Assessment of acute and sub-acute toxicity of olive pomace in female Wistar rats

Objective: Olive Pomace (OP) is considered to be a rich source of phenolic compounds. Recently many researches showed a broad biological activity of this by-product of the olive oil production process in addition to their emergence as value-added materials with potential applications in the pharmaceutical, food, and nutraceutical industries. The present study is aimed to evaluate in vivo toxicological activities of OP. Materials and Methods: The qualitative phytochemical analysis aims to determine the key phytoconstituents found in OP. For the in vivo study, two types of tests are performed: acute and 28-day repeated oral toxicity studies in Wistar rats for evaluation of hematological, biochemical, and histological parameters. Results: The qualitative phytochemical analysis has revealed the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, quinones, anthraquinones, terpenoids, and compounds reduced in our methanol extract of OP. In acute oral toxicity, no treatment-related death or toxic signs are observed in female rats for 14 days in 200, 2000, 3000, and 5000 mg/kg doses, besides LD50 value is found to be up to 2000 mg/kg bodyweight. As for the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. 28-days sub-acute toxicity study is carried in female rats at four dose levels (3.12, 31.25, 125 and 500 mg/kg), no changes in observation related death and toxic signs when compared with control. The hematological and biochemical investigation shows a significant change (p>0.05) in the high-level doses (500 mg/kg). Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, OP extract has the potential to be used to generate new anti-cancer and antioxidant additives for pharmaceutical and food manufacturing. Long-term in vivo toxicological tests should also be conducted to determine a safe dosage of OP extract

Confounders in the assessment of the renal effects associated with low-level urinary cadmium: an analysis in industrial workers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Associations of proteinuria with low-level urinary cadmium (Cd) are currently interpreted as the sign of renal dysfunction induced by Cd. Few studies have considered the possibility that these associations might be non causal and arise from confounding by factors influencing the renal excretion of Cd and proteins.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined 184 healthy male workers (mean age, 39.5 years) from a zinc smelter (n = 132) or a blanket factory (n = 52). We measured the concentrations of Cd in blood (B-Cd) and the urinary excretion of Cd (U-Cd), retinol-binding protein (RBP), protein HC and albumin. Associations between biomarkers of metal exposure and urinary proteins were assessed by simple and multiple regression analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The medians (interquartile range) of B-Cd (μg/l) and U-Cd (μg/g creatinine) were 0.80 (0.45-1.16) and 0.70 (0.40-1.3) in smelter workers and 0.66 (0.47-0.87) and 0.55 (0.40-0.90) in blanket factory workers, respectively. Occupation had no influence on these values, which varied mainly with smoking habits. In univariate analysis, concentrations of RBP and protein HC in urine were significantly correlated with both U-Cd and B-Cd but these associations were substantially weakened by the adjustment for current smoking and the residual influence of diuresis after correction for urinary creatinine. Albumin in urine did not correlate with B-Cd but was consistently associated with U-Cd through a relationship, which was unaffected by smoking or diuresis. Further analyses showed that RBP and albumin in urine mutually distort their associations with U-Cd and that the relationship between RBP and Cd in urine was almost the replicate of that linking RBP to albumin</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Associations between proteinuria and low-level urinary Cd should be interpreted with caution as they appear to be largely driven by diuresis, current smoking and probably also the co-excretion of Cd with plasma proteins.</p

Ventilation and Expansion of Intermediate and Deep Waters in the Southeast Pacific During the Last Termination

International audienc

Clearsight (TM) use for haemodynamic monitoring during the third trimester of pregnancy - a validation study

International audienceBackground: We assessed the validity of Clearsight (TM) as a non-invasive cardiac output and stroke volume monitoring device, comparing it with transthoracic echocardiography measurements during the third trimester of pregnancy. Methods: Measurements obtained from Clearsight (TM) were compared with those from echocardiography as the gold standard. The precision and accuracy of the Clearsight (TM) was measured using the Bland and Altman method. Clinical agreement with echocardiography was assessed using the agreement tolerability index. Results: Measurements were recorded from 44 pregnant women with a median [IQR range] gestational age of 33 [30-37] weeks. We found that Clearsight (TM) measurements presented a systematic overestimation of cardiac output, with mean bias [CI 95%] of 2.7 [2.3-3.0] L/min, with limits of agreement of -0.1 to 5.4 L/min. It overestimated stroke volume, with a bias of 29.5 [25.0-33.4] mL and a limit of agreement of -1.6 to 60.1 mL. In addition, the analysis of cardiac output showed a percentage of error of 41% and intra-class correlation [CI 95%] of 0.37 [0.17 to 0.53, P <0.001]. For stroke volume, the percentage of error was 40% and intra-class correlation 0.16 [-0.1 to 0.34; P=0.27]. We found that agreement tolerability index scores were unacceptable. We evaluated the ability of the device to track changes in cardiac output by inducing a left lateral decubitus position, but the analysis was inconclusive. Conclusion: The agreement between Clearsight (TM) and the echocardiography measurements of cardiac output and stroke volume were not within an acceptable range in the third trimester of pregnancy. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved