Metabolic fate of C-14-labelled chlorinated and non-chlorinated fatty acids in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

In order to study the metabolic fate of chlorinated fatty acids in fish, goldfish were fed either 9,10-dichlorostearic acid or oleic acid, chosen as the unchlorinated analogue, both radiolabelled at either the carboxyl (1st) or the terminal (18th) carbon of the fatty acid chain. By keeping the fish in hermetically closed aquaria, all the respired, assimilated and excreted radioactivity could be accounted for. Fish fed 9,10-dichlorostearic acid labelled in the terminal end respired radioactive CO2 to a much lower degree than fish fed the other test compounds. As a consequence, the radioactivity bound in lipids was higher in the group of fish fed dichlorostearic acid labelled in the terminal end. It is suggested that the chlorine atoms in the middle of the carbon chain obstruct the metabolic turn-over of 9,10-dichlorostearic acid, which may have an impact on the residence time of these compounds in the ecosystem

Unraveling the enigma: elucidating the relationship between the physicochemical properties of aluminium-based adjuvants and their immunological mechanisms of action

Abstract Aluminium salts are by far the most commonly used adjuvants in vaccines. There are only two aluminium salts which are used in clinically-approved vaccines, Alhydrogel® and AdjuPhos®, while the novel aluminium adjuvant used in Gardasil® is a sulphated version of the latter. We have investigated the physicochemical properties of these two aluminium adjuvants and specifically in milieus approximating to both vaccine vehicles and the composition of injection sites. Additionally we have used a monocytic cell line to establish the relationship between their physicochemical properties and their internalisation and cytotoxicity. We emphasise that aluminium adjuvants used in clinically approved vaccines are chemically and biologically dissimilar with concomitantly potentially distinct roles in vaccine-related adverse events