CHEMICALS AND HEALTH - THOUGHT FOR FOOD

In our contribution we concisely question and answer some basic notions on food, health, and safety. We show that for some food components such as flavonoids, a whole range of small toxicological effects that have been uncovered the last decade on the whole confer benefits to human health. This development underlines the notion that health is adaptation with respect to the exposures humans experience when consuming food

Chloroquine commonly induces hormetic dose responses

The use of chloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 has received considerable attention. The recent intense focus on this application of chloroquine stimulated an investigation into the effects of chloroquine at low doses on highly biologically-diverse models and whether it may induce hormetic-biphasic dose response effects. The assessment revealed that hormetic effects have been commonly induced by chloroquine, affecting numerous cell types, including tumor cell lines (e.g. human breast and colon) and non-tumor cell lines, enhancing viral replication, spermmotility, various behavioral endpoints aswell as decreasing risks of convulsions, and enhancing a spectrum of neuroprotective responses within a preconditioning experimental framework. These diverse and complex findings indicate that hormetic dose responses commonly occur with chloroquine treatment with a range of biologicalmodels and endpoints. These findings have implications concerning study design features including the number and spacing of doses, and suggest a range of possible clinical concerns and opportunities depending on the endpoint considered. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Immunomodulation Through Low-Dose Radiation for Severe COVID-19:Lessons From the Past and New Developments

Low-dose radiation therapy (LD-RT) has historically been a successful treatment for pneumonia and is clinically established as an immunomodulating therapy for inflammatory diseases. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elicited renewed scientific interest in LD-RT and multiple small clinical trials have recently corroborated the historical LD-RT findings and demonstrated preliminary efficacy and immunomodulation for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The present review explicates archival medical research data of LD-RT and attempts to translate this into modernized evidence, relevant for the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, we explore the putative mechanisms of LD-RT immunomodulation, revealing specific downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines that are integral to the development of the COVID-19 cytokine storm induced hyperinflammatory state. Radiation exposure in LD-RT is minimal compared to radiotherapy dosing standards in oncology care and direct toxicity and long-term risk for secondary disease are expected to be low. The recent clinical trials investigating LD-RT for COVID-19 confirm initial treatment safety. Based on our findings we conclude that LD-RT could be an important treatment option for COVID-19 patients that are likely to progress to severity. We advocate the further use of LD-RT in carefully monitored experimental environments to validate its effectiveness, risks and mechanisms of LD-RT

Chloroquine commonly induces hormetic dose responses

The use of chloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 has received considerable attention. The recent intense focus on this application of chloroquine stimulated an investigation into the effects of chloroquine at low doses on highly biologically-diverse models and whether it may induce hormetic-biphasic dose response effects. The assessment revealed that hormetic effects have been commonly induced by chloroquine, affecting numerous cell types, including tumor cell lines (e.g. human breast and colon) and non-tumor cell lines, enhancing viral replication, spermmotility, various behavioral endpoints aswell as decreasing risks of convulsions, and enhancing a spectrum of neuroprotective responses within a preconditioning experimental framework. These diverse and complex findings indicate that hormetic dose responses commonly occur with chloroquine treatment with a range of biologicalmodels and endpoints. These findings have implications concerning study design features including the number and spacing of doses, and suggest a range of possible clinical concerns and opportunities depending on the endpoint considered. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p

The EPA Cancer Risk Assessment Default Model Proposal: Moving Away From the LNT

This article strongly supports the Environmental Protection Agency proposal to make significant changes in their cancer risk assessment principles and practices by moving away from the use of the linear nonthreshold (LNT) dose–response as the default model. An alternate approach is proposed based on model uncertainty which integrates the most scientifically supportable features of the threshold, hormesis, and LNT models to identify the doses that optimize population-based responses (ie, maximize health benefits/minimize health harm). This novel approach for cancer risk assessment represents a significant improvement to the current LNT default method from scientific and public health perspectives

Immunomodulation Through Low-Dose Radiation for Severe COVID-19:Lessons From the Past and New Developments

Low-dose radiation therapy (LD-RT) has historically been a successful treatment for pneumonia and is clinically established as an immunomodulating therapy for inflammatory diseases. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elicited renewed scientific interest in LD-RT and multiple small clinical trials have recently corroborated the historical LD-RT findings and demonstrated preliminary efficacy and immunomodulation for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The present review explicates archival medical research data of LD-RT and attempts to translate this into modernized evidence, relevant for the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, we explore the putative mechanisms of LD-RT immunomodulation, revealing specific downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines that are integral to the development of the COVID-19 cytokine storm induced hyperinflammatory state. Radiation exposure in LD-RT is minimal compared to radiotherapy dosing standards in oncology care and direct toxicity and long-term risk for secondary disease are expected to be low. The recent clinical trials investigating LD-RT for COVID-19 confirm initial treatment safety. Based on our findings we conclude that LD-RT could be an important treatment option for COVID-19 patients that are likely to progress to severity. We advocate the further use of LD-RT in carefully monitored experimental environments to validate its effectiveness, risks and mechanisms of LD-RT.</p

Power from closing the Red Sea: economic and ecological costs and benefits following the isolation of the Red Sea

The closure of the Red Sea at its southern entrance (the Bab-al-Mandab Strait) could well lead to the world's largest hydropower generation, in the order of 50 000 MW. The cost and time-scales involved are beyond normal economical considerations. Macro-engineering projects of this size cause a massive destruction of existing ecologies. On the positive side of the environmental scale, however, are the big reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, and the reduced pace of fossil hydrocarbon resource exhaustion. This paper examines the ethical and environmental dilemmas and some of the political implications of macro-engineering, as exemplified by the Bab-al-Mandab project. The precautionary principle does not offer a guideline in such a decision, as it not only seeks to avoid irreparable ecological changes but also concerns the well-being of future generations of people living around the Red Sea, which is promoted by access to a large and emission-free source of energy.Red Sea closure; Bab-al-Mandab Dam; power production; macroengineering; precautionary principle; hydropower generation; earth-biosphere sustainability; sustainable development; ethical dilemmas; environmental dilemmas; political implications; ecological destruction; greenhouse gas emissions; fossil hydrocarbon resources.