The effect of D-penicillamine on experimental silicosis in rats

Istraživali smo uticaj d-penicilamina na silikozu u pacova. Tri grupe od po 10 pacova dobile su intratrahealnim putem po 50 mg silicijum dioksida. Četvrta grupa od 10 pacova ostavljena je kao kontrola. Od eksponovanih Si02 jedna grupa služila je kao kontrola, bez tretmana d-penicilaminom. Druga grupa dobivala je svakog dana u vodi za piće lek Metalkaptazu firme »Pliva« 10 mg po pacovu. Treća grupa primala je, takođe, Metalkaptazu u vodi za piće po 5 mg po pacovu svakog dana. Životinje su žrtvovane 7 meseci posle početka primene penicilamina, odnosno, 15 meseci od ekspozicije Si02. Pored makroskopskog pregleda, merena je telesna težina pacova na početku eksperimenta i posle 1, 3, 8 i 15 meseci. Merena je i težina pluća. Poseban značaj ima težina pluća treće grupe pacova koja su lakša od čiste silikotičarske grupe za 0,5 g. Međutim, histološki nalaz pluća i limfnih čvorova medijastinuma ukazuje da su nastupile promene koje govore da je pod uticajem d-penicilamina došlo do regresije, odnosno, do razgradnje kolagena naročito u grupi koja je primila manju dozu penicilamina. Na osnovu našeg histološkog nalaza i težine pluća pacova zaključili smo da penicilamin, u manjim dozama, utiče na razgradnju kolagena.The effect of D-penicillamine on silicosis was studied in 40 rats divided into four groups, ten in each group. Three groups received 50 mg of silicon dioxide intratracheally. The fourth group served as control. Among the exposed groups one was not treated with D-penicillamine and served as positive control. The rats in the second group were each given 10 mg D-penicilIamine (Metalcaptase »Pliva«) in drinking water every day. The third group was also treated with D-penicillamine and received about 5 mg per rat in drinking water every day. The rats were killed seven months after the first administration of penicillamine, i. e. after 15 months of SiO2 exposure. The rats were weighted at the beginning of the experiment and after 1, 3, 8 and 15 months. The lungs were also weighted. The lungs of rats in the third group weighted less, by 0.5 g, than those in the silicotic group. However, a histological analysis of the lungs and lymph nodes from the mediastinum showed some changes which proved that under the influence of D-penicillamine a regression i. e. decomposition of the collagen fibre took: place, especially in the group of rats which received a lower dose of penicillamine. On the basis of the histological analysis and the weight of the lungs we concluded that penicillamine in smaller doses causes decomposition of the collagen fibre

Concentrations of 17 elements in muscle, gills, liver and gonads of five economically important fish species from the Danube River

The Danube River in the vicinity of the city of Belgrade receives large amounts of untreated or poorly treated communal and industrial waste waters. The aim of this study was to assess elemental accumulation patterns in a number of economically important fish species in this area that belong to different trophic levels. Concentrations of 17 elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr and Zn) were assessed in liver, muscle, gills and gonads of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), freshwater bream (Abramis brama), white bream (Blicca bjoerkna), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and wels catfish (Silurus glanis) from the Danube River in Serbia by the use of ICP-OES. Silver carp specimens were differentiated from the other four species by high concentrations of Al and Fe in the liver. Common carp specimens were differentiated by high concentrations of Zn in gills, muscle and liver. Distribution of elements among different tissues had a consistent pattern among the species. Concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, Zn, Cu and Fe in muscle were at acceptable levels for human consumption, while concentrations of Fe and Zn were above maximum acceptable concentrations in liver and gonads

Coagulation disorders in the patients with deep vein thrombosis of lower extremity

PURPOSE Venous thromboembolism is a relevant social and health care problem for its high incidence, pulmonary embolism-related mortality and long-term sequelae which may be disabling (post-thrombotic syndrome and ulceration). PROCEDURES The aim of our work was to establish the presence of coagulation disorders (hypercoagulable states) in the patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the leg. Prospectively we have analyzed a group of 30 patients with echosono-graphicaly verified DVT of the leg who were admitted to the department of vascular surgery from August 1st 2000 to July 31st 2001.The following parameters were monitored: prothrombin time (PT) partial thromboplastin time (PTT), fibrinogen (Fib), alpha 2 antiplasmin (A-2 AP), D-dimer (DD), antithrombin III (AT III) and factor VII. FINDINGS Activation of the coagulation process was registered. The values of monitored coagulation parameters are shown in table 1. Plasma levels of monitored parameters in the patients with DVT of the leg were significantly higher than in the control subjects. CONCLUSION In patients with a DVT a hypercoagulable state is common finding. Some parameters of coagulation activity such as D-dimer might be of great interest in the diagnostic strategy of DVT

A new optical-based technique for real-time measurements of mineral dust concentration in PM10 using a virtual impactor

Atmospheric mineral dust influences Earth’s radiative budget, cloud formation, and lifetimehas adverse health effectsand affects air quality through the increase of regulatory PM10 concentrations, making its real-time quantification in the atmosphere of strategic importance. Only few near-real-time techniques can discriminate dust aerosol in PM10 samples and they are based on the dust chemical composition. The online determination of mineral dust using aerosol absorption photometers offers an interesting and competitive alternative but remains a difficult task to achieve. This is particularly challenging when dust is mixed with black carbon, which features a much higher mass absorption cross section. We build on previous work using filter photometers and present here for the first time a highly timeresolved online technique for quantification of mineral dust concentration by coupling a high-flow virtual impactor (VI) sampler that concentrates coarse particles with an aerosol absorption photometer (Aethalometer, model AE33). The absorption of concentrated dust particles is obtained by subtracting the absorption of the submicron (PM1) aerosol fraction from the absorption of the virtual impactor sample (VIPM1 method). This real-time method for detecting desert dust was tested in the field for a period of 2 months (April and May 2016) at a regional background site of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean. Several intense desert mineral dust events were observed during the field campaign with dust concentration in PM10 up to 45 μg