Sarcoidosis in an Italian province. Prevalence and environmental risk factors.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous inflammatory disease whose causes are still unknown and for which epidemiological data are often discordant. The aim of our study is to investigate prevalence and spatial distribution of cases, and identify environmental exposures associated with sarcoidosis in an Italian province. METHODS: After georeferentiation of cases, the area under study was subdivided with respect to Municipality and Health Districts and to the altitude in order to identify zonal differences in prevalence. The bioaccumulation levels of 12 metals in lichen tissues were analyzed, in order to determine sources of air pollution. Finally, the analysis of the correlation between metals and between pickup stations was performed. RESULTS: 223 patients were identified (58.3% female and 41.7% male of total) and the mean age was 50.6±15.4 years (53.5±15.5 years for the females and 46.5±14.4 for the males). The mean prevalence was 49 per 100.000 individuals. However, we observed very heterogeneous prevalence in the area under study. The correlations among metals revealed different deposition patterns in lowland area respect to hilly and mountain areas. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights a high prevalence of sarcoidosis cases, characterized by a very inhomogeneous and patchy distribution with phenomena of local aggregation. Moreover, the bioaccumulation analysis was an effective method to identify the mineral particles that mostly contribute to air pollution in the different areas, but it was not sufficient to establish a clear correlation between the onset of sarcoidosis and environmental risk factors.

Development of an analytical method for the determination of polyphenolic compounds in vegetable origin samples by liquid chromatography and pulsed amperometric detection at a glassy carbon electrode.

A sensitive and accurate method for the determination of polyphenolic compounds in artichoke bract extracts and olive mill wastewaters by liquid chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection at a glassy carbon working electrode was developed. Preliminary experiments were carried out by cyclic voltammetry to investigate the electrochemical behavior of polyphenols under different mobile phase compositions, and to test the detection and cleaning electrode potentials. Chromatographic separations were performed by using a core-shell C18 column, eluted with acetic acid and acetonitrile, by combined concave-linear binary gradients. Under the optimized experimental conditions, a good column efficiency and peak symmetry were observed, also for stereo and positional isomeric compounds. The developed three-step potential waveform for pulsed amperometric detection was successfully applied for the sensitive chromatographic determination of polyphenols in artichoke extracts and olive mill wastewaters. Linearity, precision and sensitivity of the proposed method have been evaluated. A wide linear range of response (up to 20 mg/L) has been obtained for all the investigated compounds. Detection and quantification limits in the vegetable origin sample extracts were in the range 0.004-0.6 mg/L and 0.01-2mg/L, respectively, while the injection-to-injection repeatability (n=6) ranged from 5 to 13%. The obtained results confirmed the excellent sensitivity of the electrochemical detection, and its suitability for the determination of electroactive polyphenolic compounds at low concentration levels.

Assessment of fumonisins B1 and B2 levels in commercial maize-based food products by liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection and postcolumn chemical derivatization.

The occurrence of the fumonisins B(1) and B(2) in maize-based food products marketed in Italy was examined. A simply and reliable chromatographic method with fluorimetric detection and postcolumn o-phtalaldehyde derivatization was used for a monitoring of 100 samples (8 flours, 21 corn-meal, 16 snacks, 7 maize samples, 13 gluten-free products, and 35 corn-flakes) bought in local supermarkets during the years 2008 and 2009. The presence of both fumonisins B(1) and B(2), at a concentration higher than 15 µg/kg, was observed in all samples of corn-meal and maize-flour, in 75% of snacks, in 57% of maize samples, in 54% of gluten-free products, and in 29% of corn-flakes. A total of 7 samples including 4 corn-meals, 2 maize-flours, and 1 maize showed a value exceeding the maximum level fixed in the Regulation 1126/2007/EC; no positive sample was observed in corn-flakes, snacks, and gluten-free foods. Fumonisins contamination, on the whole range of maize-based food products analyzed, emphasizes the need of improve agricultural practices, and increase official control and monitoring studies.

Validation according to European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC of a confirmatory method for aflatoxin M1 in milk based on immunoaffinity columns and high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

A high performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorimetric detection for the determination of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk has been optimized and validated according to Commission Decision 2002/657/EC by using the conventional validation approach. The procedure for determining selectivity, recovery, precision, decision limit (CC(alpha)), detection capability (CC(beta)) and ruggedness of the method has been reported. The results of the validation process demonstrate the agreement of the method with the provisions of Commission Regulation 401/2006/EC. The mean recovery calculated at three levels of fortification (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5-fold the MRL) was 91% and the maximum relative standard deviation value for the within-laboratory reproducibility was 15%. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) values were 0.006 microg kg(-1) and 0.015 microg kg(-1) while the CC(alpha) and CC(beta) values were 0.058 microg kg(-1) and 0.065 microg kg(-1), respectively. The relative expanded measurement uncertainty of the method was 7%. The method was not affected by slight variations of some critical factors (ruggedness minor changes) as pre-treatment and clean-up of milk samples, thermal treatment and different storage conditions, as well as by major changes valued in terms of milk produced by different species (buffalo, goat and sheep). The method allowed accurate confirmation analyses of milk samples, resulted positive by the screening method. In fact, the Z-score values attained in a proficiency test round were well below the reference value of 1, proving the excellent laboratory performances.