ABSTRACT
Fluoride is naturally present in the earth's crust and can be found in rocks, coal, and clay; thus, it can be found in small quantities in water, air, plants, and animals. Therefore, humans are exposed to fluoride through food, drinking water, and in the air they breathe. Flouride is essential to maintain bone strength and to protect against dental decay, but if it is absorbed too frequently, it can cause tooth decay, osteoporosis, and damage to kidneys, bones, nerves, and muscles. Therefore, the present work was aimed at determining the effect of intake of sodium fluoride (NaF) as an apoptosis inducer in leukocytes of rats treated for eight weeks with 1 or 50 parts per million (ppm) NaF. Expression of p53, bcl-2, and caspade-3 were used as apoptotic and general metabolism indicators of leukocyte-like indicators of the (INT) oxidation system. Male rats were exposed to NaF (1 and 500 ppm) for eight weeks, and then sacrificed weekly to obtain blood samples. Expression of p53, bcl-2, and caspase-3 were determined in leukocytes by Western blot, and general metabolism of leukocytes was analyzed with a commercial kit. We found changes in the expression of the proteins described, especially when the animals received 50 ppm of NaF. These results indicate that NaF intoxication can be an apoptosis inducer in rat leukocytes treated with the compound for eight weeks.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis , Leukocytes/drug effects , Sodium Fluoride/pharmacology , Animals , Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/genetics , Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/metabolism , Leukocytes/metabolism , Male , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) represents a serious health problem in the world. This is because are associated with cervical cancer development in when HPV of high-risk type 16 and 18 are involved. A genital infection by these virus types are normally asymptomatic in the male and an infection to sexual partner is possible. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present is the detection of HPV-16 and HPV-18 in semen samples from patients included in an assisted reproduction protocol. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Semen samples were obtained from 149 patients that are included in an assisted reproduction protocol in our institution. Semen was examined according with WHO criteria and detection of HPV-16 and HPV-18 was realized with real time PCR protocol with commercial kits. Also, conventional histology techniques were used to assess spermatozoo morphology and leukocyte count. RESULTS: 149 semen samples were analyzed from patients with an age average 37.27 (22-56 age). The 56.18% present oligozoospermic and take into account all patients, 59.73% was positive for HPV-16 (29.56%), HPV-18 (16.11%) or both (14.09%). The infection with HPV-16 was more frequent in both oligozoospermic and normozoospermic patients. In this latter, a minus abnormal spermatic cells and leukocytes were found in regard to oligozoospermic patients. CONCLUSIONS: There is an important percentage off human asymptomatic male subjects that present in your semen a positive result for high risk papillomavirus. This is very important for the sexual partner because this represent a problem for public health that most be in attention.
