Investigations on chemical composition and natural radioactivity levels from salt water and peloid used in pelotherapy from the Techirghiol Lake, Romania.

The work presents the historical evolution, objectives, goals, concepts, chemical and radiometric methods, results and conclusions for salt waters and natural peloids used in pelotherapy. This study assesses chemical composition, natural radioactivity concentrations and the radiological hazard in peloid and salt water samples, from ten places in the Techirghiol Lake from Romania. Pelotherapy is a very important procedure, and thus, the materials used for this purpose must be well characterized to guaranty safety use. Concentrations of elements such as Sr, Ba, Mn, Fe, Sb, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ti, Ni, Cr, As have been measured using ICP-OES analytical technique. The natural radionuclides such as 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K have been determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. The average activity concentrations were of 0.48 ± 0.10 Bq/kg for 238U, 0.60 ± 0.10 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 0.30 ± 0.08 Bq/kg for 232Th and 17.5 ± 1.3 Bq/kg for 40K for salt water samples. Also, the mean activity concentrations for peloids were: 5.70 ± 1.00 Bq/kg for 238U, 6.85 ± 1.60 Bq/kg for 232Th, 15.3 ± 3.7 Bq/kg for 226Ra and 95.8 ± 5.5 Bq/kg for 40K. The results from this study contribute to the identification of possible contaminants in the salt water and peloid, and their association with the potential ecological and human health risk. In this context, of using salt water and peloid in a relatively long treatment period, several radiological indices have been calculated, to determine if the radionuclide's content can be also harmful to human health. The assessment indicates that humans are not exposed to concentrations of metal contaminants higher than the international recommended values.

Assay of anti-cancer drugs in tissue culture: relationship of relapse free interval (RFI) and in vitro chemosensitivity in patients with malignant cerebral glioma.

One hundred and seventeen patients with cerebral glioma (Kernohan grades III and IV) were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy using procarbazine (PCB), CCNU and vincristine (VCR) following whole head irradiation. Cell cultures were prepared from 40 patients in this series and their sensitivity to each cytotoxic drug was assessed in a mictotitration assay with 35 S-methionine incorporation as the end point. Twenty-two of forty (55%) patients responded to PCB and/or CCNU in vitro, and sensitivity to these drugs was linked with increased RFI, whilst sensitivity to VCR was not. The RFI of patients who had responded to PCB or CCNU in vitro was significantly longer than the RFI of patients whose tumours failed to respond in vitro or patients who had not been tested. There was no difference in sex ratio, extent of operation, radiation dose and degree of steroid cover between responders, non-responders and untested groups. Grade III tumours tended to be more sensitive in vitro than grade IV tumours. The age of patients also influenced in vitro chemosensitivity. Patients with chemosensitive tumours in vitro tended to be younger than patients with insensitive tumours in vitro. Further statistical analysis, taking into account these prognostic factors, indicated an association between chemosensitivity in vitro and RFI.

Beta-cell function assessed by plasma C-peptide evaluation in diabetic thalassaemic patients.

In order to investigate the pancreatic function in patients with thalassaemia major, plasma glucose and immunoreactive C-peptide levels were determined in 9 diabetic thalassaemic patients and in 7 controls after arginine infusion. Mean basal and peak values and C-peptide areas in thalassaemic patients did not differ significantly from those of the controls. However, in the thalassaemic group there was a greater variation in values, since pancreatic beta-cell function was found either normal, reduced or increased. These findings could suggest that different factors may lead to diabetes which complicates thalassaemia, i.e. insulin-resistance, probably due to liver damage subsequent to iron deposition and infectious hepatitis, and insulinopenia, probably due to beta-cell lesion following iron storage in the pancreas.

Early iron overload in beta-thalassaemia major: when to start chelation therapy?

Twenty-eight children with beta-thalassaemia major aged between 11 and 48 months were given intensive transfusions. Serum iron, transferrin saturation, serum ferritin, non-transferrin iron, and subcutaneous desferrioxamine-induced urinary iron excretion were measured. The results showed that even children with a limited number of transfusions had severe iron overload as indicated, in particular, by the raised serum ferritin levels and the high excretion rates after subcutaneous infusion of desferrioxamine. The desferrioxamine test was useful, even in very young children, in assessing response to chelation therapy thus enabling such treatment to be started early to prevent harm from iron overload.

Hypothalamic-pituitary function following successful treatment of intracranial tumours.

Hypothalamic-pituitary function was examined in seventeen patients treated in the past for extrasellar intracranial tumours. All patients had received a course of external cranial irradiation. Biochemical abnormalities of endocrine function were present in almost all of the patients. In particular, the growth hormone response to insulin induced hypoglycaemic stress was impaired in eleven out of fifteen patients. Preliminary data from a group of seven patients with intracranial tumours prior to radiotherapy are also presented. The possibility that cranial irradiation causes hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction is discussed. The results suggest that endocrine assessment should be considered in patients who have been treated for intracranial tumours, even in the absence of direct pituitary involvement.