Increased risk of primary ovarian insufficiency by high-fructose diet consumption: a 90-day study in female rats.

There is ambiguous evidence that high-fructose diet can induce toxicity in different organ systems but its endocrine disrupting effects by abnormal changes in female reproductive organs is poorly evidenced. This study aimed to address the reproductive safety of high fructose diet through clinical, biochemical, hormonal, histopathological, and immunohistochemical analysis. For this purpose, 5-6 weeks mature female Wistar rats were divided in three groups and each five animals/group exposed to standard chow + water + HFCS-55, standard chow + water + sucrose 75%w/v and standard chow + water for 90 days. Remarkable increase in most lipid profile factors and total body weights of HFCS-55 fed rats and sucrose fed rats were detected in similar pattern compared to control. At the same time, a battery of differential signs and symptoms in HFCS-fed groups including squamous metaplasia in the uterine tissue and ovarian congestion, significant increase in FSH and LH levels, meaningful decreased serum testosterone and 17ß-estradiol levels, and strong androgen receptor expression in ovaries and uterine of HFCS group of animals were recorded compared to other two study groups. These thought-provoking signs and signals of fructose induced reproductive toxicity in this model emphasis the contribution of HFCS-55 to deteriorated ovarian and endometrial health and increased risk primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) in women.

The Role of High-Fructose Diet in Liver Function of Rodent Models: A Systematic Review of Molecular Analysis.

The present systematic review of animal studies on long-term fructose intake in rodents revealed a significant decrease in the activities of antioxidant enzymes due to a fructose-rich diet. The reduced activity of these enzymes led to an increase in oxidative stress, which can cause liver damage in rodents. Of eight studies analyzed, 5 (62.5%) and 1 (12.5%) used male and female rats, respectively, while 2 studies (25%) used female mice. Moreover, half of the studies used HFCS, but the other half employed fructose in the diet. Hence, it is essential to monitor dietary habits to ensure public health and nutrition research outcomes.

Development and validation of a new method for determination of methylparaben in Iran market infant formulae by HPLC.

BACKGROUND: Parabens are esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and are widely used as preservatives in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. The presences of parabens in infant formulas raise concerns due to their potential to disrupt endocrine function in infants and cause reproductive toxicities. METHODS: In this study a new method was developed for extraction and determination of methylparaben in infant formulas using HPLC method and UV detector. Methanol and trichloroacetic acid were used for extraction and isocratic mobile phase comprising equal proportions of glacial acetic acid in water (50:850 v/v) and methanol was used for separation of methylparaben. RESULTS: Recovery of the extraction procedure was good and interferences between methylparaben and other ingredients peaks in HPLC chromatograms decreased. The average recoveries for methylparaben were about 88-108 %. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation for methylparaben were 0.2 and 0.5 µg/mL, respectively. Results of the method showed good reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) 0.29-1.94 % for within day analysis and 0.84-2.18 % for between day analysis). Results were linear in range of 0.5-20 µg/mL methylparaben. The results of twenty real infant formula samples showed methylparaben was found only in one sample in concentration 0.3 µg/mL. CONCLUSIONS: The new extraction and measurement method was a short-time method and could be applicable for large numbers of samples. This method was fast, sensitive and accurate and was capable of being used in legal laboratory references for determination of methylparaben content.

The role of PGC-1α and metabolic signaling pathway in kidney injury following chronic administration with 3-MCPD as a food processing contaminant.

3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) as a byproduct of food processing and a carcinogenic agent has attracted much attention in the last decades. Kidney is the main target organ that is sensitive to the toxicity of 3-MCPD. Due to limited evidence about possible 3-MCPD toxicity, we design an investigation to determine the role of mitochondrial biogenesis following chronic oral administration of 3-MCPD (2, 4, 8 and 32 mg/kg) for 2 months in male C57 mice. The present study evaluated the affects of 3-MCPD in modulating metabolic signalling which is associated with Il-18, PGC-1α, Nrf-2 and Sir3 which are the major transcription factors. Our data confirms controversial behaviors after chronic exposure with 3-MCPD. Over expression of the PGC-1α and Sir3 and IL-18 were observed after exposure with 2,4 & 8 mg kg-1  day-1 of 3-MCPD. In front, PGC-1α down-regulation occurs at the highest dose (32 mg/kg) resulted in kidney injury. Based on the findings, PGC-1α plays an important role in the restoration of the mitochondrial function during the recovery from chronic kidney injury. We suggest that the PGC-1α can be consider as a therapeutic target in prevention and treatment of kidney injury after chronic exposure of 3-MCPD. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: 3-Monochloropropane-1, 2-diol (3-MCPD) existed in several foods, can induce nephrotoxicity, progressive nephropathy and renal tubule dilation following acute and chronic exposure. It revealed that 3-MCPD toxicity is related to metabolites which can cause oxidative stress and activation of cell death signaling. It seems that cytotoxicity of 3-MCPD has disruptive effect on kidney cells due to rise in ROS production and decrease in mitochondrial membrane permeability. These effects can lead to MPT pore opening, cytochrome c release and activation of programed cell death signaling pathway. Therefore, present study was investigated the role of PGC-1a and the metabolic signaling involved in 3-MCPD-induced nephrotoxicity for the first time. Our data revealed that up-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis following chronic exposure with 3-MCPD accelerates recovery of mitochondrial and cellular function in kidney by deacetylation of histones, overexpression of transcription factors (PGC-1α, Nrf-2, and Sir3) and maintaining cellular homeostasis.

Health risk assessment of aflatoxin M1 in infant formula milk in IR Iran.

In this study, two accurate, precise, selective and sensitive methods were developed for determining aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in infant formula milk using immunoaffinity column clean-up followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The validated methods were used for determination of AFM1 in 29 samples of 6 different infant formula milk brands and the risk of AFM1 in infants aged zero to 6 months old was assessed using cancer risk, Margin of Exposure (MOE) and Hazard Index (HI). Only one sample (3.4%) was contaminated with AFM1. Although the results showed that MOE values for the mean and median exposure to AFM1 was <10,000 in infants, the additional cancer risk due to mean and median exposure to AFM1 in infant <6 months were 0.00010 and 0.00012 additional cases per year per 105 individuals, respectively, which indicates no health concern. In addition, HI values for the mean and median exposure to AFM1 for infants were quite below one which indicates no health concern. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on risk assessment of AFM1 in infant formula milk consumed by Iranian infants <6 months old, presenting a low risk for the evaluated groups.

Determinations of Melamine Residue in Infant Formula Brands Available in Iran Market Using by HPLC Method.

The contamination of melamine was evaluated in 69 infants along with follow up formula samples collected from the market for the first time in Iran using HPLC method. Since there are no previous data concerning the contamination level of melamine in all brands of infant formula samples consumed using the HPLC method in Iran, this study is the first investigation in this regard. Our results showed that melamine contamination was found in 65% of samples, where mean and maximum levels of melamine were 0.73 ± 0.71 mg/kg and 3.63 mg/kg, respectively. The level of melamine in 10 out of 69 samples was higher than the maximum level set by the Codex Alimentarius in infant food (1 mg/kg). Melamine was determined in 67.8% and 50% of domestic and imported samples, respectively. The estimated daily intake was designed in two scenarios: it was calculated based on the mean level of melamine contamination and maximum level of melamine in the samples. In both scenarios, our results showed that melamine intake across all age groups is lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.2 mg/kg body weight, suggested by WHO (0.2 mg/kg body weight). Thus, it seems that the current levels of melamine in infant and follow up formula purchased in Iran pose no health risk for infants.

Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Grape Juice of Iran.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the most important mycotoxins that contaminate a broad range of agricultural and food products. In this study, the occurrence of OTA in available brands of grape juice in Iran purchased from retail outlets or producer were determined for the first time using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with immunoaffinity columns(IAC) as the clean-up step. The average recoveries for OTA in grape juice ranged from 54.2 to 86.6% with the coefficient of variation lower than 17.3% in lowest spiked level (0.5 µg/L). The estimated LOD and LOQ of OTA were 0.04 µg/L and 0.125 µg/L, respectively. In our study, 70 samples of grape juice evaluated for OTA content. The results showed that in 39 out of 70 samples (55.7%) OTA levels were above the LOQ with the maximum level of 2.6 µg/L and the mean contamination was 0.5 µg/L. Although the mean contamination of OTA in analyzing samples was lower than the MRL set by EU, the high incidence of contamination in these products is worried. Considering the importance of OTA in public health, control of pre- and post-harvest, storage and grape juice manufacturing process, such as HACCP, GAP, and GMP recommended preventive measures are required.

Community Interventional Trial (CITFOMIST) of Vitamin D Fortified Versus Non-fortified Milk on Serum Levels of 25(OH) D in the Students of Tehran.

BACKGROUND: As prevention of osteoporosis becomes more imperative with the global ageing of the population, establishing different measures to fight vitamin D deficiency will also become increasingly important. The aim of this study is to help assess the efficacy of vitamin D-fortified milk on circulating concentrations of 25(OH)D (as the primary outcome), a widely accepted indicator of vitamin D status, in Tehran students. Another objective of the protocol is to help assess the compliance with fortified dairy in students of different socioeconomic classes. METHOD: The cluster-randomized trial (CITFOMIST) is conducted on 15- to19-year olds guidance and high school students of both genders from different districts of Tehran, in wintertime. The schools enrolled in this study are randomly assigned to receive one of the three groups of milk (whole milk, milk that contained 600 IU Vit D/1000cc, or milk that contained 1000 IU Vit D /1000cc) for a 30-day period. In order to study the effect of vitamin D-fortified milk on the circulating concentrations of 25(OH) D, a serum vitamin D levels are checked in a subgroup before and after the intervention. CONCLUSION: There are few data on the efficacy of incremental doses of vitamin D from fortified foods among adolescents. This is while developing an optimal model to fight vitamin D deficiency needs further research on bone health outcomes and the safety of vitamin D-fortified products. The modified version of this protocol could be applied in different parts of the country to assess the efficacy of a vitamin-D product.

ACE inhibitory activity of pangasius catfish (Pangasius sutchi) skin and bone gelatin hydrolysate.

Skin and bone gelatins of pangasius catfish (Pangasius sutchi) were hydrolyzed with alcalase to isolate Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides. Samples with the highest degree of hydrolysis (DH) were separated into different fractions with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) sizes of 10, 3 and 1 kDa, respectively and assayed for ACE inhibitory activity. Skin and bone gelatins had highest DH of 64.87 and 68.48 % after 2 and 1 h incubation, respectively. Results from this study indicated that by decreasing the molecular weight of fractions, ACE inhibitory activity was increased. Therefore, F3 permeates (MWCO < 1 kDa) of skin (IC50 = 3.2 µg/ml) and bone (IC50 = 1.3 µg/ml) gelatins possessed higher ACE inhibitory activity compared to their untreated gelatins and corresponding hydrolyzed fractions. In this study, the major amino acids were Glycine followed by Proline with an increased amount of hydrophobic amino acid content in F3 permeates of skin (4.01 %) and bone (5.79 %) gelatin. Digestion stability against gastrointestinal proteases did not show any remarkable change on ACE inhibition potency of these permeates. It was concluded that alcalase hydrolysis of P. sutchi by-products could be utilized as a part of functional food or ingredients of a formulated drug in order to control high blood pressure.

An applicable strategy for improvement recovery in simultaneous analysis of 20 pesticides residue in tea.

It is important to have a reliable method to analyze pesticides in tea, a beverage commonly consumed in Iran. A validated method was developed for the determination of 20 pesticides in tea based on QuEChERS sample preparation and capillary gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry in selective ion monitoring mode (GC-MS/SIM) using triphenyl methane (TPM) solution as an internal standard. We used fortified, extracted, and cleaned-up tea samples instead of calibration standards for quantitation, which substantially reduced adverse matrix-related effects and negative recovery affected by graphite carbon black (GCB) on pesticide analysis. The recovery of pesticides at 3 concentration (40, 60, and 240 ng/g) ranged from 79.5% to 111.4% (n = 3). The method had acceptable repeatability with RSDr < 20%. The limits of quantification (LOQ) for all pesticides were ≤20 ng/g. The analytical results of the proposed method were in good agreement with proficiency test results (FAPAS, 19116). The recoveries and repeatabilities were in accordance with the criteria set by SANCO Guideline. The validated method was suitable for the analysis of pesticides in tea.

Monitoring of some pesticides residue in consumed tea in Tehran market.

Tea is an agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of various cultivars and sub-varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant, processed and vulcanized using various methods. Tea is a main beverage in Iranian food basket so should be free from toxic elements such as pesticides residue. There is no data bank on the residue of pesticides in the consumed black tea in Iran. The present study is the first attempt for monitoring of 25 pesticide residues from different chemical groups in tea samples obtained from local markets in Tehran, I.R. Iran during the period 2011. A reliable and accurate method based on spiked calibration curve and QuEChERS sample preparation was developed for determination of pesticide residues in tea by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The using of spiked calibration standards for constructing the calibration curve substantially reduced adverse matrix-related effects and negative recovery affected by GCB on pesticides. The recovery of pesticides at 3 concentration levels (n = 3) was in range of 81.4 - 99.4%. The method was proved to be repeatable with RSDr lower than 20%. The limits of quantification for all pesticides were ≤20 ng/g. 53 samples from 17 imported and manufactured brand were analyzed. Detectable pesticides residues were found in 28.3% (15 samples) of the samples. All of the positive samples were contaminated with unregulated pesticides (Endosulfan Sulfate or Bifenthrin) which are established by ISIRI. None of the samples had contamination higher than maximum residue limit set by EU and India.

Detection of Oxytetracycline Residuein Infant Formulaby High-Performance Liquid Chromatography)HPLC(.

Determination of drug residues in food is of great importance due to their toxicity. Long-term exposure with low level of drug residues could be important, especially in children. Based on document study, oxytetracycline )OTC) is a prophylaxis and treatment agent for great number of diseases and possesses a broad spectrum activity against many pathogenic organisms and can be toxic or cause allergic reactions in some hypersensitive individual's if the residues of drug exist in the infant formula. The previous studies show that using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is useful for OTC detection in milk. Therefore, we decided to measure OTC in infant formula. The purpose of this study was to investigate residual OTC in consuming infant formula using HPLC. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 51 ng/mL. This result showed that the samples had no residues of OTC in infant formula from different companies.

2D Quantitative structure-property relationship study of mycotoxins by multiple linear regression and support vector machine.

In the present work, support vector machines (SVMs) and multiple linear regression (MLR) techniques were used for quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) studies of retention time (t(R)) in standardized liquid chromatography-UV-mass spectrometry of 67 mycotoxins (aflatoxins, trichothecenes, roquefortines and ochratoxins) based on molecular descriptors calculated from the optimized 3D structures. By applying missing value, zero and multicollinearity tests with a cutoff value of 0.95, and genetic algorithm method of variable selection, the most relevant descriptors were selected to build QSPR models. MLR and SVMs methods were employed to build QSPR models. The robustness of the QSPR models was characterized by the statistical validation and applicability domain (AD). The prediction results from the MLR and SVM models are in good agreement with the experimental values. The correlation and predictability measure by r(2) and q(2) are 0.931 and 0.932, repectively, for SVM and 0.923 and 0.915, respectively, for MLR. The applicability domain of the model was investigated using William's plot. The effects of different descriptors on the retention times are described.

Effects of zearalenone and alpha-Zearalenol in comparison with Raloxifene on T47D cells.

Zearalenone (Zen) is a mycotoxin with estrogenic effect which contaminates cereals. In cell culture, Zen and its metabolite, alpha-Zearalenol (alpha-Zel), stimulate breast cancer cells growth. Today hormone-dependent cancers are important because of high incidence and death rate. Previous studies showed that Zen and alpha-Zel have an effect on hormone-dependent cancers. This study explains the effects of the mentioned compounds in comparison with Raloxifene as an anti-estrogen. Cell culture technique was used with MDA-MB-231 and T47D cells for evaluation of compounds. MDA-MB-231 cells were used as negative control and also for proving that treatment compounds merely affect, due to their proliferation activity in the applied doses. According to the Resazurine-based method, for toxicity assay, none of the test compounds have an effect on MDA-MB-231 cells but do effect the growth of T47D cells. Zen and alpha-Zel at low concentrations (10-8-10-9 M) stimulated T47D cell growth and Raloxifene strongly inhibited cell growth induced by Zen and alpha-Zel. There is a noticeable result in controlling diet of hormonal carcinogenic compounds and applying novel anti-estrogens for prevention and treatment of hormone-dependent cancers.

Validation of an Analytical Methodology for Determination of Oxytetracycline Residue in Milk by HPLC with UV Detection.

ABSTRACT Oxytetracycline (OTC) is used for the prophylaxis and treatment of a great number of diseases since this antibiotic possesses broad-spectrum activity against many pathogenic organisms. The use of OTC has become a serious problem because of the possible existence of its residues in milk, which can be directly toxic or cause allergic reactions in some hypersensitive individuals. Even low-level doses of antibiotic in milk consumed for long periods can lead to problems regarding the spread of drug-resistant microorganisms. The purpose of the present study was to investigate residual OTC in consuming milk in Tehran using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detector. OTC residues in extracts obtained from a preliminary cleanup procedure and recoveries from spiked OTC in desire concentrations were between 80% and 97% with appropriate coefficients of variation. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of determination (LOQ) were 50 and 68.5 ng/mL, respectively. This result shows that this method would be useful for routine monitoring of oxytetracycline residues in bovine dairy milk.