The Use of Herbal Medicine in the Treatment of Vitiligo: An Updated Review.

Vitiligo is a chronic disease of unknown etiology that causes progressive cutaneous depigmentation. Current pharmacological treatments have limited success and present significant risks. Many efforts have been made in recent years to explore new anti-vitiligo therapeutic strategies, including herbal-based therapies. The objective of the present review is to provide an updated overview on the most frequently used medicinal plants in the treatment of vitiligo. A bibliographical search was carried out in scientific databases Pubmed, Scifinder, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Medline up to October 2021 using the descriptors vitiligo, herbal, medicinal plants, and alternative therapies. In our search, the highest number of published studies comprise plants commonly used in traditional herbal medicine, highlighting the usefulness of ethnopharmacology in the discovery of new therapeutic agents. The review outlines current understanding and provides an insight into the role of psoralens and khellin (photosensitizing agents obtained from plants such as Cullen corylifolium or Ammi visnaga). The paper also describes other traditional herbs such as Ginkgo biloba, Phlebodium aureum, Piper nigrum, Picrorhiza kurroa, and Baccharoides anthelmintica that can likewise act as potential therapeutical agents. Based on our findings, photosensitizing agents in combination with phototherapy, the association of oral Phebodium aureum with phototherapies as well as oral G. biloba in monotherapy showed greater scientific evidence as therapeutic options. The research results emphasize that further investigation in this area is merited. More long-term follow up clinical trials and higher quality randomized trials are needed.

Maloclusiones funcionales y su relación con hábitos orales en niños con dentición mixta / Functional malocclusions and their association with oral habits in children with mixed dentition

Objetivo: Relacionar la prevalencia de maloclusiones funcionales con hábitos orales en niños con dentición mixta. Materiales y métodos: La muestra estuvo constituida por 61 pacientes que asistieron a la Facultad de Odontología de la UNNE entre los meses de abril y noviembre de 2018, seleccionados mediante un muestreo al Azar Sistemático. Se evaluó en ellos la presencia de maloclusiones funcionales como mordidas abiertas y cruzadas, líneas medias desviadas, apiñamiento dentario, resalte maxilar. Como hábitos orales se consideró la succión digital, interposición lingual y deglución atípica, interposición de labios y objetos, respiración bucal, onicofagia. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo empleando el software estadístico InfoStat Versión 2019 y para conocer la asociación entre las maloclusiones funcionales y los hábitos orales se emplearon pruebas de Chi cuadrado (nivel de signi- ficación de P ≤0,05). Resultados: Se observó la presencia de maloclusiones funcionales en un 64% de los niños, y se encontró que el api- ñamiento dentario fue el predominante con un 39%. La pre- valencia de hábitos orales fue de 66%, la interposición labial y de objetos fue la que se detectó con mayor frecuencia con un 39%. Se observó mayor presencia de mordida abierta en pacientes con hábitos parafuncionales como ser succión digi- tal e interposición lingual. La asociación entre maloclusiones funcionales y hábitos orales fue estadísticamente significativa (χ 2 = 6,17, P = 0.0130). Conclusión: Se identificó una alta prevalencia de malo- clusiones funcionales en niños con dentición mixta, asociadas a hábitos orales (AU)

Aim: To determine the association between prevalence of functional malocclusions and oral habits in children with mixed dentition. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 61 patients who attended the UNNE School of Dentistry from April to November 2018, selected through systematic random sampling. Presence of functional malocclusions such as open bite, crossbite, deviated midlines, dental crowding, and maxil- lary protrusion were evaluated. The oral habits of finger suck- ing, lingual interposition and atypical swallowing, interposi- tion of lips and objects, mouth breathing, and onychophagia were considered. A descriptive analysis was performed using the Statistical Software InfoStat Version 2019. Chi-square tests were used to determine the association between function- al malocclusions and oral habits (significance level P ≤0.05). Results: Functional malocclusions were present in 64% of the children, with dental crowding being the most prevalent, in 39%. Prevalence of oral habits was found in 66%, with la- bial and object interposition having the highest frequency, in 39%. Open bite was more frequent in patients with parafunc- tional habits such as finger sucking and lingual interposition. The association between functional malocclusions and oral habits was statistically significant (χ2 = 6.17, P = 0.0130). Conclusion: High prevalence of functional malocclu- sions was identified in children with mixed dentition, associ- ated with oral habits (AU)

Assessing alcohol consumption through wastewater-based epidemiology: Spain as a case study.

BACKGROUND: In this study, an alternative and complementary method to those approaches currently used to estimate alcohol consumption by the population is described. This method, known as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), allows back-calculating the alcohol consumption rate in a given population from the concentrations of a selected biomarker measured in wastewater. METHODS: Composite (24-h) wastewater samples were collected at the inlet of 17 wastewater treatment plants located in 13 Spanish cities for seven consecutive days in 2018. The sampled area covered 12.8% of the Spanish population. Wastewater samples were analyzed to determine the concentration of ethyl sulfate, the biomarker used to back-calculate alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Alcohol consumption ranged from 4.5 to 46 mL/day/inhabitant. Differences in consumption were statistically significant among the investigated cities and between weekdays and weekends. WBE-derived estimates of alcohol consumption were comparable to those reported by its corresponding region in the Spanish National Health Survey in most cases. At the national level, comparable results were obtained between the WBE-derived annual consumption rate (5.7 ± 1.2 L ethanol per capita (aged 15+)) and that reported by the National Health Survey (4.7 L ethanol per capita (aged 15+)). CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest WBE study carried out to date in Spain to estimate alcohol consumption rates. It confirms that this approach is useful for establishing spatial and temporal patterns of alcohol consumption, which could contribute to the development of health care management plans and policies. Contrary to established methods, it allows obtaining information in a fast and relatively economical way.

First nation-wide estimation of tobacco consumption in Spain using wastewater-based epidemiology.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become a very useful tool to monitor a population's drug consumption or exposure to environmental and food contaminants. In this work, WBE has been applied to estimate tobacco consumption in seven Spanish regions. To this end, 24 h composite wastewater samples were taken daily for one week in 17 wastewater treatment plants, covering altogether a population of ca. 6 million inhabitants. The samples were treated by enzymatic deconjugation and the wastewater content of two human-specific nicotine metabolites (namely, cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine) was measured to estimate the daily consumption of nicotine. The population-weighted average nicotine consumption in the seven analyzed regions was 2.2 g/(day∙1000 inh.), without any daily pattern. This average estimated nicotine consumption value agreed with the value derived from official tobacco sales data. Differences in consumption among the seven studied regions were found, being Galicia, the region with the lowest rate, and the Basque Country and Catalonia those with the highest rates. However, no conclusive correlation was found between those values and the prevalence data taken from two different national surveys, nor sociodemographic and health data. This study demonstrates that this tool can complement other indicators in order to accurately assess tobacco consumption rates at regional and national levels and provides the most extensive application of the approach in the Spanish territory.

Toward a Rational Design of Polyamine-Based Zinc-Chelating Agents for Cancer Therapies.

In vitro viability assays against a representative panel of human cancer cell lines revealed that polyamines L1a and L5a displayed remarkable activity with IC50 values in the micromolar range. Preliminary research indicated that both compounds promoted G1 cell cycle arrest followed by cellular senescence and apoptosis. The induction of apoptotic cell death involved loss of mitochondrial outer membrane permeability and activation of caspases 3/7. Interestingly, L1a and L5a failed to activate cellular DNA damage response. The high intracellular zinc-chelating capacity of both compounds, deduced from the metal-specific Zinquin assay and ZnL2+ stability constant values in solution, strongly supports their cytotoxicity. These data along with quantum mechanical studies have enabled to establish a precise structure-activity relationship. Moreover, L1a and L5a showed appropriate drug-likeness by in silico methods. Based on these promising results, L1a and L5a should be considered a new class of zinc-chelating anticancer agents that deserves further development.

A flow-based platform hyphenated to on-line liquid chromatography for automatic leaching tests of chemical additives from microplastics into seawater.

An automatic flow-based system as a front end to liquid chromatography (LC) for on-line dynamic leaching of microplastic materials (polyethylene of medium density and poly(vinyl chloride)) with incurred phthalates and bisphenol A is herein presented. The microplastic particles were packed in a metal column holder, through which seawater was pumped continuously by resorting to advanced flow methodology. Each milliliter of the leachable (bioaccessible) fraction of chemical additives was preconcentrated on-line using a 10 mm-long octadecyl monolithic silica column placed in the sampling loop of the injection valve of a HPLC system that served concomitantly for analyte uptake and removal of the seawater matrix. After loading of the leachate fraction, the LC valve was switched to the inject position and the analytes were eluted and separated by a monolithic column (Onyx C18HD 100 × 4.6 mm) using an optimized acetonitrile/water gradient with UV detection at 240 nm. The automatic flow method including dynamic flow-through extraction, on-line sorptive preconcentration, and matrix clean-up was synchronized with the HPLC separation, which lasted ca. 9 min. The only two currently available multi-component certified reference materials (CRM) of microplastics (CRM-PE002 and CRM-PVC001) were used for method development and validation. Out of the eight regulated phthalates contained in the two CRMs, only the 2 most polar species, namely, dimethyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate as well as bisphenol A, were leached significantly by the seawater in less than 2 h, with bioaccessibility percentages of 51-100%. The leaching profiles were monitored and modeled with a first-order kinetic equation so as to determine the rate constants for desorption in a risk assessment scenario. Intermediate precision values of bioaccessibility data for three batches of CRMs were for the suite of targeted compounds ≤22%. This work for the first time reports a fully automatic flow method with infinite sink capacity (i.e., using a surplus of extracting solution) for the target species able to mimic the leaching of additives from plastic debris across the water body in marine settings under worst-case extraction conditions.

Neuroprotective Potential of Ginkgo biloba in Retinal Diseases.

Like other tissues of the central nervous system, the retina is susceptible to damage by oxidative processes that result in several neurodegenerative disease such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, ischaemic retinal disease, retinal disease produced by light oxidation, and detached retina, among other diseases. The use of antioxidant substances is a solution to some health problems caused by oxidative stress, because they regulate redox homeostasis and reduce oxidative stress. This is important for neurodegeneration linked to oxidation processes. In line with this, Ginkgo biloba is a medicinal plant with excellent antioxidant properties whose effects have been demonstrated in several degenerative processes, including retinal diseases associated with neurodegeneration. This review describes the current literature on the role of ginkgo in retinal diseases associated with neurodegeneration. The information leads to the conclusion that G. biloba extracts might be a good option to improve certain neurodegenerative retinal diseases, but more research is needed to determine the safety and efficacy of G. biloba in these retinal degenerative processes.

Complementary assessment of As, Cu and Zn environmental availability in a stabilised contaminated soil using large-bore column leaching, automatic microcolumn extraction and DGT analysis.

Soil pollution with trace elements is a concerning issue worldwide. Monitoring of soil pollution and remediation protocols need still from valid complementary analytical approaches able to detect changes in speciation and lability of metals in soils (e.g. stabilization or mobility). In this work, we compare three different analytical approaches to assess potential changes in environmental availability of Cu, As and Zn in a Mediterranean polluted soil that was amended with different combinations of iron sulphate and alkaline paper sludge waste. The studied methods were: (i) a standard large-bore flow-through column system (macrocolumn), (ii) an automatic dynamic flow-through microcolumn extraction system, and (iii) the diffusive gradients in thin gels technique (DGT). The three analytical approaches tested showed immobilization of Zn and Cu in contaminated mine soils after co-application of paper sludge and iron sulphate, but they differ quantitatively in terms of As mobility. Interconversion between oxidation states of inorganic As is observed to occur to a larger extent in macrocolumn. Because this may only occur in very specific Mediterranean scenarios (i.e. organic matter application to intermittently flooded mine soils), macrocolumn extraction procedures might not appropriately mimic the environmental availability of As in soils with organic amendments (e.g., paper sludge waste). Microcolumn leaching is the fastest screening tool to ascertain the efficiency of chemical amendments, but DGT is a good alternative with less technical demands.

Automatic Mesofluidic System Combining Dynamic Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility with Lab-on-Valve-Based Sorptive Microextraction for Risk Exposure of Organic Emerging Contaminants in Filter-Feeding Organisms.

An automatic mesofluidic system combining dynamic oral bioaccessibility with lab-on-valve (LOV)-based sorptive microextraction is herein proposed for the first time for exploring the kinetics of leaching of incurred rather than spiked organic emerging contaminants (viz., methyl paraben, butyl paraben, diclofenac, and triclosan) from exposed mussels on the basis of the Versantvoort's fed-state physiological extraction test. Our method capitalizes on programmable flow analysis, in which gastrointestinal extracts are obtained online by pumping a simulated biorelevant gastrointestinal fluid across a large-bore column (maintained at 37.0 ± 2.0 °C) loaded with 250 mg of freeze-dried and powdered mussel onto a polyvinyldiene difluoride filter membrane. The physiologically relevant extracts are then cleaned up, and the analytes are preconcentrated onto a dedicated reversed-phase solid-phase extraction (Oasis PRIME-HLB) microcolumn that is captured into the channels of an LOV mesofluidic platform. The aim behind this is to obtain analyte-laden eluates with ACN/MeOH (90:10, v/v) in unsupervised mode for direct injection into LC-MS. The LOV minicolumn (≤25 mg) is automatically disposed of and renewed for every individual fraction on account of the strong retention of (phospho)lipids by the copolymeric sorbent. The proposed dynamic bioaccessibility test features a significant shortening of the extraction time against the batch method (28 vs 240 min) while avoiding overestimation of potentially bioavailable fractions. The trueness of the online gastrointestinal extraction method was confirmed using mass-balance validation following ultrasonic-assisted solid-liquid extraction of the original mussel sample and the residual (nonbioaccessible) fraction of emerging contaminants.

3D Printing: The Second Dawn of Lab-On-Valve Fluidic Platforms for Automatic (Bio)Chemical Assays.

In this work, inexpensive manufacturing of unibody transparent mesofluidic platforms for pressure-driven Lab-On-a-Valve (LOV) methodologies is accomplished via rapid one-step 3D prototyping from digital models by user-friendly freeware. Multichannel architecture having 800-1800 µm cross-sectional features with unconventional 3D conduit structures and integrating optical and electrochemical detection facilities is for the first time reported. User-defined flow-programming capitalizing upon software control for automatic liquid handling is synergistically combined with additive manufacturing based on stereolithographic 3D printing so as to launch the so-called fourth generation of microflow analysis (3D-µFIA). Using an affordable consumer-grade 3D printer dedicated LOV platforms are 3D printed at will and prints are characterized in terms of solvent compatibility, optical and mechanical properties, and sorption of inorganic and organic species to prospect potentialities for the unfettered choice of chemistries. The unique versatility of the 3D-printed LOV device that is attached to a multiposition rotary valve as a central design unit is demonstrated by (i) online handling of biological materials followed by on-chip photometric detection, (ii) flow-through bioaccessibility tests in exposome studies of contaminated soils with miniaturized voltammetric detection, (iii) online phospholipid removal by TiO2-incorporated microextraction approaches using on-chip disposable sorbents, and (iv) automatic dynamic permeation tests mimicking transdermal measurements in Franz-cell configurations. A multipurpose LOV fluidic platform can be fabricated for less than 11 Euros.

Relación entre los hábitos parafuncionales y las características clínicas de la articulación temporomandibular / Relationship between parafunctional habits and clinical characteristics of the temporomandibular joint

Objetivo: Relacionar los hábitos parafuncionales y las características clínicas de la articulación temporomandibular. Métodos: Se evaluaron 125 pacientes de 18 a 50 años, se diagnosticó la presencia de ruido articular, características clínicas como restricción de la apertura bucal, irregularidad en el movimiento de apertura y cierre, dolor de músculos masticadores, dolor articular, facetas de desgastes y hábitos parafuncionales como bruxismo, masticación unilateral y mordedura de objetos. Resultados: El 34% de los pacientes presentaron ruido en la articulación temporomandibular. El bruxismo, presentó relación significativa con restricción de la apertura bucal (p=0,0013), irregularidad en el movimiento de apertura y cierre (p=0,0065), dolor muscular (p<0,001), faceta de desgaste (p=0,0048), y no se encontró relación con el dolor articular (p=0,0489). La masticación unilateral se relacionó significativamente con todas las características clínicas evaluadas, restricción de la apertura bucal (p=0,0040), irregularidad en el movimiento de apertura y cierre (p<0,001), dolor muscular (p=0,0015), dolor articular (p=0,003) y faceta de desgaste (p=0,0015). La mordedura de objetos no presentó relación con las características clínicas evaluadas. Conclusiones: Los ruidos a nivel de la articulación temporomandibular son frecuentes, siendo el chasquido el de mayor frecuencia. El bruxismo, presentó relación significativa con la restricción de la apertura bucal, la irregularidad en el movimiento de apertura y cierre, dolor muscular, faceta de desgaste, y no se encontró relación con el dolor articular. La masticación unilateral se relacionó significativamente con todas las características clínicas y la mordedura de objetos no presentó relación con las características clínicas de disfunción temporomandibular estudiadas. Palabras clave: Bruxismo; Síndrome de la disfunción de articulación temporomandibular; Sistema estomatognático.

Objective: Relate the parafunctional habits and the clinical characteristics of the temporomandibular joint. Methods: 125 patients aged 18 to 50 years were evaluated, the presence of joint noise was diagnosed, clinical characteristics such as restriction of the mouth opening, irregularity in the movement of opening and closing, pain of chewing muscles, joint pain, wear facets and parafunctional habits such as bruxism, unilateral chewing and biting of objects. Results: 34% of the patients presented noise in the temporomandibular joint. The bruxism, presented significant relationship with restriction of the mouth opening (p=0.0013), irregularity in the movement of opening and closing (p=0.0065), muscle pain (p<0.001), wear facets (p=0.0048), and no relationship was found with joint pain (p=0.0489). Unilateral mastication was significantly related to all clinical characteristics evaluated, mouth opening restriction (p=0.0040), irregularity in opening and closing movement (p<0.001), muscle pain (p=0.0015), joint pain (p=0.003), wear facets (p=0.0015). The bite of objects was not related to the clinical characteristics evaluated. Conclusions: Noises at the level of the temporomandibular joint are frequent, being the click the most frequent. The bruxism, presented significant relationship with the restriction of the oral opening, the irregularity in the movement of opening and closing, muscle pain, wear facets, and no relation was found with joint pain. The unilateral mastication was significantly related to all the clinical characteristics and the bite of objects was not related to the clinical characteristics of temporomandibular dysfunction studied. Keywords: Bruxism; Stomatognathic system; Temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome.

Flow-through dynamic microextraction system for automatic in vitro assessment of chyme bioaccessibility in food commodities.

An automatic flow-through dynamic extraction method is proposed for the first time for in vitro exploration, with high temporal resolution, of the transit of the chyme from the gastric to the duodenal compartment using the Versantvoort's fed-state physiologically relevant extraction test. The flow manifold was coupled on-line to an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP OES) for real-time elucidation of the bioaccessible elemental fraction of micronutrients (viz., Cu, Fe and Mn) in food commodities across the gastrointestinal tract. The simulated intestinal and bile biofluid (added to the gastric phase) was successively pumped at 1.0 mL min-1 through a large-bore column (maintained at 37.0 ±â€¯2.0 °C) initially loaded with a weighed amount of linseed (250 mg) using a PVDF filter membrane (5.0 µm pore size) for retaining of the solid sample and in-line filtration of the extracts. The lack of bias (trueness) of the on-line gastrointestinal extraction method coupled to ICP OES was confirmed using mass balance validation following microwave assisted digestion of the residual (non-bioaccessible) elemental fraction. Mass balance validation yielded absolute recoveries spanning from 79 to 121% for the overall analytes and samples. On-line dynamic extraction was critically appraised against batch counterparts for both gastric and gastrointestinal compartments. Due to the lack of consensus in the literature regarding the agitation method for batch oral bioaccessibility testing, several extraction approaches (viz., magnetic stirring, end-over-end rotation and orbital shaking) were evaluated. Improved gastric extractability of Fe along with bioaccessible data comparable to the dynamic counterpart based on the continuous displacement of the extraction equilibrium was obtained with batchwise magnetic stirring, which is deemed most appropriate for ascertaining worst-case/maximum bioaccessibility scenarios.

Lab-on-a-Valve Mesofluidic Platform for On-Chip Handling of Carbon-Coated Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes in a Disposable Microsolid Phase-Extraction Mode.

Mesofluidic lab-on-a-valve (LOV) platforms have been proven suitable to accommodate automatic micro-solid-phase extraction (µSPE) approaches with on-chip handling of micrometer-bead materials in a fully disposable mode to prevent sample cross-contamination and pressure-drop effects. The efficiency of the extraction process notably depends upon the sorptive capacity of the material because the sorbent mass is usually down to 10 mg in LOV devices. Nanomaterials, capitalizing upon their enhanced surface-to-volume ratio and diversity of potential chemical moieties, are appealing alternatives to microbead sorbents. However, the handling and confinement of nanomaterials in fluidic chip structures have been challenging to date. This is most likely a consequence of the aggregation tendency of a number of nanomaterials, including carbon-based sorbents, that leads to excessive back-pressure in flowing systems along with irreproducible bead loading. This paper addresses these challenges by ad hoc synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials, such as porous carbon-coated titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2-NT@pC). Tailoring of the surface polarity of the carbon coating is proven to foster the dispersion of TiO2-NT@pC in LOV settings while affording superior extraction capability of moderately nonpolar species from aqueous matrices. The determination of trace-level concentrations of butylparaben (BPB) and triclosan (TCS) in seawater samples is herein selected as a proof-of-concept of the exploitation of disposable nanomaterials in LOV. The mesofluidic platform accommodating µSPE features online hyphenation to liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) for reliable determination of the target analytes with excellent limits of detection (0.5 and 0.6 ng/L for BPB and TCS, respectively) and intermediate precision (relative standard deviation <5.8%). For 5.0 mL of sample and 200 µL of eluent, enrichment factors of 23 and 14 with absolute extraction efficiencies of 90% ± 14% and 58 ± 8% for BPB and TCS, respectively, were obtained. The relative recovery values of 107% (BPB) and 97% (TCS) in seawater demonstrate the applicability of online LOV-LC/MS/MS using TiO2-NT@pC for handling troublesome environmental samples.

Dynamic flow-through approach to evaluate readily bioaccessible antioxidants in solid food samples.

Release of bioactive compounds from food matrices is regarded as the first step towards their human bioavailability. The objective of this work was the implementation of an affordable and robust flow-through device for expedient dynamic leaching experiments aiming at the assessment of readily bioaccessible antioxidant compounds in solid food commodities. A simple configuration is proposed using commercially available devices containing regenerated cellulose filters placed in polypropylene holders to entrap the solid sample, featuring a disposable, single use extraction chamber. The kinetic extraction profile of fast leachable antioxidants from different food matrices was evaluated using the ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) assay, fitting a first-order reaction model for readily bioaccessible compounds (R>0.9). The leaching rate constant values associated to the fast leachable antioxidant compounds were 0.060-0.446min-1 and 0.105-0.210min-1 for water and ethanol/water (1:1, v/v) applied as extractants, respectively. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were found between the estimated values of bioaccessible antioxidant compounds by the kinetic model and the values attained using conventional batch-wise extraction methodology, ranging from 3.37 to 60.3 µmol of Trolox ((±)-6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchromane-2-carboxylic acid) per g of sample. Extension of the method using U. S. Pharmacopeia surrogate biological media (stomach (pH 1.2) and intestinal (pH 7.5) fluids without enzymes) to NIST-1570a spinach leaves provided gastrointestinal compartment-dependent kinetic leaching rates (0.120 and 0.198min-1, respectively) and total antioxidant content (45.5 and 52.5µmol of Trolox per g of sample, respectively).

In-vitro estimation of bioaccessibility of chlorinated organophosphate flame retardants in indoor dust by fasting and fed physiologically relevant extraction tests.

This paper reports the evaluation of in-vitro physiologically relevant extraction tests for ascertainment of the bioaccessible fractions of emerging flame retardants from indoor dust in the gastric and gastrointestinal compartments. Standardized bioaccessibility tests under both fasting (UBM-like test) and fed (FOREhST test) conditions simulating the macronutrient composition of an average child diet were harnessed for investigation of the oral bioaccessibility of chlorinated organophosphate esters, namely, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCP), in household and automobile cabin dust samples with varying concentration levels of contaminants. Minimal processing of the biomimetic extracts (only protein precipitation using acetonitrile) was proven feasible by analysis with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS/MS). An inversely proportional relationship was identified between log Kow and oral bioaccessibility concentrations for TCEP, TCPP and TDCP in both dust samples with maximum bioaccessibility fractions for TCEP within the range of 50-103%. Non-bioaccessible fractions were determined by matrix-solid phase dispersion. Limits of quantification of LC-MS/MS in surrogate digestive fluids ranging from 0.4-0.8ng/mL suffice for determination of freely dissolved fractions of the two less hydrophobic species. Our results indicate that lipophilic food commodities used under fed-state gastrointestinal extraction conditions do not increase availability of TCEP, TCPP and TDCP in body fluids, and therefore conservative conditions in human health risk explorations for the target moderately polar flame retardants might be obtained with simplified tests under fasting conditions. This also holds true for the UBM/FOREhST bioaccessibility data for SRM 2585 (organic contaminants in house dust). Estimated average daily intake doses for toddlers incorporating oral bioaccessibility data afforded body burdens for the three chlorinated alkyl phosphates of ca. 3000 to 700 times below reference dose values, which indicate that long-term exposure to chlorinated organophosphate esters via accidental ingestion of indoor dust does not pose health risks to toddlers.

On-line coupling of physiologically relevant bioaccessibility testing to inductively coupled plasma spectrometry: Proof of concept for fast assessment of gastrointestinal bioaccessibility of micronutrients from soybeans.

In-vitro physiologically relevant gastrointestinal extraction based on the validated Unified BARGE Method (UBM) is in this work hyphenated to inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry in a batch-flow configuration for real-time monitoring of oral bioaccessibility assays with high temporal resolution. A fully automated flow analyzer is designed to foster in-line filtration of gastrointestinal extracts at predefined times (≤15 min) followed by on-line multi-elemental analysis of bioaccessible micro-nutrients, viz., Cu, Fe and Mn, in well-defined volumes of extracts (300 µL) of transgenic and non-transgenic soybean seeds taken as model samples. The hyphenated flow setup allows for recording of temporal extraction profiles to gain full knowledge of the kinetics of the gastrointestinal digestion processes, including element leaching and concomitant precipitation and complexation reactions hindering bioavailability. Simplification of the overall standard procedure is also feasible by identification of steady-state extraction conditions. Our findings indicate that reliable measurement of oral bioaccessible pools of Cu, Fe and Mn in soybean might be obtained in less than 180 min rather than 240 min as endorsed by UBM. Using a matrix-matched external calibration, limits of detection according to the 3s criteria were 0.5 µg/g for Mn, 0.6 µg/g for Cu and 2.3 µg/g for Fe. Trueness of the automatic bioaccessibility method was confirmed by mass balance validation with recoveries ranging from 87 to 116% regardless of the target element and sample. Cu was the micronutrient with the highest oral bioaccessibility ranging from 73% to 83% (7.5-7.9 µg/g) for non-transgenic and transgenic soybeans, respectively, followed by Mn and Fe within the ranges of 29-31% (10.8-11.4 µg/g) and 11-15% (8-14 µg/g), respectively, regardless of transgenesis. The proposed kinetic method is proven suitable for fast and expedient estimation of the nutritional value of soybeans and elucidation of the potential effect of transgenesis onto bioaccessible fractions of elements.

New Insights into the Reliability of Automatic Dynamic Methods for Oral Bioaccessibility Testing: A Case Study for BGS102 soil.

Dynamic flow-through extraction is attracting a great deal of attention for real-time monitoring of the bioaccessible fraction of metal species in environmental solid substrates compared to its batchwise manual counterparts. There is however a lack of studies on the harmonization and validation of in vitro dynamic methods for physiologically based extraction tests against in vivo bioavailability methods. This work is aimed at evaluating the reliability of dynamic flow-through extraction methods for estimation of oral bioaccessible fractions of Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cr, and As under worst-case extraction conditions in the gastric compartment based on the BGS102 guidance soil using the in vivo validated Unified BARGE (UBM) test, commonly performed under batchwise mode. Good overall agreement between batch and dynamic UBM results was obtained for the tested elements, except for Pb, as a consequence of the slow leaching kinetics identified with the dynamic method and the contribution of readsorption phenomena in the course of the gastric digestion. Metal-soil phase associations and their relationship with gastric bioaccessible fractions were elucidated using the so-called Chemometric Identification of Substrates and Element Distributions method based on sequential extraction with a variety of chemicals of increasing acidity as applied to both static and dynamic bioaccessibility data.

Automatic flow-through dynamic extraction: A fast tool to evaluate char-based remediation of multi-element contaminated mine soils.

An automatic in-vitro bioaccessibility test based upon dynamic microcolumn extraction in a programmable flow setup is herein proposed as a screening tool to evaluate bio-char based remediation of mine soils contaminated with trace elements as a compelling alternative to conventional phyto-availability tests. The feasibility of the proposed system was evaluated by extracting the readily bioaccessible pools of As, Pb and Zn in two contaminated mine soils before and after the addition of two biochars (9% (w:w)) of diverse source origin (pine and olive). Bioaccessible fractions under worst-case scenarios were measured using 0.001 mol L(-1) CaCl2 as extractant for mimicking plant uptake, and analysis of the extracts by inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry. The t-test of comparison of means revealed an efficient metal (mostly Pb and Zn) immobilization by the action of olive pruning-based biochar against the bare (control) soil at the 0.05 significance level. In-vitro flow-through bioaccessibility tests are compared for the first time with in-vivo phyto-toxicity assays in a microcosm soil study. By assessing seed germination and shoot elongation of Lolium perenne in contaminated soils with and without biochar amendments the dynamic flow-based bioaccessibility data proved to be in good agreement with the phyto-availability tests. Experimental results indicate that the dynamic extraction method is a viable and economical in-vitro tool in risk assessment explorations to evaluate the feasibility of a given biochar amendment for revegetation and remediation of metal contaminated soils in a mere 10 min against 4 days in case of phyto-toxicity assays.

Niveles de ansiedad y su relación con los trastornos temporomandibulares / Anxiety levels and their relationship to temporomandibular disorders

El diagnóstico de los trastornos temporomandibulares es un tema muy controvertido dentro del campo de la salud, desde una perspectiva psicológica son muy escasas las referencias en este sentido, sobretodo las enfocadas a analizar los niveles de ansiedad en estos pacientes. En los últimos años se han realizado diferentes investigaciones que validan la inclusión de factores psicológicos como parte de la etiología del diagnóstico, dentro de los factorespsíquicos más asociados se presentan la ansiedad como rasgo y la ansiedad como estado. El propósito de este trabajo es presentar una revisión sobre la relación existente entre los niveles de ansiedad y los trastornos temporomandibulares.

The diagnosis of temporomandibulardisorders is very controversial within the fieldof health issue, from a psychological perspectiveare very few references in this regard,especially focused on analyzing anxiety levelsin these patients. In recent years there have beenvarious studies that validate the inclusionof psychological factors as part of the etiology,diagnosis, within the psychological factorsmost associated trait anxiety and state anxietyas presented. The purpose of this paper is topresent a review of the relationship betweenanxiety levels and temporomandibular disorders.

High-throughput automatic flow method for determination of trace concentrations of aluminum in dialysis concentrate solutions using salicylaldehyde picolinoylhydrazone as a turn-on fluorescent probe.

A simple and expedient flow-based assembly capitalizing on programmable flow is herein proposed for reliable determination of trace level concentrations of aluminum as a potential contaminant in dialysis concentrate solutions without any prior sample clean-up/preconcentration procedure. Using salicylaldehyde picolinoylhydrazone in weakly acidic media as a turn-on fluorescent probe, the manifold is devised to handle three samples concurrently in stopped-flow reaction mode for simultaneous improvement of the analytical sensitivity and sample throughput. Analytical parameters influencing the sensitivity and repeatability of the assays, namely, probe concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time were investigated using a multivariate optimization protocol composed of a full factorial screening design followed by a Doehlert matrix model. The analysis of the Pareto chart and surface response revealed that the reaction time and amount of fluorescent probe were critical parameters for reliable assays of aluminum at the low ng mL(-1) level. Under the optimized chemical and physical variables, a detection limit of 1.1ngmL(-1) Al(III) at the 3s(blank) level, relative standard deviations better than 1.0%, a dynamic linear range of 5.0-80 ng mL(-1) and a sample throughput up to 25 h(-1) were obtained with no need for either sample preconcentration or the use of organized supramolecular systems. Demonstrated with the analysis of hemodialysis and peritoneal concentrate solutions, and dialysis waters, the flow-through method copes with the requirements of regulatory bodies (e.g., European Pharmacopeia) for quality control of aluminum in high salinity containing dialysis concentrates.