Archive for January, 2009

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Negative affect and chemical intolerance as risk factors for building-related symptoms: a controlled exposure study.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Psychosom Med. 2008 Feb;70(2):254-62. Epub 2007 Dec 24.

Negative affect and chemical intolerance as risk factors for building-related symptoms: a controlled exposure study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18158364?dopt=AbstractPlus

Fiedler N, Kelly-McNeil K, Ohman-Strickland P, Zhang J, Ottenweller J, Kipen HM.

Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, EOHSI-170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. nfiedler@eohsi.rutgers.edu

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether differences in negative affect (NA) and chemical intolerance (CI) affect responses to chemical mixtures and stress in a controlled experimental model.

METHODS: Participants were 130 nonsmoking, healthy women, recruited from a university community. Participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Chemical Odor Intolerance Index. In separate sessions 1 week apart, they were exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), VOCs with ozone (VOCs+O3), and ambient or filtered air with a 1-minute spike of VOCs (masked clean air). During each session, half of the participants performed a videotaped speech stressor and half performed simple arithmetic. Before, during, and after each session, salivary cortisol samples were collected, and subjects completed neurobehavioral tests and used a ratio scale to rate physical, cognitive, and anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS: Relative to low NA or low CI, neither the high NA nor the high CI groups reported significantly more symptoms in response to any exposure condition. High NA subjects reported more anxiety symptoms in response to the speech stressor but did not have higher cortisol than low NA subjects. High NA subjects, however, were more distressed by the experimental conditions than were low NA subjects. Low NA subjects reported more severe anxiety in the VOCs+O3 with psychological stress condition.

CONCLUSIONS: Subjects high in NA were more anxious after a stressor but were not more physically symptomatic in response to increasing chemical exposures. A disposition toward high or low CI did not result in a differential symptomatic response to controlled chemical exposures.

PMID: 18158364 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Folate intake at RDA levels is inadequate for Mexican American men with the methylenetetrahydrofolate

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

J Nutr. 2008 Jan;138(1):67-72.

Folate intake at RDA levels is inadequate for Mexican American men with the methylenetetrahydrofolate
reductase 677TT genotype.

Solis C, Veenema K, Ivanov AA, Tran S, Li R, Wang W, Moriarty DJ, Maletz CV, Caudill MA.
Human Nutrition and Food Science Department, Cal Poly Pomona University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA.

Since the establishment of the 1998 folate recommended dietary allowance (RDA), the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C–>T variant has emerged as a strong modifier of folate status. This controlled feeding study investigated the adequacy of the RDA, 400 microg/d as dietary folate equivalents (DFE), for Mexican American men with the MTHFR 677CC or TT
genotype. Because of the interdependency between folate and choline, the influence of choline intake on folate status was also assessed. Mexican American men (n = 60; 18-55 y) with the MTHFR 677CC (n = 31) or TT (n = 29) genotype consumed 438 microg DFE/d and total choline intakes of 300, 550 (choline adequate intake), 1100, or 2200 mg/d for 12 wk. Folate status response was assessed via serum folate (SF), RBC folate, plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), and urinary folate. SF decreased (P < 0.001) 66% to 7.9 +/- 0.7 nmol/L (means +/- SEM) in men with the 677TT genotype and 62% to
11.3 +/- 0.9 nmol/L in the 677CC genotype. Plasma tHcy increased (P < 0.0001) 170% to 31 +/- 3 micromol/L in men with the 677TT genotype and 18% to 11.6 +/- 0.3 micromol/L in the 677CC genotype. At the end of the study, 34% (677TT) and 16% (677CC) had SF concentrations <6.8 nmol/L and 79% (677TT) and 7% (677CC) had tHcy concentrations >14 micromol/L. Choline intake did not influence the response of the measured variables. These data showed that the folate RDA is not adequate for men of Mexican descent, particularly for those with the MTHFR 677TT genotype, and demonstrated a lack of influence of choline intake on the folate status variables measured in this study.

PMID: 18156406 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Respiratory performance offered by N95 respirators and surgical masks: human subject evaluation with NaCl aerosol representing bacterial and viral particle size range.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326870?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Ann Occup Hyg. 2008 Apr;52(3):177-85. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

Respiratory performance offered by N95 respirators and surgical masks: human subject evaluation with NaCl aerosol representing bacterial and viral particle size range.
Lee SA, Grinshpun SA, Reponen T.

Department of Environmental Engineering and Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at determining the protection factors (PFs) provided by N95 filtering facepiece respirators and surgical masks against particles representing bacterial and viral size ranges (aerodynamic size: 0.04-1.3 mum).
METHODS: The protection levels of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (four models) and surgical masks (three models) were investigated while they were donned by 12 subjects performing the OSHA (US Occupational Safety and Health Administration) fit-testing exercises in a test chamber.
RESULTS: About 29% of N95 respirators and approximately 100% of surgical masks had PFs <10, which is the assigned PF designated for this type of respirator by the OSHA. On average, the PFs of N95 respirators were 8-12 times greater than those of surgical masks. The minimum PFs were observed in the size range of 0.04-0.2 mum. No significant difference in PF results was found between N95 respirators with and without an exhalation valve.
CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that N95 filtering facepiece respirators may not achieve the expected protection level against bacteria and viruses. An exhalation valve on the N95 respirator does not affect the respiratory protection; it appears to be an appropriate alternative to reduce the breathing resistance.

PMID: 18326870 [PubMed - in process]

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Posted in N95 respirators, Respiratory Disease, Surgical Masks | No Comments »

Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/161/12/1140.pdf

ARTICLE

Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality
for Coughing Children and Their Parents

Ian M. Paul, MD, MSc; Jessica Beiler, MPH; Amyee McMonagle, RN; Michele L. Shaffer, PhD; Laura Duda, MD; Cheston M. Berlin Jr, MD

Objectives: To compare the effects of a single nocturnal dose of buckwheat honey or honey-flavored dextromethorphan (DM) with no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty associated with childhood upper respiratory tract infections.
Design: A survey was administered to parents on 2 consecutive days, first on the day of presentation when no medication had been given the prior evening and then the next day when honey, honey-flavored DM, or no treatment had been given prior to bedtime according to a partially double-blinded randomization scheme.
Setting: A single, outpatient, general pediatric practice.
Participants: One hundred five children aged 2 to 18 years with upper respiratory tract infections, nocturnal symptoms, and illness duration of 7 days or less.
Intervention: A single dose of buckwheat honey, honeyflavored DM, or no treatment administered 30 minutes prior to bedtime.
Main Outcome Measures: Cough frequency, cough severity, bothersome nature of cough, and child and parent sleep quality.
Results: Significant differences in symptom improvement were detected between treatment groups, with honey consistently scoring the best and no treatment scoring the worst. In paired comparisons, honey was significantly superior to no treatment for cough frequency and the combined score, but DM was not better than no treatment for any outcome. Comparison of honey with DM revealed no significant differences.
Conclusions: In a comparison of honey,DM,and no treatment, parents rated honey most favorably for symptomatic relief of their child’s nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty due to upper respiratory tract infection. Honey may be a preferable treatment for the cough and sleep difficulty associated
with childhood upper respiratory tract infection.
Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov
Identifier: NCT00127686.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(12):1140-1146

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Omega3 Fatty acids for cardioprotection.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Complete article free at
Mayo Clinic Proceedings

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=4637&UID=
Mayo Clin Proc. 2008 Mar;83(3):324-32. Links

Omega3 Fatty acids for cardioprotection.
Lee JH, O’Keefe JH, Lavie CJ, Marchioli R, Harris WS.

Address correspondence to James H. O’Keefe, MD, 4330 Wornall Rd, Ste 2000, Kansas City, MO 64111 (jhokeefe@cc-pc.com).

The most compelling evidence for the cardiovascular benefit provided by omega-3 fatty acids comes from 3 large controlled trials of 32,000 participants randomized to receive omega-3 fatty acid supplements containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or to act as controls. These trials showed reductions in cardiovascular events of 19% to 45%. These findings suggest that intake of omega-3 fatty acids, whether from dietary sources or fish oil supplements, should be increased, especially in those with or at risk for coronary artery disease. Patients should consume both DHA and EPA. The target DHA and EPA consumption levels are about 1 g/d for those with known coronary artery disease and at least 500 mg/d for those without disease. Patients with hypertriglyceridemia benefit from treatment with 3 to 4 g/d of DHA and EPA, a dosage that lowers triglyceride levels by 20% to 50%. Although 2 meals of oily fish per week can provide 400 to 500 mg/d of DHA and EPA, secondary prevention patients and those with hypertriglyceridemia must use fish oil supplements if they are to reach 1 g/d and 3 to 4 g/d of DHA and EPA, respectively. Combination therapy with omega-3 fatty acids and a statin is a safe and effective way to improve lipid levels and cardiovascular prognosis beyond the benefits provided by statin therapy alone. Blood DHA and EPA levels could one day be used to identify patients with deficient levels and to individualize therapeutic recommendations.

PMID: 18316000 [PubMed - in process]

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Posted in Cardiovascular, Omega-3 fatty acids | No Comments »

Allergic contact dermatitis from medical adhesive bandages in patients who report having a reaction to medical bandages.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Dermatitis. 2008 Feb;19(1):32-7. Links

Allergic contact dermatitis from medical adhesive bandages in patients who report having a reaction to medical bandages.
Widman TJ, Oostman H, Storrs FJ.

BACKGROUND: Medical adhesive bandages are extensively used in both inpatient and outpatient medicine. However, few reports describing proven allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) from medical adhesive bandages exist in the literature. These reports do not adequately correspond to the frequency that patients report having an “allergy” to medical adhesive bandages. OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a chemical present in medical adhesive bandages that causes ACD in people who identify themselves as having an “allergy” to medical adhesive bandages. METHODS: Twenty-six patients were enrolled and underwent patch testing with our standard trays (104 chemicals) and a customized adhesive tray (54 chemicals and 10 tapes and bandages in their whole form). RESULTS: We were able to identify an allergen in four patients that was related to their presumed adhesive allergy (Mastisol, neomycin/bacitracin [two different patients], and cortisone-10 cream, respectively). However, there were no positive allergic reactions to the tapes or bandages or any relevant allergic reactions to our customized adhesive tray. Eight (73%) of the 11 patients who had the bandage or tape left on for 7 days had an irritant reaction. CONCLUSION: We feel that the perceived reactions are not secondary to ACD but instead are due to an irritant contact dermatitis.

PMID: 18346394 [PubMed - in process]

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Posted in Allergic contact dermatitis | No Comments »

Hydroxytyrosol protects retinal pigment epithelial cells from acrolein-induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

J Neurochem. 2007 Oct 18 [Epub ahead of print] Links

Hydroxytyrosol protects retinal pigment epithelial cells from acrolein-induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.
Liu Z, Sun L, Zhu L, Jia X, Li X, Jia H, Wang Y, Weber P, Long J, Liu J.

Institute for Nutritional Science, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.

Hydroxytyrosol (HTS) is a natural polyphenol abundant in olive oil. Increasing evidence indicates HTS has beneficial effect on human health for preventing various diseases. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of HTS on acrolein-induced toxicity in human retinal pigment epithelial cell line, ARPE-19, a cellular model of smoking- and age-related macular degeneration. Acrolein, a major component of the gas phase cigarette smoke and also a product of lipid peroxidation in vivo, at 75 mumol/L for 24 h caused significant loss of cell viability, oxidative damage (increase in oxidant generation and oxidative damage to proteins and DNA, decrease in antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes, and also inactivation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway), and mitochondrial dysfunction (decrease in membrane potential, activities of mitochondrial complexes, viable mitochondria, oxygen consumption, and factors for mitochondrial biogenesis, and increase in calcium). Pre-treatment with HTS dose dependently and also time dependently protected the ARPE-19 cells from acrolein-induced oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. A short-term pre-treatment with HTS (48 h) required > 75 mumol/L for showing protection while a long-term pre-treatment (7 days) showed protective effect from 5 mumol/L on. The protective effect of HTS in this model was as potent as that of established mitochondria-targeting antioxidant nutrients. These results suggest that HTS is also a mitochondrial-targeting antioxidant nutrient and that dietary administration of HTS may be an effective measure in reducing and or preventing cigarette smoke-induced or age-related retinal pigment epithelial degeneration, such as age-associated macular degeneration.

PMID: 17949413 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Links
Acrolein, a toxicant in cigarette smoke, causes oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction in RPE cells: protection by (R)-alpha-lipoic acid. [Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007]

Lipoamide protects retinal pigment epithelial cells from oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. [Free Radic Biol Med. 2008]

Effect of the olive oil phenol hydroxytyrosol on human hepatoma HepG2 cells. Protection against oxidative stress induced by tert-butylhydroperoxide. [Eur J Nutr. 2007]
Melatonin protects human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells against oxidative stress. [Exp Eye Res. 2004]

N-tert-butyl hydroxylamine, a mitochondrial antioxidant, protects human retinal pigment epithelial cells from iron overload: relevance to macular degeneration. [FASEB J. 2007]

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Posted in Mitochondrial Dysfunction | No Comments »

Anthocyanins induce the activation of phase II enzymes through the antioxidant response element pathway against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17935293?dopt=AbstractPlus

1: J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Nov 14;55(23):9427-35. Epub 2007 Oct 13.

Anthocyanins induce the activation of phase II enzymes through the antioxidant response element pathway against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.
Shih PH, Yeh CT, Yen GC.

Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kuokuang Road, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced cell damage is inevitable and severe and is involved in numerous diseases, including cancer. Reducing oxidative stress is one of the strategies of chemoprevention. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring flavonoids that show multiple benefits. We first pointed out the effects of anthocyanins in the contributions to activation of phase II antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes, chemopreventive potency, and involved transcriptional regulation. Our results obtained in rat liver Clone 9 cells showed that treatment of anthocyanins leads to positive effects on elevating the antioxidant capacity, including activated expression of glutathione-related enzymes (glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione S-transferase) and recruited GSH content. In addition, the activity of NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) was also promoted under the treatment of anthocyanin. This influential functions as the defense system against programmed cell death induced by H2O2. The capacity for induction of luciferase expression by anthocyanins in cells transfected with rat nqo1-promoter constructed plasmid was further investigated; we found that the molecular mechanism is related to the activation of antioxidant response element (ARE) upstream of genes that are involved in antioxidation and detoxification. Our data suggest that natural anthocyanins are recommended as chemopreventive phytochemicals and could stimulate the antioxidant system to resist oxidant-induced injury. And, more important, the promoting effect of anthocyanins on ARE-regulated phase II enzyme expression seems to be a critical point in modulating the defense system against oxidative stress.

PMID: 17935293 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Posted in Oxidative Stress-Induced Apoptosis | No Comments »

A Psychophysical Study of Auditory and Pressure Sensitivity in Patients With Fibromyalgia and Healthy Controls.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18280211?dopt=AbstractPlus

A Psychophysical Study of Auditory and Pressure Sensitivity in Patients With Fibromyalgia and Healthy Controls.

J Pain. 2008 Feb 14 [Epub ahead of print]

Geisser ME, Glass JM, Rajcevska LD, Clauw DJ, Williams DA, Kileny PR, Gracely RH.

Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

PMID: 18280211

Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by widespread tenderness. Studies have also reported that persons with FM are sensitive to other stimuli, such as auditory tones. We hypothesized that subjects with
FM would display greater sensitivity to both pressure and auditory tones and report greater sensitivity to sounds encountered in daily activities.

FM subjects (n = 30) and healthy control subjects (n = 28) were administered auditory tones and pressure using the same psychophysical methods to deliver the stimuli and a common way of
scaling responses. Subjects were also administered a self-report questionnaire regarding sensitivity to everyday sounds.

Participants with FM displayed significantly greater sensitivity to all levels of auditory stimulation (Ps < .05). The magnitude of difference between FM patients’ lowered auditory sensitivity (relative to control subjects) was similar to that seen with pressure, and pressure and auditory ratings were significantly correlated in both control subjects and subjects with FM. FM patients also were more sensitive to everyday sounds (t = 8.65, P < .001). These findings support that FM is associated with a global central nervous system augmentation in sens ory processing. Further research is needed to examine the neural substrates associated with this abnormality and its role in the etiology and maintenance of FM.

PERSPECTIVE: Muscle tenderness is the hallmark of FM, but the findings of this study and others suggest that persons with FM display sensitivity to a number of sensory stimuli. These findings
suggest that FM is associated with a global central nervous system augmentation of sensory information. These findings may also help to explain why persons with FM display a number of comorbid physical symptoms other than pain.

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Effects of endocrine disruptors on obesity

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18315718?dopt=AbstractPlus

Int J Androl. 2008 Apr;31(2):201-8.

Effects of endocrine disruptors on obesity

Newbold RR, Padilla-Banks E, Jefferson WN, Heindel JJ.

Developmental Endocrinology and Endocrine Disruptor Section, Laboratory of Molecular Toxicology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. newbold1@niehs.nih.gov

Environmental chemicals with hormone-like activity can disrupt the programming of endocrine signalling pathways that are established during perinatal life and result in adverse consequences that may not be apparent until much later in life. Increasing evidence implicates developmental exposure to environmental hormone mimics with a growing list of adverse health consequences in both males and females. Most recently, obesity has been proposed to be yet another adverse health effect of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during critical stages of development. Obesity is quickly becoming a significant human health crisis because it is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, and is associated with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In this review, we summarize the literature reporting an association of EDCs and the development of obesity, and further describe an animal model of exposure to diethylstilbestrol that has proven useful in studying mechanisms involved in abnormal programming of various oestrogen target tissues during differentiation. Together, these data suggest new targets (i.e. adipocyte differentiation and mechanisms involved in weight homeostasis) of abnormal programming by EDCs, and provide evidence that support the scientific term ‘the developmental origins of adult disease’. The emerging idea of an association of EDCs and obesity expands the focus on obesity from intervention and treatment to include prevention and avoidance of these chemical modifiers.
PMID: 18315718 [PubMed - in process]

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Posted in Obesity | No Comments »

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