Lead (Pb) is a developmental neurotoxicant found in industrial activities, many of them already prohibited worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate current blood Pb (PbB) levels in children in Cordoba, Argentina, and to compare these with similar studies performed before Pb was banned in gasoline in 1996. We also sought to identify mechanistically relevant biomarkers by measuring δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (δ-ALAD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities. We finally aimed to determine whether sociodemographic characteristics are associated with Pb toxicity. Blood samples collected from 161 healthy children between September 2009 and February 2010 revealed mean PbB levels of 2.58 ± 0.30 µg/dl. Enzymatic δ-ALAD, CAT, and SOD activities showed no significant variations when plotted against PbB levels. Finally, children living in the suburbs have higher PbB levels than their city counterparts, while low socioeconomic status increased δ-ALAD inhibition compared with that of middle-income children. Overall, these results evidenced a substantial reduction in exposure to Pb in this pediatric population over a decade after Pb was restricted in gasoline and reveal the importance of pursuing novel biomarkers of toxicity along with the sociodemographic profile to complement Pb diagnosis.
Debido a la gran cantidad de test comerciales disponibles para la determinación de metabolitos de benzodiacepinas en orina en el mercado, es que decidimos evaluar la concordancia de 2 test inmunológicos, disponibles en el laboratorio de Toxicología de nuestro hospital. Las muestras de orinas recibidas en nuestro laboratorio fueron analizadas en paralelo por ambos métodos. Se aplicaran los test estadisticos de Kappa y Chi cuadrado para su evaluación. La utilidad de estos test ante la sospecha diagnóstica de consumo de benzodiacepinas en determinadas patologías, amerita la disponibilidad de estos test inmunológicos que pueden proveer en corto tiempo, un resultado que permita al profesional médico una oportuna toma de decisiones frente a la problemática con la cual arriba el paciente. En este trabajo pudimos comprobar que ambos métodos presentan muy buena concordancia (test Kappa=0,88), por lo cual son ambos test indistintamente aplicables para la casuística que presenta el Laboratorio de Toxicología.
Trastornos del espectro alcohólico fetal. Biomarcadores del consumo... / Suárez H.A., Rivolta S.
Abstract:Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a wide range of adverse effects known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Through the measurement of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEEs) in meconium, as biomarkers of prenatal alcohol exposure, we have a very important tool in the screening of newborns, facilitating the confi rmation of diagnosis and adequate clinical intervention in individuals affected by this problem with improvements in life quality and expectancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) represents the classic syndrome and the most serious condition is caused by repetitive alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Due to the heterogeneous characteristics of clinical alterations of newborns exposed to ethanol, most of which are not specifi c, diagnosis of FASDs is extremely diffi cult.Key words: FAS, meconium, FAEEs.Resumo:
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