Iranian Journal of Toxicology
Volume:4 Issue: 4, Winter 2011

Contagion of aquatic ecosystems to heavy metals especially mercury (Hg) has risen concerns about healthiness of marine organisms. Organic mercury compounds are highly toxic for animals, and its detection in various samples is frequently needed. In present study we have described a new method for measurement of organic mercury and total mercury concentration in great cormorants (phalacrocorax carbo) of southern coasts of Caspian Sea. Also, resultant values have been compared with world health standards. 18 great cormorants were hunted randomly in southern coasts of Caspian Sea during March 2009. Analysis of organic and total mercury was performed on samples from their liver, kidney and muscle, with Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Model Leco, AMA 254) for the first time in Iran. This method can be used for others biota. Mean concentrations of total mercury were 5.67, 3.59 and 2.26 mg/kg in animal liver, kidney and muscle respectively; from which 82, 79 and 58 percent were comprised from organic mercury respectively. Comparison of resultant figures showed statistically significant differences (P<0.05); but no differences were found between different sexes (P=0.69). Total mercury concentrations in tissues of great cormorant were outstandingly higher than WHO, FAO and EPA standards. It is a serious threat for end users of the bird meat especially insubstantial humans.

Narcotic abuse by people accounts for major problems for developing countries such as Iran. Acute narcotic poisoning is one of the major mortality causes in these patients. The present study was designed to assess the clinical signs and symptoms of patients with narcotic poisoning at hospitals of Yazd. In this study, 500 patients with narcotic poisoning were assessed from November 2007 to September 2010. Data were obtained from the patients’ files and the statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS version. 16. Men presented greater signs and symptoms of narcotic poisoning. Of all patients, 39% aged between 20 and 29 and 14.2% aged between 30 and 39. The greatest narcotic usage was reported for methadone (39%) and opium (22.4%), respectively. Respiratory depression was seen in 47.4% of the patients and 15.2% of them needed intubation and mechanical ventilation. Intubation rates were higher in poisoning with heroin (31.6%) and methadone (33.3%), respectively. Among our patients, 8.4% had seizure which was mostly seen in tramadol (28.4%) and heroin (13.7%) users, respectively. Sever decreased consciousness was seen in 25.4% of the patients and poisoning with heroin (40%) and methadone (33.3%) had the highest frequencies in this regard. In this study, mortality rate was 1.4%. Poisoning symptoms and complications such as respiratory depression, mechanical ventilation, seizure, and CNS depression were prevalent. Proper management of such cases of poisoning can decrease the incidence of complications and mortality rate.

Glybenclamide and metformin are two of the most common oral hypoglycemic drugs which are often used in treatment of type II diabetes mellitus. Toxicity due to these drugs may occur intentionally, accidentally, or even at the normal dosage because of the progression of such internal diseases as renal dysfunction. In this case series study, 59 patients poisoned with oral hypoglycemic agents referring to Baharloo Hospital were evaluated between March 2009 and September 2010. The most common clinical findings were lethargy (66.7%) and drowsiness (66.7%) that were mostly observed in patients who had concomitantly ingested glybenclamide and metformin. Metabolic acidosis was observed in 33.3% of the patients who had ingested metformin alone and 22.2 % of the patients who had ingested metformin together with glybenclamide. Some degrees of hypoglycemia were observed in 50.8% of the patients upon admission; nevertheless, severe hypoglycemia was seen only in 17% of them. The majority of the patients got improved within 3 days of hospitalization and got discharged. Although due to the severity of toxicity and its associated complications, 22.8% of the patients needed more than 3 days of hospitalization, permanent neurological complications and mortality did not happen to any of the patients. Glybenclamide overdose leads to hypoglycemia and it can be prevented by careful monitoring of blood glucose and immediate treatment with intravenous dextrose, mostly occuring due to its hypoglycemic effects on the brain.

Benzodiazepine (BZD) toxicity alone or with other drugs is common in poisoning emergency departments of Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular findings in patients with benzodiazepine poisoning upon admission to the emergency department. In a prospective study which was followed by retrospective analysis, 267 patients poisoned with BZD were evaluated. ECG and initial vital signs and symptoms of poisoning were evaluated upon admission. To investigate the relationship between cardiovascular symptoms, changes in ECG, and the type of benzodiazepine consumption, Spearman correlation was utilized. Most patients had normal heart rate (92.88%), normal blood pressure (95.14%), and normal ECG (96.67%). Hypotension (2.99%), hypertension and bradycardia (1.87%), and tachycardia (5.25%) were also observed in the patients. There were not any significant relationships between cardiovascular symptoms, ECG changes, and the type of ingested BZD. All patients survived without any complications. Cardiovascular toxicity with BZD alone is not common. Although few changes in cardiovascular or ECG are seen, the prognosis is considered good.

Drug abuse is a major health problem in many countries. Noticing the different patterns of drug abuse in different areas, we evaluated the epidemiology of drug abuse and related factors in Fars province, Southern Iran. In a one-year cross-sectional study, from March 21st, 2009 to 2010, all subjects referring to Addiction Treatment Clinic of Shiraz University were evaluated. Demographic data including age, gender, marital status, occupation, level of education, type of drug, route of abuse, initiation time, and cause of drug abuse were recorded. The majority of the participants were multi-drug abusers (92%). Opium was the most commonly abused drug, solely (5.3%) or in combination with other drugs (88.7%). Mean age of the first experience of drug abuse was 20.66 years (ranging from 12 to 45). The Most common routes were smoking and ingestion (31.6%) followed by smoking (14.9%). Mean duration of drug abuse was 12.3±8.7 years (ranging from 1 to 38). The major reasons for drug abuse were temptation by friends (28.9%) followed by seeking pleasure (21.9%). A history of substance abuse in the family was reported by 41.9% of the participants. Identifying the patterns of drug abuse in different parts of Iran may necessitate using different strategic protocols.

Methyl 2-benzimidazole carbamate (carbendazim) is a synthetic fungicide used against organisms that cause different types of plant diseases. It is widely used as a preservative in leather, paint, textile, fruit, and paper industry. It is also used as an anticancer drug in clinical medicine. To evaluate the low dose toxicity of this compound in mammalian tissues, carbendazim was administered to male albino rats at 5, 10, 25, and 50 mM doses intradermally. At 6, 12 and 24 hours, blood samples were collected from the animals for analysis of biochemical and haematological parameters including serum enzyme activities. The findings indicated that carbendazim caused a decrease in serum total protein, ALT, AST, ALP and amylase activities. GGT activity decreased by 6hr and increased by 12hr in a dose-related manner. Carbendazim caused an increase in serum cholesterol, uric acid, glucose, and creatinine content while serum phosphorous content decreased. Mean hemoglobin, WBC, E, and platelet counts increased and total RBC, N and L counts decreased. Tissues (brain, heart, liver, kidney, and testis) taken from 50mM dose administered rat for histopathological examination revealed liquefactive necrosis of blood vessels, fibrosis, dialated parenchyma, hemorrhage, and edema in the brain tissue. In heart, necrosis and loss of nuclei in cardiac muscle cells were noted. Low dose level of carbendazim causes toxicological effects in the rat tissues.

Zinc has significant effects on structural and functional activities of many proteins and enzymes involved in biological activities, especially the regulation of immune-system. Symptoms of zinc toxicity include nausea/vomiting, fever, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, neuropathy, and dehydration. Further signs include growth retardation, altered iron function, anemia, copper deficiency, decreased immune function, decreased HDL (high density lipoprotein), increased LDL (low density lipoprotein), and increased HgbA1C.This study was carried out to examine the invitro effects of different concentrations of zinc on viability and death of T-lymphoid (Raji) cell line. In this study, the cell line was exposed to different concentrations of zinc (10nanoM to 500microM) followed by incubation (37° C, 5% CO2) at various time points (12 to 72 h). The cells were, then, evaluated using trypan blue exclusion dye, MTT assay (mitochondorial thiazol tetrazolium), and light microscopy. The results of this study showed almost different responses to different amounts of zinc in the T cell line (Raji). Zinc concentrations below 100µM at different incubation time points had little or no effects on the cell line compared to the controls. Higher concentrations of zinc viability (>100µM) diminished to 70% at 12 hour and less than 50% at 24 to 72 hours of incubation. It can be concluded that zinc has a dose-dependent cytotoxicity effect on Raji cells.

In all Poisoned prevalence in children is about 70% which 90% out of them are preventable. Poisoning is different in children because of its relation to geographical region, culture, economic and socioeconomic. This study was designed to find the epidemiology of poisoning in children who referred to emergency center of Afzalipour hospital in Kerman in 2009-2010. This descriptive cross sectional study was done from 20th of March 2009 to 20th march 2010. The population was all children who referred to Afzalipour emergency section by clinicians. The tools of data collection were a questionnaire with variables such as time, sex, age, location, education of parents and the toxic agent. The data analyzed by statistical software Minitab. Age of the referred patient was from one month to 13years old, and 299 of them live in city and 98 in countryside. The season had significant effect on poisoning and the most of cases were referred in winter (p<0.001). Also educated parents who had at least bachelor had less cases in comparison with others and it was significant (p<0.001). The causes of poisoning were medicine (34.7%), narcotic agent (26.7%), food poisoning (14.9%), stinging (10.3%), petroleum and its products (6.5%), hygienic materials (4.8%) and finally insecticide (1.5%). Prevalence in 1-3 years old was more than the other age groups. In this study prevalence of narcotic agent and medicine had a high level which is preventable, so it is necessary that media have program related to these subject.