Pesticide residues in black tea

Summary An investigation of residues of organochlorine and organophosphorous pesticides, as well as of a number of fungicides and of inorganic bromide in 99 samples of black tea taken on the Danish market is reported. The type of pesticide residues involved appear to be very uniform within each country of origin, whereas there are distinct differences between individual countries. Tea from Sri Lanka seems to contain less and fewer residues than tea from the other big tea producing countries. A great many of the samples contained -HCH, lindane and DDT. The use of -HCH and DDT is prohibited in Denmark. Only few other pesticides were detected and at a much lower frequency. None of the teas contained residues that may be regarded as being injurious to health.

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Pesticidrückstände im schwarzen Tee

Zusammenfassung Es wird über Rückstände chlorund phosphorhaltiger Pesticiden, einer Reihe von Fungiciden sowie von anorganischem Bromid in rund 100 Proben schwarzem Tee, entnommen auf dem dänischen Markt, berichtet. Die Art der Pesticidrückstände scheint innerhalb des einzelnen Ursprunglandes sehr einheitlich zu sein, während zwischen verschiedenen Ländern deutliche Unterschiede bestehen. Tee aus Sri Lanka scheint geringere und weniger Rückstände zu haben, als Tee aus anderen großen Herstellungsländern. In einem großen Teil der Proben wurde -HCH, Lindan und DDT festgestellt. Die Anwendung von -HCH und DDT ist in Dänemark verboten. Es wurden nur wenige andere Pesticide festgestellt und mit bedeutend geringerer Häufigkeit. Keiner der Tees wies Rückstände auf, die als gesundheitsschädlich bezeichnet werden können.

     

Use of Diacarb to attain hypotension in preoperative treatment of patients with different cataract etiology

The results of studying of correlation lipid composition of blood and immunity are presented. Features of nutrition of patients with chronic infectious-inflammatory diseases in Tyumen region are also analyzed. Decrease of protein, fat and carbohydrates in diet of patients was found. Level of cholesterol and triglycerides in plasma of patient was increased.     

Isotachophoretic separations on a microchip. Normal Raman spectroscopy detection

Isotachophoretic separations of the herbicides paraquat and diquat are performed in a glass microchip etched channel and monitored on-chip by normal Raman spectroscopy. The 40-micron-wide and 75-micron-deep separation channels are chemically etched in a serpentine design to 21-cm total length. A 120-micron-thick glass cover slip is used to seal the channels. Separation field strengths up to 380 V/cm are used. The microchip is directly coupled to a Raman microprobe. No interfacing is required. Raman spectra are generated with a 2-W, 532-nm NdY-VO4 laser and collected at 8-cm-1 resolution with a holographic transmissive spectrograph and a cryogenically cooled CCD. Data acquisition is at 2-5 spectra/s. Raman isotachopherograms of the pesticides at starting concentrations as low as 2.3 x 10(-7) M (60 ppb paraquat/80 ppb diquat) are presented.     

Nonresective alternative for the cure of nongangrenous sigmoid volvulus

PURPOSE: Recurrence in sigmoid colon volvulus is a very vexing problem, because it occurs after all types of treatment including a resection of the sigmoid. A nonresective procedure that prevents recurrence in the long term has been devised and tried during the period 1968 to 1992. METHODS: The procedure involves extraperitonealization of the whole sigmoid colon via a left paracolic gutter incision in a manner akin to an extraperitonealized colostomy and placing it in the left half of the infraumbilical abdominal wall. This article presents a study of 84 patients who underwent this operation and who were followed-up. Some very useful practical points for ensuring the success of the procedure are also presented. RESULTS: The subjects comprised 58 male and 26 female patients, aged 10 to 81 (median, 60) years. The operating time ranged from 40 to 70 (median, 50) min. The operative mortality (9 percent) and morbidity of the procedure including cardiopulmonary complications (7 percent), incidence of small-bowel obstruction (1 percent), and incisional hernia formation (2.3 percent), were reasonably low. The incidence of wound-healing problems was significantly (P < 0.02) reduced in the 1980s and 1990s. Seventy-six patients were available for follow-up ranging from 0.5 to 25 (mean+/-standard error, 6.671+/-0.573; median, 6) years. Forty-eight patients were followed-up for five or more years. No patients developed recurrence of volvulus during the entire follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: This nonresective, recurrence-free procedure provides a cure for nongangrenous sigmoid volvulus. It may be performed safely, even in relatively poor-risk patients, with acceptably low morbidity and mortality rates.     

Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 is involved in mediating hypoxia-induced sickle red blood cell adherence to endothelium: potential role in sickle cell disease

We investigated the effects of hypoxia on red blood cell (RBC)-endothelial cell (EC) adherence and the potential mechanism(s) involved in mediating this effect. We report that hypoxia significantly increased sickle RBC adherence to aortic EC when compared with the normoxia controls. However, hypoxia had no effect on the adherence of normal RBCs. In additional studies, we found that the least dense sickle RBCs containing CD36+ and VLA-4+ reticulocytes were involved in hypoxia-induced adherence. We next evaluated the effects of hypoxia on the expression of EC surface receptors involved in RBC adherence to macrovascular ECs, including vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and the vitronectin receptor (VnR). Hypoxia upregulated the expression of both VCAM-1 and ICAM-1, whereas no effect on VnR was noted. Potential involvement of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 in mediating hypoxia-induced sickle RBC-EC adhesion was next investigated using monoclonal antibodies against these receptors. Whereas anti-VCAM-1 had no effect on basal adherence, it inhibited hypoxia-induced sickle RBC adherence in a concentration-dependent manner, with 50% to 75% inhibition noted at 10 to 60 micrograms/mL antibody (n = 6, P < .05 to P < .01). Anti-ICAM-1 (10 to 60 micrograms/mL, n = 8) had no effect on either basal or hypoxia-induced adherence. As noted in the bovine aortic ECs, hypoxia stimulated the adherence of sickle RBCs to human retinal capillary ECs, and this response appeared to be mediated via mechanisms similar to those observed with macro-endothelium, ie, via the adhesive receptor combination VCAM-1-VLA-4. Our studies show that hypoxia enhances sickle RBC adhesion to both macrovascular and human microvascular ECs via the adhesive receptor VCAM-1. Our findings are of interest because hypoxia is an integral part of the pathophysiology of the vaso-occlusive phenomenon in sickle cell anemia.     

Hippocampal volume is associated with memory but not monmemory cognitive performance in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) appears to be a transitional stage in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Patients with MCI show impaired memory performance and hippocampal atrophy relative to normal elderly controls. Prior studies indicate that the degree of hippocampal atrophy in MCI patients predicts conversion to AD. In contrast to patients with MCI who have deficits primarily in memory, AD patients have clinically evident impairments in both memory and nonmemory cognitive domains. One explanation for the observation that a smaller hippocampal volume predicts conversion to AD might be that hippocampal atrophy is associated with early impairment in nonmemory cognitive areas as well as memory. A link between hippocampal volume and nonmemory function could occur if hippocampal atrophy was correlated with AD pathology in other brain regions. We therefore sought to determine the relationship of hippocampal volume with performance on memory and nonmemory tasks in patients with MCI. Although we found a significant correlation between hippocampal volume and memory performance, we did not find a significant correlation between hippocampal volume and nonmemory performance. We conclude that the relationship between hippocampal volume and risk of AD is likely tied to reduced memory performance and not associated with impairment in nonmemory cognitive domains.     

Profiling of human leukocyte antigens in Eales'' disease

There has been a discrepancy between promising results of experimental chemotherapy in animal melanoma models and clinical response rates. This inconsistency seems to reflect weak points of the assays used so far to monitor the response of melanoma cells to chemotherapeutic agents. Therefore a less usual approach was chosen in the present study: Tumor cells were cultured in peritoneal cavity (B16 melanoma in inbred C57BL/6J mice and Cloudman S91 melanoma in inbred DBA2 mice) to maintain normal in vivo conditions; the animals were receiving the tested agents in i.p. injections and the prolongation of their life span was considered as the principle parameter of therapeutic efficiency of the compounds tested. Previously described therapeutic potency both of vitamins (C, alpha-tocopherol acid succinate) and some phenols (hydroquinone, 4-hydroxyanisole) was confirmed. Benzoate, spin trap N-butyl-alpha-phenyl-nitrone and ammonium chloride as a lysosomotropic agent failed to increase the survival of melanoma-bearing mice. Free radical scavenger methimazole exerted a therapeutic effect in mice with pigmented B16 melanoma. Only classic cytostatic agents--cisplatin and cyclophosphamide--proved its therapeutic effect in both melanoma models studied. These results are in accord with the known resistance of human melanoma to conventional chemotherapy. Measurement of serum activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase was shown to be useful for monitoring therapeutic effect.     

Reversion of the malignant phenotype of human breast cells in three-dimensional culture and in vivo by integrin blocking antibodies

In a recently developed human breast cancer model, treatment of tumor cells in a 3-dimensional culture with inhibitory beta1-integrin antibody or its Fab fragments led to a striking morphological and functional reversion to a normal phenotype. A stimulatory beta1-integrin antibody proved to be ineffective. The newly formed reverted acini re-assembled a basement membrane and re-established E-cadherin-catenin complexes, and re-organized their cytoskeletons. At the same time they downregulated cyclin D1, upregulated p21(cip,wat-1), and stopped growing. Tumor cells treated with the same antibody and injected into nude mice had significantly reduced number and size of tumors in nude mice. The tissue distribution of other integrins was also normalized, suggesting the existence of intimate interactions between the different integrin pathways as well as adherens junctions. On the other hand, nonmalignant cells when treated with either alpha6 or beta4 function altering antibodies continued to grow, and had disorganized colony morphologies resembling the untreated tumor colonies. This shows a significant role of the alpha6/beta4 heterodimer in directing polarity and tissue structure. The observed phenotypes were reversible when the cells were disassociated and the antibodies removed. Our results illustrate that the extracellular matrix and its receptors dictate the phenotype of mammary epithelial cells, and thus in this model system the tissue phenotype is dominant over the cellular genotype.