The relationship between environmental exposures and hormonal abnormalities in pregnant women: An epidemiological study in Yazd, Iran.

PROBLEM: The process of industrialization and lifestyle changes have gradually exposed human societies to a larger number of environmental risk factors, which may cause hormonal abnormalities and congenital anomalies. BACKGROUND: The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between environmental factors and hormonal abnormalities among pregnant women in Yazd, Iran. METHODS: A hundred participants were randomly selected from among a group of pregnant women. According to the screening tests (AFP, free ß- HCG, uE3, PAPP-A, and inhibin-A) performed at the genome clinic in Yazd in 2016, the risk of Down Syndrome (DS) was sufficiently high in this group of pregnant women from which the participants were selected. A questionnaire was used to collect data on the degree of the participants' exposure to pesticides at home, use of canned and fast foods, and consumption of greenhouse fruits. The collected data were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis Test. FINDINGS: The mean of Multiple of Median (MoM) for inhibin-A was significantly higher among pregnant women who often or always used pesticides at home (p=0.047). The mean MoM for free ß-HCG was significantly higher among pregnant women who often or always used canned foods (p=0.024). Finally, the mean MoM for uE3 (1.85±1.30) was significantly higher among pregnant women who never consumed greenhouse fruits (p=0.003). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that it is possible to reduce environmental exposures affecting hormonal abnormalities among pregnant women by improving nutritional patterns, minimizing the use of pesticides at home, and reducing the intake of canned foods and greenhouse fruits.

Quantification of Methylenecyclopropyl Compounds and Acyl Conjugates by UPLC-MS/MS in the Study of the Biochemical Effects of the Ingestion of Canned Ackee (Blighia sapida) and Lychee (Litchi chinensis).

Consumption of ackee (Blighia sapida) and lychee (Litchi chinensis) fruit has led to severe poisoning. Considering their expanded agricultural production, toxicological evaluation has become important. Therefore, the biochemical effects of eating 1 g/kg canned ackee, containing 99.2 µmol/kg hypoglycin A, and 5 g/kg canned lychee, containing 1.3 µmol/kg hypoglycin A, were quantified in a self-experiment. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, hypoglycin A, methylenecyclopropylacetyl-glycine, and methylenecyclopropylformyl-glycine, as well as the respective carnitine conjugates, were found in urine after ingesting ackee. Hypoglycin A and its glycine derivative were also present in urine after eating lychee. Excretion of physiological acyl conjugates was significantly increased in the ackee experiment. Ingestion of ackee led to up to 15.1 nmol/L methylenecyclopropylacetyl-glycine and traces of methylenecyclopropylformyl-carnitine in the serum. These compounds were not found in the serum after eating lychee. Hypoglycin A accumulated in the serum in both experiments.

Microepidemia familiar de botulismo alimentario en la Comunidad de Madrid / Familial microepidemic of food-borne botulism in the Region of Madrid

Introducción. El botulismo es un síndrome causado por la toxina del bacilo Clostridium botulinum. La toxina actúa bloqueando las terminaciones colinérgicas presinápticas de la placa motora y del sistema nervioso parasimpático, y ocasiona una parálisis flácida y un fallo parasimpático. El modo más habitual de adquisición de la enfermedad es por ingesta de toxina preformada presente en las conservas caseras mal esterilizadas, aunque otros mecanismos son posibles. Su incidencia actual en España es muy baja. Casos clínicos. Se describen tres miembros convivientes de una familia que presentaron un cuadro de botulismo alimentario. Las manifestaciones clínicas iniciales mostraron predilección por la paresia ocular y por sintomatología disautonó- mica de escasa especificidad, y la agregación familiar fue el indicio fundamental que sugirió el diagnóstico. Posteriormente, los pacientes empeoraron y dos de ellos presentaron afectación de la función respiratoria y precisaron ingreso prolongado en la unidad de cuidados intensivos. Los tres pacientes convalecieron y se recuperaron sin secuelas. Se consiguió detectar la toxina botulínica por bioensayo en los restos de alimentos, lo que confiere al caso la categoría diagnóstica de confirmado. Conclusiones. La microepidemia familiar presentada constituye un caso de afectación inicial predominantemente ocular y disautonómica. Asimismo, ilustra varios aspectos típicos de la enfermedad: la sospecha diagnóstica ante pacientes convivientes que acuden simultáneamente por clínica similar, las complicaciones características del proceso y su tratamiento, el diagnóstico de laboratorio y su historia natural hacia la resolución (AU)

Introduction. Botulism is a syndrome caused by the toxin of the bacillus Clostridium botulinum. The toxin acts by blocking the presynaptic cholinergic endings of the neuromuscular junction and of the parasympathetic nervous system, and gives rise to a flaccid paralysis and parasympathetic failure. The most common way to catch the disease is by ingestion of the preformed toxin present in badly sterilised home-made preserves, although other mechanisms are also possible. Its incidence in Spain today is very low. Case reports. We report the case of three members of a family living together who presented a clinical picture of foodborne botulism. The initial clinical symptoms showed a predilection for ocular paresis and for dysautonomic symptoms of little specificity, and the familial aggregation was the fundamental evidence that suggested the diagnosis. Later, the patients’ state got worse and two of them presented involvement of the respiratory function and required a lengthy stay in the intensive care unit. After a period of convalescence the three patients recovered without any sequelae. Botulinum toxin was detected by bioassay in some food samples, which allowed the diagnosis to be categorised as confirmed. Conclusions. The familial microepidemic reported here is a case of predominantly ocular and dysautonomic involvement. Likewise, it illustrates several aspects that are typical of the disease: the suspected diagnosis in cohabiting patients who visit at the same time for a similar clinical picture, the characteristic complications of the process and its treatment, the laboratory diagnosis and its natural history towards resolution (AU)

Effect of the industrial canning on the toxicity of mussels contaminated with diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins.

The effect of canning in pickled sauce and autoclaving on weight, toxin content, toxin concentration and toxicity of steamed mussels was studied. Weight decreased by 25.5%. Okadaic acid (OA) and DTX2 content of mussel meat decreased by 24.1 and 42.5%, respectively. The estimated toxicity of the mussel remained nearly unchanged (increased by 2.9%). A part of the toxins lost by the mussels was leached to the sauce but the remaining part should have been thermally degraded. DTX2 underwent more degradation than OA and, in both toxins, free forms more than conjugated ones. This process, therefore, cannot be responsible for the large increments of toxicity of processed mussels -relative to the raw ones-sometimes detected by food processing companies. The final product could be monitored in several ways, but analysing the whole can content or the mussel meat once rehydrated seems to be the most equivalents to the raw mussel controls.

Estimates of dietary exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) from light metal packaging using food consumption and packaging usage data: a refined deterministic approach and a fully probabilistic (FACET) approach.

The FACET tool is a probabilistic model to estimate exposure to chemicals in foodstuffs, originating from flavours, additives and food contact materials. This paper demonstrates the use of the FACET tool to estimate exposure to BPA (bisphenol A) from light metal packaging. For exposure to migrants from food packaging, FACET uses industry-supplied data on the occurrence of substances in the packaging, their concentrations and construction of the packaging, which were combined with data from a market research organisation and food consumption data supplied by national database managers. To illustrate the principles, UK packaging data were used together with consumption data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) dietary survey for 19-64 year olds for a refined deterministic verification. The UK data were chosen mainly because the consumption surveys are detailed, data for UK packaging at a detailed level were available and, arguably, the UK population is composed of high consumers of packaged foodstuffs. Exposures were run for each food category that could give rise to BPA from light metal packaging. Consumer loyalty to a particular type of packaging, commonly referred to as packaging loyalty, was set. The BPA extraction levels used for the 15 types of coating chemistries that could release BPA were in the range of 0.00005-0.012 mg dm(-2). The estimates of exposure to BPA using FACET for the total diet were 0.0098 (mean) and 0.0466 (97.5th percentile) mg/person/day, corresponding to 0.00013 (mean) and 0.00059 (97.5th percentile) mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) for consumers of foods packed in light metal packaging. This is well below the current EFSA (and other recognised bodies) TDI of 0.05 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1). These probabilistic estimates were compared with estimates using a refined deterministic approach drawing on the same input data. The results from FACET for the mean, 95th and 97.5th percentile exposures to BPA lay between the lowest and the highest estimates from the refined deterministic calculations. Since this should be the case, for a fully probabilistic compared with a deterministic approach, it is concluded that the FACET tool has been verified in this example. A recent EFSA draft opinion on exposure to BPA from different sources showed that canned foods were a major contributor and compared results from various models, including those from FACET. The results from FACET were overall conservative.