Air Pollution and Health: The Need for a Medical Reading of Environmental Monitoring Data.

Air pollution is a recent public health issue. In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) published updated air quality guidelines for a number of air pollutants (including PM10 and PM2.5), which recommended for particulate matter annual average concentration levels at half or less the limit values set by European legislation. In the European Union, around 80% of the European urban population is exposed to air pollution above the levels recommended by the WHO guidelines. Only in 2015 the WHO addressed for the first time the topic of the health impacts of air pollution in its general assembly, which adopted a resolution clearly defining air pollution as the world's largest single environmental health risk factor. Nowadays, the WHO considers air pollution as a major public health threat, causing a 7% increase in overall mortality for each increase of 10 µg/m3 in annual average of PM2.5. This result has been achieved thanks to the outstanding efforts of the director of the WHO's Environment and Public Health Department, Dr. Maria Neira, who has devoted her full commitment to highlighting the consequences that air pollution has on people's health. More recently, at European level, the Air Quality Directive has been subject to a fitness check, published in 2019; the European Green Deal has since announced its aim to align EU air quality standards more closely with the WHO recommendations. Every year, the European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes its "Air Quality in Europe" Report to assess the figures on air pollution across Europe and related health impacts. However, environmental data provided by official regional or national agencies-used by decision makers to adopt preventive measures such as limitations on urban traffic or domestic heating-refer to legal thresholds established by the law (usually on the basis of values set at European level, at least for the EU). These legal thresholds, however, are not adequate to fully protect population against all impacts from air pollution as recommended by WHO and scientific evidence. Therefore, we point out the need for a medical reading of environmental monitoring data that should be performed both at national and regional or local level by health authorities, to foster population health protection against air pollution and guarantee the application of the precautionary principle. A stronger cooperation between environmental agencies and health authorities is needed to address the new challenges to human and planetary health arising from air pollution and climate change. Health authorities should integrate their medical staff with new professionals and researchers with adequate training in environmental sciences to foster population health protection against air pollution. For this purposes, multi-disciplinary research units or teams should be established by local health authorities on environmental health topics, working together with medical staff and environmental agencies for a mutual integration of competencies.

Effect of geographical origin on yield and composition of cone essential oils of Cedrus libani A. Rich. growing in Lebanese protected areas and variability assessment in comparison with literature survey.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis together with principal component analysis revealed that geographical origin influenced the yield and composition of the essential oils (EOs) extracted by hydrodistillation performed for 3 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus, from the cones of Cedrus libani A. Rich., growing wild at four Lebanese natural reserves and protected areas: Bsharri, Chouf, Ehden, and Tannourine, and from a cultivated cedar growing in Qartaba. Essential oil chemical variability established between the different studied provenances suggested the involvement of abiotic factors such as geographical conditions, cultivation conditions, soil composition, and environmental factors in the chemical polymorphism of C. libani cones EOs. α-Pinene/ß-pinene characterized Ehden (ß-pinene 35.6%/α-pinene 27.7%), Chouf (α-pinene 37.3%/ß-pinene 26.1%), Bsharri (α-pinene 27.7%/ß-pinene 21.4%), and Tannourine (α-pinene 25.1%/ß-pinene 16.0%) samples, whereas Qartaba EO was distinguished by the dominance of myrcene (30.6%), α-pinene(26%), and limonene (14.1%). Comparison with the existing literature reinforced the chemical variability of C. libani EOs. This current study helped the estimation of a best harvest location for a good EO quality production, resource optimization, and pharmacological properties evaluation, according to the market demand.

LC-MS/MS-Based Profiling of Tryptophan-Related Metabolites in Healthy Plant Foods.

Food plants contain hundreds of bioactive phytochemicals arising from different secondary metabolic pathways. Among these, the metabolic route of the amino acid Tryptophan yields a large number of plant natural products with chemically and pharmacologically diverse properties. We propose the identifier "indolome" to collect all metabolites in the Tryptophan pathway. In addition, Tryptophan-rich plant sources can be used as substrates for the fermentation by yeast strains to produce pharmacologically active metabolites, such as Melatonin. To pursue this technological development, we have developed a UHPLC-MS/MS method to monitor 14 Tryptophan, Tryptamine, amino-benzoic, and pyridine metabolites. In addition, different extraction procedures to improve the recovery of Tryptophan and its derivatives from the vegetal matrix were tested. We investigated soybeans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and spirulina because of their botanical diversity and documented healthy effects. Four different extractions with different solvents and temperatures were tested, and water extraction at room temperature was chosen as the most suitable procedure to extract the whole Tryptophan metabolites pattern (called by us "indolome") in terms of ease, high efficiency, short time, low cost, and sustainability. In all plant matrices, Tryptophan was the most abundant indole compound, while the pattern of its metabolites was different in the diverse plants extracts. Overall, 5-OH Tryptamine and Kynurenine were the most abundant compounds, despite being 100-1000-fold lower than Tryptophan. Melatonin was undetected in all extracts, but sesame showed the presence of a Melatonin isomer. The results of this study highlight the variability in the occurrence of indole compounds among diverse food plants. The knowledge of Tryptophan metabolism in plants represents a relevant issue for human health and nutrition.

Assessment of Tryptophan, Tryptophan Ethylester, and Melatonin Derivatives in Red Wine by SPE-HPLC-FL and SPE-HPLC-MS Methods.

Melatonin (MEL) is an indoleamine produced mainly by the pineal gland in vertebrates. It plays a significant role in the regulation of circadian rhythms, mitigation of sleeping disorders, and jet lag. This compound is synthetized from tryptophan (TRP) and it has been found in seeds, fruits, and fermented beverages, including wine. Wine is also a source of other tryptophan derivatives, the tryptophan ethylester (TEE) and MEL isomers (MISs), for which the biological properties need to be elucidated. An analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of TRP, TEE, and MEL was developed by a Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) of a preconcentration of wine followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis either with fluorescence or mass spectrometer detectors. The analytical method showed a relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 8%, except for TRP (RSD 10.5% in wine). The recovery was higher than 76%. The versatility of SPE preconcentrations allowed for the adequate preconcentration of wine sample as well as detection of low concentrations, an important aspect especially for MEL (detection limit 0.0023 µg/L). The proposed method proved to be suitable for assessing the investigated compounds in some red wine samples, where 74.4⁻256.2 µg/L and 0.038⁻0.063 µg/L of TEE and MEL were detected, respectively. Five MISs were also found in wine samples in concentrations up to 1.97 µg/L.

Pullulan gum production from low-quality fig syrup using Aureobasidium pullulans.

Pullulan is an important polysaccharide with several potential applications in food science, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, but high costs of pullulan production are the main limitation for commercial utilization. Therefore, a cost-effective process for pullulan production was developed using fig syrup as an exclusive nutrient source. In particular, the feasibility of using low quality fig syrup as a supplemental substrate for pullulan gum production by Aureobasidium pullulans was investigated. Fermentation was carried out over a range of fig syrup and sucrose degrees Brix (5-15%). Maximum pullulan gum production was observed after 96h using 12.5% fig syrup, yielding approximately14.06 g/L. This value of pullulan production (14.06 g/L) was higher than the amount of pullulan produced using sucrose as substrate (5.01 g/L). In conclusion, fig syrup was an effective substrate for pullulan production by Aureobasidium pullulans, and, therefore, this byproduct deserves attention for the cost-effective and environmentally friendly pullulan production.

In vitro and in vivo assessment of free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities of Veronica persica Poir.

With the appearance of new disorders along with inability of some conventional therapies for the treatment of diseases without any side effects, the discovery of safe and efficient therapeutic agents is of utmost importance in the medical area. In this context, medicinal plants as promising therapeutic candidates can provide a reliable and efficient profile. Since free radicals are at the center of various disorder pathways, reducing their production or complete removal of these chemical species could be advantageous for prevention and treatment of many diseases. In this experiment, free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities of Veronica persica Poir., a known medicinal plant, were evaluated using in vitro and in vivo assays. Chemical characterization results showed a high phenolic content in the V. persica methanol extract. In addition, in vitro assays including DPPH radical-scavenging assay, nitric oxide-scavenging activity assay, hydrogen peroxide scavenging test and bleomycin-dependent DNA damage test revealed significant antioxidant power and radical scavenging capacity of this plant. In accordance, in vivo experiments showed inhibitory effects of the methanol extract on lipid peroxidation, a main cause of cell damage. Our findings revealed the promising potential of this plant in reducing free radicals through different pathways. Moreover, our data suggested a correlation between the high phenolic content of the V. persica extract and its free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities.

A flux-based assessment of the effects of ozone on foliar injury, photosynthesis, and yield of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Borlotto Nano Lingua di Fuoco) in open-top chambers.

Stomatal ozone uptake, determined with the Jarvis' approach, was related to photosynthetic efficiency assessed by chlorophyll fluorescence and reflectance measurements in open-top chamber experiments on Phaseolus vulgaris. The effects of O(3) exposure were also evaluated in terms of visible and microscopical leaf injury and plant productivity. Results showed that microscopical leaf symptoms, assessed as cell death and H(2)O(2) accumulation, preceded by 3-4 days the appearance of visible symptoms. An effective dose of ozone stomatal flux for visible leaf damages was found around 1.33 mmol O(3) m(-2). Significant linear dose-response relationships were obtained between accumulated fluxes and optical indices (PRI, NDI, DeltaF/F'(m)). The negative effects on photosynthesis reduced plant productivity, affecting the number of pods and seeds, but not seed weight. These results, besides contributing to the development of a flux-based ozone risk assessment for crops in Europe, highlight the potentiality of reflectance measurements for the early detection of ozone stress.