Air pollution impact assessment on agroecosystem and human health characterisation in the area surrounding the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy): a multidisciplinary approach

In order to evaluate the impact of atmospheric pollutants emitted by the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy) on agriculture, sulphur dioxide and ozone levels in air were monitored and the data were used to estimate yield losses of the most widespread cultures. Trace element concentrations in crops and soils were also detected and metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities were considered. Vibrio fischeri test was used to appraise airborne pollutant ecotoxicity and epidemiological studies on causes of death distribution were carried out to characterize health state of people living in the area. All the sampling points were selected in farms on the basis of a theoretical meteo-diffusive model of industrial air pollutants. Experimental SO2 and O3 values mainly exceeded the threshold established by Italian and EU regulations to protect vegetation and they correspond to estimated significant crop losses. Conversely toxic element residues in soils and in agroalimentary products were generally lower than the fixed values. SO2 and O3 concentrations, toxic element contents and ecotoxicity levels of airborne pollutants were not related only to industrial site emissions, while the fluctuations on metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities seem to agree with the predicted deposition of xenobiotic compounds from the industrial plants. The epidemiological study evidenced a better health state of populations living in the investigated area than in the Messina province and the Sicily region but, inside the area, males living in the municipalities closest to the industrial settlement exhibited a worst health state than those in the very far ones.

Pesticides re-entry dermal exposure of workers in greenhouses

This research has the aim to evaluate the risk of pesticide dermal exposure for workers in greenhouses. We considered the following crops: tomato, cucumber and strawberry, largely spread in Bracciano lake district. The pesticides monitored were: tetradifon on strawberry: metalaxyl, azoxystrobin and fenarimol on cucumber; acrinathrin, azoxystrobin and chlorpyrifos ethyl on tomato. The dermal exposure was evaluated by Dislodgeable Foliar Residue (DFR) measurements employing transfer coefficients got from literature. For risk evaluation, we have compared the dermal exposures with Acceptable Operator Exposure Levels (AOEL). The re-entry time were obtained intercepting the dose decay curves with AOEL values. The re-entry times result higher than two days in the cases of chlorpyrifos on tomato (re-entry time: 3 days), azoxystrobin on tomato (4 days), and tetradifon on strawberry (8 days). The need of measuring specific transfer coefficients is pointed out.

Vitamin E-bonded cellulose membrane, lipoperoxidation, and anemia in hemodialysis patients

In hemodialysis patients, oxidative stress results from an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense mechanisms. Recently, a new dialysis multi-layer membrane has been developed, by modifying the inner surface of regenerated cellulose to support a vitamin E coating. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of hemodialysis treatment with vitamin E-modified membrane on anemia and erythropoietin requirement in a group of chronic uremic patients. Ten uremic, non diabetic, patients on standard bicarbonate dialysis were treated with vitamin E-bonded dialysis membrane for 12 months. Hematological parameters, erythropoietin requirement, serum vitamin E and serum malonyldialdehyde (MDA) were evaluated before starting the study and monthly. No significant changes in hemoglobin level, RBC count, hematocrit and EPO requirement were observed. Basal vitamin E levels were in the normal range (13.0 +/- 2.88 mg/L vs. 14.79 +/- 3.12 mg/L; NS). On the contrary, basal MDA levels were higher than those observed in the control group (1.87 +/- 0.36 vs. 1.13 +/- 0.18 mmol/mL; p < 0.01) and a significant decrease of MDA levels was found after 1 month of Excebrane treatment (1.39 +/- 0.25 nmol/mL; p < 0.02). In conclusion, the role of the "oxidative hemolysis" in the pathogenesis of anemia in CHD patients is still not clearly defined, but it could be of minor clinical relevance. Although the effectiveness of vitamin E-coated membranes as a scavenger of ROS allows a better control of intradialytic oxidative stress, it doesn't seem to contribute to clinical management of anemia in these patients.

Serum coenzyme Q10 in uremic patients on chronic hemodialysis

In a group of 48 chronic hemodialysis patients, serum levels of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) have been measured and appeared abnormally low in 62% of cases. Figures were positively correlated to those of serum vitamin E (vit E), although the latter were within a normal range. The chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients with normal serum values of CoQ exhibited higher blood triglycerides. Pathologically low levels of serum vit E were found only in uremic subjects on conservative regimen with dietary restrictions and low compliance to protein-caloric intake. The reduced CoQ levels may contribute to the defective serum antioxidant activity and the increased peroxidative damage in uremic patients on CHD.

Plasma levels and loss of antithrombin III in chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and nephrotic patients

Plasma antithrombin III (AT III) levels were measured as antigen concentration (radial immunodiffusion) and as heparin cofactor (amidolytic method) in 9 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The loss of albumin, proteins, AT III antigen and AT III functional activity was calculated from the peritoneal dialysate and the corresponding serum levels were measured. The same determinations were performed on serum and urinary samples from 9 patients with nephrotic syndrome. Mean plasma levels of AT III antigen and AT III heparin cofactor in CAPD patients were normal, whereas nephrotic patients showed a reduction in these values within a wide range. However, the loss of AT III antigen was similar in both groups and was strictly correlated to the loss of albumin. Most AT III in the peritoneal dialysate from CAPD patients was still active, whereas in nephrotic patients only 26% of the excreted AT III was functionally active. The difference in plasma AT III was functionally active. The difference in plasma AT III levels between these two groups, in spite of the roughly similar amounts recovered in the dialysate and in the urine, might be explained by an additional AT III loss in nephrotic patients due to renal metabolism.

Antithrombin III loss in patients with nephrotic syndrome or receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Evidence of inactive antithrombin III in urine of patients with nephrotic syndrome

Antithrombin III (AT III) was measured as antigen (Ag) and as heparin cofactor (HC) in plasma and urine or dialysate from nine patients with nephrotic syndrome and nine patients receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), respectively. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis on heparin-agarose (H-CIE) and crossed immunoelectrofocusing (CIEF) runs were carried out on plasma and urine or dialysate samples. AT III plasma levels of the patients receiving CAPD were in the normal range, whereas levels in the patients with nephrotic syndrome showed a significant reduction. Nevertheless the AT III Ag daily loss was the same in both patient groups, so that an additional AT III loss caused by renal metabolism was suggested in patients with nephrotic syndrome. No alteration in the isoantithrombin plasma distribution was found in any patient. The AT III recovered in urine was almost all inactive, as demonstrated by the quantitative assays and by the H-CIE runs; on the contrary, the findings obtained by functional assays, H-CIE, and CIEF runs on dialysate samples failed to demonstrate any major alteration in the AT III molecule. In urine the AT III CIEF pattern displayed a more acid distribution (pH 4.9 to 4.5) in respect to the plasma AT III (pH 5.2 to 4.6); this pattern was suggested to be related to the renal AT III functional inactivation, whose exact mechanism remains to be clarified.

[Sporological diagnosis in 282 cases of suspected fungal poisoning occurring in the municipality of Trieste from 1967 to 1984]

The experience of 18 years voluntary work in collaboration with the health authorities in a Centre for Toxological Studies is reported. The Centre was called upon to diagnose 282 cases of mushroom poisoning (including 262 hospital patients) in the Commune of Trieste. The identification of the fungi ingested was in all cases based on microscopic identification of the spores isolated from the stomach contents or the faeces using a rapid, original technique. The value of other diagnostic methods in use or under experimentation is discussed. Out of the 282 patients studied, 45 (16%) presented spores of highly toxic responsible for phalloid syndrome; 40 (14%) presented spores of moderately toxic fungi causing atropine, muscarine, antabuse-type, haemolytic and acre-resinoid syndromes. All other spores were from non-toxic species. The original incidence of requests for diagnosis, presumably covering all cases occurring in Trieste, was 16 +/- 11 cases with ingestion of highly toxic fungi accounting for 3 +/- 4 cases and ingestion of moderately toxic species 2 +/- 3 cases. The tendency is towards an increase in such cases.

Photosynthesis, Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase, Electron Transport, and Ribulose 1,5-Bisphosphate of Virescent and Normal Green Wheat Leaves

CO(2) gas exchange, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, and electron transport have been measured in leaves of a yellow-green mutant of wheat (Triticum durum var Cappelli) and its wild type strain grown in the field. All these parameters, expressed on leaf area basis, were similar in both genotypes except electron transport which was more than double in the wild type. These results, treated according to a recent photosynthesis model for C(3) plants, seem to indicate that the electron transport rate of mutant leaves is not sufficient to support the carboxylation derived through both the assimilation rate and the in vitro ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase activity. It is suggested that under our experimental conditions photosynthetic electron transport is not the sole energy-dependent determinant of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate regeneration in the mutant.

[Behavior of some acute phase reactant proteins during phlogosis and neoplasms and their correlation with erythrocyte sedimentation rate]

Alpha 2 macroglobulin, haptoglobin and fibrinogen plasma levels were simultaneously determined, as well as E.S.R., to test if a significant difference could be found among cancer, inflammatory diseases and control subjects. Haptoglobin was higher in the cancer group and fibrinogen in inflammatory diseases, but these selective increases are not believed to be enough to suggest the widespread determinations of these proteins. A significant correlation was found between alpha 2 macroglobulin and E.S.R., as well as between fibrinogen and E.S.R.

[Concentration and reinfusion of ascitic fluid in liver cirrhosis]

46 concentration-reinfusion treatments were performed on 36 patients, suffering from refractory ascites for liver cirrhosis. The procedure was well tolerated, improved the status of the patients and enabled diuretic to be effective again, in some cases for as long as two years. The usefulness of infusing autologous, non-denatured proteins in high dosage is stressed. The Authors belive that hepatorenal syndrome, severe hypokaliemia or hyposodemia and encephalopathy are the elective indications for the treatment.

[Role of alpha 1-antitrypsin and alpha-2 macroglobulin in hepatopathies]

Two pictures of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, one associated with alpha 2-macroglobulin deficiency and one isolated case of the latter deficiency have been observed in three patients suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and/or hepatoma. On the basis of these cases, the literature on the subject is reviewed. The unusually high incidence of such anti-enzymatic deficiencies (three cases in the first eleven patients studied) in severe liver pathology, calls for a reassessment of such research and suggests that these tests should be carried out on a routine basis in cases of cryptogenetic cirrhosis and probably for long-term prognosis in cases of viral hepatitis.

[Role of platelet serotonin in hyperperistalsis after digestive hemorrhages]

Intestinal transit accelerates during gastroduodenal haemorrhage. To test a personal theory that the reason is to be found in serotonin released by platelets and absorbed by the intestine, the behaviour of serotoninaemia has been studied. This proved to be 1.35-9.7 microgram/l (mean: 4.175 microgram/l; E.S. +/- 1.39) in patients with haematemesis and melena, compared to 0.49-0.9 microgram/l (mean: 0.728 microgram/l; E.S. +/- 0.07) in the controls (p less than 0.001). The increase in circulating serotonin to significant values is probably due to hormone release. This dose not occur in cases of melena alone, probably owing to the organism's high capacity for catabolism.

[Erythrocyte changes during alcoholism and chronic liver diseases]

50 patients with chronic liver disease and/or alcoholism were studied. 28 cases of anemia were found and macrocytes (and target m.), spurr-cells, spherocytes and stomatocytes observed. For each of these abnormalities the authors report the observed incidence and discuss the literature's data about the pathogenesis. A personal research on the influence of the liver's impaired capability of protein synthesis was also carried out. The usefulness of a careful examination of the blood film is finally stressed, in patients with liver disease and to discover alcoholic subjects still "healthy".

[Problems in the use of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics]

Antibiotics are of the greatest utility for the patient, but are sometimes troubling for the physician. The Author, from a standpoint different from that of the pharmacologist, speak about the many things that should be kept in mind whenever a treatment with such drugs must to be performed. Only so a therapy can be safe and effective.. The Author suggest a syndromic approach to recognize which is the causative agent of the current disease, and of consequence, which is the drug of choice. Antibiotics and chemiotherapeutic agents are briefly examined in their usefulness, limitations and side-effect. The new drugs, not yet available in Italy, are cited.