Self-Reported Chemicals Exposure, Beliefs About Disease Causation, and Risk of Breast Cancer in the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study: A Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: Household cleaning and pesticide products may contribute to breast cancer because many contain endocrine disrupting chemicals or mammary gland carcinogens. This population-based case-control study investigated whether use of household cleaners and pesticides increases breast cancer risk. METHODS: Participants were 787 Cape Cod, Massachusetts, women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 1995 and 721 controls. Telephone interviews asked about product use, beliefs about breast cancer etiology, and established and suspected breast cancer risk factors. To evaluate potential recall bias, we stratified product-use odds ratios by beliefs about whether chemicals and pollutants contribute to breast cancer; we compared these results with odds ratios for family history (which are less subject to recall bias) stratified by beliefs about heredity. RESULTS: Breast cancer risk increased two-fold in the highest compared with lowest quartile of self-reported combined cleaning product use (Adjusted OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.4, 3.3) and combined air freshener use (Adjusted OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2, 3.0). Little association was observed with pesticide use. In stratified analyses, cleaning products odds ratios were more elevated among participants who believed pollutants contribute "a lot" to breast cancer and moved towards the null among the other participants. In comparison, the odds ratio for breast cancer and family history was markedly higher among women who believed that heredity contributes "a lot" (OR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.9, 3.6) and not elevated among others (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5, 1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that cleaning product use contributes to increased breast cancer risk. However, results also highlight the difficulty of distinguishing in retrospective self-report studies between valid associations and the influence of recall bias. Recall bias may influence higher odds ratios for product use among participants who believed that chemicals and pollutants contribute to breast cancer. Alternatively, the influence of experience on beliefs is another explanation, illustrated by the protective odds ratio for family history among women who do not believe heredity contributes "a lot." Because exposure to chemicals from household cleaning products is a biologically plausible cause of breast cancer and avoidable, associations reported here should be further examined prospectively.Massachusetts Legislature; Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Susan S. Bailis Breast Cancer Research Fund at Silent Spring Institute; United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R01 DP000218-01, 1H75EH000377-01

Статистическая оценка сопутствующих патологических процессов при аденоме простаты

Department of morphopathology, Department of urology and surgical nephrology, Nicolae Tesmitsanu State University of Medicine and FarmacyThis study aims to assess the statistical figures of morphopathological aspects of prostatic adenoma using the methods of statistical processing and analyzing to determine the informative indices of variability and the trend of the development of the pathological processes concurrent to the Benign Prostate Hiperplasia (BPH). It has been found that in 30 patients aged 45-68 along with BPH the pathological processes with a predominance of the inflammatory, dystrophic and discirculatory ones, involving all the structural elements of the adenoma and its bordering zones, have been identified. The level of activity of the processes, including the inflammatory processes in the peripheral area has been found out. The inflammatory processes of moderate and emphasized activity (the IInd and IIId degrees) have made up a maximum frequency and accounted for 77% of the cases, being followed by circulatory disorders of the IInd and IIId degrees of activity, what has corresponded to 76% of cases. В данном исследовании отражена статистическая оценка морфопатологических аспектов, выявленных при аденоме простаты, использованы методы статистической обработки и анализа для выявления информативных параметров вариабельности, а также тенденции развития патологических процессов, которые сопутствуют доброкачественной гиперплазии простаты (ДГП). Установлено, что у 30 пациентов в возрасте 45-68 лет, одновременно с ДГП присутствуют патологические процессы, преимущественно воспалительные, дисциркуляторные и дистрофические, включающие все структурные элементы аденомы и ее пограничной зоны. Выявлена степень активности процессов, в том числе на периферии, что соответствовало зоне энуклеации аденомы. Воспалительные процессы умеренной и выраженной степени активности (II-III степень) соответствовали максимальной частоте и составили 77% случаев, за ними следовали дисциркуляторные нарушения II-III степени, которые составили 76%

Changes of free radical oxidation and of antioxidant defense system in peripheral blood and fluid discharged from prostate draining lodge in large transbladder adenomectomy

Department of Urology, Holy Trinity Municipal Hospital, Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova, Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Urology and Surgical Nephrology, Department of Pathomorphology, Nicolae Testemitsanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, the Republic of MoldovaBackground: This study is dedicated to determination of the peculiarities of the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant system processes in the patients with prostate adenoma (PA), and the correlation between blood serum and fluid draining from lodge after adenomectomy with the aim of highlighting the risk factors of this pathology. Material and methods: There were studied 79 men aged 50-75 years, divided into two specific groups: group 1 – 49 men with PA treated surgically by transvezical method, modified by us and group 2 – 30 healthy men. Results: The results showed that in PA the processes of lipid oxidation with production of reactive oxygen species increased, confirmed by marked increasing of hydroperoxides of lipids, keto-diene conjugates and carbonyl compounds. There had been an impressive increase of the malondialdehyde level in both blood serum at pre- and postoperative stages and in the drained fluids from the lodge in patients of group 1. A deficiency of antioxidants was demonstrated by total antioxidant reduced activity and decreased functionality of the main antioxidant enzymes – superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase in pre- and post-operative periods, as well as in fluids from the drained lodge in group 2. Conclusions: It was found that oxygen species manifested an imbalance between reactive oxygen species generation and antioxidant protective system and they are an important pathogenic cause in self-maintenance and exacerbation of inflammatory response that can influence the pre- and postoperative evolution of PA, a predictive factor in developing treatment strategies, postoperative management

Measuring the Success of Community Science: The Northern California Household Exposure Study

Background: Environmental health research involving community participation has increased substantially since the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) environmental justice and community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships began in the mid-1990s. The goals of these partnerships are to inform and empower better decisions about exposures, foster trust, and generate scientific knowledge to reduce environmental health disparities in low-income, minority communities. Peer-reviewed publication and clinical health outcomes alone are inadequate criteria to judge the success of projects in meeting these goals; therefore, new strategies for evaluating success are needed

An overview of methods to address distinct research questions on environmental mixtures: an application to persistent organic pollutants and leukocyte telomere length

Background Numerous methods exist to analyze complex environmental mixtures in health studies. As an illustration of the different uses of mixture methods, we employed methods geared toward distinct research questions concerning persistent organic chemicals (POPs) as a mixture and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as an outcome. Methods With information on 18 POPs and LTL among 1,003 U.S. adults (NHANES, 2001-2002), we used unsupervised methods including clustering to identify profiles of similarly exposed participants, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to identify common exposure patterns. We also employed supervised learning techniques, including penalized, weighted quantile sum (WQS), and Bayesian kernel machine (BKMR) regressions, to identify potentially toxic agents, and characterize nonlinear associations, interactions, and the overall mixture effect. Results Clustering separated participants into high, medium, and low POP exposure groups; longer log-LTL was found among those with high exposure. The first PCA component represented overall POP exposure and was positively associated with log-LTL. Two EFA factors, one representing furans and the other PCBs 126 and 118, were positively associated with log-LTL. Penalized regression methods selected three congeners in common (PCB 126, PCB 118, and furan 2,3,4,7,8-pncdf) as potentially toxic agents. WQS found a positive overall effect of the POP mixture and identified six POPs as potentially toxic agents (furans 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-hxcdf, 2,3,4,7,8-pncdf, and 1,2,3,6,7,8-hxcdf, and PCBs 99, 126, 169). BKMR found a positive linear association with furan 2,3,4,7,8-pncdf, suggestive evidence of linear associations with PCBs 126 and 169, and a positive overall effect of the mixture, but no interactions among congeners. Conclusions Using different methods, we identified patterns of POP exposure, potentially toxic agents, the absence of interaction, and estimated the overall mixture effect. These applications and results may serve as a guide for mixture method selection based on specific research questions

Temporal Comparison of PBDEs, OH-PBDEs, PCBs, and OH-PCBs in the Serum of Second Trimester Pregnant Women Recruited from San Francisco General Hospital, California

Prenatal exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) can harm neurodevelopment in humans and animals. In 2003–2004, PentaBDE and OctaBDE were banned in California and phased-out of US production; resulting impacts on human exposures are unknown. We previously reported that median serum concentrations of PBDEs and their metabolites (OH-PBDEs) among second trimester pregnant women recruited from San Francisco General Hospital (2008–2009; n=25) were the highest among pregnant women worldwide. We recruited another cohort from the same clinic in 2011–2012 (n=36) and now compare serum concentrations of PBDEs, OH-PBDEs, polychlorinated biphenyl ethers (PCBs) (structurally similar compounds banned in 1979), and OH-PCBs between two demographically similar cohorts. Between 2008–2009 and 2011–2012, adjusted least square geometric mean (LSGM) concentrations of ΣPBDEs decreased 65% (95% CI: 18, 130) from 90.0 ng/g lipid (95% CI: 64.7,125.2) to 54.6 ng/g lipid (95% CI: 39.2, 76.2) (p=0.004); Σ OH-PBDEs decreased six-fold (p<0.0001); and BDE-47, -99, and -100 declined more than BDE-153. There was a modest, non-significant (p=0.13) decline in LSGM concentrations of ΣPCBs and minimal differences in ΣOH-PCBs between 2008–2009 and 2011–2012. PBDE exposures are likely declining due to regulatory action, but the relative stability in PCB exposures suggests PBDE exposures may eventually plateau and persist for decades

The estimation of the peculiarities and the activity degree of the consisting inflammatory processes in the benign prostatic hyperplasia

Secţia Urologie, IMSP Spitalul Clinic Municipal “ Sf. Treime”, Catedra Morfopatologie, USMF „N. Testemiţanu”, Secţia Ştiinţifică Morfopatologie, IMSP Institutul de Cercetări Ştiinţifice în Domeniul Ocrotirii Sănătăţii Mamei şi Copilului, Catedra Urologie şi Nefrologie Chirurgicală, USMF „N. Testemiţanu”, Al V-lea Congres de Urologie, Dializă şi Transplant Renal din Republica Moldova cu participare internaţională (1-13 iunie 2011)Summary. The conducted study has the aim to estimate the histopathological peculiarities of the inflammatory processes, evaluated in prostatic nodular hyperplasia, the character and the activity of these processes in the area of nodular hyperplasia structures, and the border limit in the adenectomy. The results of the morphopathological study allowed detailed diagnosis of the prostatic hyperplasia. Severe modifications of inflammatory origin and considerable implications of the structural-architectonical components indicate concomitant persisting or coexisting of chronic or acute prostatitis. The establishment of the lesion character, activity degree of the inflammatory process, saving border limit in the surgical management regarding the residual cavity of cleavage and postoperative prognosis was the second aim of the study. It facilitates the choice of the best therapeutic and surgical approach. The character of the inflammatory processes coexisting with prostatic benign hyperplasia was evaluated. A clinical-morphological concept of inflammatory associations in prostate benign hyperplasia was formulated

Institutional review board challenges related to community-based participatory research on human exposure to environmental toxins: A case study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We report on the challenges of obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) coverage for a community-based participatory research (CBPR) environmental justice project, which involved reporting biomonitoring and household exposure results to participants, and included lay participation in research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We draw on our experiences guiding a multi-partner CBPR project through university and state Institutional Review Board reviews, and other CBPR colleagues' written accounts and conference presentations and discussions. We also interviewed academics involved in CBPR to learn of their challenges with Institutional Review Boards.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that Institutional Review Boards are generally unfamiliar with CBPR, reluctant to oversee community partners, and resistant to ongoing researcher-participant interaction. Institutional Review Boards sometimes unintentionally violate the very principles of beneficence and justice which they are supposed to uphold. For example, some Institutional Review Boards refuse to allow report-back of individual data to participants, which contradicts the CBPR principles that guide a growing number of projects. This causes significant delays and may divert research and dissemination efforts. Our extensive education of our university Institutional Review Board convinced them to provide human subjects protection coverage for two community-based organizations in our partnership.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>IRBs and funders should develop clear, routine review guidelines that respect the unique qualities of CBPR, while researchers and community partners can educate IRB staff and board members about the objectives, ethical frameworks, and research methods of CBPR. These strategies can better protect research participants from the harm of unnecessary delays and exclusion from the research process, while facilitating the ethical communication of study results to participants and communities.</p

Beta-Amyloid Peptides Enhance the Proliferative Response of Activated CD4+CD28+ Lymphocytes from Alzheimer Disease Patients and from Healthy Elderly

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent form of dementia among elderly. Despite the vast amount of literature on non-specific immune mechanisms in AD there is still little information about the potential antigen-specific immune response in this pathology. It is known that early stages of AD include β-amyloid (Aβ)- reactive antibodies production and inflammatory response. Despite some evidence gathered proving cellular immune response background in AD pathology, the specific reactions of CD4+ and CD8+ cells remain unknown as the previous investigations yielded conflicting results. Here we investigated the CD4+CD28+ population of human peripheral blood T cells and showed that soluble β-amyloids alone were unable to stimulate these cells to proliferate significantly, resulting only in minor, probably antigen-specific, proliferative response. On the other hand, the exposure of in vitro pre-stimulated lymphocytes to soluble Aβ peptides significantly enhanced the proliferative response of these cells which had also lead to increased levels of TNF, IL-10 and IL-6. We also proved that Aβ peptide-enhanced proliferative response of CD4+CD28+ cells is autonomous and independent from disease status while being associated with the initial, ex vivo activation status of the CD4+ cells. In conclusion, we suggest that the effect of Aβ peptides on the immune system of AD patients does not depend on the specific reactivity to Aβ epitope(s), but is rather a consequence of an unspecific modulation of the cell cycle dynamics and cytokine production by T cells, occurring simultaneously in a huge proportion of Aβ peptide-exposed T lymphocytes and affecting the immune system performance

Sources of variation for indoor nitrogen dioxide in rural residences of Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Unprocessed biomass fuel is the primary source of indoor air pollution (IAP) in developing countries. The use of biomass fuel has been linked with acute respiratory infections. This study assesses sources of variations associated with the level of indoor nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>This study examines household factors affecting the level of indoor pollution by measuring NO₂. Repeated measurements of NO₂were made using a passive diffusive sampler. A <it>Saltzman </it>colorimetric method using a spectrometer calibrated at 540 nm was employed to analyze the mass of NO₂on the collection filter that was then subjected to a mass transfer equation to calculate the level of NO₂for the 24 hours of sampling duration. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on fuel use characteristics. Data entry and cleaning was done in EPI INFO version 6.04, while data was analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Analysis of variance, multiple linear regression and linear mixed model were used to isolate determining factors contributing to the variation of NO₂concentration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 17,215 air samples were fully analyzed during the study period. Wood and crop were principal source of household energy. Biomass fuel characteristics were strongly related to indoor NO₂concentration in one-way analysis of variance. There was variation in repeated measurements of indoor NO₂over time. In a linear mixed model regression analysis, highland setting, wet season, cooking, use of fire events at least twice a day, frequency of cooked food items, and interaction between ecology and season were predictors of indoor NO₂concentration. The volume of the housing unit and the presence of kitchen showed little relevance in the level of NO₂concentration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Agro-ecology, season, purpose of fire events, frequency of fire activities, frequency of cooking and physical conditions of housing are predictors of NO₂concentration. Improved kitchen conditions and ventilation are highly recommended.</p