Medical Household Waste as a Potential Environmental Hazard: An Ecological and Epidemiological Approach.

Nowadays, the contamination caused by emerging pollutants is a global concern due to the lack of scientific evidence to demonstrate the risk or toxicity to humans due to the presence of pharmaceutical residues in the environment. This study aimed to identify and describe the disposal practices of unused and unwanted medications, as well as to analyze and identify the most frequent drugs determined on water bodies adjacent to the biggest urban population in Mexico. A two-phase study with an epidemiological and an ecological assessment was performed. The epidemiological phase was carried out with a descriptive cross-sectional study among citizens from Mexico City and the metropolitan area using an electronic survey applied to 719 subjects aimed to assess practices in which pharmaceutical products are disposed. The ecological phase included a review of scientific reports. The results show that nearly 83.5% of those surveyed use inappropriate practices for disposal medicines, the main ones are through the municipal dump or directly in the drain. The ecological approach was carried out by a systematic literature review of original reports published between 2013 to 2023; information about the class of drugs, active substance, environmental compartments, location, and concentration was extracted and presented. Fifty-one different types of pharmaceutical residues were detected in wastewater in Mexico City in the last decade. The results of this study can contribute to the application of public policies for waste management authorities to mitigate the socio-environmental risks due to the inappropriate disposal of medicines.

In Silico-Based Design and In Vivo Evaluation of an Anthranilic Acid Derivative as a Multitarget Drug in a Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Model.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex disease that affects almost a quarter of the world's adult population. In MetS, diabetes, obesity, hyperglycemia, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are the most common disorders. Polypharmacy is the most used strategy for managing conditions related to MetS, but it has drawbacks such as low medication adherence. Multitarget ligands have been proposed as an interesting approach to developing drugs to treat complex diseases. However, suitable preclinical models that allow their evaluation in a context closer to a clinical situation of a complex disease are needed. From molecular docking studies, compound 1b, a 5-aminoanthranilic acid derivative substituted with 4'-trifluoromethylbenzylamino and 3',4'-dimethoxybenzamide moieties, was identified as a potential multitarget drug, as it showed high in silico affinity against targets related to MetS, including PPAR-α, PPAR-γ, and HMG-CoA reductase. It was evaluated in a diet-induced MetS rat model and simultaneously lowered blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels after a 14-day treatment. No toxicity events were observed during an acute lethal dose evaluation test at 1500 mg/kg. Hence, the diet-induced MetS model is suitable for evaluating treatments for MetS, and compound 1b is an attractive starting point for developing multitarget drugs.

Grapefruit juice suppresses azoxymethane-induced colon aberrant crypt formation and induces antioxidant capacity in mice.

In the present report we determined the protective capacity of grapefruit juice (GJ) against molecular and cellular damage in azoxymethane (AOM) treated mice. Animals were daily administered GJ orally (0.8, 4.1, and 8.2 µl/g) for seven weeks, as well as intraperitoneally (ip) injected with AOM twice (weeks 2 and 3 of the assay). Control groups administered with water, with the high dose of GJ, and with AOM injected in weeks 2 and 3 were also included. The results showed a significant, dose-dependent protection of GJ on the number of colon aberrant crypts (AC) induced by AOM. The highest inhibitory effect was reached with the highest tested dose of GJ, decreasing ACF by 51% and 43% at weeks 4 and 7 of the assay. Regarding protein and lipid oxidation we also found a dose-dependent decrease caused with GJ in comparison with the increased levels produced by AOM. Therefore, our results established chemopreventive potential for GJ, and suggested effects related to its antioxidant capacity. Finally, we found that the tested agents induced neither micronuclei increase nor alteration in bone marrow cytotoxicity.

Effect of naringin on the DNA damage induced by daunorubicin in mouse hepatocytes and cardiocytes.

Naringin (Nar) is a flavonoid that has shown antigenotoxic effect against the chromosome damage induced by various compounds. The aims of the present investigation on Nar were threefold: a) to determine its DNA breaking potential in mouse hepatocytes and cardiocytes, b) to evaluate its capacity to inhibit the DNA damage induced by daunorubicin (Dau) in the same tissues, and c) to determine its capacity to trap free radicals in vitro using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) method. For the two first purposes we applied the comet assay to three groups of animals administered with Nar by the oral route (50, 250, 500 mg/kg), and made the observations before the chemical administration and at 3, 12, and 21 h postadministration. Other three groups of mice were given equal doses of Nar, and 1 h later they were intraperitoneally injected with 1 mg/kg of Dau. The results showed that Nar did not induce DNA breakage in both types of studied cells, in contrast with the significant damage induced by Dau in hepatocytes and cardiocytes. Moreover, the administration of Nar protected the DNA damage produced by Dau, showing a maximum reduction of 71.3% and 51.1% in hepatocytes and cardiocytes, respectively. With respect to the antioxidant potential, 20 mM of Nar produced a free radical scavenging activity as high as 95%. Our study established a high DNA breaking potential of Dau, and a protective effect by Nar, probably related with its capacity to trap free radicals.