Arsenism Clinical Stages and their Relation with Hair Arsenic Concentration of Residents of Bayinmaodao Rural District, Inner Mongolia, China

The clinical skin lesions of arsenism in men and women in Bayinmaodao rural district in Inner Mongolia, Peoples Republic of China, have been examined by doctors, and their hair and drinking water samples analysed for arsenic by hydride generation and ICP-AES. Altogether 311 arsenism patients with a 15.53% prevalence rate for the district were recorded. The disease prevalence rate was positively related to population, age, and their exposure to elevated arsenic concentrations in the drinking water from 1983 when new wells were dug and drinking of surface water was abandoned. Hyperkeratosis was the most serious skin lesion with the highest occurrence rate, then depigmentation and pigmentation in decreasing order. With increasing severity of the disease, ranging from skin lesion with single hyperkeratosis 1° to hyperkeratosis 3° with depigmentation 3° and pigmentation 3°, the results showed that arsenic concentrations in head hair had increased. Arsenic concentrations in hair were positively correlated with the arsenic concentrations in drinking water obtained from local wells.     

Effects of Selenium Supplementation on Arsenism: An Intervention Trial in Inner Mongolia

This paper reports the effects of a placebo-controlled Se-enriched yeast supplementation trial, conducted for 14 months, on arsenism in adult farmers living in a rural community in Inner Mongolia, China. The farmers had been naturally exposed to elevated concentrations of As in drinking water from tube-wells since 1983 but changed to arsenic-free drinking water when the trial began in June 1996. Blood and hair Se and As concentrations were analysed pre-intervention and at the end of the 3rd, 9th and 14th month, while skin lesions were assessed pre-intervention, as well as at the end of the 14th month, using the Arsenism Clinical Criteria established by the Ministry of Health, China. As the trial was a voluntary one, a number of farmers did not routinely have their blood and hair samples taken for analysis. Consequently, the data have been analysed in two categories. Fifty-four farmers from the Se-group and 29 from the placebo-group who were sampled on each occasion were considered as one group, which has been compared with the second group comprising up to a total of 100 farmers in the Se-group and 86 in the placebo-group. Results calculated for those farmers who were sampled on each occasion, showed that at the end of the trial, blood and hair Se concentrations of the Se-group increased from 0.130 to 0.186 µg ml^–1 and from 0.431 to 0.502 µg g^–1, respectively, while those of the placebo-groups remained constant. Blood and hair As concentrations of the Se-group decreased from 0.051 to 0.015 µg ml^–1 and from 2.57 to 0.680 µg g^–1, respectively, a greater reduction than those in the placebo-group that went from 0.064 to 0.024 µg ml^–1 and from 2.62 to 1.25 µg g^–1, respectively. When the data from all patients were examined, the analytical trends were similar. An evaluation of skin lesions in the category who were sampled for hair and blood on each occasion showed that 41.2% of hyperkeratosis, 50.0% of depigmentation and 44.7% of pigmentation in the Se-group improved one or more degrees, while those in the placebo-group improved by only 7.1, 12.0 and 6.7%, respectively. A total of 61.1% of the adults in Se-group improved in one or more type of skin lesion, but only 17.2% improved in the placebo-group. Comparable results were obtained when all the data from both categories of farmers were examined. Results from the trial showed that Se supplementation was more effective for the improvement of adults who were affected by double or triple skin lesions. In the placebo-group, most of the severely affected adults improved in only one kind of skin lesion, but in the Se-group, more adults improved in two or three kinds of skin lesions. Although the trial was limited by its relatively small size, the results have provided some evidence of the usefulness of Se supplementation for people affected by arsenism.     

The Relationship Between Exposure to Arsenic Concentrations in Drinking Water and the Development of Skin Lesions in Farmers from Inner Mongolia, China

Associations between the concentration of arsenic naturally occurring in drinking water and the development of skin lesions in people have been documented for some years at various locations around the world. Data on the exposure-response relationship between concentrations of arsenic in drinking water and prevalence of skin lesions in farmers from five locations in Inner Mongolia, China have been collected from the original publications and re-analysed together as a meta-study. The calculated data show a positive linear exposure-response relationship without a threshold. The reasons for this linear correlation are discussed and compared with the data from Xinjiang, another arsenism area located in a different geographical area of China. Here a different relationship was recorded that involved a threshold concentration before skin lesions developed. The significance of these two different exposure-response scenarios is discussed.     

有机磷农药对缢蛏[Sinonovacula constricta (Lamarck)]显微结构的影响

在实验室模拟缢蛏的生长环境,研究乐果和三唑磷对缢蛏的毒性效应.以气相色谱法测定缢蛏体内有机磷农药的含量,并通过光镜观察有机磷农药对缢蛏鳃和消化腺显微结构的影响.结果表明:缢蛏体内乐果和三唑磷的含量随着水体中有机磷农药的增加而增加,有很好的剂量-效应关系,但是无线性相关性.乐果和三唑磷对缢蛏鳃显微结构的影响是:鳃丝变短,鳃丝间隔和基底膜结缔组织增生,鳃孔、血管腔堵塞;不同的是:在乐果胁迫下,上皮细胞纤毛脱落严重,而三唑磷胁迫下,上皮细胞纤毛增生.乐果和三唑磷对缢蛏消化腺显微结构的影响主要表现为腺细胞界限模糊,腺泡水肿变形、部分坏死;结缔组织增生,细胞间质疏松,出现许多空泡;有机磷农药的浓度高时消化腺细胞变性、坏死,细胞质囊泡化.     

燃煤型砷中毒病区尿砷甲基化代谢和砷致皮肤损伤危险度的关系初探

砷中毒具有特异的皮肤损伤特征。为了研究燃煤型砷中毒病区高砷暴露、人体甲基化代谢能力与皮肤损伤患病风险之间的关系,在陕南典型燃煤型砷中毒村进行了皮肤损伤诊断和流行病学调查,采集尿样并分析总砷及形态砷含量,同时计算了用于表征人体砷甲基化代谢能力的指标包括尿中无机砷、一甲基砷和二甲基砷占总砷的百分含量(i As%、MMA%、DMA%),以及一甲基化率(PMI=MMA/i As)和二甲基化率(SMI=DMA/MMA)。Logistic回归分析结果表明:尿总砷含量(UTAs)是砷致皮肤损伤的危险因素(OR=1.038,95%CI:1.003~1.073),二甲基砷百分含量和SMI是皮肤损伤的保护因素(OR=0.883,95%CI:0.798~0.976;OR=0.724,95%CI:0.535~0.978);且砷致皮肤损伤的危险度随砷暴露水平的增高和甲基化能力的降低而增大。     

Prenatal interventions for fetal lung lesions

The widespread availability of high resolution ultrasound equipment and almost universal routine anatomy scanning in all pregnant women in the developed world has lead to increased detection of abnormalities in the fetal thorax. Already in the 1980s, large pleural effusions and significant macrocystic lesions in the fetus were easily detected on ultrasound. However, smaller lung tumours were often missed. Nowadays, fetal medicine centres receive many referrals for evaluation of fetal lung lesions, of which the most common are congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation and bronchopulmonary sequestration. Almost invariably, both the parents and the referring physicians experience anxiety after detection of large lung masses in the fetus. However, the vast majority of the currently detected fetal lung lesions have an excellent prognosis without the need for prenatal intervention. In the small group of fetuses in which the prognosis is poor, almost exclusively those with concomitant fetal hydrops and cardiac failure, several options for fetal therapy exist, often with a more than 50% survival rate. Indications, techniques, complications and outcomes of these interventions will be described in this review. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

有机磷农药对缢蛏(Sinonovacula constricta)消化腺超微结构的影响

在实验室模拟缢蛏生长环境，研究结构、性质不同的两种典型有机磷农药（OPS）乐果和三唑磷对滩涂养殖生物缢蛏的毒性效应，通过电镜观察乐果和三唑磷对缢蛏消化腺超微结构的影响．结果发现，乐果和三唑磷对缢蛏消化腺超微结构的影响相似，主要表现在对腺细胞的细胞核和各种细胞器（如线粒体、内质网、高尔基体）的伤害．主要病变为：细胞核变形，核膜或凸起或凹陷，染色质发生凝聚或边缘化；线粒体肿大，双层膜溶解，内嵴部分消失；个别线粒体内嵴完全瓦解，形成电子透明区；粗面内质网水肿，核糖体部分脱落，片层结构水肿、囊泡化，严重者出现大的囊泡区．本研究为了解不同OPS对缢蛏的毒性效应提供了病理形态学证据．     

Cystic lung lesions – prenatal diagnosis and management

With increasing use of fetal ultrasound comes an increase in the detection of clinically silent ‘abnormalities’ which pose diagnostic and management dilemmas for perinatologists and paediatricians. Congenital thoracic malformations (CTMs) (excluding congenital diaphragmatic hernia) are one such example, where a few cases are symptomatic in early life and management options are clear, but the majority are clinically asymptomatic, giving rise to difficulties in defining postnatal management of the well child with a sonographic or radiological lesion. Here, we will outline the prenatal presentation and natural history of CTMs that are not congenital diaphragmatic herniae and briefly discuss the approach to postnatal management, which is covered in more detail in the review by Laje and Liechty in this issue. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.