Trace element levels: How Substance Use Disorder (SUD) contributes to the alteration of urinary essential and toxic element levels.

Increasing illicit drug use is one of the main problems in most countries or societies. Monitoring heavy metals and trace elements in this vulnerable group seems to be necessary. Therefore, we assessed the urinary trace element and toxic metals/metalloids concentrations (Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Arsenic (As), Nickel (Ni), and Mercury (Hg)) in opium, tramadol, and cannabis users compared to healthy subjects. In this cross-sectional study, patients with substance use disorder (SUD) (n = 74) were divided into four groups: cannabis, tramadol, opium, and mixed (simultaneous use of more than one of the three studied substances), along with a healthy group (n = 60). Urine samples were prepared by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method so that heavy metals/metalloids could be measured by ICP-MS. The mean urinary concentration of Cu (48.15 vs. 25.45; 89.2%, p<0.001), Hg (1.3 vs. 0.10; 1200%, p < 0.001), and Zn (301.95 vs. 210; 43.8%, p < 0.001) was markedly lower among patients with SUD. The mean urinary concentration of other elements including As (1.9 vs. 4.1; 115.8%), Cd (0.1 vs. 1.10; 1000%), Cr (6.80 vs. 11.65; 71.3%), Ni (2.95 vs. 4.95; 67.8%), and Pb (1.5 vs. 7.9; 426.6%) were significantly higher among patients with SUD compared to healthy subjects. When sub-groups were compared, no significant differences were observed between their trace element levels (Kruskal-Wallis test, p > 0.05). This can be an indication that regardless of the type of drug, the levels of trace elements are changed with respect to healthy individuals. Our results showed that illicit drug use causes changes in urinary trace element/heavy metal/metalloid levels and highlights the need for monitoring heavy metals and trace elements in individuals with substance use disorder. Assessment of different elements in biological samples of drug dependents may be useful for implementing new prevention and treatment protocols. In case of changes in their levels, complementary recommendations, attention to diet, and periodic assessment of toxic metal levels within treatment programs will be needed.

[Determination of trace elements in mylabris before and after being processed].

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the processing principle of Mylabris by comparing the differences between the contents of 11 trace elements in Mylabris before and after being processed. METHODS: Used Flame AAS, Graphite Furnace AAS and Hydride generation AAS to determine the content of Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Pb, Cd, As and Hg elements in Mylabris samples. RESULTS: The sequence of 11 trace elements contents in the Mylabris samples from high to low was: K > Mg > Fe > Ca > Zn > Mn > Cu > Pb > As > Hg > Cd. In Mylabris after being processed, the contents of Pb, As, Hg, Cd and Fe elements decreased, Cu, Mg and Ca increased; In the head, legs and wings of Mylabris, the contents of Hg and Pb elements were higher than those of the other parts. The content of As in the inner wings was the highest. CONCLUSION: The traditional processing method, stir-frying with rice and removing head, legs and wings is scientific.

Multivariate statistical evaluation of heavy metals in the urine of opium individuals in comparison with healthy people in Western Iran.

The current study aimed to evaluate the levels of some toxic and essential elements (Pb, Cd, Cu, Ti, Ni, Cr, Co, Fe, Ca, Hg, Mn, Se, and Zn) in the urine of opium-addicted compared to non-addicted cases. In this study, 126 participants were recruited and their fasting urine samples were collected (63 opium-addicted and 63 non-addicted subjects served as the reference group). ICP-MS was utilized to detect the concentration of trace elements. Results exhibited that the concentration of all elements than Ni, Cu, and Zn was markedly different between the addicted and non-addicted groups. Compared to controls, the Cd, Cr, Co, Hg, Mn, Pb, Se, and Ti levels were higher among opium-addicted cases (p < 0.05) whereas the Fe and Ca concentrations were higher among controls (p < 0.05). Robust regression analysis showed no statistically significant effect of gender on element levels. It revealed that age was associated with the levels of Ni and Cu only and also the route of administration was related to the urinary levels of Co, Cr, Hg, and Mn. In conclusion, results confirmed that it is opium consumption that affects the concentration levels of most elements.

Comparison of urine trace element levels in tramadol addiction alone and its co-abuse with cigarette and opium in Western Iran.

Tramadol is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to severe pain. Tramadol consumers tend to co-abuse some other substances such as opium, cigarettes, alcohol, and cannabis and each of these substances may impair trace elements homeostasis in the body. Therefore, this case-control study aimed to compare the urinary concentration of some essential and toxic elements in tramadol addiction alone and its co-abuse with cigarette and opium in Western Iran. For this purpose, urine samples were collected in two groups of tramadol (n = 72) and control subjects (n = 62) from March to November 2020. The case group was divided into three groups: tramadol alone, tramadol + opium, and tramadol + cigarettes. Moreover, ICP-MS (Agilent 7900) was used to measure trace element concentrations in the urine samples. Based on our results, Fe was the only element markedly higher among controls as compared to tramadol users (p < 0.001). Moreover, the concentration levels of As appeared to be the same among both groups, but the levels of other elements including Ca, Cd, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, Se, and Pb were all significantly higher among tramadol users as compared to control group. The rank-based regression analysis illustrated that no contribution of sex and age effect was found by the regression model on the levels of all 12 studied elements. While, smoking was found to affect the levels of Fe (ß = 0.163, P = 0.025) and Co (ß = 0.411, p < 0.001) so that smoking reduced Fe levels but elevated Co concentration levels. Abuse of tramadol along with cigarettes and opium increased the concentration of some heavy metals in urine samples compared to the control group. However, these results showed no significant effect of age, sex, smoking habit, and amount of tramadol usage on the levels of trace elements.

[Analysis of proteins, amino acids and inorganic elements in Holotrichia diomphalia from different areas].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the content of proteins,amino acids and inorganic elements of Holotrichia diomphalia in different growing areas as the references for quality evaluation and reasonable application of them. METHODS: The contents of proteins were determined using semi-micro Kjeldahl method. The contents of seventeen amino acids and inorganic elements were determined with amino acid analyzer and atomic absorption spectrometer and elemental analyzer, respectively. RESULTS: The contents of protein were 33.4%-44.4%, and that in Jiangxi were the highest in five different areas. There were seventeen kinds of amino acids in Holotrichia diomphalia. Among them, seven amino acids were essential to human life. The content of glutamic acid was the highest in seventeen amino acids. In inorganic elements, the content of Mg, Ca was higher in macroelements and Fe, Zn was higher in microelements. CONCLUSION: There are many kinds of necessary amino acids and inorganic elements for man kind in Holotrichia diomphalia. The contents of proteins, amino acids and inorganic elements have some difference in Holotrichia diomphalia of different growing areas.

Concentration profiling of minerals in iliac crest bone tissue of opium addicted humans using inductively coupled plasma and discriminant analysis techniques.

Opium addiction is one of the main health problems in developing countries and induces serious defects on the human body. In this work, the concentrations of 32 minerals including alkaline, heavy and toxic metals have been determined in the iliac crest bone tissue of 22 opium addicted individuals using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The bone tissues of 30 humans with no physiological and metabolomic diseases were used as the control group. For subsequent analyses, the linear and quadratic discriminant analysis techniques have been used for classification of the data into "addicted" and "non-addicted" groups. Moreover, the counter-propagation artificial neural network (CPANN) has been used for clustering of the data. The results revealed that the CPANN is a robust model and thoroughly classifies the data. The area under the curve for the receiver operating characteristic curve for this model was more than 0.91. Investigation of the results revealed that the opium consumption causes a deficiency in the level of Calcium, Phosphate, Potassium and Sodium in iliac crest bone tissue. Moreover, this type of addiction induces an increment in the level of toxic and heavy metals such as Co, Cr, Mo and Ni in iliac crest tissue. The correlation analysis revealed that there were no significant dependencies between the age of the samples and the mineral content of their iliac crest, in this study. The results of this work suggest that the opium addicted individuals need thorough and restricted dietary and medical care programs after recovery phases, in order to have healthy bones.

Quantitative evaluation of 28 mineral elements by inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry and its application in source identification of Indian opium.

An analytical method based on inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) was developed for the determination of 28 mineral elements (Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Sr, Cd, Ag, Ba, Pb, Bi Y, La, Ce, Nd, Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) in Indian opium samples. The detection limits were found to be in the range of 0.0008-0.45 ng/mL. The recoveries of spiked samples for each element were found to be in the range of 83-106%, with a precision of less than 9%. A total of 124 opium samples from India were analyzed for the distribution pattern of the 28 mineral elements. Quantitative elemental data were subjected to chemometric analysis in order to determine an optimal classifier to evaluate the source of Indian opium. The study indicated that mineral elements might not be the suitable discriminators for the discrimination of licit opium-growing divisions of India. However, the methodology developed and the analytical data on elemental profile may find important forensic application in discriminating Indian opium with that of licit and illicit opium originating from different geographical regions of world.

[Determination of trace elements in shenrong heixi wan].

Shenrong Heixi Wan is a pure traditional Jiangxi medicine which has been mainly used to cure coma in clinic as its main function is resuscitation. In this paper, four trace elements in Shenrong Heixi Wan and other five traditional Chinese medicines have been determined and contrasted by AAS. The results show that there are abundant benificial trace elements in Shenrong Heixi Wan while pernicious trace elements such as Hg, Cd etc. are low. So the medicine is safe to take.

[Studies on the quantitation of trace elements in complex prescription decoctions of ochre and calcined ochre].

The present paper reports the determination of Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and As in complex prescription decoctions of ochre and calcined ochre by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The experimental result shows that in most complex prescription decoctions the contents of Fe, Mn and As are lower in these with calcined ochre than with ochre. The contents of Zn and Cu are higher in the decoctions with calcined ochre than those with ochre.

[Analysis and comparison of the chemical composition of two preparations of Chinemys reevesii Gray].

Amino-acids, nitrogen content, soaking extracts, ash contents, trace elements have been systematically determined for the traditional preparation and food-bacteria preparation of Chinemys reevesii. The results have shown that all the analytical targets in food-bacteria preparation are higher than or close to those in traditional preparation. So the food-bacteria preparation is better in quality.

[Influence of processing on trace elements in traditional Chinese drugs].

By comparing the contents of nine trace elements in fourteen Chinese drugs (including thirty-six samples) before and after processing, this experiment was carried out primarily in search of the ways in which bears on trace element contents, so as to help improve the quality of processed drugs.

[Comparison of trace elements in muli before and after processing].

Determination and comparison of 34 kinds of trace elements in 5 samples of muli before and after processing have been conducted by ICP-AES. The result shows that all the elements have changed in contents.

[Studies on methods of processing sika deer fetus].

Two methods of processing Sika Deer Fetus were comparatively studied according to the indexes such as rate of powder removal, crude proteins, crude fats, amino acids, trace elements, vitamins and hormones. It was found that the method of oven drying is superior to that of decocting. Thus we suggest that the former method should be used for Chinese patent medicines, such as Deer Fetus capsule etc.

[Influence of processing conditions on quality of calcined concha Osterae].

Concha Osterae (the shell of Ostera gigas) ignited under different conditions was compared and discussed in terms of appearance features, yielding ratio of ignited product, Ca content of the ignited product, decocting rate of total component, Ca2+ content of decoction and trace element content. Furthermore, calcined Concha Osterae products obtained commercially from 6 cities of China were also compared in regard to the quality.

[Analytical studies on calcium and microelements in calcined longgu (an animal bone)].

The main constituent (CaCO3) and microelements of Longgu (an animal bone) have been analysed qualitatively and quantitatively by orthogonal design. The result shows that the optimum conditions for calcining Longgu are: temperature--750 degrees C, time--4'30'', size of the bone--8.5g.

[Determination of calcium carbonate, trace elements and amino acids in Os Sepiae].

This paper reports the determination methods for calcium carbonate, trace elements and amino acids in the traditional Chinese medicine Os Sepiae. The data provide a reference for the quality control of the drug.

[Analytical studies on amino acids and trace elements in donkey-hide gelatin].

This paper reports the contents of amino acids in donkey-hide gelatin made in different pharmaceutical factories before and after processing. An analytical comparison of trace elements in the gelatin is also presented.

[Analysis of trace elements and composition of protein in sika blood].

The levels of trace element and protein were determined in eight male sikas. The results revealed that the levels of phosphorus, zinc, copper, ferrin and manganese were 2.68 mmol/L, 51.3 mumol/L, 21.4 mumol/L, 255.6 mumol/L and 0.16 mumol/L respectively and which were significantly higher than the human normal values. Serum levels of albumin and globulin were 34.9 g/L and 35.5 g/L respectively. Among them, the level of gamma-globulin was the highest (25.2%) which was threefold than the human serum normal value. From the above results, sika blood has great value in medicinal use.

[Chemical constituents of Scolopendra negrocapitis].

The chemical constituent of Scolopendra negrocapitis Zhang et Wang were systematically analyzed and compared with S. subspinipes mutilans L. Koch. The results showed the lipid content was 18.7%, protein was 63.4% and total amino acid was 11.9%; S. negrocapitis contained the same twelve fat acids (the content of unsaturated fat acid was nearly 64% in its fat acids), twenty one amino acids and twelve trace elements as S. subspinipes mutilans had. The protein of S. negrocapitis showed forteen bands as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. S. negrocapitis and S. subspinipes mutilans have the same main chemical composition. The contents of compositions are different. S. negrocapitis is worth as the nature resources of medicinal centepede.