فهرست مطالب

Chemical Health Risks - Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2017

Journal of Chemical Health Risks
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2017

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1396/02/20
  • تعداد عناوین: 8
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  • Iya Eze Bassey, Uwem Okon Akpan, Emono Dankano Nehemiah, Renen Arekong, Onyinyechi Lauretta Okonkwo, Alphonsus Ekpe Udoh Page 85
    Prolonged or repeated exposure to cement dust, depending on the duration, level of exposure and individual sensitivity has health implications on the skin, eyes, respiratory and haematological systems. This study assessed cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiac markers among cement workers of Nigerian origin to determine the effects of duration of exposure to cement dust on these parameters. Troponin I, Creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), anthropometric indices, lipid profile, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) were determined in 50 cement workers and 40 controls. The cement workers were sub-grouped based on their duration of exposure. Significance level for statistical analyses was set at P 0.05) in FPG levels and the anthropometric indices measured. Cement workers with duration of exposure > 8years had higher mean values of FPG, CK-MB, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol. This study has shown that lipid profile, troponin and CK-MB levels are significantly higher in cement workers compared to controls. Cement workers may be at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
    Keywords: Troponin, Myoglobin, Cement, Cardiovascular disease, Lipids
  • Mohammad Hashemi, Ali Ehsani, Abbas Hassani, Asma Afshari, Majid Aminzare, Toktam Sahranavard, Zahra Azimzadeh Page 95
    Phytochemicals are good sources of natural antioxidants and have beneficial effects on human health. Many of phenolic phytochemicals have shown antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum [Pursh] Kuntze) is a perennial aromatic plant of the Lamiaceae family with antimicrobial and antifungal properties and useful for gastrointestinal problems. In this investigation, the antioxidant activity of extracts, their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Salmonella thyphimurium, S. enteritidis, Escherichia coli strains and their antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and A. flavus was evaluated. Seven components were identified, representing 95.4% of the oils including methyl chavicol (83.1%), limonene (3.4%), spathulenol (3.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (3.1%). Agar disk diffusion and broth micro-well dilution assays showed that B. subtilis was the most resistant strain against both of the EOs and E. coli was the most sensitive bacteria. Results of both disc diffusion and MIC showed that the EO was more effective against A. flavus than A. niger. Antioxidant activity of A. foeniculum by DPPH and ABTS assays revealed remarkable antioxidant activities of this EO comparing with BHT. Results of current study indicated that A. foeniculum EOs can be used as a food preservative in having antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity for the control of food deterioration.
    Keywords: Agastache foeniculum, Essential oil, Phytochemicals
  • Mohammad Moradi, Seyed Reza Fani, Rosa Dargahi, Mehdi Mohammadi Moghadam, Abdolhamid Sherafati Page 105
    Application of atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus to reduce aflatoxin levels is the most successful strategy applied in some agricultural crops. The role of ammonium hydroxide for preliminary screening of the competitiveness of atoxigenic A. flavus isolates to interfere with aflatoxin production by highly toxigenic isolates were evaluated. Out of 270 A. flavus isolates, 17 were detected as true atoxigenic using cultural methods and confirmed by analytical assays from different pistachio agro-ecological zones during 2013. For assessment competitive ability among atoxigenic isolates of A. flavus with highly toxigenic one, rice flour, coconut agar and coconut broth medium substrates were inoculated with mixtures including combinations of toxigenic and atoxigenic isolates, simultaneously. The rice flour substrate was used to quantify the content of aflatoxin in either co-inoculations or toxigenic isolate alone on thin layer chromatography plates with a scanning densitometer. While the culture media were used to determine the intensity of color change on exposing to ammonium hydroxide vapor. The reduction rates of aflatoxin B1 in co-inoculations were varied and ranged from 2%-82%. Based on the intensity of colony color changes, the competitiveness of the isolates was classified into five groups. Atoxigenic isolates with high competitiveness have shown low color changes in culture media and high aflatoxin reduction in TLC assays with a ratio of higher than 78%. The method will facilitate preliminary screening of efficient atoxigenic isolates for mitigation of aflatoxins in food and feed as a cheap, simple and quick method.
    Keywords: Biocontrol, Aflatoxin, Thin layer chromatography, Cultural methods, Ammonium hydrox-ide, Competitiveness
  • Narges Bagherpour, Saeed Zavareh, Mohammad Taghi Ghorbanian Page 113
    The transcriptional factor Sox2 regulates the expression of some of the developmental genes, which are essential for the maintenance of pluripotency of stem cells. Sox2 also expresses in the female gamete during folliculogenesis, but its role remains ambiguous. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Sox2 in the mice ovarian tissue during different stage of estrous cycle. Adult National Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice were considered as pro-estrous, estrous, met-estrous and di-estrous based on the cell type of the vaginal smear. Immunohistochemical staining of Sox2 marker was performed in mice ovarian tissue. Immunohistochemical staining revealed the expression of Sox2 in the cytoplasm of corpus luteum cells, stromal cells and oocyte. Our results suggest that adult mice ovaries accommodate cells carrying stem cell features.
    Keywords: Ovarian Tissue, Estrous Cycle, Sox2, Mouse
  • Aref Shokri Page 119
    In this project decolorization and mineralization of synthetic wastewater containing acid red 33 (AR33) was investigated by Fenton and photo Fenton processes in a batch photo reactor. A comparative assessment using Fenton and photo Fenton processes was performed after initial optimization studies such as varying pH, the concentration of pollutant, peroxide and iron. The color removal and mineralization efficiency of AR33 were calculated by Spectrophotometric and chemical oxygen demand (COD) tests. The degradation efficiency in photo Fenton process (98.5% in 10 min of reaction) was higher than Fenton ones (97.5% in 30 min). After 60 min of reaction, the removal of COD in photo Fenton and Fenton processes was 71% and 37.5%, respectively. Therefore, photo Fenton was the most effective process in partial mineralization of AR33. Kinetic constants were evaluated using pseudo first order equations to obtain the rate constant, K.
    Keywords: Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Batch photo reactor, Decolorization, Mineralization, Pseudo first order equation
  • Behsan Hemmatinezhad, Mehdi Moradi Sarmeidani, Amir Hosein Yoosefi, Firooz Fadaeifard Page 133
    This study was conducted to determine the residues of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) in the imported tilapia fillets. Thirty random samples from imported tilapia fillets were collected from different markets in Isfahan City, central Iran. They were analyzed using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (Perkin Elmer 800) for Pb, Cu, Cd and flow injection mercury system (Perkin Elmer 400) for Hg. Out of the 30 tested samples, concentration of Hg, Pb, Cu and Cd in the tilapia fillets samples as mean± standard deviation were 0.083±.016, 0.638±0.067, 0.521± 0.081 and 0.136 ± 0.025 mg/kg, respectively. Among these, amounts obtained for all metals except for lead were lower than the permissible level specified by WHO (P
    Keywords: Heavy metals, Seafood safety, Tilapia
  • Hamid Dadar, Reza Bzorgyan, Freshteh Rahdan, Elahe Piraei, Yadollah Edalatpanah Page 139
    Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases affecting the endocrine system. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus will be increasing in the human population. It is a metabolic disease characterized by chronic escalation of blood glucose and disrupted metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. This was an experimental study conducted on 40 male Wistar rats. This study was carried out in 2015 at the Islamic Azad University of Dehdasht. Diabetes was induced in the animals through Streptozotocin (STZ). After three days, blood glucose levels were measured. The rats were diagnosed with diabetes when blood glucose was more than 250. The data were analyzed through SPSS 21. Moreover, the independent t-test was used to examine the relationship between variables. Results of statistical analysis in relation to body weight of rats showed that there was a significant relationship between all groups at P
    Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Zinc oxide nanoparti-cles, Prangos ferulacea, Glucose, Rats
  • Forogh Azami, Elham Tazikeh-Lemeski, Mehr-Ali Mahmood-Janlou Page 147
    In recent years, enzymatic activity of tyrosinase has been the focus of investigation due to its potential applications in medicine, agriculture and cosmetics. Tyrosinase, entitled polyphenol oxidase, is a key enzyme that catalyzes synthesis of melanin in plants, microorganisms and mammalian cells. Presence of some antioxidants can delay or inhibit the activity of this enzyme as well. In this survey, molecular docking calculation method using Autodock 4.0 software for prediction of binding energy of the protein with some antioxidant ligands was executed. The pose with the lowest energy of binding or inhibition constant was extracted at 298.15 K for kojic acid. Number of conformations in the cluster of rank was 13. The first and second boxes free energy and the inhibition constant were as follows: -5.60 kcalmol-1, 78.99 µM and -3.32 kcalmol-1, 3.66 µM, respectively. Since the first box presented a lower value of free energy, it was considered as the best mode of structure of kojic acid and the protein docking for further analysis. Thus, our present study could contribute to development and discernment of tyrosinase inhibitors in order to prevent hyper pigmentation.
    Keywords: Tyrosinase, Molecular Docking, Kojic Acid, Binding Energy, Inhibition Constant