Petroleum Intoxication: Literature Review and Case Report on Poisoning by Gasoline.

A literature review of cases of acute poisoning by petroleum and its distillates was conducted, while a new fatal case of suicide by gasoline intake is reported. Specifically, a number of studies were reviewed in order to update and summarize the relevant literature on the incidence, sociodemographic variables, method of poisoning, diagnostic - toxicological procedures, variables associated with survival and fatality on acute petroleum/gasoline intoxication. Results show that acute poisoning by petroleum and its distillates is relatively rare. Male prevalence was observed among patients, while most incidents were classified as suicide attempts. Oral ingestion was the most frequent method of intake, while a case of intravenous injection was also reported. The survival rates were low, as among all literature cases, two thirds of them managed to reach the hospital alive, and only the one fourth of them had a medically successful outcome.

Indication of participation of caspase-2 and caspase-5 in mechanisms of human cervical malignancy.

INTRODUCTION: When apoptosis is disrupted, the transformed cells can survive, proliferate, and evolve into a malignancy. The strictly conserved caspase genes and the reliable experimental data clearly show that some caspases play a crucial role in apoptosis even if some of them have no apoptotic activity and others exhibit both apoptotic and nonapoptotic properties. Although caspase-2 belongs to initiator caspases, its normal role remains unclear. Experimental studies have shown that it is primarily necessary for the execution of apoptosis in mutagenic cells. Human caspase-5 is classified as an inflammatory caspase, although its substrate has not been identified yet. In this research, the activities of caspase-2 and caspase-5 have been estimated during the progression of human cervical malignancy. METHODS: The experimental material includes human cervical tissue samples (normal and pathological) and blood serum samples of the corresponding tissue donors, where enzyme activities have been measured colorimetrically. RESULTS: Both caspases' activities showed the highest increase, statistically significant (P < 0.01, by t test) compared with the controls, in the low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion tissues. Caspase-2 of all pathological tissues was proved more active than the controls. Serum caspases' activities were significantly lower than those of the tissues. Serum caspase-2's activity in patients with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion stage showed no statistically significant increase compared with the controls. Serum caspase-5's activity of all patients with malignancy stages was presented elevated, whereas that of the serum of patients with cervical cancer had the highest activity (P < 0.01, by t test). CONCLUSIONS: The changes of caspase-2 and caspase-5 activities could be indicative of their involvement in the cervical malignancy mechanisms.