A 4-year study of bovine reproductive hormones that are induced by pharmaceuticals and appear as steroid estrogenic pollutants in the resulting slurry, using in vitro and instrumental analytical methods.

The main objective of the research was to study the environmental "price" of the large-scale, milk production from a rarely known perspective, from the mapping of the estrogenic footprint (the amount of oestrus-inducer hormonal products, and the generated endoestrogens) in the resulting slurry in a dairy cow farm. These micropollutants are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and can be dangerous to the normal reproductive functions even at ng/kg concentration. One of them, 17ß-estradiol, has a 20,000 times stronger estrogenic effect than bisphenol-A, a widely known EDC of industrial origin. While most studies on EDCs are short-term and/or laboratory based, this study is longitudinal and field-based. We sampled the slurry pool on a quarterly basis between 2017 and 2020. Our purpose was testing the estrogenic effects using a dual approach. As an effect-based, holistic method, we developed and used the YES (yeast estrogen screen) test employing the genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae BJ3505 strain which contains human estrogenic receptor. For testing exact molecules, UHPLC-FLD was used. Our study points out that slurry contains a growing amount of EDCs with the risk of penetrating into the soil, crops and the food chain. Considering the Green Chemistry concept, the most benign ways to prevent of the pollution of the slurry is choosing appropriate oestrus-inducing veterinary pharmaceuticals (OIVPs) and the separation of the solid and liquid parts with adequate treatment methods. To our knowledge, this is the first paper on the adaptation of the YES test for medicine and slurry samples, extending its applicability. The adapted YES test turned out to be a sensitive, robust and reliable method for testing samples with potential estrogenic effect. Our dual approach was successful in evaluating the estrogenic effect of the slurry samples.

Is Balneotherapy Protective Against Oxidative Stress? A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study aimed to research the effects of Harkány healing water on oxidative stress. The study was performed in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind setup. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with psoriasis who underwent a 3-week-long inward balneotherapy-based rehabilitation were enrolled. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score and Malondialdehyde (MDA) - a marker of oxidative stress - were determined, on admission and before discharge. Patients were treated with dithranol. RESULTS: The mean PASI score - determined on admission and before discharge - decreased significantly after the 3-week-long rehabilitation 8.17 vs. 3.51 (p<0.001). The baseline MDA value of patients with psoriasis was significantly higher compared to controls (3.0±3.5 vs. 8.4±7.4) (p=0.018). MDA levels of patients receiving placebo water increased significantly compared to MDA levels of patients receiving healing water (p=0.049). CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of dithranol resides in the formation of reactive oxygen species. No increased oxidative stress was found in the patients treated with healing water, thus healing water seems to be protective against oxidative stress. However, further research is needed to confirm these preliminary results.

A novel luminol-based enhanced chemiluminescence antioxidant capacity microplate assay for use in different biological matrices.

INTRODUCTION: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are normal metabolic products of living cells. However, a decrease of the defense mechanisms against the effects of ROS or increased ROS production maybe one important causative factor of cellular damage. A non-enzymatic scavenger system is considered to be responsible for the maintenance of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) as a protection against oxidative injuries that exist in all higher plants and in mammals as well. METHODS: In our work, we optimized and validated a luminol-peroxidase-4-iodophenol-H2O2 enhanced chemiluminescence-based (ECL) TAC measurement technique. BSA was applied in the reagent to prevent peroxidase from auto-oxidation. The ECL method was suitable for plant extracts and for human blood serum as well. Our TAC technique was adapted to microplates and compared to ORAC assay using plant extracts. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The ECL method is fast (10min) with an interassay precision of <10% as CV. TAC values of ethanolic extracts of 10 plant species did correlate (ECL vs ORAC assay data: r=0.84, 95% confidence interval, CI=0.78-0.89, P<0.001) but with systematic bias. Analysis of serum samples obtained from septic and control patients showed significantly higher TAC values in the patient group compared to those of controls (p<0.01). Moreover, we could discriminate between surviving and non-surviving patients, based on their TAC values (p<0.01). Pearson's statistics showed the strongest positive correlation with serum uric acid (r=0.73). Besides the routine laboratory parameters, our novel TAC method might give complementary information on the severity of systemic inflammation.