Oral administration of potassium bromate, a major water disinfection by-product, induces oxidative stress and impairs the antioxidant power of rat blood

Potassium bromate (KBrO₃) is a widely used food additive, a water disinfection by-product and a known nephrotoxic agent. The effect of KBrO₃ on rat blood, especially on the anti-oxidant defense system, was studied in this work. Animals were given a single oral dose of KBrO₃ (100 mg/kg body weight) and sacrificed 12, 24, 48, 96 and 168 h after this treatment. Blood was collected from the animals and separated into plasma and erythrocytes. KBrO₃ administration resulted in increased lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, hydrogen peroxide levels and decreased the reduced glutathione content indicating the induction of oxidative stress in blood. Methemoglobin levels and methemoglobin reductase activity were significantly increased while the total anti-oxidant power was greatly reduced upon KBrO₃ treatment. Nitric oxide levels were enhanced while vitamin C concentration decreased in KBrO₃ treated animals. The activities of major anti-oxidant enzymes were also altered upon KBrO₃ treatment. The maximum changes in all these parameters were 48 h after the administration of KBrO₃ and then recovery took place. These results show for the first time that KBrO₃ induces oxidative stress in blood and impairs the anti-oxidant defense system. Thus impairment in the anti-oxidant power and alterations in the activities of major anti-oxidant enzymes may play an important role in mediating the toxic effects of KBrO₃ in the rat blood. The study of such biochemical events in blood will help elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of KBrO₃ and also for devising methods to overcome its toxic effects.     

Isolates identification and characteristics of microorganisms in biotrickling filter and biofilter system treating H2S and NH3

A combination system of biotrickling filter （BTF） and biofilter （BF）, adopting surfactant-modified clinoptilolite and surfactant- modified wood chip as the media respectively, was applied to treat H2S and NH3 simultaneously. The identification and sole carbon sources utilization patterns of isolates in the combination system were studied by Biolog system. The isolates were identified as Bacillus sphaericus, Geobacillus themoglucosidasius （55℃） and Micrococcus luteus （ATCC 9341） in BTF, and Aspergillus sydowii （Bainier ＆ Sartory） Thom＆ Church in BE Among 95 substrate classes supplied by Biolog system, the carboxylic acids and methyl esters had the highest utilization extent for the four species, followed by the amino acids and peptides. The descending sequence of carbon sources utilization capability of isolates was A. sydowii （52.6%）, M. luteus （39.5%）, B. sphaericus （21.6%）, and G. thermoglucosidasius （17.7%）.     

Humic Acids from Endemic Arsenicosis Areas in Inner Mongolia and from the Blackfoot-Disease Areas in Taiwan: A Comparative Study

The physical and chemical properties of humic acids (HA) extracted from drinking waters from the endemic arsenicosis areas in Inner Mongolia and from the Blackfoot disease (BD) areas in Taiwan are studied by using AAS (atomic absorption spectrophotometry), ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma emission-mass spectrometry), IR (Infrared spectroscopy), FR (fluorescence spectrometry) and TLS (total luminescence spectroscopy) in order to shed light on the pathogenesis of BD with the concern as to whether the disease may eventually occur in arsenicosis-affected areas in the Mainland of China. Ames test and lipid peroxidation experiments were also conducted on these HA samples. It is found that water samples from the two regions are high in arsenic (As) with strong fluorescence and apparent positive correlations between As content, fluorescence, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS). The water samples are similar in fluorescence spectra but differ somewhat in IR and TLS between the two regions. The difference may be a reflection of the difference in radicals and structure of the HA owing to different hydrogeological conditions, and may also be related to the difference in their biological effects, i.e., HA from Inner Mongolia have a stronger ability to cause lipid peroxidation while HA from Taiwan exhibits a more prominent effect of mutation with respect to TA98(±S9).     

臭氧胁迫对冬小麦光合作用、膜脂过氧化和抗氧化系统的影响

在大田试验的条件下,利用开顶式气室(OTC)研究了臭氧胁迫对冬小麦不同生育期(拔节期、孕穗期、扬花期和灌浆期)光合作用、膜脂过氧化以及抗氧化系统的影响.结果表明,在150nmol·mol-1O3浓度范围内,随着O3浓度的升高和熏气时间的增加,冬小麦叶片总叶绿素、叶绿素a和b含量总体降低,但孕穗和扬花期T1处理组总叶绿素和叶绿素a含量较CK组有所升高;气孔导度(Gs)开放受到影响,单位叶片面积活性降低,胞间CO2浓度(ci)和气孔限制值(Ls)呈波动变化.同时,冬小麦启动了自我保护机制,具体表现为SOD(超氧化物歧化酶)活性先快速升高而后逐渐下降,POD(过氧化物酶)活性呈先下降而后快速升高的变化趋势;从拔节期到扬花期以及从灌浆期1到灌浆期2,CAT(过氧化氢酶)活性表现为先快速升高而后"相对降低",MDA(丙二醛)含量则持续升高;类胡萝卜素含量先升高后下降,单位叶片面积热耗散增加.结果表明,抗氧化酶并不能完全消除冬小麦体内过多的活性氧,造成活性氧积累,进一步加剧了膜脂过氧化作用,导致膜透性增加,叶绿素降解,净光合速率降低,加速冬小麦叶片的老化.     

Alteration of body total antioxidant capacity and thiol molecules in human chronic exposure to aluminum

The physiological role of aluminum (Al) is not yet known. Exposure to Al may cause many human disorders. The aim of this study was to explore how occupational human exposure to Al might affect the body oxidative stress. The relation between Al toxicity and oxidative stress was studied in blood samples obtained from 45 primary Al production workers, with a minimum work history of three years in the age range of 29–52 years. They were evaluated for oxidative stress biomarkers including thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) indicator of lipid peroxidation, ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) indicator of total antioxidant capacity, total thiol molecules and Al level in blood. The results showed that workers have significantly higher blood Al levels and concomitant lower blood FRAP and total thiol molecules in comparison to controls. Smokers had lower total thiol molecules than non-smokers. The subjects who had a previous history of disease had lower FRAP levels. It is concluded that Al induces oxidative stress in primary Al production workers. Supplementation of workers with antioxidants may have beneficial effects.     

Deleterious effects of cypermethrin on rat liver and kidney: Protective role of sesame oil

The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in the toxicity of various pesticides. Our study was designed to investigate the induction of oxidative stress by cypermethrin; a Type II pyrethroid in rat liver and kidney. In addition, the protective role of sesame oil against the toxicity of cypermethrin was investigated. Animals were divided into four equal groups; the first group used as control while groups 2, 3 and 4 were treated with sesame oil (5 mL/kg b.w), cypermethrin (12 mg/kg b.w) and the combination of both sesame oil (5 mL/kg b.w) plus cypermethrin (12 mg/kg b.w), respectively. Rats were daily administered with their respective doses for 30 days by gavage. Repeated oral administration of cypermethrin was found to reduce the level of glutathione (GSH) and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes. While, the level of TBARS was elevated indicating the presence of oxidative stress. The activities of LDH, AST and ALT were decreased in the liver extract while increased in the plasma of the cypermethrin-treated group. Also, the levels of urea and creatinine were significantly increased after treatment with cypermethrin. Liver and kidney injury was confirmed by the histological changes. In conclusion, the administration of sesame oil provided significant protection against cypermethrin-induced oxidative stress, biochemical changes, histopathological damage and genomic DNA fragmentation.     

Quantitative modelling of crude oil toxicity using the approach of cybernetics and structured mechanisms of microbial processes

Cybernetics and structured approach to biochemical processesin microbial cells offer the status of using various cellcomponents of Azotobacter as molecular markers intoxicity assay of environmental toxicants. The intra-linkeddynamic physicochemical reactions of the basic macromolecules– DNA, protein and membrane lipids – with respect to the crudeoil in the growth environment, results in an `impulse transferfunction'. The structured effects are reduction in both DNAand protein levels, and an elevated level of lipidperoxidation products. Toxicity index (Ti) of the crude oil,at a given concentration, is the percent ratio of thesummation of the products of these `effect parameters' andtheir respective weightings, relative to control. TheEC₅₀ is the effective percent (w/v) concentration of thecrude oil at which a toxicity index of 50% was recorded, andthis corresponded with about 44% loss in nitrogen fixation ofthe diazotrophic bacterium.     

The roles of organic degradation products andselenium in the pathogenesis ofKaschin-Beck disease

An investigation on the organic degradation products and selenium in the pathogenesis of Kaschin-Beck disease was carried out. The results demonstrated that the organic degradation products existed in food and drinking water were the pathogens of the KBD; their leading pathological process of cells would be "membrane injury" due to peroxide. As GSH-Px is a selenium contained enzyme, therefore insufficient selenium would be one of the most important conditions to cause KBD.     

Lipid-Filled semipermeable membrane devices and mussels as samplers of organochlorine compounds in lake water

Semipermeable membrane sampling devices (SPMDs) and caged lake mussels (Anodonta piscinalis) were simultaneously deployed at four lake watercourse sites in Central Finland four weeks in August 1992. This study was part of the regular annual monitoring of the organochlorine compounds (OCC) in pulp-mill recipient watercourses of Finland with bivalves. Chlorohydrocarbons (CHCs), chlorophenol compounds (PCPs), chloroanisoles (PCAs) and chloroveratroles (PCVs) were analyzed from lipid extract of mussels and from the synthetic triolein lipid of the SPMDs. Hexane-diethyl ether (9:1, v/v) dialysis using polyethylene membrane was applied in dean up of the SPMD lipids and, for comparison, to six sets of the mussel fat. Dialysis recovered CHCs but not PCPs from the mussel fat. CHCs, PCPs, PCAs and PCVs were all recovered in dialysis of the SPMD lipid. Handling of SPMDs in the transport and deployment operations caused significant OCC contamination for the blank SPMDs. Similar trends were revealed in the OCC profiles for mussels ans SPMDs. An exception was the lack of PCPs appearing in SPMDs that did appear in mussels and in a complementary manner the appearance of the PCAs and PCVs in SPMDs.     

Protective influence of Vitamins against Petroleum-induced free radical toxicity in Rabit

The effect of exposure to crude oil contaminated diet on the blood antioxidant defence system, lipid peroxidation, lipid profile as well as possible protective roles of vitamins E and C were studied in rabbits. Oxidative stress induction by crude oil was indicated by significantly (P < 0.05) increased lipid peroxidation and a non-significant (P < 0.05) decrease in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. A similar pattern was also detected in the lipid profile: total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol insignificantly (P < 0.05) increased while HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride significantly decreased relative to rabbits fed normal diet. The reciprocal relationship between HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in addition to compromised antioxidant enzymes could predispose exposed animals to coronary heart disease. However, pre-treatment of the diet with vitamins C and E exhibited a protective role on the toxic effect of crude oil on lipid profile, lipid peroxidation as well as antioxidant enzymes. The order of protection was vitamin E + C > vitamin E > vitamin C. These observations seemed to suggest that the protective role of vitamins C and E is synergistic. The protective role of the vitamins is probably time-dependent as significant (P < 0.05) restoration of lipid profile as well as antioxidant enzymes activities to control values was effected after four weeks of exposure. It is therefore suggested that toxic effect of crude oil may be reduced by dietary supplementation of vitamins C and E.