Effect of Pesticides on Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPARs) and Their Association with Obesity and Diabetes.

Obesity and diabetes mellitus are considered the most important diseases of the XXI century. Recently, many epidemiological studies have linked exposure to pesticides to the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The role of pesticides and their possible influence on the development of these diseases was investigated by examining the relationship between these compounds and one of the major nuclear receptor families controlling lipid and carbohydrate metabolism: the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), PPARα, PPARß/δ, and PPARγ; this was possible through in silico, in vitro, and in vivo assays. The present review aims to show the effect of pesticides on PPARs and their contribution to the changes in energy metabolism that enable the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Different radiation dose rate as radioprotection and the cross effect with chromium using in vivo somatic cells of Drosophila.

Ionizing radiation plays a key role in the adaptation of an individual organism to environmental pollution, at the same time, it has biological effects that depend on radiation intensity or dose rate (DR). Although the effect of DR has been studied in vitro, the phenomenon known as the inverse effect of DR, which indicates as it decreases that the induction of damage is greater, has not been widely studied in vivo. The present study is aimed to test 0.5 and 1 Gy in somatic cells of the wing of D. melanogaster, administered at 5.4 or 34.3 Gy/h and from 0.037 to 0.3 mM of CrO3 as conditioning treatment. No changes were found in larva-to-adult viability. A protective as well as a cross effect of pre-exposure to different DR and CrO3 concentrations against genetic damage induced by 20 Gy or 1 mM CrO3 was evident.

Accumulation of heavy metals in mosses: a biomonitoring study.

The metropolitan area of the Toluca Valley (MATV) extends over an area of 1208.55 km(2) and has 1,361,500 inhabitants making it the fifth highest populated area in the country and the second highest in the state. The MATV has several environmental problems, with regards to the air quality. Particles PM10 and PM2.5 are considered to be the main pollutant due to these particles frequently exceeding the limit laid down in the standards of the air quality in the country. For this reason, samples of the mosses Fabriona ciliaris and Leskea angustata were collected at different sites in MATV, Mexico in order to establish the atmospheric deposition of heavy metals by means of the analysis of the mosses tissues. Results show the average metal concentrations in the mosses in the order of: Zn > Pb > Cr > Cd. The concentration capacities of heavy metals were higher in Fabriona ciliaris than Leskea angustata. Enrichment factors for Cr, Zn, Pb and Cd were obtained using the soils from the same sampling area. Enrichment factors results show that Cr is conservative in both sampling seasons with a terrigenous origin; Zn is moderately enriched in both sampling seasons and mainly associated to pedological-soil or substrate contribution and anthropogenic activities and Cd is highly enriched in the rainy season and Pb is highly enriched in both sampling seasons, with a predominantly anthropogenic origin. This study provides information to be considered in the strategies for similar environmental problems in the world.