Dietary restrictions for people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzyme deficiency in the world and renders those affected susceptible to potentially severe oxidative hemolysis. Although the resulting hemolysis is most often associated with drug exposure, it has also been reported after consumption of certain foods. With the exception of review articles that reiterated the historical knowledge that fava beans can provoke severe oxidative hemolysis in individuals with G6PD deficiency, very few articles have examined the safety of other food ingredients and food additives for people with G6PD deficiency. Some articles that associated specific foods with hemolysis appeared to be speculative and based on limited information. The objective of this review was to examine the association between foods, including food additives, and the triggering factors of acute hemolysis. The literature was searched for studies and case reports on food consumption and G6PD deficiency. In this review, fava beans were found to be the only food for which there is conclusive clinical evidence linking the risk of hemolytic anemia to individuals with G6PD deficiency. Food additives, at their permitted level of use in North America, can be consumed safely by most patients with G6PD deficiency.

A reproductive and developmental screening study of the fungal toxin ochratoxin A in Fischer rats.

The presence of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) in cereal grains is due to the growth of toxigenic Penicillium mold on stored crops. Human exposure to OTA is higher in infants, toddlers, and children than in adolescents and adults, based on exposure assessments of ng OTA consumed/kg body weight/day. Ochratoxin A is nephrotoxic and teratogenic in animals, but its effects on juveniles exposed during the reproduction and development period have not been studied. To address this, Fischer rats were exposed to 0, 0.16, 0.4, 1.0, or 2.5 mg OTA/kg diet throughout breeding, gestation, and lactation and its adverse effects were assessed in adult rats and their offspring on postnatal day (PND) 21. There were no effects on implantation but post-implantation fetotoxicity was observed in the 2.5 mg/kg dose group, corresponding to a calculated dose of 167.0 µg/kg bw/day in dams. Adverse effects on body and kidney weights and on clinical parameters indicative of renal toxicity were significant in adult rats exposed to 1.0 mg OTA/kg diet (55.2 and 73.3 µg/kg bw/day in adult males and females, respectively) and in PND21 rats at the 0.4 mg/kg dose (33.9 µg/kg bw/day in dams), suggesting that weanling rats were more sensitive to OTA than adults. Overall, nephrotoxicity was the primary effect of OTA in weanling rats exposed throughout gestation and lactation at sub-fetotoxic concentrations in diet.

In vitro immunomodulation of splenocytes from DO11.10 mice by the food colouring agent amaranth.

The chemical amaranth (AM) is permitted as a colouring agent in a variety of foods. Safety was established based on chronic rodent studies. AM and its metabolite naphthionic acid (NA) can be absorbed through the intestine, exposing circulating immune cells including splenocytes. An AM feeding study in rats demonstrated an increase in blood lymphocytes. Yet, in contrast, AM inhibited the delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to antigen. DO11.10 mice express a T Cell Receptor specific for ovalbumin323-339 peptide (OVAp) presented by I-Ad MHCII. DO11.10 splenocytes were cultured to evaluate mechanisms by which AM and NA modulate immune cell function in vitro. Exposure to OVAp alone for 72 h induced cell proliferation, and combination with 2 or 20 µg/mL AM increased IFN-γ. Cytotoxicity was evident at higher concentrations of AM (200 and 2000 µg/mL) and NA (2000 µg/mL) in combination with OVAp, as both cell number and cytokine secretion decreased. At 200 µg/mL AM with OVAp, immunotoxicity gene expression was modified and OVAp-specific KJ1-26+ CD28+ cells became enriched. The equivalent dose of NA did not modify those parameters. Using an antigen-specific model in vitro, lower concentrations of AM potentiated pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and higher concentrations of AM and NA demonstrated cytotoxicity.

Toxicologic effects of 28-day dietary exposure to the flame retardant 1,2-dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl)-cyclohexane (TBECH) in F344 rats.

The brominated flame retardant TBECH is used as an additive to delay ignition and inhibit fires in construction materials and consumer goods. Trends in human exposure are not clear, although humans may be exposed to TBECH via indoor dust and air. In birds and fish there is some evidence of disruption in endocrine and reproductive parameters due to TBECH. In vitro studies indicate that TBECH is an androgen receptor agonist. In this study rats were exposed to 0, 10, 50, 250, 1250 or 5000mg/kg technical TBECH for 28days in diet, corresponding to 0, 0.9, 4.2, 21.3, 98.0 or 328.9mg TBECH/kg bw/d in males and 0, 0.8, 3.9, 19.4, 91.7 or 321.4mg TBECH/kg bw/d in females. Dose-dependent increases in α- and ß- TBECH were detected in serum, liver and adipose. Rats in the 5000mg/kg group lost weight rapidly and were euthanized after 15-18days. At study termination rats displayed dose-dependent clinical and histopathological changes consistent with mild hepatic and renal inflammation. In male rats, evidence of gender-specific alpha2u-globulin nephropathy was not considered predictive of renal toxicity in humans. Frank immunosuppression or inappropriate immunostimulation were not apparent, nor was there a primary effect of TBECH on adaptive immunity. Some evidence of hormone disruption was observed, including changes in serum testosterone levels in males and changes in serum T3 and T4 levels in females. Apparent increases in thyroid follicular cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia in male and female rats were not statistically significant. Benchmark dose (BMD) modelling indicated that clinical changes indicative of mild nephrotoxicity and increased blood monocyte numbers indicative of inflammation and tissue damage were the most sensitive outcomes of TBECH exposure that could be modelled. Preliminary evidence of hormone disruption supports the need for rodent studies using more sensitive models of growth, development and reproduction.

Immunomodulation by gastrointestinal carbon black nanoparticle exposure in ovalbumin T cell receptor transgenic mice.

Humans could become exposed to carbon black nanoparticles (CBNPs) in consumer products or an occupational setting. In rodent models, acute respiratory, subcutaneous, and direct immune cell exposure to CBNPs has been shown to enhance allergic sensitization to co-administered ovalbumin (OVA) protein from chicken egg. However, little is known about the effects of ingested CBNPs on immunological responses and oral tolerance to food antigens. We hypothesized that ingestion of CBNPs would enhance the development of food allergy to OVA. Allergy prone DO11.10 mice were orally exposed to CBNPs every second day for 2 weeks (total dose 10.8 (LOW) or 108 µg (HI)), with and without (±) co-administered OVA. Systemic immune parameters were measured at necropsy. Exposure to OVA resulted in significant increases in serum anti-OVA IgG1, anti-OVA IgM, and anti-OVA IgA antibodies relative to vehicle control. Immunophenotyping revealed a reduction in the number of OVA-specific CD4+ T helper cells upon OVA ± CBNPHI treatment in the spleen. Yet, secretion of the allergy-associated Th2 cytokines IL-4, IL-9, and IL-13 was greater in OVA323-339 peptide-pulsed splenocytes from OVA + CBNPHI-treated mice compared with control. Transcriptome analysis at necropsy of splenocytes from OVA + CBNPHI dose mice compared with OVA mice revealed increases in the allergy associated genes Il4 and Stat6 and decreases in Csf3r and Retnlg. Although oral exposure to high-dose CBNPs did not impact OVA-specific antibody production relative to OVA, we did observe increased expression of genes and cytokines associated with allergy in peripheral splenocytes. This work suggests that CBNP gastrointestinal exposure may potentiate allergy pathways.

Effects of Chronic Ochratoxin A Exposure on p53 Heterozygous and p53 Homozygous Mice.

Exposure to the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) causes nephropathy in domestic animals and rodents and renal tumors in rodents and poultry. Humans are exposed to OTA by consuming foods made with contaminated cereal grains and other commodities. Management of human health risks due to OTA exposure depends, in part, on establishing a mode of action (MOA) for OTA carcinogenesis. To further investigate OTA's MOA, p53 heterozygous (p53+/-) and p53 homozygous (p53+/+) mice were exposed to OTA in diet for 26 weeks. The former are susceptible to tumorigenesis upon chronic exposure to genotoxic carcinogens. OTA-induced renal damage but no tumors were observed in either strain, indicating that p53 heterozygosity conferred little additional sensitivity to OTA. Renal changes included dose-dependent increases in cellular proliferation, apoptosis, karyomegaly, and tubular degeneration in proximal tubules, which were consistent with ochratoxicosis. The lowest observed effect level for renal changes in p53+/- and p53+/+ mice was 200 µg OTA/kg bw/day. Based on the lack of tumors and the severity of renal and body weight changes at a maximum tolerated dose, the results were interpreted as suggestive of a primarily nongenotoxic (epigenetic) MOA for OTA carcinogenesis in this mouse model.

Mammalian gastrointestinal tract parameters modulating the integrity, surface properties, and absorption of food-relevant nanomaterials.

Many natural chemicals in food are in the nanometer size range, and the selective uptake of nutrients with nanoscale dimensions by the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a normal physiological process. Novel engineered nanomaterials (NMs) can bring various benefits to food, e.g., enhancing nutrition. Assessing potential risks requires an understanding of the stability of these entities in the GI lumen, and an understanding of whether or not they can be absorbed and thus become systemically available. Data are emerging on the mammalian in vivo absorption of engineered NMs composed of chemicals with a range of properties, including metal, mineral, biochemical macromolecules, and lipid-based entities. In vitro and in silico fluid incubation data has also provided some evidence of changes in particle stability, aggregation, and surface properties following interaction with luminal factors present in the GI tract. The variables include physical forces, osmotic concentration, pH, digestive enzymes, other food, and endogenous biochemicals, and commensal microbes. Further research is required to fill remaining data gaps on the effects of these parameters on NM integrity, physicochemical properties, and GI absorption. Knowledge of the most influential luminal parameters will be essential when developing models of the GI tract to quantify the percent absorption of food-relevant engineered NMs for risk assessment.

Utility of models of the gastrointestinal tract for assessment of the digestion and absorption of engineered nanomaterials released from food matrices.

Engineered metal/mineral, lipid and biochemical macromolecule nanomaterials (NMs) have potential applications in food. Methodologies for the assessment of NM digestion and bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract are nascent and require refinement. A working group was tasked by the International Life Sciences Institute NanoRelease Food Additive project to review existing models of the gastrointestinal tract in health and disease, and the utility of these models for the assessment of the uptake of NMs intended for food. Gastrointestinal digestion and absorption could be addressed in a tiered approach using in silico computational models, in vitro non-cellular fluid systems and in vitro cell culture models, after which the necessity of ex vivo organ culture and in vivo animal studies can be considered. Examples of NM quantification in gastrointestinal tract fluids and tissues are emerging; however, few standardized analytical techniques are available. Coupling of these techniques to gastrointestinal models, along with further standardization, will further strengthen methodologies for risk assessment.

Critical experimental parameters related to the cytotoxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles.

The increasing use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) has raised concerns about their potential hazards to human and environmental health. In this study, the characterization and cytotoxicity of two ZnO-NPs products (Z-COTE and Z-COTE HP1) were investigated. The zinc content of Z-COTE and Z-COTE HP1 was 82.5 ± 7.3 and 80.1 ± 3.5 %, respectively. Both ZnO-NP samples contained sub-cytotoxic levels of iron and copper, and silicon was detected from the surface coating of Z-COTE HP1. All samples were highly agglomerated, and the primary particles appeared as variable polyhedral structures. There was no significant difference in size distribution or average diameter of Z-COTE (53 ± 23 nm) and Z-COTE HP1 (54 ± 26 nm). A dose-dependent cytotoxicity was observed 24 h after exposure to ZnO-NPs, and monocytes were more sensitive than lung epithelial cells or lymphoblasts in both human and mouse cells. There was a significant difference in cytotoxicity between nano- and fine-forms, but only at the threshold cytotoxic dose with cellular metabolism assays. Compared to uncoated ZnO-NPs, the surface coating with triethoxycaprylylsilane marginally attenuated cellular oxidative stress and protected cellular metabolic activity. These results demonstrate the importance of model cell type, dose selection, and cytotoxicity assessment methodology to accurately evaluate the potential toxicity of various nanoparticles in vitro.

In vitro enhancement of mouse T helper 2 cell sensitization to ovalbumin allergen by carbon black nanoparticles.

Agglomerated carbon black nanoparticles (CBNPs) administered via respiratory or subcutaneous routes have been shown to promote allergic sensitization to coadministered ovalbumin (OVA) protein in rodents. In the present study, we aimed to model and elucidate the mechanism of this adjuvanticity using an in vitro assay based on T cell sensitization to ovalbumin323₋339 peptide (OVA(p)). CBNP base particles of 22 and 39 nm were characterized and termed CBNP22 and CBNP39 powders. Splenic leukocytes derived from transgenic DO11.10 mice were exposed to suspensions of media alone, concanavalin A mitogen, CBNP agglomerates smaller than 220 nm, OVA(p) alone, OVA(p) + anti-CD28 costimulant, OVA(p) + cyclosporin A immunosuppressant, or OVA(p) + CBNPs. Samples were analyzed at 72 h post-exposure. Proliferation rate, a marker of cellular mitosis, was assessed. Polymerase chain reaction arrays were used to assess genes involved in allergic response pathways. The mitogen control, costimulatory control, and immunosuppressive control chemicals modified the T helper cell proliferation rate. CBNP22 mildly reduced proliferation at 12 µg/ml, but CBNP39 did not. Gene expression analysis of cells treated with OVA(p) showed that coincubation with 12 µg/ml CBNP22 enhanced gene expression of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-10, and IL-13, all allergy-associated Th2 cytokines. Coincubation of OVA(p) with 12 µg/ml CBNP39 significantly enhanced IL-13 gene expression concurrent with downregulation of the Th1-associated transcription factor Stat4. IL-4 and IL-13 protein secretion reflected the mRNA trends. The changes were consistently higher in cells exposed to CBNP22 than CBNP39, suggesting that smaller particle size, higher surface area, and higher purity were associated with the direct adjuvant effect on Th2 cells in this genetically susceptible model of OVA allergy.

Promotion of autoimmune diabetes by cereal diet in the presence or absence of microbes associated with gut immune activation, regulatory imbalance, and altered cathelicidin antimicrobial Peptide.

We are exposed to millions of microbial and dietary antigens via the gastrointestinal tract, which likely play a key role in type 1 diabetes (T1D). We differentiated the effects of these two major environmental factors on gut immunity and T1D. Diabetes-prone BioBreeding (BBdp) rats were housed in specific pathogen-free (SPF) or germ-free (GF) conditions and weaned onto diabetes-promoting cereal diets or a protective low-antigen hydrolyzed casein (HC) diet, and T1D incidence was monitored. Fecal microbiota 16S rRNA genes, immune cell distribution, and gene expression in the jejunum were analyzed. T1D was highest in cereal-SPF (65%) and cereal-GF rats (53%) but inhibited and delayed in HC-fed counterparts. Nearly all HC-GF rats remained diabetes-free, whereas HC-fed SPF rats were less protected (7 vs. 29%). Bacterial communities differed in SPF rats fed cereal compared with HC. Cereal-SPF rats displayed increased gut CD3(+) and CD8α(+) lymphocytes, ratio of Ifng to Il4 mRNA, and Lck expression, indicating T-cell activation. The ratio of CD3(+) T cells expressing the Treg marker Foxp3(+) was highest in HC-GF and lowest in cereal-SPF rats. Resident CD163(+) M2 macrophages were increased in HC-protected rats. The cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (Camp) gene was upregulated in the jejunum of HC diet-protected rats, and CAMP(+) cells colocalized with CD163. A cereal diet was a stronger promoter of T1D than gut microbes in association with impaired gut immune homeostasis.

Toxicologic and immunologic effects of perinatal exposure to the brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) mixture DE-71 in the Sprague-Dawley rat.

Brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) are persistent environmental contaminants found in human blood, tissues, and milk. To assess the impact of the commercial BDE mixture DE-71 on the developing immune system in relation to hepatic and thyroid changes, adult (F0) rats were exposed to DE-71 by gavage at doses of 0, 0.5, 5, or 25 mg/kg body weight (bw)/d for 21 weeks. F0 rats were bred and exposure continued through gestation, lactation and postweaning. F1 pups were weaned and exposed to DE-71 by gavage from postnatal day (PND) 22 to 42. On PND 42, half of the F1 rats were assessed for toxicologic changes. The remaining F1 rats were challenged with the T-dependent antigen keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and immune function was assessed on PND 56. Dose-dependent increases in total BDE concentrations were detected in the liver and adipose of all F0 and F1 rats. In F0 rats, increased liver weight, hepatocellular hypertrophy, and decreased serum thyroxine (T4) were characteristic of DE-71 exposure. In F1 rats perinatal DE-71 exposure caused a nondose-dependent increase in body weight and dose-dependent increases in liver weight and hepatocellular hypertrophy. Serum T3 and T4 levels were decreased. In spleen from DE-71 exposed rats the area occupied by B cells declined while the area occupied by T cells increased; however, cellular and humoral immune responses to KLH challenge were not altered. Thus hepatic and thyroid changes in rats exposed perinatally to DE-71 were associated with altered splenic lymphocyte populations, an effect which has been linked to hypothyroidism.

Diabetes-specific HLA-DR-restricted proinflammatory T-cell response to wheat polypeptides in tissue transglutaminase antibody-negative patients with type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: There is evidence of gut barrier and immune system dysfunction in some patients with type 1 diabetes, possibly linked with exposure to dietary wheat polypeptides (WP). However, questions arise regarding the frequency of abnormal immune responses to wheat and their nature, and it remains unclear whether such responses are diabetes specific. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In type 1 diabetic patients and healthy control subjects, the immune response of peripheral CD3(+) T-cells to WPs, ovalbumin, gliadin, alpha-gliadin 33-mer peptide, tetanus toxoid, and phytohemagglutinin was measured using a carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) proliferation assay. T-helper cell type 1 (Th1), Th2, and Th17 cytokines were analyzed in WP-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) supernatants, and HLA was analyzed by PCR. RESULTS: Of 42 patients, 20 displayed increased CD3(+) T-cell proliferation to WPs and were classified as responders; proliferative responses to other dietary antigens were less pronounced. WP-stimulated PBMNCs from patients showed a mixed proinflammatory cytokine response with large amounts of IFN-gamma, IL-17A, and increased TNF. HLA-DQ2, the major celiac disease risk gene, was not significantly different. Nearly all responders carried the diabetes risk gene HLA-DR4. Anti-DR antibodies blocked the WP response and inhibited secretion of Th1 and Th17 cytokines. High amounts of WP-stimulated IL-6 were not blocked. CONCLUSIONS: T-cell reactivity to WPs was frequently present in type 1 diabetic patients and associated with HLA-DR4 but not HLA-DQ2. The presence of an HLA-DR-restricted Th1 and Th17 response to WPs in a subset of patients indicates a diabetes-related inflammatory state in the gut immune tissues associated with defective oral tolerance and possibly gut barrier dysfunction.

Immunomodulatory effects of dietary potassium perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) exposure in adult Sprague-Dawley rats.

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) is a stable and environmentally persistent metabolic or degradation product of perfluorooctanyl compounds that were manufactured for a variety of industrial and consumer applications. PFOS itself was sold for use as a surfactant. The structurally related contaminants perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), and N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamide (N-EtPFOSA) were shown to suppress immune responses in laboratory rodents. Relatively low doses of PFOS were found to be immunosuppressive in mice. To assess effects of PFOS on the rat immune system at doses known to alter hepatic function, changes in the morphology and function of immune tissues and cells were measured in adult rats exposed to PFOS in their diet for 28 d at levels ranging from 2 to 100 mg PFOS/kg diet (corresponding to approximately 0.14 to 7.58 mg/kg body weight [bw]/d) and compared to those receiving control diet. Body weight reductions were significant in male and female rats exposed to 50 and 100 mg PFOS/kg diet. Liver/body weight was significantly increased in females exposed to 2 mg PFOS/kg diet and in males exposed to 20 mg PFOS/kg diet. Female rats exposed to 100 mg PFOS/kg diet exhibited a significant increase in spleen weight relative to body weight; these changes lacked a histologic correlate and were not observed in males. While thymus weights relative to body weights were not affected, numbers of apoptotic lymphocytes rose in thymus with increasing dietary PFOS. There was a significant dose-related increase in total peripheral blood lymphocyte numbers in female but not male rats. In both genders the percentages of cells within lymphocyte subclasses were altered. There was a significant trend toward increasing T and T-helper (Th) cells and decreasing B cells with higher PFOS dose. Serum total immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 levels were significantly reduced in males exposed to 2 and 20 mg PFOS/kg diet. The ability of male and female rats to mount delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to the T-cell-dependent antigen keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) was not altered by PFOS. There was a significant trend toward elevated KLH-specific IgG in serum from male rats exposed to increasing levels of PFOS in diet. Splenic T- and B-cell proliferation in response to ex vivo mitogen exposure was unaffected by exposure to dietary PFOS. In conclusion, changes in immune parameters in rat did not manifest as functional alterations in response to immune challenge with KLH and may be secondary to hepatic-mediated effects of PFOS in this model.

Dietary proteins as environmental modifiers of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the patient's immune system destroys the insulin-secreting beta-cells in the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. A majority of cases is thought to occur as a result of gene-environment interactions. The identity of the environmental factors remains unknown mainly because of the difficulty in linking past exposures with later disease development. Overall, the data suggest a model in which individuals develop diabetes by several different pathways, each influenced by numerous genetic and environmental variables. The most investigated environmental factors are diet and viruses. In this review, we examine the evidence that the source of dietary proteins can modify diabetes outcome, describe new approaches to identify candidate diabetes-related dietary agents, examine possible links with gut dysfunction, discuss some of the limitations, and propose a multifactorial model for dietary modification of diabetes. The key to diabetes pathogenesis, its prevention, and the ultimate success of beta-cell replacement therapies lies in understanding how the environment controls disease expression. Dietary proteins could be one of these keys.

T-bet/GATA-3 ratio as a measure of the Th1/Th2 cytokine profile in mixed cell populations: predominant role of GATA-3.

The differentiation of naive T-helper (Th) cells towards Th1 or Th2 cells is regulated by the transcription factors T-box expressed in T-cells (T-bet) and GATA-binding protein-3 (GATA-3). In the present study, the gene expression of T-bet and GATA-3 was measured by semi-quantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in Th1 and Th2 cells derived from purified splenic CD4+ T cells from DO11.10/Rag2(-/-) transgenic mice and control BioBreeding (BBc) Wistar rat splenic T cells stimulated under Th1 or Th2 conditions. In both sets of experiments, changes in the ratio of expression of T-bet and GATA-3 reflected changes in the Th1-specific cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and Th2-specific cytokine interleukin (IL)-4. T-bet gene expression was not maintained in fully polarized rat Th1 cells whereas GATA-3 gene expression was maintained in long-term polarized rat Th2 cells, indicating that maintenance of Th1/Th2 status occurred more as a result of altered GATA-3 mRNA expression than T-bet. These transcription factors are up-regulated in several cells that produce type 1 and type 2 cytokines and can be analyzed readily by RT-PCR using total RNA isolated from mixed cell populations or cultured splenocytes thereby providing a surrogate marker of Th1/Th2 cytokine balance under a variety of conditions.