Biomonitoring of metals in children living in an urban area and close to waste incinerators

The impact of waste incinerators is usually examined by measuring environmental pollutants. Biomonitoring has been limited, until now, to few metals and to adults. We explored accumulation of a comprehensive panel of metals in children free-living in an urban area hosting two waste incinerators. Children were divided by georeferentiation in exposed and control groups, and toenail concentrations of 23 metals were thereafter assessed. The percentage of children having toenail metal concentrations above the limit of detection was higher in exposed children than in controls for Al, Ba, Mn, Cu, and V. Exposed children had higher absolute concentrations of Ba, Mn, Cu, and V, as compared with those living in the reference area. The Tobit regression identified living in the exposed area as a significant predictor of Ba, Ni, Cu, Mn, and V concentrations, after adjusting for covariates. The concentrations of Ba, Mn, Ni, and Cu correlated with each other, suggesting a possible common source of emission. Exposure to emissions derived from waste incinerators in an urban setting can lead to body accumulation of specific metals in children. Toenail metal concentration should be considered a noninvasive and adequate biomonitoring tool and an early warning indicator which should integrate the environmental monitoring of pollutants

Numerical ragweed pollen forecasts using different source maps: a comparison for France.

One of the key input parameters for numerical pollen forecasts is the distribution of pollen sources. Generally, three different methodologies exist to assemble such distribution maps: (1) plant inventories, (2) land use data in combination with annual pollen counts, and (3) ecological modeling. We have used six exemplary maps for all of these methodologies to study their applicability and usefulness in numerical pollen forecasts. The ragweed pollen season of 2012 in France has been simulated with the numerical weather prediction model COSMO-ART using each of the distribution maps in turn. The simulated pollen concentrations were statistically compared to measured values to derive a ranking of the maps with respect to their performance. Overall, approach (2) resulted in the best correspondence between observed and simulated pollen concentrations for the year 2012. It is shown that maps resulting from ecological modeling that does not include a sophisticated estimation of the plant density have a very low predictive skill. For inventory maps and the maps based on land use data and pollen counts, the results depend very much on the observational site. The use of pollen counts to calibrate the map enhances the performance of the model considerably

Differences in visceral fat and fat bacterial colonization between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. An in vivo and in vitro study

Crohn's disease (CD) is notably characterized by the expansion of visceral fat with small adipocytes expressing a high proportion of anti-inflammatory genes. Conversely, visceral fat depots in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients have never been characterized. Our study aims were a) to compare adipocyte morphology and gene expression profile and bacterial translocation in omental (OM) and mesenteric (MES) adipose tissue of patients with UC and CD, and b) to investigate the effect of bacterial infection on adipocyte proliferation in vitro. Specimens of OM and MES were collected from 11 UC and 11 CD patients, processed and examined by light microscopy. Gene expression profiles were evaluated in adipocytes isolated from visceral adipose tissue using microarray and RTqPCR validations. Bacteria within adipose tissue were immuno-detected by confocal scanning laser microscopy. Adipocytes were incubated with Enterococcus faecalis and cells counted after 24 h. Morphology and molecular profile of OM and MES revealed that UC adipose tissue is less inflamed than CD adipose tissue. Genes linked to inflammation, bacterial response, chemotaxis and angiogenesis were down-regulated in adipocytes from UC compared to CD, whereas genes related to metallothioneins, apoptosis pathways and growth factor binding were up-regulated. A dense perinuclear positivity for Enterococcus faecalis was detected in visceral adipocytes from CD, whereas positivity was weak in UC. In vitro bacterial infection was associated with a five-fold increase in the proliferation rate of OM preadipocytes. Compared to UC, visceral adipose tissue from CD is more inflamed and more colonized by intestinal bacteria, which increase adipocyte proliferation. The influence of bacteria stored within adipocytes on the clinical course of IBD warrants further investigation

Is the pain just physical? The role of psychological distress, quality of life, and autistic traits in ehlers–danlos syndrome, an internet-based survey in italy

Background: Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) have been associated with psychological distress, comorbid psychiatric disorders, and worsening in quality of life (QoL). Among the neurodevelopmental disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have shown the highest rates of co-occurrence with EDS. The reasons for these associations are unknown and a possible role of pain in increasing the risk of psychiatric disorders in EDS has been suggested. However, a detailed picture of an Italian EDS sample is still lacking. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey in a third level center for the diagnosis of EDS in northern Italy, to investigate psychological distress, QoL, and the presence of autistic traits. Furthermore, we correlated the psychometric data with some clinical variables. Results: We observed a high rate of psychological distress with 91% of the responders at high risk of common mental disorders, low QoL, and high prevalence of autistic traits in EDS patients. Specifically, patients lacking a specific genetic test, diagnosed as suspects of EDS appeared to be at greater risk and reported worse psychological QoL. Pain was significantly associated with both psychological distress and worse QoL. Conclusions: Our findings support the need of further research and of a multi-disciplinary approach to EDS including psychological and psychiatric liaison

The Clinical and Pathological Profile of BRCA1 Gene Methylated Breast Cancer Women. A Meta-Analysis

Background: DNA aberrant hypermethylation is the major cause of transcriptional silencing of the breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) gene in sporadic breast cancer patients. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to analyze all available studies reporting clinical characteristics of BRCA1 gene hypermethylated breast cancer in women, and to pool the results to provide a unique clinical profile of this cancer population. Methods: On September 2020, a systematic literature search was performed. Data were retrieved from PubMed, MEDLINE, and Scopus by searching the terms: “BRCA*” AND “methyl*” AND “breast”. All studies evaluating the association between BRCA1 methylation status and breast cancer patients’ clinicopathological features were considered for inclusion. Results: 465 studies were retrieved. Thirty (6.4%) studies including 3985 patients met all selection criteria. The pooled analysis data revealed a significant correlation between BRCA1 gene hypermethylation and advanced breast cancer disease stage (OR = 0.75: 95% CI: 0.58–0.97; p = 0.03, fixed effects model), lymph nodes involvement (OR = 1.22: 95% CI: 1.01–1.48; p = 0.04, fixed effects model), and pre-menopausal status (OR = 1.34: 95% CI: 1.08–1.66; p = 0.008, fixed effects model). No association could be found between BRCA1 hypermethylation and tumor histology (OR = 0.78: 95% CI: 0.59–1.03; p = 0.08, fixed effects model), tumor grading (OR = 0.78: 95% CI: 0.46–1.32; p = 0.36, fixed effects model), and breast cancer molecular classification (OR = 1.59: 95% CI: 0.68–3.72; p = 0.29, random effects model). Conclusions: hypermethylation of the BRCA1 gene significantly correlates with advanced breast cancer disease, lymph nodes involvement, and pre-menopausal cancer onset

Susceptibility to fluoroquinones of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus strains isolated from domestic cats

Las fluoroquinolonas son antimicrobianos muy utilizados para el tratamiento de infecciones en animales domésticos. Su espectro de acción incluye microorganismos gramnegativos, enterobacterias y Pseudomonas aeruginosa, y grampositivos como estafilococos. La aparición de resistencia bacteriana es un fenómeno que se produce con relativa frecuencia. En este trabajo se propuso caracterizar la susceptibilidad in vitro (evaluada a través de la concentración inhibitoria y bactericida mínima (CIM y CBM)) de ciprofloxacina, marbofloxacina y levofloxacina frente aislamientos de Escherichia coli y de Staphylococcus spp. obtenidos a partir de infecciones de gatos domésticos. Las CIM50 de ciprofloxacina, marbofloxacina y levofloxacina fueron respectivamente: 0,015 μg/ml, 0,031 μg/ml y 0,031 μg/ml sobre E. coli; 0,25 μg/ml, 0,25 μg/ml y 0,125 μg/ml frente a estafilococos coagulasa positivo; y 0,125 μg/ml, 0,25 μg/ml y 0,125 μg/ml frente a estafilococos coagulasa negativo. Las CBM50 de las tres fluoroquinolonas estudiadas fueron: 0,0625 μg/ml frente a E. coli; 0,5 μg/ml sobre estafilococos coagulasa positivo; y de 0,125 μg/ml, 0,25 μg/ml y 0,125 μg/ml frente a estafilococos coagulasa negativo para ciprofloxacina, marbofloxacina y levofloxacina, respectivamente. La CIM90 y CBM90 de las tres fluoroquinolonas frente a E. coli y estafilococos coagulasa positivo fue ≥8 μg/ml, mientras que para los estafilococos coagulasa negativo los valores de CIM90 fueron 0,125 μg/ml, 0,25 μg/ml y 0,125 μg/ml respectivamente y la CBM90 de 0,5μg/ml, 1μg/ml y 1 μg/ml.Fluoroquinolones are antimicrobials widely used in domestic animals infections. Their spectrum includes gramnegative (enterobacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and grampositive microorganisms (Staphylococcus spp.). Bacterial resistance to fluoroquinolones is expressed with relative frequency. The aim of the present study was to characterize in vitro susceptibility, through the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration (MIC and MBC) of ciprofloxacin, marbofloxacin and levofloxacin on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus strains isolated from domestic cat infections. Ciprofloxacin, marbofloxacin and levofloxacin MIC50 values were respectively: 0,015, 0,031 and 0,031 μg/ml on Escherichia coli; 0,25, 0,25 and 0,125 μg/ml on coagulase positive staphylococci; and, 0,125, 0,25 and 0,125 μg/ml on coagulase negative staphylococci. The three fluoroquinolones have the same MBC50 value for Escherichia coli (0,0625 μg/ml) and coagulase positive staphylococci (0,5 μg/ml); and 0,125, 0,25 and 0,125 μg/ml on coagulase negative staphylococci for ciprofloxacin, marbofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively. The MIC90 and MBC90 for the three fluoroquinolones on Escherichia coli and coagulase positive staphylococci was ≥8 μg/ml, and on coagulase positive staphylococci 0,125, 0,25 and 0,125 μg/ml; and, 0,5, 1 y 1 μg/ml for ciprofloxacin, marbofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria