Symbiont diversity is not involved in depth acclimation in the Mediterranean sea whip Eunicella singularis

In symbiotic cnidarians, acclimation to depth and lower irradiance can involve physiological changes in the photosynthetic dinoflagellate endosymbiont, such as increased chlorophyll content, or qualitative modifications in the symbiont population in favour of better adapted strains. It has been argued that a lack of capacity to acquire new symbionts could limit the bathymetric distribution of the host species, or compromise its long-term survival in a changing environment. But is that always true? To address this question, we investigated the symbiont genetic diversity in Eunicella singularis, a Mediterranean sea whip species with a wide bathymetric distribution (10 to 50 m depth), which has recently suffered from mass mortalities after periods of abnormally high sea temperatures. We measured symbiont population densities and chlorophyll content in natural populations, and followed the response of the holobionts after reciprocal transplantations to deep and shallow depths. A total of 161 colonies were sampled at 2 depths (10 and 30 m) at 5 sites in the northwestern Mediterranean. All colonies harboured a single ribosomal Symbiodinium clade (A'), but a relatively high within-clade genetic diversity was found among and within colonies. This diversity was not structured by depth, even though the deeper colonies contained significantly lower population densities of symbionts and less chlorophyll. We did, however, reveal host-symbiont specificity among E. singularis and other Mediterranean cnidarian species. Transplantation experiments revealed a limit of plasticity for symbiont population density and chlorophyll content, which in turn questions the importance of the trophic role of Symbiodinium in E. singularis

Fatal adverse reaction to ketorolactromethamine in asthmatic patient

A case of an asthmatic woman who collapsed within a few minutes after intramuscular ketorolac tromethamine (KT) injection is reported. Autopsy findings revealed anatomic evidence of a recent asthma attack. KT was found to be present in the blood at a concentration within the therapeutic range and consistent with the administered dose. Based on the timing of the collapse in relation to the KT administration, death was attributed to an adverse reaction to KT, resulting in acute bronchospasm and cardiac arrest, with asthma as an underlying contributing factor. In this case, asthma alone was not responsible for the death of the patient but only a contributing factor. Physicians have to be aware that in asthmatic patients bronchospasm can be induced by drugs among which aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as KT are the most common; therefore, death may have an iatrogenic cause. The paper also describes the pathogenic mechanism of an adverse reaction to such drugs and analytical methods for the isolation and detection of KT in postmortem blood

Pharmacokinetics of ibuprofen microencapsulated granules

Two new granule prepns. (resin and microencapsulated) of ibuprofen [15687-27-1] were compared in a cross-over double-blind single dose pharmacokinetic study. Eight healthy volunteers, mean age 23 yr, were alternatively given the 2 600 mg granule prepns. in a randomized sequence. The differences between formulations were not statistically significant except for t1/2 which showed a slight clin. not important increase with the microencapsulated granules. The mean relative bioavailability of the microencapsulated vs. resin granules was 93.4%. The gastroresistance of the microencapsulated formulation represents a favorable theor. feature for a further improvement of ibuprofen safety

The standardition of results on hair testing for drugs of abuse : an interlaboratory exercise in Lombardy Region, Italy

Hair testing for drugs of abuse is performed in Lombardy by eleven analytical laboratories accredited for forensic purposes, the most frequent purposes being driving license regranting and workplace drug testing. Individuals undergoing hair testing for these can choose the laboratory in which the analyses have to be carried out. The aim of our study was to perform an interlaboratory exercise in order to verify the lvel of standardization of hair testing for drugs of abuse in these accredited laboratories; nine out of the eleven laboratories partecipated in this exercise. sixteen hair strands coming from different subjects were longitudinally divided in 3-4 aliquots and distributed to partecipating laboratories, which were requested to apply their routine methods. All the partecipants analyzed opiates (morphine and 6-acetylmorphine) and cocainics (cocaine and benzoylecgonine) while only six analyzed methadone and amphetamines (amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDA and MDEA) and five Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The majority of the partecipants (seven labs) performed acidic hydrolysis to extract the drugs from the hair and analysis by GC/MS, while two labs used LC-MS/MS. Eight laboratories performed initial screening tests by Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique (EMIT), Enzyme -linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) or Cloned Enzyme Donor Immunoassay (CEDIA). Results demonstrated a good a good qualitative performance for all the partecipants, since no false positive results were reported by any of them. Quantitative data were quite scattered, but less in samples with low concentrations of analytes than in those with higher concentrations. Results from this first regional interlaboratory exercise show that, on the one hand, individuals undergoing hair testing would have obtained the same qualitative results in any of the nine laboratories. On the other hand, the scatter in quantitative results could cause some inequalities if any interpretation of the data is required

The standardization of results on hair testing for drugs of abuse: An interlaboratory exercise in Lombardy Region, Italy.

Hair testing for drugs of abuse is performed in Lombardy by eleven analytical laboratories accredited for forensic purposes, the most frequent purposes being driving license regranting and workplace drug testing. Individuals undergoing hair testing for these purposes can choose the laboratory in which the analyses have to be carried out. The aim of our study was to perform an interlaboratory exercise in order to verify the level of standardization of hair testing for drugs of abuse in these accredited laboratories; nine out of the eleven laboratories participated in this exercise. Sixteen hair strands coming from different subjects were longitudinally divided in 3-4 aliquots and distributed to participating laboratories, which were requested to apply their routine methods. All the participants analyzed opiates (morphine and 6-acetylmorphine) and cocainics (cocaine and benzoylecgonine) while only six analyzed methadone and amphetamines (amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDA and MDEA) and five Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The majority of the participants (seven labs) performed acidic hydrolysis to extract the drugs from the hair and analysis by GC-MS, while two labs used LC-MS/MS. Eight laboratories performed initial screening tests by Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique (EMIT), Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) or Cloned Enzyme Donor Immunoassay (CEDIA). Results demonstrated a good qualitative performance for all the participants, since no false positive results were reported by any of them. Quantitative data were quite scattered, but less in samples with low concentrations of analytes than in those with higher concentrations. Results from this first regional interlaboratory exercise show that, on the one hand, individuals undergoing hair testing would have obtained the same qualitative results in any of the nine laboratories. On the other hand, the scatter in quantitative results could cause some inequalities if any interpretation of the data is required

L'analisi della cocaina in matrici pilifere : è sempre possibile differenziare la contaminazione dal consumo?

INTRODUZIONE: La principale criticit\ue0 dell\u2019analisi di matrici pilifere per la ricerca di sostanze stupefacenti, in particolare per quanto riguarda la cocaina, \ue8 relativa alla interpretazione dei risultati positivi, sovente formulata attraverso la valutazione del rapporto percentuale tra le concentrazioni di stupefacente e di benzoilecgonina. Non \ue8 raro, infatti, nella pratica dei nostri laboratori, che taluni soggetti contestino i risultati forniti adducendo, come causa della loro positivit\ue0, la frequentazione di consumatori che li avrebbero contaminati. Ci si \ue8 proposti, pertanto, di verificare attraverso prove di contaminazione di matrici pilifere, la durata della rilevabilit\ue0 della cocaina, l\u2019entit\ue0 della sua degradazione a benzoilecgonina e se i rapporti percentuali di concentrazione tra i due composti possano essere analoghi a quelli ritrovati a seguito del consumo dello stupefacente. METODO: Sono stati contaminati con cocaina \u201cda strada\u201d con titolo pari al 30%, i capelli di tre soggetti ed i peli pubici di altri due, tutti non consumatori. La contaminazione \ue8 stata eseguita in modo da simulare un inquinamento casuale (appoggio delle mani su una superficie \u201csporca\u201d e rapido passaggio delle mani tra i capelli ed i peli). Nel caso dei capelli, i prelievi sono stati effettuati il giorno successivo, dopo una settimana e dopo un mese dalla contaminazione ogni volta in tre zone differenti del capo; per ogni prelievo sono stati esaminati 2 segmenti di 3 cm ciascuno, mentre relativamente al prelievo a 30 giorni \ue8 stato esaminato separatamente anche 1 cm prossimale rappresentativo della crescita mensile. A fronte del riscontro di concentrazioni ancora misurabili ad 1 mese dalla contaminazione, sono stati programmati ulteriori prelievi che proseguiranno fino alla verifica della completa negativizzazione. Per i peli pubici i prelievi sono stati eseguiti il giorno successivo, dopo 4 giorni, dopo 8 giorni, dopo 15 giorni e dopo 1 mese; ulteriori prelievi sono stati programmati con cadenza mensile fino alla negativizzazione e/o disponibilit\ue0 di matrice. Tutti i campioni sono stati sottoposti alle procedure di \u201croutine\u201d, che sono comuni nei due laboratori: lavaggio con cloruro di metilene, incubazione delle matrici \u201covernight\u201d con acido cloridrico, estrazione SPE, analisi GC/MS con acquisizione in SIM mode. All\u2019analisi GC/MS sono state sottoposte anche le soluzioni di lavaggio. RISULTATI: L\u2019analisi dei solventi di lavaggio \ue8 risultata positiva solo per i prelievi eseguiti il giorno successivo alla contaminazione. Le concentrazioni di cocaina misurate nei capelli hanno mostrato un\u2019ampia variabilit\ue0 non solo tra soggetto e soggetto, ma anche tra le varie zone del capo interessate dalla contaminazione; 1 mese dopo la contaminazione, la positivit\ue0 per cocaina \ue8 stata rilevata nell\u201985% dei segmenti esaminati, mentre la benzoilecgonina \ue8 risultata presente nel 78% dei segmenti positivi. I rapporti % tra benzoilecgonina e cocaina si mantengono nell\u2019intervallo tra il 5% ed il 20% nell\u201983% dei casi in cui vi \ue8 la presenza di entrambe le molecole. Anche per i peli pubici, nei quali la contaminazione ha prodotto concentrazioni di 32 e 52 ng/mg (rilevate 4 giorni dopo) sono stati osservati una tendenza alla diminuzione nel tempo delle concentrazioni di cocaina e il contestuale incremento di quelle della benzoilecgonina; il rapporto percentuale, gi\ue0 4 giorni dopo la contaminazione, \ue8 risultato superiore al 5%. CONCLUSIONE: Alla luce dei risultati ottenuti, \ue8 stato verificato che il fenomeno della contaminazione gioca un importante ruolo nel ritrovamento di concentrazioni pilifere di cocaina e di benzoilecgonina, che si mantengono per lungo tempo superiori ai valori di cut-off. I dati ottenuti, in relazione al loro rapporto percentuale ed alla contestuale negativit\ue0 delle soluzioni di lavaggio potrebbero essere interpretati, senza alcun dubbio, nell\u2019ottica del consumo di cocaina. Gli attuali processi interpretativi risultano, quindi, insufficienti per la discriminazione tra uso di cocaina e contaminazione e necessitano pertanto di essere integrati con altri elementi di valutazione