Arsenic and heavy metal contamination of rice, pulses and vegetables grown in Samta village, Bangladesh

Arsenic contaminated water from tube wells has become the major health problem threatening millions of people in Bangladesh. However, the arsenic (As) contaminated water is not just used for drinking, it is used to irrigate crops, and to wash and prepare food. Contamination of agricultural soils by long-term irrigation with As contaminated water can lead to contamination and phyto-accumulation of the food crops with As and other toxic metals. As a consequence, dietary exposure to As and other toxic metals may contribute substantially to the adverse health effects caused by the contaminated tube wells in Bangladesh. Various vegetables, rice, pulses and the grass pea were sampled in Samta village in the Jessore district of Bangladesh and screened for As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. These local food crops provide the majority of the nutritional intake of the people in this area and are of great importance to their overall health. In general, our data show the potential for some vegetables to accumulate heavy metals with concentrations of Pb greater than Cd. The concentrations of As and Cd were higher in vegetables than in rice and pulses. The concentration of Pb was generally higher in rice than in pulses and vegetables. However, some vegetables such as bottle ground leaf, ghotkol, taro, eddoe and elephant foot had much higher concentrations of Pb. Other leafy and root vegetables contained higher concentrations oJ2n and Cu. Rice grown at Samta had increased Pb and As, but, considering an average daily intake of only 260 g rice per person per day, only the Pb is at concentrations which would be a health hazard/or human consumption.<br /

Differences in immune status between well-nourished and malnourished head and neck cancer patients

Malnutrition is reported to occur in approximately 30% of head and neck cancer patients. Also, impaired immunocompetence is described as a common phenomenon in this patient group. The purpose of this study was to assess the possible relationship between malnutrition and some prognostically important immune parameters in head and neck cancer patients. Thirty-two malnourished (recent weight loss ≤ 10%) and 34 well-nourished patients undergoing curative treatment for advanced head and neck cancer were studied prospectively, and six parameters of their immune status (leucocytes, lymphocytes, lymphocyte phenotyping, monocytes, HLA-DR expression on monocytes and serum interleukin-10) were determined on the day of panendoscopy. Reference values for monocytes, HLA-DR expression and interleukin-10 were obtained from 43 healthy controls. Although the number of monocytes was elevated in both patient groups, the HLA-DR expression on these monocytes was significantly lower in the malnourished than in the well-nourished and control groups. Tumor stage, tumor localization, recurrence after initial radiotherapy, age and gender were not correlated to HLA-DR expression. No relationships emerged between nutritional status and lymphocyte subsets. Malnourished head and neck cancer patients show a significantly lower HLA-DR expression on monocytes than well-nourished ones and healthy controls. According to the literature this would imply an increased risk for postoperative complications. Indeed, postoperative complications occur more frequently in malnourished than in well-nourished patients

Survival of malnourished head and neck cancer patients can be predicted by human leukocyte antigen-DR expression and interleukin-6/tumor necrosis factor-α response of the monocyte

Background: Patients with advanced stages of head and neck cancer are often characterized by malnutrition and by an impaired immune system. Because some of the suppressed immune parameters were shown to be of prognostic importance in trauma and sepsis, we investigated whether these would also correlate with survival in head and neck cancer. Methods: Severely malnourished head and neck cancer patients undergoing ablative and reconstructive surgery were followed prospectively and their perioperative immune parameters were related to long-term survival. Results: Forty-nine patients with a preoperative weight loss of more than 10% were followed up for a period of at least 16 months after surgery. Analyses of variance revealed that preoperative human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) expression on monocytes and endotoxin-induced production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were different between patients who survived and patients who died. Proportional hazards identified a weight loss of more than 12%, the presence of coexistent disease, and an HLA-DR expression on monocytes below the cutoff points (mean fluorescence index < 15, peak channel index < 9) to be of significant influence on survival. Conclusions: In addition to known prognostic parameters such as tumor stage, coexistent disease, and weight loss, the immune parameters HLA-DR expression on monocytes and endotoxin-induced cytokine production may carry prognostic value in cancer patients. Immunomodulating therapies leading to improvement of these parameters might in the future lead to increased options for treatment