Molecular modifications induced by inorganic arsenic in Vicia faba investigated by FTIR, FTNIR spectroscopy and genotoxicity testing.

Exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) through drinking water is a major public health concern affecting most countries. Epidemiologic studies showed a significant association between consumption of iAs through drinking water and different types of cancer. However, the exact mechanisms underlying As-induced cancer and other diseases are not yet well understood. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of exposure iAs (20 or 30 mg/L) on Vicia faba seedlings in terms of phytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and spectroscopy by investigation of molecular modifications using infrared (FTIR) and near infrared (FTNIR) spectroscopy. Further, the mitigation effects of a precursor of glutathione (GSH), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), were also assessed. Spectroscopic and genotoxicity analysis demonstrated that specific molecular changes were directly correlated with iAs exposure. Comet assay in Vicia faba showed significant effects at concentrations of 20 and 30 mg/L, depending on the structural changes involving nucleic acids as identified by FTIR and FTNIR spectroscopy. Results of phytotoxicity and micronuclei tests were significant only at higher iAs concentrations (30 mg/L), where an antioxidant effect of NAC was noted. The two spectroscopic techniques demonstrated molecular modifications predominantly associated with chemical interactions of iAs with biomolecules such as nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins in Vicia faba. Our findings suggest that further studies are required to better understand the mechanisms underlying toxicity produced by different As chemical forms in vegetal and agricultural species.

[Molecular biomarkers in workers and population exposed to inorganic arsenic: preliminary study in vitro]. / Biomarcatori molecolari in lavoratori professionalmente esposti ad arsenico inorganico e nella popolazione generale: studio preliminare in vitro.

The inorganic Arsenic (iAs) is a metalloid widely diffuse in all environmental matrices. The iAs has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non coding RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of hundreds of target genes in many key physiological and pathological cell processes, including stress response, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and cancer, miRNA expression profiles appear altered in most human cancers and it has been highlighted the potential of miRNA profiling in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The present study evaluates the effect of iAs exposure on global miRNA expression in Jurkat cells. Treated cells show a reproducible increase in the expression levels of three miRNAs: miR-663, miR-222 and miR-638. This study supports the importance to proceeding in the investigation aimed to the possible application of some miRNAs as biomarkers in the environmental and occupational exposure to iAs.

[The usefulness of plasmapheresis in a case of nephrotic syndrome in Berger's disease]. / Utilità della plasmaferesi in un caso di sindrome nefrosica in corso di malattia di Berger.

Berger's disease, or IgA mesangial nephropathy, is a frequent form of focal and/or segmental proliferative glomerulonephritis that occasionally may present as nephrotic syndrome. The authors reports a clinical case of a young woman come to their observation with a severe clinical picture characterized by asthenia, anasarca, serious no selective proteinuria, microscopic hematuria, blood hypotension from mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis IgA. Because of the null response to traditional therapy the patient was submitted to plasmapheresis "cascade model", or double filtration, a certainly experimental treatment for this disease, and a remission of the nephrotic syndrome was obtained as confirmed by follow-up at three, six months and one year. Since at present times the therapy is supportive only and no therapeutic maneuvers have been found to be consistently effective in the Berger's disease, plasma exchange plus immunodepressive therapy seems to be useful particularly in the rare patients with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Further and more extensive studies and a fair follow-up are necessary to prove our results.