Erratum: Removal of Diethylhexyl Phthalate from Hands by Handwashing: Evidence from Experimental N-of-1 and Crossover Designs.

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Removal of Diethylhexyl Phthalate from Hands by Handwashing: Evidence from Experimental N-of-1 and Crossover Designs.

Phthalate exposure through skin is often neglected due to the small quantity and limited dermal absorption rate. However, free phthalate can be ingested by hand-to-mouth action or by contact with food. To evaluate the effectiveness in removing phthalate exposure on hand, we compare here the removal efficiency of di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) on hands by handwashing with soap-and-water versus water-only. In two three-day N-of-1 trials, residual DEHP was measured in a single female adult who washed exposed hands with soap-and-water or water-only. Subsequently, a crossover study was performed by randomly assigning another 28 subjects equally to wash with soap-and-water or with water-only, and then each one received the other treatment 24 hrs later. In the N-of-1 trials, mean DEHP removal rates range from 95.9% (SD = 0.1%) to 97.0% (SD = 2.5%) for soap-and-water handwashes, and 1.8% (SD = 0.1%) to 7.0% (SD = 0.3%) (n = 3) for water-only. In the crossover study, mean removal rate was 94.6% (SD = 6.5%) for handwashing with soap-and-water (n = 28) and 8.7% (SD = 5.7%) for water-only (n = 28). We concluded that handwashing with soap-and-water removes 80% more DEHP than handwashing with water alone, and may be a cost-effective way of removing other endocrine disruptors from hands.

Chronic administration of nandrolone increases susceptibility to morphine dependence without correlation with LVV-hemorphin 7 in rats.

LVV-hemorphin 7 (LVVYPWTQRF; LVV-H7), an N-terminal fragment of the ß-chain of hemoglobin cleaved by cathepsin D/pepsin, is an atypical endogenous opioid peptide that is found in high concentration in blood. LVV-H7 acts as a µ-opioid agonist and an inhibitor of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase. Subchronic administration of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has been clinically proven to induce the synthesis of erythrocytes and increase hemoglobin concentrations. Patients with a history of AAS abuse are more susceptible to opioid abuse. We hypothesized that this association could be at least partially attributed to the sensitization of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic pathway by LVV-H7. Using the conditioned place preference test and neurochemical analysis, we investigated the possible mechanism underlying the effect of chronic nandrolone administration on morphine-induced reward and its correlation with LVV-H7 in rats. Either LVV-H7 may not sensitize the rewarding neural circuits or its inhibition on locomotor activity could mask reward-related behaviors. Chronic nandrolone pretreatment indeed caused a significant reward by low dose morphine, which did not cause any reward in control rats. However, coadministration of anti-LVV-H7 antiserum with nandrolone did not block this effect. This may rule out the possibility of the involvement of LVV-H7 in the action of nandrolone to intensify morphine-induced reward. Moreover, the serum level of LVV-H7 was mildly increased in response to chronic nandrolone administration in our animal model. According to the current clinical observations, we may conclude that the chronic administration of nandrolone can increase susceptibility to morphine dependence, but that this effect is not related to elevated LVV-H7.

Lateral medullary infarction presenting contralateral palatal paresis.

Palatopharyngeal paresis has never been reported to be contralateral in the lateral medullary infarction (LMI). A 65-year-old lady with acute dorsolateral infarction in the left medulla presented mild hoarseness, mild dysphagia, mild gait ataxia along with marked hypalgesia and thermal anesthesia on the right limbs. To our surprise, palatal weakness was on the right side, instead of being on the left side as expected in typical Wallenberg syndrome. The palatal paresis was noted during voluntary phonation but turned into normal movement while gag reflex was induced. An involvement of corticobulbar fibers before synapsing into the ipsilateral caudal medulla or a selective involvement of the peri-ambigual reticular formation and/or its post-synaptic connection fiber destined to the contralateral swallowing center presumably underlies such a rare contralateral palatal paresis.