Environmental Pollutants and Oxidative Stress in Terrestrial and Aquatic Organisms: Examination of the Total Picture and Implications for Human Health.

There is current great international concern about the contribution of environmental pollution to the global burden of disease particularly in the developing, low- and medium-income countries. Industrial activities, urbanization, developmental projects as well as various increased anthropogenic activities involving the improper generation, management and disposal of pollutants have rendered today's environment highly polluted with various pollutants. These pollutants include toxic metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides and diesel exhaust particles most of which appear to be ubiquitous as well as have long-term environmental persistence with a wide range of toxicities such as oxidative stress among others. Oxidative stress, which may arise from increased production of damaging free radicals emanating from increased pollutant burden and depressed bioavailability of antioxidant defenses causes altered biochemical and physiological mechanisms and has been implicated in all known human pathologies most of which are chronic. Oxidative stress also affects both flora and fauna and plants are very important components of the terrestrial environment and significant contributors of nutrients for both man and animals. It is also remarkable that the aquatic environment in which sea animals and creatures are resident is also highly polluted, leading to aquatic stress that may affect the survival of the aquatic animals, sharing in the oxidative stress. These altered terrestrial and aquatic environments have an overarching effect on human health. Antioxidants neutralize the damaging free radicals thus, they play important protective roles in the onset, progression and severity of the unmitigated generation of pollutants that ultimately manifest as oxidative stress. Consequently, human health as well as that of aquatic and terrestrial organisms may be protected from environmental pollution by mitigating oxidative stress and employing the principles of nutritional medicine, essentially based on antioxidants derived mainly from plants, which serve as the panacea of the vicious state of environmental pollutants consequently, the health of the population. Understanding the total picture of oxidative stress and integrating the terrestrial and aquatic effects of environmental pollutants are central to sustainable health of the population and appear to require multi-sectoral collaborations from diverse disciplinary perspectives; basically the environmental, agricultural and health sectors.

Assessment of Renal Function Status in Steady-State Sickle Cell Anaemic Children Using Urine Human Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Albumin:Creatinine Ratio.

INTRODUCTION: Sickle cell anaemia is characterized by defective haemoglobin synthesis and is associated with both endocrine and metabolic alterations. The effects of this clinical condition on kidney function are multifactorial and often begin early in childhood. This study aims to assess renal function in children with sickle cell anaemia using urine albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and urine human neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL). METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 200 children aged 5-15 years in 2 tertiary hospitals in South West Nigeria: 150 were of haemoglobin S genotype and 50 were of haemoglobin A genotype. Serum urea, creatinine, urine albumin, and NGAL were assayed by known standard methods. eGFR, urine ACR, and urine NGAL/creatinine ratio (urine NCR) were calculated. RESULTS: The weight, height, BMI, systolic blood pressure, plasma urea, plasma creatinine, and spot urine creatinine of the HbS genotype children were significantly lower compared to that of the HbA genotype children. The eGFR, spot urine albumin, and urine ACR were significantly higher in the HbS group compared to the HbA group. There was no significant difference in the spot urine NGAL and urine NCR between the 2 groups, though both were higher in the HbS group compared to the HbA group. CONCLUSIONS: Kidney injury probably starts early in childhood in sickle cell individuals as indicated by the higher urine ACR detected in them. We infer that urine NGAL and uNCR are not sensitive markers of kidney disease especially in young sickle cell individuals possibly because of the hyperfiltration present at this age.

Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Some Metabolic Indices in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a pregnancy complication, is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency has recently been recognized as a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of GDM, and this link might be associated with hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and inflammation, which are implicated in GDM. OBJECTIVES: This study aims at investigating the relationship between vitamin D, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin, zinc, ferritin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) in GDM. METHOD: A case-control study in which 80 women attending the antenatal clinic of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria, were recruited; the women were grouped into controls (40 nondiabetic pregnant women) and cases (40 pregnant women with GDM). Blood samples were taken at the second trimester, and metabolites were quantified by standard laboratory methods. Student's t test and Pearson correlation were used to compare variables and determine the relationship between variables, respectively. RESULTS: Results showed significant (p < 0.05) low levels of serum vitamin D and zinc, and significant (p < 0.05) higher levels of FPG and serum insulin, ferritin, and CRP in the GDM group compared to the control group. In the GDM group, a positive weak relationship was observed between vitamin D and zinc (r = 0.18, p < 0.05), while vitamin D was inversely correlated with FPG, serum insulin, ferritin, and CRP (r = -0.23, -0.21, -0.20, -0.46, respectively, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that hypovitaminosis D might be associated with glucose intolerance, insulin insensitivity, and inflammation, which are factors implicated in the development and progression of GDM.