Oxidative stress and prevention of the adaptive response to chronic iron overload in the brain of young adult rats exposed to a 150 kilohertz electromagnetic field.

Iron surcharge may induce an oxidative stress-based decline in several neurological functions. In addition, electromagnetic fields (EMF) of frequencies up to about 100 kHz, emitted by electric/electronic devices, have been suggested to enhance free radical production through an iron dependent pathway. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine a possible relationship between iron status, exposure to EMF, and brain oxidative stress in young adult rats. Samples were micro-dissected from prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum after chronic saline or iron overload (IO) as well as after chronic sham exposure or exposure to a 150 kHz EMF or after combining EMF exposure with IO. The brain samples were used to monitor oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation and activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. While IO did not induce any oxidative stress in young adult rats, it stimulated antioxidant defenses in the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex in particular. On the contrary, EMF exposure stimulated lipid peroxidation mainly in the cerebellum, without affecting antioxidant defenses. When EMF was coapplied with IO, lipid peroxidation was further increased as compared to EMF alone while the increase in antioxidant defenses triggered by the sole IO was abolished. These data suggest that EMF exposure may be harmful in young adults by impairing the antioxidant defenses directed at preventing iron-induced oxidative stress.

[Cerebral hydatic cyst and psychiatric disorders. Two cases]. / Kyste hydatique cérébral et troubles psychiatriques. A propos de deux cas.

The hydatidosis is an endemic illness in regions of the Middle Orient, Mediterranean, south of America, north Africa and the Australia. The preferential localization of cyst hydatic is the liver (48%), the lung (36%) and in 6% of cases it localizes in unaccustomed place as the brain. Intracerebral localization is relatively rare, its impact is 1 to 5% of all cases of hydatidose. This localization is the child's appendage with a masculine predominance. The cyst hydatic intracranien is often lone, of localization usually supratentorielle, sometimes infratentorielle. Symptoms are especially the diffuse headache associated to various neurological signs in relation with sits of the tumor. The psychiatrics symptoms depends on its localization, sides, intracranial hypertension, and the previous personality. In 15 to 20% of cases these tumors can appear in the beginning of their evolution by the isolated psychiatric symptoms. We report the case of two patients that have been hospitalized first in the Academic Psychiatric Unit of Marrakech for isolates psychiatric disorders and whose scanning revealed the presence of cerebral hydatic cyst and that required a surgical intervention in neurosurgery. Case 1 - Patient 29 years old, bachelor, uneducated, leaving in country outside, fermar, in permanent contact with dogs. No particular medical history. The patient has been brought by his family to the psychiatric emergencies after behavior disorders. The beginning of his symptomatology was one year ago by behavior disorders: instability, violence, isolation, and a corporo-sartorial carelessness. His symptomatology worsened and the patient became very aggressive. In psychiatric unit, he was disregarded, sad, anguished, indifferent to his state, very dissonant, completely detached, depersonalized. He brought back some visual and auditory hallucinations with attitude of monitoring. He was raving with delirium of persecution, of ideas of reference and delirium of bewithment. He was unconscious of his disorders. The patient has first been put under classical neuroleptic 9 mg/day of Haloperidol and 200 mg/day of chlorpromazine. The diagnosis of schizophrenia has been kept according to criteria of DSM IV. The PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) was to 137 (score on a positive scale was to 34, score on a negative scale was to 35 and the general psychopathologie scale was to 58). One week after his hospitalization, he developed headache with subconfusion, a cerebral scanning has been made in emergency and showed a voluminous cyst in oval foramen compressing the mesencephalon strongly. The cyst was well limited, hypodense, not taking the contrast, and without intracerebral oedema, the diagnosis of cerebral hydatic cyst has been made. The complementary exploration didn't show any other localizations, and biologic exam results didn't show any particular anomalies. The patient has been operated in neurosurgery. The immediate evolution was favorable with disappearance of confusion and absence of complications. The patient was lost of view. Six months after, the patient has been readmitted to the psychiatric emergency. He dropped his neuroleptic treatment. He was aggressive, raving, hallucinated and depersonalized. The global score to the PANSS was 63. He has been put back under neuroleptics. Three weeks after improvement and passage of the PANSS to 30, the patient went out. We couldn't have a cerebral scanner of control because the patient had no medical assurance and no money for cerebral scanner. Case 2 - Patient aged of 53 years, father of four children, uneducated, native and resident of Marrakech, confectioner as profession. He is in contact with dogs since 12 years. He has been brought to the psychiatric emergencies by his family after an agitation. The history of his illness seemed to go back at eight months ago, by the progressive apparition of an instability, sleep disorders, hostility, associated with an emotional lability. To the interview he was agitated and had a delirium of persecution. He was convinced that his wife and his children plotted against him. He had sad mood. He was anguished and had auditory and visual hallucinations. The patient was not confused but it had a hypoproxie, an fixing amnesia, a disorders of judgment and a light left hemiparesia. Cerebral scanner revealed three cerebral cyst. The first measuring 42 x 40 mm, sitting at the level parietal right, to the contact of the occipital horn, dragging his/her/its amputation and an effect of mass on ventricle homolateral, the median line and ventricle controlateral. The two other, at the level of the center semi oval, behind the first, measuring 23 mm and 15 mm on the big axis. The patient has been addressed in neurosurgery. He had a completeray exploration to search other localizations. The thoracic x-ray showed 2 pulmonary cyts. The abdominal scan and imagery by magnetic resonance showed liver cyst, peri-heart cyst and mediastinal cyst. The patient has been operated for these three cysts with good recuperation on the psychiatric and neurological symptoms. He has been addressed in heart surgery for the heart localization. The hydatidose is an endemic illness in Morocco and constitute a public health problem. The cerebral localization is rare and appear by signs of cerebral hypertension and signs of focusing. The psychiatric demonstrations are rare but preserve a major interest, by the therapeutic measure specificity that they impose. Of course, the surgical ablation of the tumor can be sufficient to attenuate the psychiatric symptoms but the recourse to a specific treatment can prove to be necessary to act on the precise targets. We are conscious of the methodological difficulties that present these 2 cases but there are unfortunately due to the financial difficulties of our patients.

Karyomegaly of tubular cells as early stage marker of the nephrotoxicity induced by ochratoxin A in rats.

Cases of karyomegaly were described by Sclare and by Mihatch in patients affected with tubular-interstitial nephropathy. The Karyomegalic cells showed enlarged nuclei with accumulation of genetic material. No aetiology was suggested. Our study of rats experimentally intoxicated by ochratoxin A, a well-known nephrotoxic compound, indicates the presence of karyomegaly with alteration of the tubular tissue. In control animals no karyomegalic cells were detected. These observations suggest that karyomegaly with megacytosis may be caused by the nephrotoxic ochratoxin A in the kidney. In addition abnormal mitosis together with karyomegalic cells were observed at an earlier stage of the intoxication (30 days) suggesting possible regeneration if the OTA insults are stopped. After 90 days of treatment, the degeneration increased and only karyomegalic and apoptotic-like cells were observed indicating that the regeneration no longer occurs and that the degeneration becomes irreversible.

Induction of a SOS repair system in lysogenic bacteria by zearalenone and its prevention by vitamin E.

Zearalenone (Zen) is an oestrogenic mycotoxin produced by several Fusarium species in cereals. It induces modifications of haematological parameters in rats with cytotoxicity and inhibition of macromolecular synthesis (nucleic acids and protein). Zen and its metabolites have oestrogenic and anabolic activities and interact with human oestrogen receptors. Zen and its metabolites showed a positive DNA damaging effect in recombination tests with Bacillus subtilis. It induces sister chromatid exchange and chromosomal aberration in CHO cells. Zen was found to be capable of inducing DNA-adduct formation in mouse liver. The genotoxicity of Zen was questionable until the last decade when increasing data tended to show this toxin to be genotoxic in vivo. However the mechanism of its genotoxicity and mutagenicity has not been completely clarified. The present investigations were designed to show whether Zen induces an SOS-DNA repair response in lysogenic bacteria which have an integrated lambda-bacteriophage in their genome. Zen was found to be genotoxic in the bacterial systems from a concentration of 1.50 mM and it was also bactericidal (IC50 = 1.45 mM). In addition vitamin E (6.0-12.0 mM) added 1 h prior to the toxin proved to prevent both the genotoxic and bactericidal effects of Zen. This vitamin could be active both as an antioxidant and as a radical scavenger. The specificity of this prevention is probably due to the similarity of structure between vitamin E and Zen.

Zearalenone induces modifications of haematological and biochemical parameters in rats.

Zearalenone produced by the fungus Fusarium roseum causes important perturbations in the gestation cycle of the rat with hormonal disorders and infertility. In order to find out other eventual toxic effects, female rats were given intraperitoneally (i.p.) (1.5, 3 and 5 mg/kg) zearalenone in sterile olive oil. Forty-eight hours later, some blood parameters changed (hematocrit, MCV, the number of platelets and WBC) as well as some biochemical markers such as aminotransferases (ALT, AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), serum creatinine, bilirubin, indicating liver toxicity, and likely impairment of blood coagulation process.

Ochratoxin A in human blood in relation to nephropathy in Tunisia.

The determination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in human blood in Tunisian populations is underway. The range of contamination is between 0.7 to 7.8 ng ml-1 for the general population and 12 to 55 ng ml-1 for people suffering from chronic renal failure. It appears that 21 to 64% of people suffering from nephropathy are OTA positive with a detection limit of 1ng ml-1. This situation prompted us to search for possible association of OTA contamination and nephropathy resembling Balkan endemic nephropathy. The classification of the ill population into chronic interstitial nephropathy (CIN), chronic glomerular nephropathy (CGN), chronic vascular nephropathy (CVN) and others, indicated that the largest is the CIN group which is significantly different from the other groups, and from the control (P < 0.005). Furthermore, it presented the highest OTA mean values (25 to 59 ng ml-1) compared with the control, CGN, CVN and other groups (6 to 18 ng ml-1) according to the designated region in Tunisia. The rural population seems to be more exposed to ochratoxins in Tunisia, as has been previously reported in the Balkans and Western Europe. Altogether, these results emphasise that in Tunisia an endemic ochratoxin-related nephropathy is probably occurring.

Foodstuffs and human blood contamination by the mycotoxin ochratoxin A: correlation with chronic interstitial nephropathy in Tunisia.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) has been detected in high amounts in human blood samples collected in nephrology departments in Tunisia from nephropathy patients under dialysis, especially those categorised as having a chronic interstitial nephropathy of unknown aetiology. These represent 12-26.1% of all chronic renal failure patients. To clarify the situation, food and blood samples were collected from nephropathy patients and controls, (with no familial case of nephropathy). The OTA assay showed very different scales of OTA food and blood contamination from 0.1 to 16.6 micrograms/kg and 0.1-2.3 ng/ml, respectively, in controls and healthy individuals and 0.3-46 830 micrograms/kg for food and 0.7-1136 ng/ml for blood in nephropathy patients. The disease seems related to OTA blood levels and food contaminations, since the control group was significantly different from the nephropathy group (p < 0.005) for both food and blood ochratoxin A contamination. Combined with data published already, the results emphasize the likely endemic aspect of this OTA-related nephropathy occurring in Tunisia and possibly in other countries of northern Africa. This nephropathy is very similar to Balkan endemic nephropathy.

[Ochratoxin A genotoxicity, relation to renal tumors]. / Génotoxicité de l'ochratoxine A, relation avec la tumeur rénale.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin which has been implicated in Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN), a disease characterized by tubulonephritis and may be involved in the high incidence of urinary tract tumors associated to BEN. The prevalence of human ochratoxicosis is being determined in Tunisia. 100% of people suffering from chronic interstitial nephropathy of unknown etiology were ochratoxin A positive. These nephropathies are similar to Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. We prove an OTA genotoxic effects in patient suffering from this kind of nephropathy. OTA-DNA adducts formation has been detected in DNA of kidney tissues (biopsy). DNA adducts which are covalent complex between OTA and DNA base (Guanine), constitute first steps of the carcinogenesis process.

[Mycoplasma bovis infection: epidemiological and clinical survey of dairy cattle farms in Morocco]. / Infection à Mycoplasma bovis: suivi épidémiologique et clinique dans des élevages bovins laitiers au Maroc.

An epidemiological survey of M bovis infection in dairy cattle was performed in 10 herds of the Gharb's region, by sampling the animals three times with a two-month interval, between November 1985 and May 1986. M bovis was isolated in six herds with calf enzootic bronchopneumonia with a total frequency of 39% during the first visit, then 25 and 13% after two and four months, respectively. The severity of the symptoms seems closely related to the age of the animals: the youngest being the most susceptible. On the other hand, M bovis was isolated in two herds from 11% of cows suffering from clinical and subclinical mastitis. The isolation occurs at any lactation stage and the infection lasted more than four months in 40% of the animals. These results suggest that mycoplasma are important bovine pathogens in Morocco.