Evaluation of the toxicity of cypermethrin pesticide on organs weight loss and some biochemical and histological parameters.

An increase in global food demand has resulted in a significant increase in the use of pesticides in agriculture. Synthetic pyrethroid pesticides account for over 30% of the global pesticide use; Pyrethroid pesticides were used preferably over organochlorines and organophosphates due to their high effectiveness, low toxicity to non-target organisms and easy biodegrability. It has widespread applications in agriculture through the world and as well in Algeria. Cypermethrin is one of the most insecticidal pyrethroids widely used in agriculture regions of Setif. to control wide range of insect pests in a variety of crops. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of cypermethrin (Cyper-Ac 271 g/l from the active substance of the cypermethrin) on hematological, biochemical parameters, body weight loss, and histopathological study of some organs. Male mice weighing 30-40g were used, separated in 5 groups, n=6, two groups controls given vehicle (oil vegetable) and three experimental groups (Cypermetherin and vegetable oil). The animals were gavaged by 1/5 LD50 (LD50 = 485 mg/kg b/w) for 2 and 4 weeks respectively, and with 1/20 LD50 for 12 weeks, then the animals sacrificed at the end of the experiment.. Blood was collected. Enzyme activities were assayed in the plasma samples obtained. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALPH) and Glucose. Red blood cells, (RBC), and white blood cells (WBC) were calculated too. The samples of liver and kidney were processed for histology. The results indicated a significant increase in transaminases GOT, GPT, and AlP. The decrease in Hb, RBC and WBC which are related to the immunity, this is probably due to cell lyses explain the effect of Cypermetherin on erythropoeisis. cypermethrin treatment exhibited severe histopathological changes, especially in the liver and kideney accompanied by weight loss of some organs. We conclude that cypermethrin induces oxidative stress and modifies biochemical parameters and histological aspects of liver and kidney.

Uranium isotopes in groundwater from the continental intercalaire aquifer in Algerian Tunisian Sahara (Northern Africa).

The disequilibrium between (234)U and (238)U is commonly used as a tracer of groundwater flow. This paper aims to identify uranium contents and uranium isotopic disequilibria variation in groundwater sampled from deep Continental Intercalaire aquifer (southern Algeria and Tunisia). Large variations in both U contents (0.006-3.39ppb) and (234)U/(238)U activity ratios (0.4-15.38) are observed. We conduct a first assessment in order to verify whether the results of our investigation support and complete previous hydrogeological and isotopic studies. The dissolved U content and (234)U/(238)U activity ratio data were plotted on a two-dimensional diagram that was successfully utilized on sharing the CI aquifer into different compartments submitted to different oxidising/reducing conditions and leads also to distinguished two preferential flow paths in the Nefzaoua/Chott Fejej discharge area. Uranium isotopes disequilibrium indicate that ranium chemistry is mainly controlled by water-rock interaction enhanced by long residence time recognised for this aquifer.

Control of oxidative metabolism in volume-overloaded rat hearts: effect of propionyl-L-carnitine.

The objective of the present work was the assessment of metabolic events responsible for the improvement of hemodynamic function of volume-overloaded hearts from rats receiving propionyl-L-carnitine. A severe cardiac hypertrophy was induced in 2-mo-old rats by surgical opening of an aortocaval communication. Three months later, during in vitro perfusions with 1.2 mM palmitate, 11 mM glucose, and 10 IU/l insulin, the mechanical performance and overall energy turnover (myocardial O2 consumption) of hypertrophied rat hearts were significantly decreased under conditions of moderate and high workloads. These changes in cardiac energetics paralleled the decrease in total tissue carnitine content and alterations in exogenous palmitate oxidation. The oxidative utilization of glucose was also slightly depressed in volume-overloaded hearts while steady-state glycolysis rates increased, especially in hearts subjected to high mechanical loads. This slowing of metabolic pathways involved in acetyl-CoA generation resulted in decreased NADH availability and in an apparent substrate limitation of oxidative phosphorylation suggested by a failure of cytosolic unbound ADP to drive respiration. Long-term administration of propionyl-L-carnitine normalized the degree of reduction of mitochondrial pyridine nucleotides and improved the kinetics of mitochondrial ATP production in volume-overloaded hearts. The resulting acceleration of energy turnover was essentially related to improved oxidative utilization of glucose, but steady-state palmitate oxidation rates also increased in severely hypertrophied hearts. This concomitant acceleration of glucose and palmitate oxidation may be related to the particular experimental conditions (high exogenous palmitate concentrations, elevated workloads) used in this study. We assume that the increase in intracellular carnitine, together with a stimulation of acetyl-CoA demands related to high workloads, creates conditions that are compatible with the simultaneous relief of pyruvate dehydrogenase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase I. The resulting increase in the rate of steady-state ATP production improves, in turn, the mechanical activity of volume-overloaded hearts.

Control of oxidative metabolism in volume-overloaded rat hearts: effects of different lipid substrates.

The relationship between intracellular energy parameters and myocardial O2 consumption (VO2) was studied in control and volume-overloaded hearts perfused with different lipid substrates and over a range of left ventricular work loads. In control hearts, a unique linear relationship between log of cytosolic [ATP]/[ADPf].[Pi] (where [ADPf] is concentration of free ADP) and myocardial VO2 was observed between low and high work loads for both fatty acids studied. In volume-overloaded hearts perfused in the presence of exogenous palmitate, the slope of the relationship between log [ATP]/[ADPf].[Pi] and myocardial VO2 was considerably depressed. It would seem that, under these conditions, much of the thermodynamic control of respiratory chain function has been lost. When myocardial VO2 was expressed as a function of cytosolic ADPf, the cytosolic ADPf was not regulatory. This may be related to a substrate limitation of the respiratory chain, as suggested by an excessive oxidation of pyridine nucleotides. When octanoate, instead of palmitate, was used, most of the above limitation of the respiration disappeared. With this substrate, the reduction of mitochondrial pyridine nucleotides in volume-overloaded hearts was similar to that in controls, and the linear relationship between log [ATP]/[ADPf].[Pi] and myocardial VO2 reappeared over the range of work loads studied. The above failure of cytosolic phosphate potential and ADPf to drive respiration when mitochondrial NADH is low fits well with the integrated model of kinetic regulation, as proposed by recent nuclear magnetic resonance studies. our results also indicate that, even at high respiratory rates, free-energy change of ATP synthesis of volume-overloaded hearts can be protected by use of an appropriate substrate. This, in turn, prevents contractile failure.

Sequence-specific photo-induced cross-linking of the two strands of double-helical DNA by a psoralen covalently linked to a triple helix-forming oligonucleotide.

On the basis of the structure of DNA-psoralen bis adducts (formed by psoralen with two thymines on opposite strands), a psoralen-oligonucleotide conjugate was designed to photoinduce a cross-link between the two DNA strands at a specific sequence. Psoralen was attached via its C-5 position to a 5'-thiophosphate group of an 11-mer homopyrimidine oligonucleotide. The 11-mer binds to an 11-base-pair homopurine.homopyrimidine sequence of a DNA fragment, where it forms a triple helix. Upon near-UV-irradiation, the two strands of DNA are crosslinked at the TpA step present at the triplex-duplex junction. The reaction is specific for the homopurine.homopyrimidine DNA sequence and requires both oligonucleotide recognition of the DNA major groove and intercalation of psoralen at the triplex-duplex junction. The yield of the photo-induced cross-linking reaction is quite high (greater than 80%). Such psoralen-oligonucleotide conjugates are probes of sequence-specific triple-helix formation and could be used to selectively control gene expression or to induce site-directed mutations.