[The amount of nitrites in edible mushrooms harvested from Bistrita Valley]. / Concentratia nitritilor în ciuperci comestibile recoltate de pe Valea Bistritei.

In our study has been determined the amount of nitrites in edible mushrooms which grown in different zones from Bistrita Valley, near to the "Fibrex-nylon" Complex Savinesti. The nitrites has been extracted with water, in the aqueous extract we determined spectrophotometrically nitrites with Griesz Reagent. The results were expressed in mg nitrites/g dried product (105 degrees C). We analysed 41 samples of edible mushrooms (22 samples harvested on october 2001, 19 harvested on september 2002). The nitrites concentrations in mushrooms are between 2.06 and 49.88 (samples harvested on october 2001), between 1.98 and 31.84 (samples harvested on september 2002). The highest values for samples harvested on october 2001 was determined in Laccaria lacata, Collybia butiracea, Hygrophorus chrysodon, Russula nigricans, for the samples harvested on september 2002 the highest values was determined in Boletus granulatus, Macrolepiota procera.

[Delta-aminolevulinic acid measurement in people professionally exposed to lead]. / Determinarea acidului delta-aminolevulinic la persoanele expuse profesional la plumb.

Lead is an enzymatic toxic agent, one of its main effects being the perturbation of the porphyrine biosynthesis. This perturbation can be easily spotted using the rapid method of dosing the delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine (ALA). In this paper there are presented the results of the biotoxicological screening on a segment of population professionally exposed to lead. The exposed group contains 65 persons (50 men and 15 women) with the ages between 20 and 52, employed at different gas stations. Simultaneously, there was determined the concentration of the delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine on a witness group made up of 37 voluntary persons (22 men and 15 women) with the ages between 16 and 58. The delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine was ascertained by spectrophotometry method with Ehrlich reagent. The obtained data were statistically processed by "t student" test. At the exposed group the delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine ranges between 0.14 and 17.0 mg/l, and for each sex between 0.14-17.0 mg/l at men and 4.7-16.5 mg/l at women. The delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine of the witness group ranges between 0.2 and 8.1 mg/l, and for each sex 0.2-5.73 mg/l at men and 1.44-8.1 mg/l at women. The difference between the average value (9.45 +/- 4.47) of the exposed group and the median value of the witness group (3.85 +/- 2.05) is very significant (P < 0.01).

[Malondialdehyde and free thiol groups from smokers' plasma]. / Influenta fumatului asupra malondialdehidei si a gruparilor sulfhidril libere plasmatice.

The nicotine and oxidants from cigarette smoke, could generate oxidative stress in human body. In our study, we determined malondialdehyde and free thiol groups in smokers plasma, the experiment was effectuated to blood donors, smokers (20 persons) and non-smokers (12 persons). The determinations was effectuated with 2-thiobarbituric acid for malondialdehyde and with 5,5'-DTNB for thiol groups. The results was expressed in mmol/L for malondialdehyde and mmol/ml for free thiol groups. Smokers presented higher values for malondialdehyde (1.519 +/- 0.683), than non-smokers (1.362 +/- 0.664). The free thiol groups values was decreased at smokers (0.502 +/- 0.136), than non-smokers (0.517 +/- 0.120). Statistically, insignificant differences (p > 0.05) between smokers and non-smokers, for both parameters, could be determined by the small number of cigarettes smoked (12-15 cigaretts/day), also by the alcohol, because all persons drunk occasionally alcohol.

[Super-oxide dismutase and catalase in smokers]. / Superoxid dismutaza si catalaza la fumatori.

In this work, the results of a study concerning the variation of superoxid dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities to smokers are presented. The study has been performed on volunteers, blood donors, men, between 20-60 years. In the smokers group, 20 donors who smoke over 10 cigarettes/day over 5 years have been included. In the control group, 12 donors who never smoked or stopped to smoke over 4 years have been included. SOD and catalase activities have been determined spectrophotometrically from erythrocytes lysis; the enzymatic activity has been reported to g Hb. The results show a decreasing of SOD activity to smokers reporting to the control group, totally with 17.7% (from 69.6 +/- 18.6 to 57.3 +/- 26.6 U/gHb). Comparing with control group, the catalase has been induced to smokers with 0.04%, from 8.82 +/- 3.32 to 9.18 +/- 8.66 x 10(3) U/gHb. Statistically, the variations are insignificant and we suspect the interferation of alcohol as an important oxidative stress inductor.

Variation of carboxyhemoglobin and of thiocyanates in smokers.

Smoking is one of the most important public health problems of our times. In this paper, we focus on the watching of smoking effect on carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) and plasma thiocyanate values. The study was accomplished on two groups of blood donors: smokers, 18 men, between 20-51 years old and controls, non-smokers, 10 men, between 22-55 years old. On the blood samples, there have been spectrophotometrically determined: COHb with palladium chloride by microdiffusion method and haemoglobin (Hb) with Drabkin Reagent. The plasmatic thiocyanates were determined spectrophotometrically by Liebig reaction. The data were processed by "t Student" test. The statistical analysis shows that the obtained average values for the COHb from total Hb in smokers (12.51 +/- 10.19) are higher than the average values of the control group (11.45 +/- 10.34). The plasma thiocyanate (mg %) in the smokers' group presents average values of 2.03 +/- 0.58, higher values than those in the control group (1.68 +/- 0.68). From the analysis of the presented results, we notice that the differences between the two groups are statistically non-significantly. These results may be explained by the existence of many factors, which may influence the values of the biotoxicological indicators, among which we mention: passive smoking, the atmospheric pollution in the urban environment, the presence of the chemical noxae at the work place.