Quantitative risk assessment of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons dietary exposure from edible fats and oils in China / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the quantitative risk of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) dietary exposure from edible fats and oils in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred samples of edible fats and oils were collected from the supermarkets and the farmers markets in 11 provinces of China from December in 2013 to May in 2014. Then they were tested for EU15+1 PAHs (16 PAHs were controlled in priority by European Food Safety Authority) by two test methods which were QuECHERS-GC-MS-MS and GPC-HPLC-FLD. Data of PAHs concentration and edible fats and oils consumption which were from Chinese National Nutrition and Health Survey in 2002 were combined to evaluate carcinogenic risk of PAHs in edible fats and oils by the method of margin of exposure (MOE). In this process, we divided the population into 6 groups, namely male adults (older than 18 years old), female adults (older than 18), male youths (13-17), female youths (13-17), school-agers (6-12) and preschoolers (2-5), and thought carcinogenicity as the critical toxicity end point of PAHs. Two quantitative risk assessment methods, i.e. point assessment and probability assessment, were used to evaluate the dietary exposure and MOEs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>EU15+1 PAHs in one of 100 samples were not detected, other samples were polluted in different degrees; the detection rates were 3%-98% and the average contents were 0.26-3.26 μg/kg. The results of PAHs dietary exposure from both of point assessment and probability assessment were the same. The average exposures of PAH8 were as the following: male adults were 10.03 and (9.34 ± 12.61) ng·kg(-1)·d(-1)(The former was from point assessment and the latter from probability assessment, the same below), female adults were 9.95 and (9.60 ± 15.04) ng · kg(-1)·d (-1), male youths were 11.09 and (10.84 ± 16.54) ng·kg(-1)·d(-1), female youths were 10.06 and (9.58 ± 12.87) ng·kg(-1)·d(-1),school-agers were 15.29 and (15.62 ± 25.54) ng·kg(-1)·d(-1), preschoolers were 19.27 and (19.22 ± 28.91) ng·kg(-1)·d(-1). MOEs of mean and 50% exposure levels in different group of people were more than 10,000, while MOEs of 95% exposure levels in school-agers and preschoolers were less than 10,000.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>For general consumers, the health risk of PAHs exposure is very low. However, for high-end consumers (95% exposure level) from the sensitive groups (school-ager and preschooler) has a potential health risk.</p>

Chinese soft-shelled turtle egg powder lowers serum cholesterol, increases faecal neutral steroids and bile acid excretion, and up-regulates liver cytochrome P450 mRNA level in rats.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Chinese soft-shelled turtle whole egg powder (TE) on cholesterol metabolism in Sprague-Dawley rats to determine whether it has a cholesterol-lowering effect. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with TE (0, 0.75, 1.50 or 3.00 g/kg body weight) administrated by gavage for 24 weeks. Serum total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and faecal total bile acids levels were determined by enzymatic methods. Faecal steroid concentrations were measured by GC. Means and standard deviations were calculated where appropriate for values, and the data were tested by one-way ANOVA. After 24 weeks of feeding a high-fat diet with TE supplementation, serum TC and LDL-C levels, liver cholesterol and liver lipid levels were reduced in rats. TE supplementation did not affect the faecal output, but significantly increased steroid concentrations in faeces, indicating increased steroids excretion. The faecal bile acid excretion was also increased as evidence by elevated mRNA level of liver cytochrome P450, family 7, subfamily A, polypeptide 1. Our results demonstrated that the TE does have a cholesterol-lowering effect by increasing the excretion of total bile acids and neutral steroids.

Pollution Status of Microcystin in Dianshan Lake and Poyang Lake in China / 环境与健康杂志

Objective To investigate the pollution status of algae and microcystin(MC)in Dianshan Lake,Shanghai City and Poyang Lake,Jiangxi Province.Methods Water samples were collected from different sites of the above lakes,as the pretreatment of intracellular and extracellular microcystins was finished,MC-LR concentration was detected by ELISA.Results The proportion of Cyanobacteria in Dianshan Lake was 38.8% and 68.2% respectively,the mean content of MC was 281.78 and 1 145.77 pg/ml respectively.In Poyang Lake,the proportion of Cyanobacteria was 48.9% and 73.7% respectively,the mean content of MC was 80.53 and 405.65 pg/ml respectively.In the same water-blooming lake,MC content was significantly lower in July than that in October(P

Effect of Apigenin on SBP of Spontaneous Hypertension Rats and Its Mechanism / 环境与健康杂志

Objective To explore the regulatory effect of apigenin on the blood pressure of the spontaneous hypertension rat(SHR) rats and the possible mechanism.Methods The case groups of rats were fed with different dosage of apigenin(0.03,0.05,0.11 g/kg) by gavage for 4 consecutive weeks,while the control groups were treated with equal cubage of oil.The body weight,heart rate,blood pressure were measured every week.Results After 4 weeks of treatment with apigenin,the blood pressure of SHR in all doses groups decreased significantly;besides,apigenin could reduce the content of ET-1 and AngII,however,it didn't change NOS activity.Conclusion Apigenin has a regulatory effect on blood pressure,its lowest effective dose is 0.03 g/kg bw and it may decrease the blood pressure through reducing the content of ET-1 and AngII,not through the NO/NOS pathway.