Neonatal hemochromatosis: management,outcome, and prevention

Neonatal hemochromatosis (NH) is a rare disorder but the most common cause of acute liver failure in neonates. NH is characterized by severe hepatic injury and iron overload and is associated with high perinatal mortality and morbidity rates. NH is often preceded by oligohydramnios and intrauterine growth restriction, suggesting an important impact of NH during fetal life. Stillbirth and prematurity are not uncommon. During the last decade, major discoveries on the etiology of NH have radically changed the management and outcome of this disease. NH is now regarded as an alloimmune disease and is, as such, often referred to as gestational alloimmune liver disease. Antenatal treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins starting at 14 weeks' gestation has been shown to prevent the development of NH in subsequent pregnancies. Postnatal treatment, previously based on the use of anti-oxidants and chelation therapy, has now successfully been replaced by exchange transfusions and intravenous immunoglobulins substitution. This review summarizes the latest discoveries on the etiology of NH and the new recommendations concerning its management and prevention. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cadmium uptake by the water hyacinth: Effects of root mass,solution volume,complexers and other metal ions1

At a fixed Cd²⁺ concentration water hyacinth ($\text{Eichhornia crassipes}$) plants with greater root mass (dry weight) take up more metal ions as a function of time, and more metal ions are taken up by a plant as the solution volume is increased. Experiments in which several different metal ion complexers were present suggest that (1) the roots possess sites which initially reversibly bind free Cd²⁺, (2) some added complexers can compete with these root sites for free Cd²⁺, and (3) with time Cd²⁺ bound to the roots is translocated into into the root tissues effectively removing it from the equilibrium processes in solution. Many metal ions are taken up by the plant but only the micronutrient Zn²⁺ competes well with Cd²⁺ for uptake. Thus, there may be binding sites on the roots for specific metal ions.