Severe thiamine deficiency in eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

The eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) population has been decreasing in the Baltic Sea for at least 30 years. Condition indices of the Baltic cod have decreased, and previous studies have suggested that this might be due to overfishing, predation, lower dissolved oxygen or changes in salinity. However, numerous studies from the Baltic Sea have demonstrated an ongoing thiamine deficiency in several animal classes, both invertebrates and vertebrates. The thiamine status of the eastern Baltic cod was investigated to determine if thiamine deficiency might be a factor in ongoing population declines. Thiamine concentrations were determined by chemical analyses of thiamine, thiamine monophosphate and thiamine diphosphate (combined SumT) in the liver using high performance liquid chromatography. Biochemical analyses measured the activity of the thiamine diphosphate-dependent enzyme transketolase to determine the proportion of apoenzymes in both liver and brain tissue. These biochemical analyses showed that 77% of the cod were thiamine deficient in the liver, of which 13% had a severe thiamine deficiency (i.e. 25% transketolase enzymes lacked thiamine diphosphate). The brain tissue of 77% of the cod showed thiamine deficiency, of which 64% showed severe thiamine deficiency. The thiamine deficiency biomarkers were investigated to find correlations to different biological parameters, such as length, weight, otolith weight, age (annuli counting) and different organ weights. The results suggested that thiamine deficiency increased with age. The SumT concentration ranged between 2.4-24 nmol/g in the liver, where the specimens with heavier otoliths had lower values of SumT (P = 0.0031). Of the cod sampled, only 2% of the specimens had a Fulton's condition factor indicating a healthy specimen, and 49% had a condition factor below 0.8, indicating poor health status. These results, showing a severe thiamine deficiency in eastern Baltic cod from the only known area where spawning presently occurs for this species, are of grave concern

Identifiering av nya riskkemikalier och validering av exponerings index med fokus på människa

Syftet med denna studie var att finna strategier för att identifiera nya riskkemikalier som vi människor kan bli exponerade för, baserat på den information som finns i Svenska produktregistret (SE-PR). En kombination av information om den registrerade användningen av kemikalier, och modellerade egenskaper som kan förutspå persistens och huruvida kemikalierna är benägna att bioackumuleras i mänskligt blod och urin användes. Med denna strategi kunde olika listor av prioriterade kemikalier som kunde potentiellt vara riskkemikalier i blod och urin hos människa presenteras. Kort summerat: Kemikalier som är lätt biologiskt nedbrytbara bör övervakas i urin och icke biologiskt nedbrytbara bör analyseras i blod. Kemikalier med hög fördelningskoefficient för oktanol-luft (log KOA> 8) bör prioriteras för analys både i blod och urin. Fördelningskoefficienten för oktanol-vatten delar upp de prioriterade kemikalierna i tre grupper; opolära (log KOW> 6) och polära (log KOW 3,5-6) kemikalier för analys i blod, och polära (log KOW <4) kemikalier för analys i urin. Med denna strategi prioriterades syntetiska antioxidanter som potentiella riskkemikalier både i blod. Med riktad kemisk analys kunde sex antioxidanter detekteras i en pool av blodprover från människor som bor i Stockholmsregionen

Identifiering av nya riskkemikalier och validering av exponerings index med fokus på människa

Syftet med denna studie var att finna strategier för att identifiera nya riskkemikalier som vi människor kan bli exponerade för, baserat på den information som finns i Svenska produktregistret (SE-PR). En kombination av information om den registrerade användningen av kemikalier, och modellerade egenskaper som kan förutspå persistens och huruvida kemikalierna är benägna att bioackumuleras i mänskligt blod och urin användes. Med denna strategi kunde olika listor av prioriterade kemikalier som kunde potentiellt vara riskkemikalier i blod och urin hos människa presenteras. Kort summerat: Kemikalier som är lätt biologiskt nedbrytbara bör övervakas i urin och icke biologiskt nedbrytbara bör analyseras i blod. Kemikalier med hög fördelningskoefficient för oktanol-luft (log KOA> 8) bör prioriteras för analys både i blod och urin. Fördelningskoefficienten för oktanol-vatten delar upp de prioriterade kemikalierna i tre grupper; opolära (log KOW> 6) och polära (log KOW 3,5-6) kemikalier för analys i blod, och polära (log KOW <4) kemikalier för analys i urin. Med denna strategi prioriterades syntetiska antioxidanter som potentiella riskkemikalier både i blod. Med riktad kemisk analys kunde sex antioxidanter detekteras i en pool av blodprover från människor som bor i Stockholmsregionen

Supplementary information: Anthropogenic organic contaminants analysed in human blood and combined risk

The number of chemicals in the anthroposphere is increasing and some of them end up in humans. A literature search was made to assess which anthropogenic organic contaminants (OCs) that have been analysed in blood from the general population. The reviewed articles were used to create a database of studies (Human Blood Database [HBDB], containing 559 OCs) reporting blood analyses made worldwide. All studies analysing blood from the Swedish population were compiled into a second database (Swedish Exposure Database [SEDB], containing 166 OCs) listing blood concentrations of OCs. Data from the SEDB showed decreasing levels of regulated chemicals in blood over time, indicating that regulation had made an impact. The Hazard Index (HI) approach was used as a qualitative mixture risk assessment of the OCs with established human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs) and blood levels in the SEDB. Nine HBM-GVs were found and the HI of the corresponding OCs/groups of OCs showed that a risk of adverse effects in the general population could not be excluded, which is a cause for concern considering that only 6% of the analysed OCs in the SEDB were included. This study presents the OCs identified in human blood and concentration time trends. The study highlights the lack of HBM-GVs needed for mixture risk assessments to assess the combined risk of chemical exposure to the general population. Online Resource 1 is a spreadsheet containing the two compiled databases HBDB and SEDB. Online Resource 2 provides additional concentration trends and tables not present in the article itself.</p

In Silico Identification of Potential Thyroid Hormone System Disruptors among Chemicals in Human Serum and Chemicals with a High Exposure Index

Data on toxic effects are at large missing the prevailing understanding of the risks of industrial chemicals. Thyroid hormone (TH) system disruption includes interferences of the life cycle of the thyroid hormones and may occur in various organs. In the current study, high-throughput screening data available for 14 putative molecular initiating events of adverse outcome pathways, related to disruption of the TH system, were used to develop 19 in silico models for identification of potential thyroid hormone system-disrupting chemicals. The conformal prediction framework with the underlying Random Forest was used as a wrapper for the models allowing for setting the desired confidence level and controlling the error rate of predictions. The trained models were then applied to two different databases: (i) an in-house database comprising xenobiotics identified in human blood and ii) currently used chemicals registered in the Swedish Product Register, which have been predicted to have a high exposure index to consumers. The application of these models showed that among currently used chemicals, fewer were overall predicted as active compared to chemicals identified in human blood. Chemicals of specific concern for TH disruption were identified from both databases based on their predicted activity

A mind-brain-body dataset of MRI, EEG, cognition, emotion, and peripheral physiology in young and old adults

We present a publicly available dataset of 227 healthy participants comprising a young (N=153, 25.1±3.1 years, range 20-35 years, 45 female) and an elderly group (N=74, 67.6±4.7 years, range 59-77 years, 37 female) acquired cross-sectionally in Leipzig, Germany, between 2013 and 2015 to study mind-body-emotion interactions. During a two-day assessment, participants completed MRI at 3 Tesla (resting-state fMRI, quantitative T1 (MP2RAGE), T2-weighted, FLAIR, SWI/QSM, DWI) and a 62-channel EEG experiment at rest. During task-free resting-state fMRI, cardiovascular measures (blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, respiration) were continuously acquired. Anthropometrics, blood samples, and urine drug tests were obtained. Psychiatric symptoms were identified with Standardized Clinical Interview for DSM IV (SCID-I), Hamilton Depression Scale, and Borderline Symptoms List. Psychological assessment comprised 6 cognitive tests as well as 21 questionnaires related to emotional behavior, personality traits and tendencies, eating behavior, and addictive behavior. We provide information on study design, methods, and details of the data. This dataset is part of the larger MPI Leipzig Mind-Brain-Body database