Lead exposure in adult males in urban Transvaal Province, South Africa during the apartheid era

Human exposure to lead is a substantial public health hazard worldwide and is particularly problematic in the Republic of South Africa given the country’s late cessation of leaded petrol. Lead exposure is associated with a number of serious health issues and diseases including developmental and cognitive deficiency, hypertension and heart disease. Understanding the distribution of lifetime lead burden within a given population is critical for reducing exposure rates. Femoral bone from 101 deceased adult males living in urban Transvaal Province (now Gauteng Province), South Africa between 1960 and 1998 were analyzed for lead concentration by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Of the 72 black and 29 white individuals sampled, chronic lead exposure was apparent in nearly all individuals. White males showed significantly higher median bone lead concentration (ME = 10.04 µg·g−1), than black males (ME = 3.80 µg·g−1) despite higher socioeconomic status. Bone lead concentration covaries significantly, though weakly, with individual age. There was no significant temporal trend in bone lead concentration. These results indicate that long-term low to moderate lead exposure is the historical norm among South African males. Unexpectedly, this research indicates that white males in the sample population were more highly exposed to lead

Roles Of Nitric Oxide In Neoplastic Transformation: The Effects Of NO Donors And Specific iNOS Inhibitors

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous radical compound involved in numerous physiological functions such as neurotransmission and fighting infection. It has also been shown to have mutagenic properties and there is some suggestion of its role in promoting carcinogenesis, as evidenced by previous work with iNOS inhibitors and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides. This study seeks to investigate NO's role in cytotoxicity and neoplastic transformation in C3H 10T1/2 mouse fibroblast cells. It was found that induction of endogenous NO by LPS/IFN-γ as well as exposure to exogenous NO donated by spermine NONOate or glycoSNAP-2 brought about cytotoxic effects. Moreover, inhibition of endogenous NO production by 1,4-PBIT reversed the cytotoxic effects of endogenous NO, while pre-treatment with LPS/IFN-γ or γ-tocopherol also prevented the cytotoxic effects of exogenous NO. NO seems to have a significant role in neoplastic transformation, not evidenced by the NO donors so much as by the NO inhibitors, which drastically reduced the severity of transformation

Global trends in anaphylaxis epidemiology and clinical implications

The true global scale of anaphylaxis remains elusive, because many episodes occur in the community without presentation to healthcare facilities, and most regions have not yet developed reliable systems with which to monitor severe allergic events. The most robust datasets currently available are based largely on hospital admissions, which are limited by inherent issues of misdiagnosis, misclassification and generalizability. Despite this, there is convincing evidence of a global increase in rates of all cause-anaphylaxis, driven largely by medication and food-related anaphylaxis. There is no evidence of parallel increases in global all-cause anaphylaxis mortality, with surprisingly similar estimates for case fatality rates at approximately 0.5-1% rate of fatal outcomes for hospitalizations due to anaphylaxis across several regions. Studying regional patterns of anaphylaxis to certain triggers have provided valuable insights into susceptibility and sensitizing events: for example, the link between the monoclonal antibody cetuximab and allergy to mammalian meat. Likewise, data from published fatality registers can identify potentially modifiable risk factors which can be used to inform clinical practice, such as prevention of delayed epinephrine administration, correct posturing during anaphylaxis, special attention to populations at risk (such as the elderly on multiple medications) and use of venom immunotherapy in individuals at risk of insect-related anaphylaxis