implications of these findings might be the pioneer study in diabetic subjects and need to be further determined in a larger community level study.

Topical retinoyl beta-glucuronide is an effective treatment of mild to moderate acne vulgaris in Asian-Indian patients.

Topical retinoyl beta-glucuronide (RBG) is beneficial in the treatment of mild to moderate acne (acne vulgaris) in patients largely of North-European origin in the US. Because the skin types of people in India are different from those in the US, we investigated the effectiveness and toxicity of topical RBG in acne patients in India. Each day, 27 acne patients were treated topically with the vehicle, and 39 acne patients were treated topically with 0. 16% RBG cream for 18 weeks in a double-blind study. A significant reduction (p < 0.001) in total lesions, inflammatory lesions and noninflammatory lesions in patients treated with RBG as compared with the vehicle only (86.8, 80.2 and 94.6% vs. 40.1, 34.3 and 50%, respectively) was observed. No side effects were associated with topical RBG treatment. Thus, topical 0.16% RBG is a rapid, effective and nontoxic treatment for mild to moderate acne in Asian-Indian patients.

Metabolism of dehydroretinyl ester in White Leghorn chicks.

1. The metabolism of dehydroretinyl ester has been studied in vitamin-A-deficient white leghorn chicks. Dehydroretinyl ester was metabolized to 3-hydroxyretinol diester, 3-hydroxyanhydroretinol and rehydrovitamin A2 which were isolated from the intestines and livers of chicks. 2. The metabolism of 3-hydroxyretinol diester and 3-hydroxyanhydroretinol, which were immediate metabolites of dehydroretinol, was studied in chicks. 3. Retinol was not detected in these experiments.