A possible prenatal evaluation of renal function by amino acid analysis on fetal urine

Intrauterine treatment of 4 fetuses with urethral obstruction was attempted in the third trimester of pregnancy. The fetuses displayed varying sonographic findings including pyelectasis, caliectasis, hydroureter, bladder dilatation, ascites, hydrops, missing kidneys and oligohydramnios. Ultrasonically guided aspiration from the dilated structures was carried out to relieve pressure on the kidney parenchyme and to collect fluid samples for diagnostic purposes. Amino acid concentrations in the fetal urine showed a pattern similar to plasma in 2 fetuses, a pattern almost like urine in 1 fetus and an intermediate pattern in the 4th fetus. Only the fetus with normal amino acid concentrations in the urine survived: the other 3 died in uremia shortly after birth. In 3 cases cells from the aspirated urine were cultured and used for chromosome analysis. The cell cultures grew fast and karyotyping was possible within 1 week. In 2 fetuses an intrauterine catheter was inserted to drain the kidney permanently into the amniotic cavity. In the first case the catheter was displaced to the fetal abdomen after some days of successful drainage. In the second case the catheter tore the placenta, and the child had to be delivered immediately.     

Variation of cholinergic biomarkers in brain regions and blood components of captive mink

Studies are increasingly using cholinergic parameters as biomarkers of early neurotoxicity, but few have characterized this system in ecologically relevant model organisms. In the present study, key neurochemicals in the cholinergic pathway were measured and analyzed from discrete parts of brain and blood from captive mink (Mustela vison). Similar to other mammals, the regional distribution of cholinergic parameters in the brain could be ranked from highest to lowest as: basal ganglia > occipital cortex > brain stem > cerebellum (F _3,192?=?172.1, p?<?0.001). Higher variation in cholinergic parameters was found in the cerebellum (coefficient of variation = 34.9%), and the least variation was measured in the brain stem (19.7%). Variation was also assessed by calculating the difference between the lowest and highest measures among individual animals: choline acetyltransferase (1.6× fold difference), cholinesterase (2.0×), muscarinic receptor levels (2.4×), acetylcholine (3.7×), nicotinic receptor levels (3.9×), and choline transporter (5.0×). In blood samples, activity and inter-individual variation of cholinesterase was highest in whole blood and lowest in plasma and serum. By using captive mink of a common genetic source, age, gender, and rearing conditions, these data help establish normal levels, ranges, and variations of cholinergic biomarkers among brain regions, blood components, and individual animals. Such information may better enable the utility of cholinergic biomarkers in environmental assessments.     

Mosaicism of autosomes and sex chromosomes in morphologically normal,monospermic preimplantation human embryos

We have previously detected chromosome abnormalities in human embryos whilst identifying the sex for preimplantation diagnosis of X-linked disease. In this study we assess the incidence of these abnormalities, both for sex chromosomes and autosomes 1 and 17, using dual fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Sixty-nine normally fertilized embryos of good morphology at the 6–10 cell stage (day 3 post-insemination) were examined. The embryos were spread whole using HCl and Tween 20 to dissolve the cytoplasm. Thirty-four embryos were analysed for the sex chromosomes and 35 for autosomes 1 and 17. All probes were directly labelled with fluorochromes allowing analysis in 2 h. Control lymphocytes demonstrated that the probes were of high specificity. For the sex chromosomes, five embryos were mosaic (15 per cent) with the remaining 29 being uniformly XX or XY. In no case was an XX nucleus found in an otherwise XY embryo, indicating that even though mosaicism for the sex chromosomes is present, such abnormalities would not lead to a misdiagnosis of sex. For the autosomes, 16 embryos were abnormal (46 per cent); one embryo was triploid, one was monosomic for chromosome 1, and ten others were diploid mosaics (three diploid/aneuploid, three diploid/polyploid, and four diploid/haploid). A further four embryos had variable chromosome numbers in the majority of nuclei which appeared to be the result of uncontrolled mitotic division. The presence of haploidy or double monosomy, which occurred in 15 per cent of nuclei, has important implications for the diagnosis of trisomies and dominant disorders.     

Environmental exposure to PCBs and cancer incidence in eastern Slovakia

In a population-based cross-sectional study, we compared serum levels of 15 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and three organochlorine pesticides in residents of two districts in eastern Slovakia, one with extensive environmental contamination from a former PCB production site (Michalovce) and the other matched on geography but with low (background) levels (Svidnik). The age-adjusted geometric means for sum of 15 measured PCB congeners were statistically significantly higher in subjects from the Michalovce district for both sexes: 3327.6 versus 1331.4 ng/g of lipid in males, 2751.8 versus 992.2 ng/g of lipid in females. Levels of DDE and DDT were also significantly higher, although the absolute differences were less pronounced. There was no substantial difference in HCB levels between the districts. We also conducted an ecologic study to compare cancer incidence occurring in these same two districts from 1985 through 1994. We calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals for each district using indirect standardization and rates from eastern Slovakia. Among males from Michalovce (exposed), but not Svidnik (unexposed), there was an excess of cancer of the tongue (SIR=1.46; 1.06-1.96), stomach (SIR=1.15; 1.00-1.32), lung (SIR=1.14; 1.04-1.24), testis (SIR=1.40; 0.97-1.97), and kidney (SIR=1.23; 0.98-1.52), and lower than expected incidence of prostate cancer (SIR=0.83; 0.69-0.97); in contrast, there was an excess of peritoneal (SIR=3.05; 1.11-6.63) and laryngeal cancer (SIR=1.43; 0.99-1.98) in Svidnik not observed Michalovce. Among females from Michalovce, but not Svidnik, there was an excess of cancer of the lip (SIR=2.54; 1.53-3.96), stomach (SIR=1.22; 1.02-1.44), and lung (SIR=1.17; 0.94-1.45); in contrast, there was an excess of kidney (SIR=1.61; 1.03-2.40) and thyroid (SIR=1.97; 1.12-3.20) cancer in Svidnik not observed in Michalovce. Taken together, these results raise the possibility that high environmental exposure to organochlorines in the Michalovce district may be associated with higher rates of certain cancers, particularly stomach and lung cancer.     

Root uptake of atenolol,sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine,and their transformation in three soils and four plants

Soils can be contaminated by pharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of soil conditions (influencing sorption and persistence of pharmaceuticals in soils) and plant type on the root uptake of selected pharmaceuticals and their transformation in plant-soil systems. Four plants (lamb’s lettuce, spinach, arugula, radish) planted in 3 soils were irrigated for 20 days (26) with water contaminated by one of 3 pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, atenolol, sulfamethoxazole) or their mixture. The concentrations of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in soils and plant tissues were evaluated after the harvest. Sulfamethoxazole and atenolol dissipated rapidly from soils. The larger concentrations of both compounds and an atenolol metabolite were found in roots than in leaves. Sulfamethoxazole metabolites were below the limits of quantifications. Carbamazepine was stable in soils, easily uptaken, accumulated, and metabolized in plant leaves. The efficiency of radish and arugula (both family Brassicaceae) in metabolizing was very low contrary to the high and moderate efficiencies of lamb’s lettuce and spinach, respectively. Compounds’ transformations mostly masked the soil impact on their accumulation in plant tissues. The negative relationships were found between the carbamazepine sorption coefficients and its concentrations in roots of radish, lamb’s lettuce, and spinach.

     

Natural and enhanced biodegradation of propylene glycol in airport soil

Aircraft de-icing fluids (ADF) are a source of water and soil pollution in airport sites. Propylene glycol (PG) is a main component in several commercial formulations of ADFs. Even though PG is biodegradable in soil, seasonal overloads may result in occasional groundwater contamination. Feasibility studies for the biostimulation of PG degradation in soil have been carried out in soil slurries, soil microcosms and enrichment cultures with and without the addition of nutrients (N and P sources, oligoelements), alternative electron acceptors (nitrate, oxygen releasing compounds) and adsorbents (activated carbon). Soil samples have been taken from the contaminated area of Gardermoen Airport Oslo. Under aerobic conditions and in the absence of added nutrients, no or scarce biomass growth is observed and PG degradation occurs by maintenance metabolism at constant removal rate by the original population of PG degraders. With the addition of nutrient, biomass exponential growth enhances aerobic PG degradation also at low temperatures (4 ° C) that occur at the high season of snowmelt. Anaerobic PG degradation without added nutrients still proceeds at constant rate (i.e. no biomass growth) and gives rise to reduced fermentation product (propionic acid, reduced Fe and Mn, methane). The addition of nitrate does not promote biomass growth but allows full PG mineralization without reduced by-products. Further exploitation on the field is necessary to fully evaluate the effect of oxygen releasing compounds and adsorbents.     

Monitoring the formation of structures and patterns during initial development of an artificial catchment

The objective of this paper is to present observations, results from monitoring measurements, and preliminary conclusions about the development of patterns and structures during the first 5 years of development of an artificial catchment starting from point zero. We discuss the high relevance of initial system traits and external events for the system development and draw conclusions for further research. These investigations as part of a Collaborative Research Center, aim to disentangle and understand the feedback mechanisms and interrelationships of processes and their co-development with spatial and temporal structures and patterns by studying an initial, probably less complex ecosystem. Therefore, intensive measurements were carried out in the catchment with regard to the development of surface structures, hydrological patterns, vegetation dynamics, water chemistry, and element budgets. During the first 5 years, considerable changes within the catchment were observed. Both internal and external factors could be identified as driving forces for the formation of structures and patterns in the artificial catchment. Initial structures formed by the construction process and initial substrate characteristics were decisive for the distribution and flow of water. External factors like episodic events triggered erosion and dissection during this initial phase, promoted by the low vegetation cover, and the unconsolidated sandy substrate. The transformation of the initial geosystem into areas with evolving terrestrial or aquatic characteristics and from a very episodic to a more permanent stream network and discharge, together with the observed vegetation dynamics increased site diversity and heterogeneity with respect to water and nutrient availability and transformation processes compared with the more homogenous conditions at point zero. The processes and feedback mechanisms in the initial development of a new landscape may deviate in rates, intensity, and dominance from those known from mature ecosystems. It is therefore crucial to understand these early phases of ecosystem development and to disentangle the increasingly complex interactions between the evolving terrestrial and aquatic, biotic, and abiotic compartments of the system. Long-term monitoring of initial ecosystems may provide important data and parameters on processes and the crucial role of spatial and temporal structures and patterns to solve these problems. Artificially created catchments could be a suitable tool to study these initial developments at the landscape scale under known, designed, and defined boundary conditions.     

Assessment of exposure to PCB 153 from breast feeding and normal food intake in individual children using a system approach model

Investigators have typically relied on a single or few discrete time points as measures of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) body burden, however health effects are more likely to be the result of integrative exposure in time, optionally expressed as an area under the time curve (AUC) of PCB serum concentration. Using data from a subgroup of 93 infants from a birth cohort in eastern Slovakia—a region highly polluted by PCBs—we fit a system type model, customized to our longitudinal measures of serum PCB concentrations in cord, 6, 16, and 45 month blood specimens. The most abundant congener, PCB 153, was chosen for modeling purposes. In addition to currently used methods of exposure assessment, our approach estimates a concentration time profile for each subject, taking into account mean residence time of PCB 153 molecules in the body, duration of breast feeding, hypothetical PCB 153 concentration in steady-state without breast feeding and alternately without normal food intake. Hypothetical PCB 153 concentration in steady-state without normal food intake correlates with AUC (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) as well as with duration of breast feeding (r = 0.64, p < 0.001). It makes possible to determine each subject’s exposure profile expressed as AUC of PCBs serum concentration with a minimum model parameters. PCB body burden in most infants was strongly associated with duration of breast feeding in most, but not all children, was apparent from model output.     

Performance Criteria, Compliance Success, and Vegetation Development in Compensatory Mitigation Wetlands

The US Army Corps of Engineers often requires wetland creation or restoration as compensation for wetlands damaged during development. These wetlands are typically monitored postconstruction to determine the level of compliance with respect to site-specific performance standards. However, defining appropriate goals and measuring success of restorations has proven difficult. We reviewed monitoring information for 76 wetlands constructed between 1992 and 2002 to summarize the performance criteria used to measure progress, assess compliance with those criteria, and, finally, to evaluate the appropriateness of those criteria. Goals were overwhelmingly focused on plant communities. Attributes used to assess the quality of restored plant communities, including percent native species and the Floristic Quality Index, increased over time but were apparently unrelated to the number of species planted. Compliance frequencies varied depending on site goals; sites often failed to comply with criteria related to survival of planted vegetation or requirements that dominant plant species should not be exotic or weedy, whereas criteria related to the establishment of cover by vegetation or by wetland-dependent plants were often met. Judgment of a site’s success or failure was largely a function of the goals set for the site. Some performance criteria were too lenient to be of value in distinguishing failed from successful sites, whereas other criteria were unachievable without more intensive site management. More appropriate goals could be devised for restored wetlands by basing performance standards on past performance of similar restorations, identifying consistent temporal trends in attributes of restored sites, and using natural wetlands as references.