Aquatic Effects of a Localized Oil Spill on Lake Conway, AR and Its Tributaries

Oil spills, no matter where they occur, elicit environmental concern and avoiding these disasters should be a priority. Old pipelines that are not regularly maintained and carry large amounts of crude oil long distances are of particular concern. One such pipeline is the 65 year-old Pegasus pipeline owned by ExxonMobil. On March 29, 2013, 795,000 L of Wabasca Heavy Canadian crude oil spilled into a neighborhood of Mayflower, Arkansas, when the Pegasus pipeline ruptured. This spill led to the evacuation of many homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Drainage ditches in the affected neighborhood drained oil into a nearby cove of Lake Conway. This lake is popular for recreational fishing, thus concerns were raised not only about the potential effects of the oil spill on area residents, but also the lake and its biological communities. Ultimately, this project assessed the effect of the oil spill in water and sediment samples on freshwater test organisms. Samples were collected at 6 sites in the affected neighborhood and in Lake Conway. Chronic Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) tests were performed on water samples using Pimephales promelas and Ceriodaphnia dubia. Acute sediment toxicity tests were performed using Chironomus dilutus. These tests measured sub-lethal toxicity in at least one of the sampled sites, indicating that further investigation of environmental after-effects is warranted

Investigating the Effect of Stratospheric Radiation on Seed Germination and Growth

Three seed types: bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), corn (Zea mays) and radish (Raphanus sativus) were flown in a high altitude weather balloon into the mid-stratosphere to investigate the effects of high altitude radiation on germination success and seedling growth. After recovering and planting the seeds, the bean seeds showed lower germination success with exposure to high altitude radiation, and consequently stunted seedling growth. Cord and radish seeds experienced a statistically significant positive effect on germination success form radiation exposure compared to control seeds, but negative effect on seedling growth. Overall, the field experiments presented here support laboratory studies that show radiation exposure on vegetable seeds has a mixed effect on the germination success and negative effect on seedling growth on investigated seed types

Hepatotoxicity of a Cannabidiol-rich cannabis extract in the mouse model

© 2019 Xide Ye et al. Gastrodia elata Blume belongs to the Orchidaceae family. G. elata is often processed when used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In the current study, a traditional processing method, known as Jianchang Bang, was applied. Steamed and dried (S&D) G. elata was processed with ginger juice for up to 5 days (GEP5D). An UHPLC-MS/MS combined with a chemometric method was developed for the analysis of processed G. elata along with the raw material as well as steamed and dried G. elata. As a result, the primary marker compounds were identified with the aid of TOF-MS and MS/MS analyses. Compared with the raw material of G. elata with GEP5D, three new parishin-type compounds were identified according to their retention time, accurate mass, and fragmentation patterns. The chromatographic peak areas for marker compounds, including S-(gastrodin)-glutathione, S-(4-hydroxybenzylamine)-glutathione, and parishin-type compounds, changed significantly. This result indicated that by applying the Jianchang Bang method, changes in chemical composition in G. elata contents were observed. The study also demonstrated that chemometric analysis is helpful in understanding the processing mechanism and will provide scientific support for the clinical application of G. elata

Safety and molecular-toxicological implications of cannabidiol-rich cannabis extract and methylsulfonylmethane co-administration

© 2020 by the authors. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a biologically active, non-psychotropic component of Cannabis sativa whose popularity has grown exponentially in recent years. Besides a wealth of potential health benefits, ingestion of CBD poses risks for a number of side effects, of which hepatotoxicity and CBD/herb-drug interactions are of particular concern. Here, we investigated the interaction potential between the cannabidiol-rich cannabis extract (CRCE) and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a popular dietary supplement, in the mouse model. For this purpose, 8-week-old male C57BL6/J mice received MSM-containing water (80 mg/100 mL) ad libitum for 17 days. During the last three days of treatment, mice received three doses of CRCE administered in sesame oil via oral gavage (123 mg/kg/day). Administration of MSM alone did not result in any evidence of liver toxicity and did not induce expression of mouse cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. Administration of CRCE did produce significant (p \u3c 0.05) increases in Cyp1a2, Cyp2b10, Cyp2c29, Cyp3a4, Cyp3a11, Cyp2c65, and Cyp2c66 messenger RNA, however, this effect was not amplified by MSM/CRCE cotreatment. Similarly, no evidence of liver toxicity was observed in MSM/CRCE dosed mice. In conclusion, short-term MSM/CRCE co-administration did not demonstrate any evidence of hepatotoxicity in the mouse model

DPD Quantification in Cardiac Amyloidosis A Novel Imaging Biomarker

OBJECTIVES: To assess whether single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT) quantification of bone scintigraphy would improve diagnostic accuracy and offer a means of quantifying amyloid burden. BACKGROUND: Transthyretin-related cardiac amyloidosis is common and can be diagnosed noninvasively using bone scintigraphy; interpretation, however, relies on planar images. SPECT/CT imaging offers 3-dimensional visualization. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective analysis of 99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (DPD) scans reported using the Perugini grading system (0 = negative; 1 to 3 = increasingly positive). Conventional planar quantification techniques (heart/contralateral lung, and heart/whole-body retention ratios) were performed. Heart, adjacent vertebra, paraspinal muscle and liver peak standardized uptake values (SUVpeak) were recorded from SPECT/CT acquisitions. An SUV retention index was also calculated: (cardiac SUVpeak/vertebral SUVpeak) × paraspinal muscle SUVpeak. In a subgroup of patients, SPECT/CT quantification was compared with myocardial extracellular volume quantification by CT imaging (ECVCT). RESULTS: A total of 100 DPD scans were analyzed (patient age 84 ± 9 years; 52% male): 40 were Perugini grade 0, 12 were grade 1, 41 were grade 2, and 7 were grade 3. Cardiac SUVpeak increased from grade 0 to grade 2; however, it plateaued between grades 2 and 3 (p < 0.001). Paraspinal muscle SUVpeak increased with grade (p < 0.001), whereas vertebral SUVpeak decreased (p < 0.001). The composite parameter of SUV retention index overcame the plateauing of the cardiac SUVpeak and increased across all grades (p < 0.001). Cardiac SUVpeak correlated well (r2 = 0.73; p < 0.001) with ECVCT. Both the cardiac SUVpeak and SUV retention index had excellent diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.999). The heart to contralateral lung ratio performed the best of the planar quantification techniques (AUC: 0.987). CONCLUSIONS: SPECT/CT quantification in DPD scintigraphy is possible and outperforms planar quantification techniques. Differentiation of Perugini grade 2 or 3 is confounded by soft tissue uptake, which can be overcome by a composite SUV retention index. This index can help in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis and may offer a means of monitoring response to therapy

The association of polypharmacy and high-risk drug classes with adverse health outcomes in the Scottish population with type 1 diabetes

This study was supported by funding from the Diabetes UK (17/0005627). The funder had no role in designing the study or in analysing and interpreting data and results.Aims/hypothesis The aim of this work was to map the number of prescribed drugs over age, sex and area-based socioeconomic deprivation, and to examine the association between the number of drugs and particular high-risk drug classes with adverse health outcomes among a national cohort of individuals with type 1 diabetes. Methods Utilising linked healthcare records from the population-based diabetes register of Scotland, we identified 28,245 individuals with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes on 1 January 2017. For this population, we obtained information on health status, predominantly reflecting diabetes-related complications, and information on the total number of drugs and particular high-risk drug classes prescribed. We then studied the association of these baseline-level features with hospital admissions for falls, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and hypoglycaemia or death within the subsequent year using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Results Not considering insulin and treatment for hypoglycaemia, the mean number of prescribed drugs was 4.00 (SD 4.35). The proportion of individuals being prescribed five or more drugs at baseline consistently increased with age (proportion [95% CI]: 0–19 years 2.04% [1.60, 2.49]; 40–49 years 28.50% [27.08, 29.93]; 80+ years 76.04% [67.73, 84.84]). Controlling for age, sex, area-based socioeconomic deprivation and health status, each additional drug at baseline was associated with an increase in the hazard for hospitalisation for falls, hypoglycaemia and death but not for DKA admissions (HR [95% CI]: falls 1.03 [1.01, 1.06]; DKA 1.01 [1.00, 1.03]; hypoglycaemia 1.05 [1.02, 1.07]; death 1.04 [1.02, 1.06]). We found a number of drug classes to be associated with an increased hazard of one or more of these adverse health outcomes, including antithrombotic/anticoagulant agents, corticosteroids, opioids, antiepileptics, antipsychotics, hypnotics and sedatives, and antidepressants. Conclusions Polypharmacy is common among the Scottish population with type 1 diabetes and is strongly patterned by sociodemographic factors. The number of prescribed drugs and the prescription of particular high-risk drug classes are strong markers of an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including acute complications of diabetes.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Decaffeinated green tea extract does not elicit hepatotoxic effects and modulates the gut microbiome in lean B6C3F\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e mice

© 2019 The Author(s) The aim of this study is the development of validated HPTLC method for the quantification of vitexin from Passiflora foetida commercial herbal formulations. The developed method was validated, in accordance with ICH guidelines for precision, accuracy, specificity and robustness. The plate was developed using ethyl acetate:methanol:water:formic acid 30:4:2:1(%, v/v/v/v) on 20 × 10 cm glass coated silica gel 60 F254 plates and the developed plate was scanned and quantified densitometrically at λ = 340 nm. Linear regression analysis revealed a good linear relationship between peak area and amount of vitexin in the range of 100–700 ng/spot. The amount of vitexin in nine commercial herbal formulations was successfully quantified by the developed HPTLC method. The developed and validated high performance thin layer chromatographic method offers a new sensitive and reliable tool for quantification of vitexinin in various herbal formulations containing Passiflora foetida

Identifying Cardiac Amyloid in Aortic Stenosis: ECV Quantification by CT in TAVR Patients

OBJECTIVES: To validate computed tomography measured ECV (ECVCT) as part of routine evaluation for the detection of cardiac amyloid in patients with aortic stenosis (AS)-amyloid. BACKGROUND: AS-amyloid affects 1 in 7 elderly patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Bone scintigraphy with exclusion of a plasma cell dyscrasia can diagnose transthyretin-related cardiac amyloid noninvasively, for which novel treatments are emerging. Amyloid interstitial expansion increases the myocardial extracellular volume (ECV). METHODS: Patients with severe AS underwent bone scintigraphy (Perugini grade 0, negative; Perugini grades 1 to 3, increasingly positive) and routine TAVR evaluation CT imaging with ECVCT using 3- and 5-min post-contrast acquisitions. Twenty non-AS control patients also had ECVCT performed using the 5-min post-contrast acquisition. RESULTS: A total of 109 patients (43% male; mean age 86 ± 5 years) with severe AS and 20 control subjects were recruited. Sixteen (15%) had AS-amyloid on bone scintigraphy (grade 1, n = 5; grade 2, n = 11). ECVCT was 32 ± 3%, 34 ± 4%, and 43 ± 6% in Perugini grades 0, 1, and 2, respectively (p < 0.001 for trend) with control subjects lower than lone AS (28 ± 2%; p < 0.001). ECVCT accuracy for AS-amyloid detection versus lone AS was 0.87 (0.95 for 99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid Perugini grade 2 only), outperforming conventional electrocardiogram and echocardiography parameters. One composite parameter, the voltage/mass ratio, had utility (similar AUC of 0.87 for any cardiac amyloid detection), although in one-third of patients, this could not be calculated due to bundle branch block or ventricular paced rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: ECVCT during routine CT TAVR evaluation can reliably detect AS-amyloid, and the measured ECVCT tracks the degree of infiltration. Another measure of interstitial expansion, the voltage/mass ratio, also performed well