Combined effects of exposure to engineered silver nanoparticles and the water-soluble fraction of crude oil in the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus.

While it is likely that ENPs may occur together with other contaminants in nature, the combined effects of exposure to both ENPs and environmental contaminants are not studied sufficiently. In this study, we investigated the acute and sublethal toxicity of PVP coated silver nanoparticles (AgNP) and ionic silver (Ag+; administered as AgNO3) to the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus. We further studied effects of single exposures to AgNPs (nominal concentrations: low 15 µg L-1 NPL, high 150 µg L-1 NPH) or Ag+ (60 µg L-1), and effects of co-exposure to AgNPs, Ag+ and the water-soluble fraction (WSF; 100 µg L-1) of a crude oil (AgNP + WSF; Ag++WSF). The gene expression and the activity of antioxidant defense enzymes SOD, CAT and GST, as well as the gene expression of HSP90 and CYP330A1 were determined as sublethal endpoints. Results show that Ag+ was more acutely toxic compared to AgNPs, with 96 h LC50 concentrations of 403 µg L-1 for AgNPs, and 147 µg L-1 for Ag+. Organismal uptake of Ag following exposure was similar for AgNP and Ag+, and was not significantly different when co-exposed to WSF. Exposure to AgNPs alone caused increases in gene expressions of GST and SOD, whereas WSF exposure caused an induction in SOD. Responses in enzyme activities were generally low, with significant effects observed only on SOD activity in NPL and WSF exposures and on GST activity in NPL and NPH exposures. Combined AgNP and WSF exposures caused slightly altered responses in expression of SOD, GST and CYP330A1 genes compared to the single exposures of either AgNPs or WSF. However, there was no clear pattern of cumulative effects caused by co-exposures of AgNPs and WSF. The present study indicates that the exposure to AgNPs, Ag+, and to a lesser degree WSF cause an oxidative stress response in C. finmarchicus, which was slightly, but mostly not significantly altered in combined exposures. This indicated that the combined effects between Ag and WSF are relatively limited, at least with regard to oxidative stress.

Pediatric angiosarcoma of the heart: a unique presentation and metastatic pattern.

We report the seventh case of angiosarcoma of the heart in a child. The patient was a 23-month-old female who presented for lower extremity limping and underwent open surgical biopsy of the femur. Immediately postoperatively, she developed pericardial tamponade, and a bulky intracardiac mass was discovered as the underlying cause. The mass was composed of highly pleomorphic tumor cells reactive for the endothelial markers CD31, CD34, and factor VIII-related antigen (FVIII-RA). Staging evaluation revealed widespread metastases involving the brain, ovaries, and bone marrow. She died of complications of metastatic disease 8 months following initial presentation. Unusual features of this case include the young age of the patient, left-sided nature of the cardiac tumor, presentation secondary to metastatic disease, and the pattern of metastases. The literature on cardiac angiosarcoma, which is limited to six case reports in the pediatric population, is also reviewed.

Reflex hypotension due to regional activation of left ventricular mechanoreceptors to explain the hypotension noted in clinical myocardial ischaemia or reperfusion.

To determine if regional increases in myocardial contractility, as may occur clinically in angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, or coronary thrombolysis, can initiate the reflex hypotension that sometimes accompanies these conditions, regional injections of positive inotropic agents were made into 32(3)% of the left ventricular myocardium in seven pneumonectomised dogs on total cardiac bypass. The coronary and systemic circulations were isolated and perfused separately. The systemic circulation was perfused at a constant rate so that changes in systemic pressure reflected changes in resistance. Regional injections of doses from 0.001 to 1.0 micrograms noradrenaline in a 0.1 ml volume appreciably increased regional contractility, detected visually and by strain gauge arches, whereas global contractility (left ventricular peak dP/dt) was increased much less. This caused a fall in the systemic pressure (resistance) of 14(2)% below the control value of 78(5)mm Hg, at the largest dose. The decreases in resistance were abolished by bilateral vagotomy, proving their reflex nature. The smaller (0.0001-0.01 micrograms) doses of noradrenaline and the smallest (0.25 micrograms) dose of veratridine increased regional contractility almost without increasing global contractility, indicating that the increase in regional contractility was the major cause of the reflex decrease in systemic resistance. In one animal a decrease in contractility in a control myocardial region occurred simultaneously with the experimentally produced increase in regional left ventricular contractility. This decrease may be analogous to the increase in contractility in the non-ischaemic left ventricular myocardium that occurs simultaneously with the decrease in contractility in the ischaemic region in clinical or experimental myocardial infarction. Left ventricular mechanoreceptors in the region with increased contractility probably initiate the reflex hypotension that sometimes occurs in both circumstances. Thus in angina pectoris or acute myocardial infarction the reflex hypotension probably originates in the hyperactive non-ischaemic myocardial region, whereas in coronary arterial thrombolysis it probably originates in the newly reperfused, formerly ischaemic, region.

Regulation of urinary bladder capacity by endogenous opioid peptides.

Naloxone administered to chloralose or ketamine anesthetized cats reduced urinary bladder capacity. Successive cystometrograms revealed that naloxone in doses of 0.5 microgram./kg. to 15 micrograms./kg. i.v. reduced the volume necessary to evoke micturition by 10 to 50 per cent, respectively. The effect was maximal within a few minutes, remained constant for about 1/2 hour and returned to control values over the next 2 to 3 hours. Following return to control, subsequent doses of naloxone produced no further effect on capacity. In chloralose anesthetized animals naloxone also increased the frequency and amplitude of low amplitude pressure waves on the tonus limb of the cystometrogram. Intrathecal administration of naloxone to the sacral spinal cord did not significantly reduce the volume necessary to evoke micturition even at large doses, but did increase the amplitude of micturition contractions. These data, along with previous reports, suggest that mu receptors in the brainstem alter urinary bladder capacity, while delta receptors in the spinal cord modulate the magnitude of bladder contractions. Pharmacological manipulation of these receptor systems could provide a tool for the management of neurogenic bladder dysfunction.

The role of neuropeptides in the sacral autonomic reflex pathways of the cat.

Immunohistochemical and pharmacological studies were conducted to examine the origin and function of peptidergic nerves in the sacral autonomic system of the cat. Leucine-enkephalin (L-Enk) immunoreactivity was identified in nerve terminals in peripheral ganglia on the surface of the urinary bladder and in the parasympathetic nucleus in the sacral spinal cord. In colchicine-treated animals L-Enk was also detected in sacral preganglionic neurons (sPGN) identified by retrograde transport of a fluorescent dye. L-Enk terminals in bladder ganglia are believed to arise from sPGN since the terminals were eliminated by transection of the sacral ventral roots. Pharmacological studies indicated that exogenous as well as endogenously released enkephalins have an inhibitory action at both ganglionic and spinal sites in the sacral outflow to the urinary bladder. Peptides were also associated with afferents nerves in the sacral autonomic system. The distribution of substance P, VIP and cholecystokinin in the sacral dorsal horn paralleled the distribution of visceral afferent projections as demonstrated with HRP techniques. Dye labeling combined with immunohistochemistry revealed that some dorsal root ganglion cells projecting to the pelvic viscera contain substance P or VIP.