Determination of chloropropanol esters and glycidyl esters in nutritional foods by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based on acid hydrolysis and solid-phase extraction.

This study presents a method based on acid transesterification and the purification by solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for quantifying 3- and 2-monochloropropanediol esters (3-MCPDE, 2-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE) in nutritional foods. The fat was extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with petroleum ether and diethyl ether after the sample was hydrolysed with ammonia. Then the extract was purified by a SPE cartridge filled with the aminopropyl sorbents. It was demonstrated that the optimal elution volume for 3-MCPDE, 2-MCPDE and GE greatly depended on the sample matrix and varied from 6 to 12 mL for four different kinds of food matrices. All three analytes in the sample solution could be fully collected in the first 10-12 mL of eluate. By this way, monoacylglycerols commonly present in the samples were fully removed. Therefore, the overestimation of GE quantification was effectively eliminated. The modified analytical procedure was fully validated in a single laboratory and has been recommended as a Chinese Food Safety National Standard. In addition, two derivatisation agents, heptafluorobutyrylimidazole and phenylboronic acid, were proved to be equivalent in method accuracy and precision for the quantification of three analytes.

Acidic electrolyzed water treatment suppresses Phomopsis longanae Chi-induced the decreased storability and quality properties of fresh longans through modulating energy metabolism.

Longan fruit loses its market value rapidly due to postharvest pathogenic infestation and quality deterioration. Here, we hypothesized that acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) could maintain higher quality of P. longanae-inoculated longans via regulating energy metabolism. Results indicated that AEW reduced fruit disease index and decay incidence. Significantly, AEW treatment retained higher levels of ATP, ADP, and energy charge, and higher activities of Ca2+-ATPase, Mg2+-ATPase, and H+-ATPase in the membranes of plasma, vacuole, and mitochondria, which maintained the structural and functional integrity of cell membrane. Furthermore, indirectly sustaining cell membrane function via AEW treatment could maintain the storability and quality properties of longans, including keeping higher values of color chromaticity (L*, a*, and b*), higher amounts of vitamin C, total soluble solids, sucrose, and total soluble sugars, lower titratable acid and reducing sugar contents. This work elucidated the potential regulation of AEW on the balance of energy metabolism and fruit quality.

Multivariate Statistical Analysis for Mutual Dependence Assessment of Selected Polyphenols, Organic Acids and Metals in Cool-Climate Wines.

Polyphenols, organic acids and metal ions are an important group of compounds that affect the human health and quality of food and beverage products, including wines. It is known that a specific correlation between these groups exist. While wines coming from the New World and the Old World countries are extensively studied, wines coming from cool-climate countries are rarely discussed in the literature. One of the goals of this study was to determine the elemental composition of the wine samples, which later on, together as polyphenols and organic acids content, was used as input data for chemometric analysis. The multivariate statistical approach was applied in order to find specific correlations between the selected group of compounds in the cool-climate wines and the features that distinguish the most and differ between red and white wines and rosé wines. Moreover, special attention was paid to resveratrol and its correlation with selected wine constituents.

Effects of exogenous organic acids and flooding on root exudates, rhizosphere bacterial community structure, and iron plaque formation in Kandelia obovata seedlings.

The rhizosphere of coastal wetland plants is the active interface of iron (Fe) redox transformation. However, coupling mechanism between organic acids (OAs) exuded by plant roots and Fe speciation transformation participated by Fe redox cycling bacteria in the rhizosphere is still unclear. Effects of four common OAs (citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and oxalic acid) on root exudation, rhizosphere bacterial community structure, root Fe plaque, and Fe redox cycling bacterial communities of Kandelia obovata were investigated in this study. Long-term flooding (10 h) was conducive to K. obovata seedlings exuding additional dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen and phosphorus organic matter (NH4+-N, NO3--N, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus [DIP]) under each OA level. DOC, NH4+-N, NO3--N, and DIP in root exudates increased significantly with the increase of exogenous OA level. Notably, long flooding time corresponds to an evidently increasing trend. Exogenous OAs also significantly increased contents of formic and oxalic acids in root exudates. Exogenous OAs and flooding enhanced the rhizosphere effect of K. obovata and significantly enhanced bacterial diversity of the rhizosphere and relative abundance of dominant bacteria in rhizoplane. Bacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of K. obovata seedlings was significantly higher than that in the rhizoplane under the same level of OAs and flooding. Fe plaque content of K. obovata root decreased significantly and the relative abundance of typical Fe-oxidizing bacteria, such as Gallionella, unclassified_f__Gallionellaceae, and Sideroxydans, decreased significantly in the rhizosphere but increased significantly in the rhizoplane with the increase of the treatment level of exogenous OAs. This finding is likely due to the Fe3+ reduction caused by acidification of rhizosphere environment after exogenous OA treatment rather than the result of chemotactic colonization of Fe redox cycling bacteria in the rhizoplane.

Enhancement in physicochemical parameters and microbial populations of mushrooms as influenced by nano-coating treatments.

White button mushrooms are greatly high perishable and can deteriorate within a few days after harvesting due to physicomechanical damage, respiration, microbial growth of the delicate epidermal structure. For that reason, the present research work was applied to evaluate the effect of chitosan combination with nano-coating treatments on physicochemical parameters and microbial populations on button mushrooms at chilling storage. Nano coating with the addition of nisin 1% (CHSSN/M) established the minimum value for weight loss 12.18%, maintained firmness 11.55 N, and color index profile. Moreover, O2% rate of (CHSSN/M) mushrooms was the lowest at 1.78%; while the highest rate was reported for CO2 24.88% compared to the untreated samples (Control/M) on day 12. Both pH and total soluble solid concentrations increased during storage. Results reported that the (CHSS/M) mushroom significantly (P < 0.05) reduced polyphenol oxidase activity (24.31 U mg-1 Protein) compared with (Control/M) mushrooms that increased faster than the treated samples. (CHSSN/M) treatment was the most efficient in the reduction of yeast and mold, aerobic plate microorganisms (5.27-5.10 log CFU/g), respectively. The results established that nano-coating film might delay the aging degree and accompany by marked prolongation of postharvest mushroom freshness.

The effects of microwave application on the physicochemical properties of bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) oil.

BACKGROUND: Bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) has a high yield of oil, with the potential to produce biologically active natural products and can be considered a new "superfruit" with high value added. METHODS: Acid value, peroxide value, refractive index, saponification value, p-anisidine value, relative density, iodine value, total oxidation value, specific extinction coefficients at 232 and 270 nm (K232 and K270), ΔK, and color were determined. RESULTS: The most significant changes in the quality values, such as peroxide (26.25 mEq·kg-1), p-anisidine (11.41), acidity (14.66 mg KOH·g-1 oil), and total oxidation (63.92) were determined for 15 min of microwave heating. CONCLUSIONS: The microwave heating promoted the acceleration of oxidative processes showing that, overall, much care should be taken when heating the bacaba oil by microwave to avoid oil degradation.

Determination of acid value during edible oil storage using a portable NIR spectroscopy system combined with variable selection algorithms based on an MPA-based strategy.

BACKGROUND: The acid value is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of edible oil during storage. This study employs a portable near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy system to determine the acid value during edible oil storage. Four MPA-based variable selection methods, namely competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), the variable iterative space shrinkage approach (VISSA), iteratively variable subset optimization (IVSO), and bootstrapping soft shrinkage (BOSS) were introduced to optimize the preprocessed NIR spectra. Support vector machine (SVM) models based on characteristic spectra obtained by different selection methods were then established to achieve quantitative detection of the acid value during edible oil storage. RESULTS: The results revealed that, compared with the full-spectrum SVM model, the SVM models established by the characteristic wavelengths optimized by the variable selection methods based on the MPA strategy exhibit a significant improvement in complexity and generalization performance. Furthermore, compared with the CARS, VISSA, and IVSO methods, the BOSS method obtained the least number of characteristic wavelength variables, and the SVM model established based on the optimized features of this method exhibited the optimal prediction performance. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.11 mg g-1, the coefficient of determination (Rp2) was 0.92 and the ratio performance deviation (RPD) was 2.82, respectively. CONCLUSION: The overall results indicate that the variable selection methods based on the MPA strategy can select more targeted characteristic variables. This has good application prospects in NIR spectra feature optimization. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Method development and validation for the quantification of organic acids in microbial samples using anionic exchange solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Organic acids play a key role in central metabolic functions of organisms, are crucial for understanding regulatory processes and are ubiquitous inside the cell. Therefore, quantification of these compounds provides a valuable approach for studying dynamics of metabolic processes, in particular when the organism faces changing environmental conditions. However, the extraction and analysis of organic acids can be challenging and validated methods available in this field are limited. In this study, we developed a method for the extraction and quantification of organic acids from microbial samples based on solid-phase extraction on a strong anionic exchange cartridge and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis. Full method validation was conducted to determine quality parameters of the new method. Recoveries for 12 of the 15 aromatic and aliphatic acids were between 100 and 111% and detection limits between 3 and 272 ng/mL. The ranges for the regression coefficients and process standard deviations for these compound classes were 0.9874-0.9994 and 0.04-0.69 µg/mL, respectively. Limitations were encountered when targeting aliphatic acids with hydroxy, oxo or enol ester functions. Finally, we demonstrated the applicability of the method on cell extracts of the bacterium Escherichia coli and the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. Graphical abstract.

Foodomics analysis of natural aging and gamma irradiation maturation in Chinese distilled Baijiu by UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS.

Classification of Feng-flavor Baijiu considering aging category was furnished with a comprehensive fingerprinting strategy which used UPLC-Orbitrap and foodomics, and the most discriminant 29 compounds related to aging, 15 organic acids, 8 esters as well as some carbonyl compounds were discovered. Increase of aromatic organic acids, decline of carcinogenic dibutyl phthalate and generation of numerous aromatic substances in Baijiu were caused by irradiation until the system reached a relatively stable state which needed 28 days. It is similarity of physical and chemical reaction process of natural aging and irradiation maturation that both can facilitate flavor of base Baijiu, while the aging time can be plainly shorten utilizing irradiation for Baijiu, whose outcome has been demonstrated by LC-MS and sensory evaluation. The combination of UPLC-Orbitrap and foodomics was applied as a valid tactic to analyze a complex system and gamma irradiation can be a powerful tool to promote Baijiu aging.

The use of a double coaxial electrospray ionization sprayer improves the peak resolutions of anionic metabolites in capillary ion chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Recently, ion chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry has been used for the determination of anionic metabolites. However, connection with a mass spectrometer in this method is not straightforward because backpressure produced by the addition of a make-up solution often affects the peak resolutions of the target metabolites. To overcome this problem, we developed a capillary ion chromatography-mass spectrometry method utilizing a double coaxial electrospray ionization sprayer. This method was not affected by backpressure and the number of theoretical plates was about three times that of a conventional sprayer. Under optimized conditions, 44 anionic metabolites, including organic acids, sugar phosphates, nucleotides, and cofactors, were successfully separated and selectively detected with a Q Exactive mass spectrometer. The calibration curves of the tested metabolites showed excellent linearity within the range of 1-100,000 nmol/L and the correlation coefficient was greater than 0.991. The detection limits for these metabolites were between 1 and 500 nmol/L (0.4 and 200 fmol). The developed method was applied to the quantitation of anionic metabolites in cultured cancer cell samples with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α stimulation. This allowed for the successful determination of 105 metabolites. The levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates changed significantly after TNF-α stimulation. These results demonstrate that the developed method is a promising new tool for comprehensive analysis of anionic metabolites.

Biotransformation of green tea (Camellia sinensis) by wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae 71B was used in fermentation of green tea to modulate the volatiles and nonvolatiles. After fermentation, higher alcohols, esters, and acids, such as isoamyl alcohol, isobutanol, ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate, octanoic, and decanoic acids were generated. Some key aroma compounds of tea including linalool, hotrienol, dihydroactinidiolide, and 2-phenylethanol increased significantly. Among these compounds, linalool and 2-phenylethanol increased by 1.3- and 10-fold, respectively, which impart floral and fruity notes to fermented green tea. Alkaloids including caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline were reduced significantly after fermentation, while the most important free amino acid in tea, theanine, was not metabolized by S. cerevisiae. Tea catechins decreased whereas gallic and caffeic acids increased significantly, resulting in the unchanged antioxidant capacity of the fermented green tea. Hence, this work highlighted the potential of using S. cerevisiae to modulate green tea aroma and nonvolatiles. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A novel fermented tea is produced by yeast fermentation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae led to significant changes in tea volatiles and nonvolatiles. Antioxidant capacity remained stable after fermentation.

Ocean acidification affects biological activities of seaweeds: A case study of Sargassum vulgare from Ischia volcanic CO2 vents.

We utilized volcanic CO2 vents at Castello Aragonese off Ischia Island as a natural laboratory to investigate the effect of lowered pH/elevated CO2 on the bioactivities of extracts from fleshy brown algae Sargassum vulgare C. Agardh. We analysed the carbohydrate levels, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anticancer properties and antimutagenic potential of the algae growing at the acidified site (pH âˆ¼ 6.7) and those of algae growing at the nearby control site Lacco Ameno (pH∼8.1). The results of the present study show that the levels of polysaccharides fucoidan and alginate were higher in the algal population at acidified site. In general, extracts for the algal population from the acidified site showed a higher antioxidant capacity, antilipidperoxidation, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anticancer activities and antimutagenic potential compared to the control population. The increased bioactivity in acidified population could be due to elevated levels of bioactive compounds of algae and/or associated microbial communities. In this snapshot study, we performed bioactivity assays but did not characterize the chemistry and source of presumptive bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, the observed improvement in the medicinal properties of S. vulgare in the acidified oceans provides a promising basis for future marine drug discovery.

Dietary acid load in relation to depression and anxiety in adults.

BACKGROUND: No previous study has examined the association of dietary acid load (DAL) with depression and anxiety in adults. The present study aimed to investigate the association between DAL and the risk of depression and anxiety in Iranian adults. METHODS: In total, 4378 non-academic healthy personnel (1909 men and 2469 women) were included in this cross-sectional study. A validated detailed food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess dietary intakes of participants. DAL was estimated using the protein to potassium ratio (Pro:K). Depression and anxiety were screened using an Iranian validated Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire. RESULTS: Participants with the highest DAL had a higher risk of depression compared to those in the lowest category [odds ratio (OR) = 1.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.27-1.95, Ptrend  < 0.001), which remained unchanged after controlling for probable confounders, such that those in the top category of DAL had a 100% higher risk of having depression than those in the bottom category (OR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.52-2.64). In addition, a significant positive association was seen between DAL and anxiety in a crude model (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.02-1.78, Ptrend  = 0.01) and even after adjustment for a wide range of confounders, such that participants in the top category of DAL had a 92% greater risk of anxiety than those in the bottom category (OR = 1.92; 95% CI = 1.35-2.74, Ptrend  < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, we found a significant direct association between DAL and the risk of depression, as well as anxiety. Further studies, in particular prospective cohorts are required to confirm these findings.

A Modified, Efficient and Sensitive pH Indicator Dye Method for the Screening of Acid-Producing Acetobacter Strains Having Potential Application in Bio-Cellulose Production.

It is imperative that promising bacterial cellulose-producing bacteria mainly belongs to genera Acetobacter (acid-producing bacteria). In order to screen cellulose-producing Acetobacter, the isolated cultures from vinegar/rotten fruits were inoculated in Hestrin-Schramm (HS) medium containing ethanol and CaCO3. After the desired incubation, the positive cultures form a zone, which is observed around the bacterial growth, resulted from the solubilization of CaCO3 by acetic acid produced from the oxidation of ethanol during fermentation. However, in this method, the clarity of the solubilized zone is not very sharp and distinct. In the present, investigation, an improved method for screening, of the microorganisms producing acetic acid has been developed. In this method, methyl red (MR) is incorporated as a pH indicator in HS medium containing ethanol and CaCO3. Plates containing MR at alkaline pH are yellow and turn dark red at acidic pH. Thus, a distinctive, clear zone is formed around bacterial colonies producing acetic acid and is easy to differentiate between acid producers and non-producers. The present method is more rapid, accurate, and sensitive and can be successfully be used for the detection of acetic acid-producing bacteria particularly for the screening of potent cellulose producer Acetobacter sp.

Identification of the absorbed components and metabolites of Xiao-Ai-Jie-Du decoction and their distribution in rats using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Xiao-Ai-Jie-Du decoction (XAJDD), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has long been used for the treatment of hepatocarcinoma, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. It is composed of six herbal medicines, including Scutellariae Barbatae Herba, Pseudostellariae Radix, Ophiopogonis Radix, Cremastrae Pseudobulbus, Curcumae Rhizoma and Akebiae Fructus. Despite the in-depth study on its pharmacological effects on cancer prevention and treatment, the comprehensive analysis of the chemical components and the absorbed bioactive constituents are not well studied. Thus, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method was established to detect and identify the chemical constituents in XAJDD. The absorbed components and metabolites after oral administration of XAJDD in rats were also studied. In total, 102 components were identified or tentatively characterized in XAJDD, including 30 flavonoids, 19 triterpenoids, 12 organic acids, 9 steroidal saponins, 9 cyclic peptides, 7 phenanthrenes, 5 amino acids, 3 alkaloids and 8 other compounds. After analysing the metabolites in rat plasma and urine after oral administration of XAJDD, a total of 70 compounds were identified, including 15 primary components and 55 metabolites, and metabolic pathways, including hydrogenation, hydroxylation, methylation, sulfonation, and glucuronidation were evaluated. Among these, methylation and glucuronidation were the main metabolic pathways. In conclusion, the developed UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS method with high sensitivity and resolution is suitable for identifying and characterizing the chemical constituents of XAJDD in vitro and characterizing the primary components and their metabolites in vivo; moreover, the results will provide essential data for further studying the relationship between the chemical components and pharmacological activity of XAJDD.

Association of urinary acidification function with the progression of diabetic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Although diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has been considered as a glomerulocentric disease in the past few decades, growing evidence demonstrated that tubular damage was indispensable in its pathogenesis and progression. This study was designed to investigate the association of urinary acidification dysfunction with the progression of DKD in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: Here the urinary acidification functions were measured from 80 participants with renal biopsy-proven DKD. The different kinds of renal tubular transportation dysfunction were analyzed, including the dysfunction of bicarbonate reabsorption, titratable acid secretion, and ammonium secretion. In addition, patients were followed up for 17 (interquartile range, 11-32) months to evaluate the effect of urinary acidification dysfunction in the progression of DKD. RESULTS: The most common urinary acidification dysfunction was the disorder of ammonium secretion, accounting for 53.75%. The more proteinuria excretion and the lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were observed in the urinary titratable acid disorder group than the normal group, and the same results were obtained for ammonium secretion disorder. Urine titratable acid was positively correlated with eGFR whereas it was inversely correlated with proteinuria, serum creatinine, and BUN. Moreover, 24 h urine protein, serum creatinine, BUN and cystatin C increased from DKD stage II to stage IV, whereas the eGFR and urine titratable acid decreased in the same way. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression showed that the disorder of titratable acid was an independent risk factor for DKD progression. CONCLUSIONS: The dysfunction of urinary titratable acid is a potential biomarker for the severity of proteinuria, eGFR and glomerular lesions in patients with DKD. Moreover, the titratable acid disorder is an independent risk factor of the DKD progression.

Transcriptome Analysis of Acid-Responsive Genes and Pathways Involved in Polyamine Regulation in Iron Walnut.

We reported changes in the co-regulated mRNA expression in iron walnut (Juglans sigillata) in response to soil pH treatments and identified mRNAs specific to acidic soil conditions. Phenotypic and physiological analyses revealed that iron walnut growth was greater for the pH 4-5 and pH 5-6 treatments than for the pH 3-4 and pH 6-7 treatments. A total of 2768 differentially expressed genes were detected and categorized into 12 clusters by Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM). The 994 low-expression genes in cluster III and 255 high-expression genes in cluster X were classified as acid-responsive genes on the basis of the relationships between phenotype, physiology, and STEM clustering, and the two gene clusters were analyzed by a maximum likelihood (ML) evolutionary tree with the greatest log likelihood values. No prominent sub-clusters occurred in cluster III, but three occurred in cluster X. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated that acid-responsive genes were related primarily to arginine biosynthesis and the arginine/proline metabolism pathway, implying that polyamine accumulation may enhance iron walnut acid stress tolerance. Overall, our results revealed 1249 potentially acid-responsive genes in iron walnut, indicating that its response to acid stress involves different pathways and activated genes.

Soil acidification amendments change the rhizosphere bacterial community of tobacco in a bacterial wilt affected field.

Application of soil amendments has been wildly used to increase soil pH and control bacterial wilt. However, little is known about causal shifts in the rhizosphere microbial community of crops, especially when the field naturally harbors the disease of bacterial wilt to tobacco for many years due to long-term continuous cropping and soil acidification. In this study, biochar (CP), lime (LM), oyster shell powder (OS) and no soil amendment additions (Control; CK) were assessed for their abilities to improve the soil acidification, change the composition of rhizosphere soil bacterial communities and thus control tobacco bacterial wilt. The results showed that oyster shell powder significantly increased soil pH by 0.77 and reduced the incidence of tobacco bacterial wilt by 36.67% compared to the control. The Illumina sequencing -based community analysis showed that soil amendment applications affected the composition of rhizosphere bacterial community and increased the richness and diversity. In contrast, the richness and diversity correlated negatively to disease incidence. Using LEfSe analyses, 11 taxa were found to be closely related with disease suppression, in which Saccharibacteria, Aeromicrobium, and Pseudoxanthomonas could be potential indicators of disease suppression. Our results suggested that the suppression of bacterial wilt after the application of soil amendments (especially oyster shell powder) was attributed to the improved soil pH and increased bacterial richness and diversity.

A Zero Cross-Talk Ratiometric Two-Photon Probe for Imaging of Acid pH in Living Cells and Tissues and Early Detection of Tumor in Mouse Model.

Acid-base disorders disrupt proper cellular functions, which are associated with diverse diseases. Development of highly sensitive pH probes being capable of detecting and monitoring the minor changes of pH environment in living systems is of considerable interest to diagnose disease as well as investigate biochemical processes in vivo. We report herein two novel high-resolution ratiometric two-photon (TP) fluorescent probes, namely, PSIOH and PSIBOH derived from carbazole-oxazolidine π-conjugated system for effective sensing and monitoring acid pH in a biological system. Remarkably, PSIOH exhibited the largest emission shift of ∼169 nm from 435 to 604 nm upon pH changing from basic to acidic with an ideal p Ka value of 6.6 within a linear pH variation range of 6.2-7.0, which is highly desirable for high-resolution tracking and imaging the minor fluctuation of pH in live cells and tissues. PSIOH also exhibits high pH sensitivity, excellent photostability, and reversibility as well as low cytotoxicity. More importantly, this probe was successfully applied to (i) sense and visualize the pH alteration in HeLa cells caused by various types of exogenous stimulation and (ii) detect and differentiate cancer and tumors in liver tissues and a mouse model, realizing its practical in vitro and in vivo applications.

Perinatal and childhood exposure to environmental chemicals and blood pressure in children: a review of literature 2007-2017.

Exposure to environmental chemicals during periods of renal development from embryogenesis to birth and through childhood can inform critical windows of nephrotoxicity, including changes in childhood blood pressure. This review assessed recent studies that examined the relationship of air pollution, metals, and other organic pollutants with children's blood pressure outcomes. We restricted this review to peer-reviewed studies published in English between January 2007 and July 2017. We identified a total of 36 articles that estimated associations with childhood blood pressure, of which 14 studies examined the effects of air pollution, 10 examined metals, and 12 examined other organic pollutants including phthalates (n = 4), Bisphenol A (n = 3), polychlorinated biphenols (n = 2), organophosphate pesticides (n = 2), or perfluoroalkyl acids (n = 1). Similar to the established relationship between tobacco smoke exposure and childhood blood pressure, the majority of studies that examined air pollutants, particularly exposure to PM10 and PM2.5, reported associations with increased childhood blood pressure. The literature reported conflicting evidence for metals, and putative evidence of the effects of exposure to phthalates, Bisphenol A, polychlorinated biphenols, and pesticides. Overall, our review underscores the need for additional studies that assess the impact of nephrotoxicant exposure during early life, particularly the perinatal period, and blood pressure in childhood.