Urinary stones as a novel matrix for human biomonitoring of toxic and essential elements.

Monitoring of body burden of toxic elements is usually based on analysis of concentration of particular elements in blood, urine and/or hair. Analysis of these matrices, however, predominantly reflects short- or medium-term exposure to trace elements or pollutants. In this work, urinary stones were investigated as a matrix for monitoring long-term exposure to toxic and essential elements. A total of 431 samples of urinary calculi were subjected to mineralogical and elemental analysis by infrared spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The effect of mineralogical composition of the stones and other parameters such as sex, age and geographical location on contents of trace and minor elements is presented. Our results demonstrate the applicability of such approach and confirm that the analysis of urinary calculi can be helpful in providing complementary information on human exposure to trace metals and their excretion. Analysis of whewellite stones (calcium oxalate monohydrate) with content of phosphorus <0.6 % has been proved to be a promising tool for biomonitoring of trace and minor elements.

Association of minor and trace elements with mineralogical constituents of urinary stones: a hard nut to crack in existing studies of urolithiasis.

The role of metals in urinary stone formation has already been studied in several publications. Moreover, urinary calculi can also be used for assessing exposure of humans to minor and trace elements in addition to other biological matrices, for example, blood, urine, or hair. However, using urinary calculi for biomonitoring of trace elements is limited by the association of elements with certain types of minerals. In this work, 614 samples of urinary calculi were subjected to mineralogical and elemental analysis. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and thermo-oxidation cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry were used for the determination of major, minor, and trace elements. Infrared spectroscopy was used for mineralogical analysis, and additionally, it was also employed in the calculation of mineralogical composition, based on quantification of major elements and stoichiometry. Results demonstrate the applicability of such an approach in investigating associations of minor and trace elements with mineralogical constituents of stones, especially in low concentrations, where traditional methods of mineralogical analysis are not capable of quantifying mineral content reliably. The main result of this study is the confirmation of association of several elements with struvite (K, Rb) and with calcium phosphate minerals, here calculated as hydroxylapatite (Na, Zn, Sr, Ba, Pb). Phosphates were proved as the most important metal-bearing minerals in urinary calculi. Moreover, a significantly different content was also observed for Fe, Zr, Mo, Cu, Cd, Se, Sn, and Hg in investigated groups of minerals. Examination of such associations is essential, and critical analysis of mineral constituents should precede any comparison of element content among various groups of samples.

The mouse splenocyte assay, an in vivo/in vitro system for biological monitoring: studies with X-rays, fission neutrons and bleomycin.

A modified mouse splenocyte culture system was standardized after testing different mitogens (i.e., phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A)). The mitotic index was determined for comparison between different mitogens. Following selection of appropriate mitogen (PHA 16, Flow), a series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the application of a cytokinesis-block for scoring micronuclei and assays for chromosomal aberrations produced by treatment in G0 and G2 for the purposes of biological dosimetry following in vivo and/or in vitro exposure to X-rays, fission neutrons and bleomycin. In the X-irradiation studies, the frequencies of micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations (i.e., dicentrics and rings) increased in a dose-dependent manner. These data could be fitted to a linear-quadratic model. No difference was observed between irradiation in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that measurement of dicentrics and micronuclei in vitro after X-irradiation can be used as an in vivo dosimeter. Following in vivo irradiation with 1 MeV fission neutrons and in vitro culturing of mouse splenocytes, linear dose-response curves were obtained for induction of micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations. The lethal effects of neutrons were shown to be significantly greater than for a similar dose of X-rays. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) was 6-8 in a dose range of 0.25-3 Gy for radiation-induced asymmetrical exchanges (dicentrics and rings), and about 8 for micronuclei in a dose range of 0.25-2 Gy. Furthermore, the induction of chromosomal aberrations by bleomycin was investigated in mouse G0 splenocytes (in vitro) and compared with X-ray data. Following bleomycin treatment (2 h) a similar pattern of dose-response curve was obtained as with X-rays. In this context a bleomycin rad equivalent of 20 micrograms/ml = 0.50 Gy was estimated.

Anticlastogenic effects of a polyvitamin product, 'Pharmavit', on gamma-ray induction of somatic and germ cell chromosome aberrations in the mouse.

The polyvitamin product 'Pharmavit' (Pv), comprising vitamins A, D2, B1, B2, B6, C, E, nicotinamide, and calcium pantothene, was tested for anticlastogenic properties against gamma-rays in mice. Pretreatment with Pv consisted of daily administration by gavage for 30 days at dose levels corresponding to clinical recommendations for an adult human, as recalculated in terms of mg/kg. Findings indicated a reduction of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells from mice exposed to 3.0 Gy 137Cs gamma-rays; the reduction concerned predominantly fragments of the chromatid type. Furthermore, a reduction factor of 1.6 was obtained for the frequency of reciprocal translocations induced by spermatogonial irradiation in mice exposed to 4.0 Gy gamma-rays. Pretreatment with vitamin C alone, at the dose present in Pv, proved nearly ineffective in protecting from chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells. Pharmavit is believed to be a promising agent for application to human populations exposed to the carcinogenic and genetic hazards of ionizing radiation.

Fertility of male and female mice heterozygous for the reciprocal translocation T(7;17)3BKM.

The present paper describes the fertility of male and female mice heterozygous for the reciprocal translocation T(7;17)3BKM. This translocation was induced by gamma rays in the spermatozoa of an irradiated parent. It is characterized by "asymmetrical" localization of the breakpoints, distally in Chromosome 7 (7F5) and proximally in Chromosome 17 (17B1). The data presented here relate only those matings in which, for both partners, heterozygosity or normality could be confirmed cytogenetically. The results indicate that both male and female translocation heterozygotes are fertile, their mean litter size being reduced to about 50% of that of normal littermates. This leads to the conclusion that the multivalents mainly undergo either alternate or adjacent-1 2:2 segregation. No viable tertiary trisomics were observed among the progeny of the translocation carriers. Analysis of the frequency of the different types of multivalents in diakinesis-metaphase I spermatocytes showed a significant predominance of chain-type figures (CIV and CIII+I), with chains of four elements (CIV) being more frequent than other configurations. This demonstrates that the small marker chromosome remains attached by one of its segments to the tetravalent.

[Mutagenic effect of pesticides fastac 10 EK and durs ban 4E studied in a micronucleus test iin mouse bone marrow cells]. / Mutagennyi éffekt pestitsidov vaztak 10 EK i durs ban 4E, ustanovlennyi putem mikroiadernogo testa v kostnomozgovykh kletkakh myshi.

The mutagenic activity of vastak and durs ban pesticides was studied by the micronucleus test in mouse bone marrow. The frequency of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes was tested at 24, 36 and 42 h after oral administration of 50% LD50 dose of vastak (14 mg/kg) and durs ban (30.5 mg/kg). Significantly different increase in micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes was established at 24, 36 and 48 h after vastak administration, and at 24 and 36 h after durs ban treatment. Doses of 25% LD50 for both pesticides showed no mutagenic activity, as judged by the induction of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes.

[Cytogenetic effect of thaliblastine in a culture of human peripheral blood lymphocytes]. / Tsitogenetichekii éffekt taliblastina v kul'ture limfotsitov perifericheskoi krovi cheloveka.

The mutagenicity of thaliblastine (Bulgarian potential antitumor drug) was investigated in vitro in lymphocytes from healthy donors, and in vivo in lymphocytes of oncological patients after thaliblastine administration. No increase in the rate of chromosome aberrations was noted with increasing thaliblastine concentrations in vitro and in the course of therapy in vivo. Some polyploid metaphases were found in the lymphocytes of the patients treated with thaliblastine, as a result of the statmokinetic effect of the drug. Thaliblastine exerts extraordinarily slight mutagenic effect, as compared with other cytostatics.

[Examination of genetic structures of sex cells of rats flown during their prenatal development on Cosmos-1514]. / Issledovanie geneticheskikh struktur polovykh kletok krys posle poletana biosputnike "Kosmos-1514" vo vremia ikh predrodovogo razvitiia.

Male rats that were flown on Cosmos-1514 during their prenatal days 13 through 18 were investigated. The animals were sacrificed when they reached sexual maturity. Preparations were made of their testes for cytogenetic analysis: spermatocytes were at the stages of diakinesis--metaphase 1. The flown rats had 0.9% reciprocal translocations while the ground-based synchronous controls showed 0.5%. Exposure to space flight factors in combination had a mutagenic effect on gonocytes. However, the adverse effect of microgravity per se was not demonstrated unambiguously.

Hypothermia induced by WR-2721 in the rat.

Hypothermic response to a range of doses of WR-2721 (S-2-/3 aminopropylamino/-ethylthiophosphate) was studied in the rat. Time of hypothermia appearance, time and extent of maximum hypothermia, and pattern of body temperature recovery were all observed to depend upon the level of drug dose administered. The role of such hypothermia in systemic toxicity of the drug is discussed. The authors believe it to result from insufficiency of thermoregulation in small mammals, and to be of no practical importance for clinical application of the drug.

Antimutagenic properties of WR 2721 and of a radioprotective mixture, ATP-AET-serotonin, with regard to X ray induced reciprocal translocations in mouse spermatogonia.

Pretreatment by intraperitoneal administration of WR 2721 at 400 mg/kg body weight in mice receiving 4.0 Gy X rays was found to have an appreciable antimutagenic effect with regard to reciprocal translocation induction in spermatogonia. The effectiveness of the product tested proved superior to that of a radioprotective mixture of ATP-AET-serotonin given at optimal dose ratio--360, 24, and 8 mg/kg body weight, respectively. The RF (Reduction Factor) was 2.4 for WR 2721 and 1.8 for the mixture. The effect observed indicated WR 2721 to have potential capabilities for reducing the genetic risk of radiation in male individuals.

Antimutagenic properties of selected radioprotective drug mixtures with regard to X-ray-induced reciprocal translocations in mouse spermatogonia.

The radioprotective drugs AET, serotonin, and ATP were tested for antimutagenic activity against induction by 4.0 Gy X-rays of reciprocal translocations in mouse spermatogonia. Single drugs administered in doses of 8, 24 and 360 mg/kg b.wt., respectively, had no effect on translocation yields recorded in diakinesis-metaphase I spermatocytes. Two-drug mixtures afforded insignificant protection. Three-drug mixtures, however, were found to reduce radiation damage considerably, and the extent of protection was dependent in part on the amount of ATP. The best effect was obtained with formulations of serotonin-AET-ATP at the following doses, respectively: 8 + 24 + 360 mg/kg, 16 + 24 + 336 mg/kg, and 16 + 32 + 264 mg/kg. Less effective were the serotonin-AET-ATP formulations: 16 + 32 + 120 mg/kg, and 8 + 24 + 480 mg/kg. Treatment with drugs omitting radiation exposure was observed to raise, though insignificantly, the level of spontaneous translocation frequency.

[Mutagenic effect of the cytostatic drug thaliblastine on rat bone marrow cells when administered alone and in combination with radiation]. / Issledovanie mutagennogo éffekta tsitostatika taliblastina na kletkakh kostnogo mozga krys pri razdel'nom i sochetannom s oblucheniem vozdeistviiakh.

The cytogenetic analysis was performed in the bone marrow cells of Wistar rats treated with a therapeutic dose of thaliblastine (250 mg/kg) and exposed to gamma-rays (2 Gy). Thaliblastine alone induced chromosome aberrations and polyploid cells. The latter were the result of the stathmokinetic effect of the drug. In contrast to gamma-radiation of 2 Gy thaliblastine elicited a minor mutagenic effect. The cytogenetic effect of the combined treatment is greater than the sum of the two agents delivered separately, the maximum effect of radiation and thaliblastine being exhibited on the 8th and the 12th hour, respectively. The difference between the sum of aberrations after separate treatments and the yield of aberrations after the combined treatment is due to chromatid fragments.

[Assessment of the genetic risk of radiation by irradiation data from laboratory mammals]. / Otsenka geneticheskogo riska radiatsii po dannym oblucheniia u laboratornykh mlekopitaiushchikh.

An attempt has been made to assess quantitatively genetic risk of radiation for man based on mammalian (mostly mouse) data and using the direct method proposed by UNSCEAR. The parameter employed was induction of reciprocal translocations. Two assumptions were made: human radiosensitivity equals that of the mouse; and dose-response is linear. From observations with acute gamma irradiation the estimate of risk per 10(-2) Gy was as follows: 39 translocation heterozygotes are expected among one million F1 conceptions, 5 cases of multiple congenital anomalies, 25 abortions recorded and 49 unrecorded. Chronic gamma irradiation at dose rates of 1.3 X 10(-5), 1.7 X 10(-4) and 1.0 X 10(-4) Gy/min was 3 to 10 times less effective. Exposure to 4.2 GeV deuterons proved inferior in effectiveness to gamma irradiation. Chronic exposure to 4.1 MeV neutrons delivered at 8 X 10(-4) Gy/min showed 7 times the effectiveness of chronic gamma irradiation. Administration of tritiated water (from 37 to 37 X 10(2) kBq/g b.w.) to rats entailed a risk of the same order of magnitude as external chronic gamma irradiation. Reduction of genetic risk was achieved by pretreatment with either AFT-, ATP-serotonin mixtures or the molecular combinations, Adeturon and Cytriphos. Study of interspecies differences in genetic radiosensitivity showed decline in the following order: rat-rabbit-mouse-Syrian hamster. A dose-rate effect was most clearly seen in the rat, and least clearly in the rabbit. In female mice, examination of oocyte depletion indicated primary follicles to be highly susceptible to acute gamma irradiation; decrease in sensitivity was observed beginning with stage 4. Chronic gamma irradiation was found to be less effective.

[Determination of the optimal proportions as regards toxicity of AET, ATP and serotonin used in combination]. / Opredelenie optimal'nogo po toksichnosti sootnosheniia AET, ATF i serotonina pri ikh kombinirovannom primenenii.

In experiments on mice, a study was made of the quantitative dependence of toxicity of AET, ATP and serotonin applied in combinations. The toxicity decreased when ATP was combined with AET and increased when ATP of AET were combined with serotonin. The toxicity of a combination of all three substances was reduced by introducing high doses of ATP.

Life span and tumor incidence in rats receiving postradiation treatment with ATP-AET-mexamine mixture.

Rat females were exposed to a single 4.0-Gy gamma-ray dose and treated postradiation with a mixture of ATP-AET-mexamine at daily doses of 24, 12, and 3 mg/kg body wt, respectively, in drinking water throughout the period of their survival. With the radiation dose used, life shortening appeared primarily attributable to nonstochastic effects. The mixture of chemical protectors failed to show modification of long-term radiation effects with regard to either life span or tumor incidence.

[Effect of space flight factors on bone marrow cells in the rat]. / Deistvie faktorov kosmicheskogo poleta na kostnomozgovye kletki krys.

The effect of space flight factors, weightlessness in particular, on the genetic structures of bone marrow cells of rats flown for 18.5 days on Cosmos-1129 was investigated. Chromosome aberrations were measured on postflight days 6 and 25. The frequency of unstable chromosome aberrations was similar in the flight, synchronous and vivarium rats. Karyotyping of metaphase plates revealed chromosome aberrations in the flight and synchronous rats. Exposure to weightlessness did not influence the mutagenic effect in bone marrow cells of the rats.

[Antiradiation and toxic effect of ATP, AET and serotonin administered in combination to mice. Optimal relations between component doses]. / Protivoluchevoi i toksicheskii éffekt ATF, AET i serotonina pri kombinirovannom vvedenii mysham. Optimal'nye sootnosheniia mezhdu dozami komponentov.

It was established that the optimal dose ratio (high effectiveness and minimum toxicity) between the components in the combination: serotonin/AET/ATP was 1/3/45. It was shown that the radioprotective effect was conditioned by AET and serotonin the latter being more significant. ATP played a minor role in the total protective effect decreasing however, the toxicity of the combination.

Protection of the mouse from genetic radiation damage by an optimal-dose-ratio combination of ATP, AET, and serotonin.

The study concerned antiradiation effects in germ-cell genetic structures produced by a combination of ATP, AET, and serotonin at dose ratio optimal for lethality namely, 45:3:1, as arrived at in our previous work. Such a combination was found to reduce by a factor of 2 the translocation yields observed after 400 R X-rays to mouse spermatogonia. In terms of animal survival, ATP has been shown to contribute little to total protection achieved by the same combination; in terms of genetic damage; however, the role of ATP proved essential. Removal of ATP from the combination led to a significant reduction in protective effect.

Radioprotective effectiveness and toxicity of ATP, AET and serotonin applied individually or simultaneously to mice. III. Radioprotective effects of pair combinations.

The work reported was done as part of an intensive investigation on toxic and radioprotective properties of three substances, ATP, AET and serotonin, administered singly or in combination to mice, with a view to identifying optimal dose ratios for cocktails. Male C57BL mice were exposed to 850 R X-rays (LD100/11) following pretreatment with drug pairs at various dose ratios. Thirty-day survival was scored. For ATP-AET, protection increased with the amount of ATP in the combination; this pair was found to be most effective at an ATP-to-AET ratio of 11:1. A similar trend was observed with ATP-Serotonin, though only up to a certain ATP level beyond which no further increase in protective effect were produced; the most favorable ratio was of 24:1. A maximum synergistic action was displayed by the AET-Serotonin pair as compared to the other two pairs; its best ratio was of 4:1. Using probit analysis, a number of PD50 (protectant dose affording 50% survival in lethal irradiation) values were estimated for the three pairs of protective agents.