Childhood Correlates of Blood Lead Levels in Mumbai and Delhi

BACKGROUND: Lead exposure has previously been associated with intellectual impairment in children in a number of international studies. In India, it has been reported that nearly half of the children have elevated blood lead levels (BLLs). However, little is known about risk factors for these elevated BLLs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of data from the Indian National Family Health Survey, a population-based study conducted in 1998–1999. We assessed potential correlates of BLLs in 1,081 children who were < 3 years of age and living in Mumbai or Delhi, India. We examined factors such as age, sex, religion, caste, mother’s education, standard of living, breast-feeding, and weight/height percentile. RESULTS: Most children (76%) had BLLs between 5 and 20 μg/dL. Age, standard of living, weight/height percentile, and total number of children ever born to the mother were significantly associated with BLLs (log transformed) in multivariate regression models. Compared with children ≤3 months of age, children 4–11 and 12–23 month of age had 84 and 146% higher BLLs, respectively (p < 0.001). A low standard of living correlated with a 32.3% increase in BLLs (p = 0.02). Children greater than the 95th percentile for their weight/height had 31% (p = 0.03) higher BLLs compared with those who were below the 5th percentile for their weight/height. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found various factors correlated with elevated BLLs in children. The correlation between greater than the 95th percentile weight/height and higher BLL may reflect an impact of lead exposure on body habitus. Our study may help in targeting susceptible populations and identifying correctable factors for elevated BLLs in Mumbai and Delhi

Relation of Cumulative Low-Level Lead Exposure to Depressive and Phobic Anxiety Symptom Scores in Middle-Age and Elderly Women

Background: Different lines of evidence suggest that low-level lead exposure could be a modifiable risk factor for adverse psychological symptoms, but little work has explored this relation

A case-control study of GST polymorphisms and arsenic related skin lesions

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms in GSTT1, GSTM1 and GSTP1 impact detoxification of carcinogens by GSTs and have been reported to increase susceptibility to environmentally related health outcomes. Individual factors in arsenic biotransformation may influence disease susceptibility. GST activity is involved in the metabolism of endogenous and exogenous compounds, including catalyzing the formation of arsenic-GSH conjugates. METHODS: We investigated whether polymorphisms in GSTT1, GSTP1 and GSTM1 were associated with risk of skin lesions and whether these polymorphisms modify the relationship between drinking water arsenic exposure and skin lesions in a case control study of 1200 subjects frequency matched on age and gender in community clinics in Pabna, Bangladesh in 2001–2002. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: GSTT1 homozygous wildtype status was associated with increased odds of skin lesions compared to the null status (OR1.56 95% CI 1.10–2.19). The GSTP1 GG polymorphism was associated with greater odds of skin lesions compared to GSTP1 AA, (OR 1.86 (95%CI 1.15–3.00). No evidence of effect modification by GSTT1, GSTM1 or GSTP1 polymorphisms on the association between arsenic exposure and skin lesions was detected. CONCLUSION: GSTT1 wildtype and GSTP1 GG are associated with increased risk of skin lesions

Lablab purpureus—A Crop Lost for Africa?

In recent years, so-called ‘lost crops’ have been appraised in a number of reviews, among them Lablab purpureus in the context of African vegetable species. This crop cannot truly be considered ‘lost’ because worldwide more than 150 common names are applied to it. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this paper aims to put forward four theses, (i) Lablab is one of the most diverse domesticated legume species and has multiple uses. Although its largest agro-morphological diversity occurs in South Asia, its origin appears to be Africa. (ii) Crop improvement in South Asia is based on limited genetic diversity. (iii) The restricted research and development performed in Africa focuses either on improving forage or soil properties mostly through one popular cultivar, Rongai, while the available diversity of lablab in Africa might be under threat of genetic erosion. (iv) Lablab is better adapted to drought than common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) or cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), both of which have been preferred to lablab in African agricultural production systems. Lablab might offer comparable opportunities for African agriculture in the view of global change. Its wide potential for adaptation throughout eastern and southern Africa is shown with a GIS (geographic information systems) approach

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis is attenuated in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-deficient mice

To investigate repair mechanisms in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, we used mice deficient in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT(-/-)), a key enzyme in glutathione (GSH) and cysteine metabolism. Seventy-two hours after bleomycin (0.03 U/g), GGT-/- mice displayed a different inflammatory response to wild-type mice as judged by a near absence of neutrophils in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage and a less pronounced rise in matrix metalloproteinase-9. Inflammation in GGT(-/-) mice consisted mainly of lymphocytes and macrophages. At 1 month, lungs from bleomycin-treated GGT(-/-) mice exhibited minimal areas of fibrosis compared with wild-type mice(light microscopy fibrosis index: 510 +/- 756 versus 1975 +/- 817, p < 0.01). Lung Collagen content revealed a significant increase in bleomycin-treated wild-type (15.1 +/- 3.8 versus 8.5 +/- 0.7 mug hydroxy(OH)-proline/mg dry weight, p < 0.01) but not in GGT(-/-)(10.4 +/- 1.7 versus 8.8 +/- 0.8). Control lungs from GGT(-/-) showed a significant reduction of cysteine (0.03 +/- 0.005 versus 0.055 +/- 0.001, p < 0.02) and GSH levels (1.24 +/- 0.055 versus 1.79 +/- 0.065, p < 0.002). These values decreased after 72 hours of bleomycin in both GGT-/- and wild-type but reached their respective control values after I month. Supplementation with N-acetyl cysteine partially ameliorated the effects of GGT deficiency. These findings suggest that increased neutrophils and matrix metalloproteinase-9 during the early inflammatory response and adequate thiol reserves are key elements in the fibrotic response after bleomycin-induced pulmonary injury