The genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of tannery effluent in bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus).

Some of the most polluting activities occur in bovine skin processing. Tannery generates effluents containing high concentrations of heavy metals and organic compounds. The phases composing the leather production process generate a large volume of tannery effluents that are often discarded in aquatic environments without any previous treatment. However, the effect these xenobiotics have on adult representatives belonging to the class Amphibia remains unknown. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess the geno- and cytotoxic effects of tannery effluent on adult male bullfrogs (Lithobates castesbeianus) exposed to it. Accordingly, the animals were divided into the following groups: negative control (tannery effluent-free water), positive control (cyclophosphamide), and effluent (water added with 5% tannery effluent). The animals were euthanized for blood collection, and erythrocyte analyses were conducted after 35 and 90 days of exposure. The micronuclei (MN) frequency and the frequency of other nuclear abnormalities in each of the animals in the experimental groups were assessed in 2000 erythrocytes. According to the present results, the exposure to tannery effluents increased MN frequency as well as other nuclear abnormalities (i.e., lobed nuclei, binucleated cell, kidney-shaped nuclei, notched nuclei, and apoptotic cell) in the erythrocytes of animals in the effluent group and in the positive control group after 35 and 90 exposure days. Thus, the current study corroborated the hypothesis that the tannery effluent has aneugenic and clastogenic potential in adult male bullfrogs (L. castesbeianus). The present study is the first to report such effect.

Human erythrocytes are affected in vitro by flavonoids of Aristotelia chilensis (Maqui) leaves.

Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz (A. chilensis), also known as maqui, is a plant of the Elaeocarpaceae family that grows in central and southern Chile as well as southwestern Argentina. Infusions of its leaves have long been used in the traditional native herbal medicine to treat different ailments. Phytochemical studies of the plant's chemical composition of the plant indicate the presence of indolic alkaloids, flavonoids, cianidine glucosides, delfidine, malvidine, petunidine, cumarines and triterpenes. These compounds, particularly the flavonoids, have antioxidant properties. In order to evaluate the mechanisms of its toxicity and their antioxidant properties, the leaves' aqueous extracts were induced to interact with human red cells, their isolated unsealed membranes (IUM), and molecular models of the human erythrocyte membrane. These consisted of multibilayers of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE), representative of phospholipids classes located in the outer and inner monolayers of the human erythrocyte membrane, and large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) of DMPC. The capacity of A. chilensis aqueous extracts to perturb the bilayer structure of DMPC and DMPE was evaluated by X-ray diffraction, DMPC LUV and IUM were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, and intact human erythrocytes were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results of the present study indicate that aqueous extracts of A. chilensis induced an alteration of human erythrocyte morphology from the normal discoid shape to an echinocytic form, changes that are explained in terms of the extract interaction with the membrane's outer phospholipid monolayer.

Does higher red blood cell (RBC) lactate transporter activity explain impaired RBC deformability in sickle cell trait?

Lactate and H(+) are suggested to promote the sickling process in red blood cells (RBCs) containing hemoglobin S. We demonstrated greater activity of the RBC monocarboxylate cotransporter MCT-1, lower RBC deformability and impaired hematological indices in sickle cell trait (SCT) carriers compared to control subjects, suggesting an involvement of MCT-1 in hemorheological disturbances in SCT carriers.

An ESR study of pathologic red blood cell membranes (RBCM).

A comparative study of red blood cell membranes from normal subjects and beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia patients was performed by spin labeling at the lipidic and protein phase. The results show that the quantity of bound spin label is the same for sickle, thalassemic, and normal membranes. The data from 5-doxyl stearic acid suggest an increase in fluidity for the thalassemic membrane.