Instrumental neutron activation analysis and statistical approach for determining baseline values of essential and toxic elements in hairs of high school students.

The possibility to have reference values in clinical chemistry is really important and hair is an ideal tissue for tracing human health conditions. This study performed on 131 hair samples of high school students gives a better knowledge of element levels (i.d., As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, S, Sb, Se, Sn and Zn) in subjects not exposed to specific contamination. A nuclear analytical technique, Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, has been employed for determining such species. These data can be used as tentative reference values in human hairs. The ratios among metals give important considerations on the general aspect of human health: the reference value represents an evaluation of the essential metabolic functions whereas an imbalance could be a factor influencing the rising of some pathologies, even if it is not an index of particular metabolic deficiency. A comparison with Italian studies shows a good agreement whereas some little discrepancies are evident with International studies. Further, a statistical approach (cluster analysis, Canonical Discriminant Analysis) was applied for determining the reference values. Taking in account these reference values a relationship with the environmental and pollutant compartments was studied confirming the starting hypothesis.

Efficient production by sperm-mediated gene transfer of human decay accelerating factor (hDAF) transgenic pigs for xenotransplantation.

A large number of hDAF transgenic pigs to be used for xenotransplantation research were generated by using sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT). The efficiency of transgenesis obtained with SMGT was much greater than with any other method. In the experiments reported, up to 80% of pigs had the transgene integrated into the genome. Most of the pigs carrying the hDAF gene transcribed it in a stable manner (64%). The great majority of pigs that transcribed the gene expressed the protein (83%). The hDAF gene was transmitted to progeny. Expression was stable and found in caveolae as it is in human cells. The expressed gene was functional based on in vitro experiments performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results show that our SMGT approach to transgenesis provides an efficient procedure for studies involving large animal models.