1,720,980 research outputs found
Valutazione delle aberrazioni cromosomiche su linfociti di infermieri professionalmente esposti a chemioterapici: revisione sistematica e meta-analisi della letteratura
No full textL’utilizzo di farmaci antiblastici (AB) comporta un rischio professionale per chi li manipola: è necessario quindi monitorare gli operatori sanitari e prevenire l’esposizione. È stata condotta una revisione meta-analitica degli studi di epidemiologia molecolare, al fine di valutare l’associazione tra esposizione occupazionale ad AB e frequenza di effetti genotossici espressi come aberrazioni cromosomiche (AC) strutturali/numeriche, nel comparto occupazionale considerato. La ricerca è stata effettuata tramite Pubmed, selezionando lavori sull’uomo in inglese, in extenso, cross-sectional con valutazione degli effetti biologici dell’esposizione ad AB in personale sanitario coinvolto in attività di preparazione, somministrazione e smaltimento, e che riportassero dati medi di gruppo relativi alla frequenza di AC e i corrispondenti indici di dispersione (SD o SEM). La ricerca ha fornito 262 tudi di cui solo 28 rispondevano ai criteri di selezione. La maggioranza degli studi evidenziava una alta frequenza di AC nel personale esposto agli AB, rispetto ai non esposti. La meta-analisi è stata effettuata utilizzando il programma Review Manager (RevMan 5.1) della The Cochrane Collaboration. I risultati sono stati espressi come rapporto delle medie, con lo scopo di poter combinare studi che esprimevano lo stesso end point in modalità differenti. I valori di rischio relativo ottenuti indicano che la manipolazione di AB determina un incremento delle AC e, in virtù del già noto valore prognostico di tale biomarcatore, lo studio conferma il rischio genotossico nel personale esposto alla manipolazione di AB, rispetto ai non esposti. La manipolazione di tali farmaci coinvolge varie figure professionali e il successo degli interventi di prevenzione è legato alla conoscenza del rischio sulla salute e dei metodi disponibili per prevenire la contaminazione
Investigation of the Cytotoxic, Genotoxic, and Apoptosis-Inducing Effects of Estragole Isolated from Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
No full textThe present study was undertaken to evaluate, in the HepG2 human hepatoma cell line, the in vitro cytotoxic, genotoxic, and apoptotic activities of estragole, contained in the essential oil of Foeniculum vulgare (fennel) and suspected to induce hepatic tumors in susceptible strains of mice. Toward this end, an MTT cytotoxicity assay, a trypan blue dye exclusion test, a double-staining (acridine orange and DAPI) fluorescence viability assay, a single-cell microgel-electrophoresis (comet) assay, a mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) assay, and a DNA fragmentation analysis were conducted. In terms of potential genotoxic effects, the comet assay indicated that estragole was not able to induce DNA damage nor apoptosis under the experimental conditions used
In vitro risk assessment of pure trans-anethole and of a herbal extract from Foeniculum vulgare (fennel), containing trans-anethole.
No full textOccupational exposure to cytostatic/antineoplastic drugs and cytogenetic damage measured using the lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay: A systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis
No full textMany studies have reported the occurrence of work-environment contamination by antineoplastic drugs (ANPD), with significant incorporation of trace amounts of these hazardous drugs in hospital personnel. Given the ability of most ANPD to actively bind DNA, thus inducing genotoxic effects, it is of pivotal importance to assess the degree of genotoxic damage (i.e., residual genotoxic risk) in occupationally exposed subjects. The lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus (L-CBMN) assay is largely used for biological effect monitoring in subjects occupationally exposed to ANPD. In this study, we identified and analyzed the studies published reporting the use of the L-CBMN assay as biomarker of genotoxic risk in health care workers exposed to ANPD with the aim of performing meta-analysis and providing a meta-estimate of the genotoxic effect of exposure. We retrieved 24 studies, published from 1988 to 2015, measuring MN in peripheral blood lymphocytes in health care workers occupationally exposed to ANPD. In 15 out of the 24 studies (62.5%), increased MN frequencies were recognized in exposed subjects as compared to controls. The meta-analysis of MN frequency of the combined studies confirmed an association between occupational exposure to ANPD and cytogenetic effects with an overall meta-estimate of 1.67 [95% CI: 1.41-1.98]. In 16 out of the 24 studies (66.6%) at least one other genotoxicity biomarker, besides L-CBMN assay, was employed for biological effect monitoring. In several studies the effect of exposure to ANPD was evaluated also in terms of MN in exfoliated buccal cells. Other studies focused on genotoxicity endpoints, such as sister chromatid exchanges (3 studies), chromosome aberrations (6 studies), or primary DNA damage investigated by comet assay (7 studies). Overall, there was good agreement between other genotoxicity tests employed and L-CBMN assay outcomes
In vitro genotoxicity testing of botanical matrixes derived from Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)
No full textImbalance in the antioxidant defense system and pro-genotoxic status induced by high glucose concentration (hyperglycemia) in HepG2 liver cells
No full textPrimary DNA damage in welders occupationally exposed to extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF)
No full textBACKGROUND: Electric arc welding is known to involve considerable exposure to extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF; 50 Hz). The aim of the present study was to evaluate individual exposure to ELF-MF during arc welding and to assess the eventually associated genotoxic hazard by evaluating primary DNA damage.
METHODS: The study group comprised 21 electric arc welders (exposed) and 21 non-exposed control subjects (healthy blood donors). Occupational exposure to ELF-MF was measured using personal dosimeters worn during one complete work-shift (7 am to 5 pm). The extent of primary DNA damage was measured in peripheral blood leukocytes with the standard procedure of the alkaline comet assay.
RESULTS: Tail length showed to have similar values in welders and controls. Whereas, the data showed a significant decrease for tail intensity (p = 0.01) and tail moment (p = 0.02) counts in exposed subjects compared to controls.
CONCLUSIONS: The different results of our present study and published investigations from other research groups reporting positive results in the comet assay might be a result of different chromium and/or nickel (or other metals) exposure levels, which lead to DNA-protein cross-links at lower concentrations and DNA single-strand breakages at higher concentrations. Since these results are derived from a small-scale pilot study, a larger scale study should be undertaken
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
In vitro protective effects of Lycium barbarum berries cultivated in Umbria (Italy) on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
No full textLycium barbarum is a famous plant in the traditional Chinese medicine. The plant is known to have health-promoting bioactive components. The properties of Lycium barbarum berries cultivated in Umbria (Italy) and their effect on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) have been investigated in this work. The obtained results demonstrated that the Lycium barbarum berries from Umbria region display high antioxidant properties evaluated by total phenolic content and ORAC method, on hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions. Moreover, on HepG2 cell line Lycium barbarum berries extract did not change cell viability analyzed by MTT and Trypan blue exclusion assay and did not induce genotoxic effect analyzed by comet assay. Furthermore, it was demonstrated, for the first time, that the berries extract showed a protective effect on DNA damage, expressed as antigenotoxic activity in vitro. Finally, Lycium barbarum berries extract was able to modulate the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress, proliferation, apoptosis, and cancer. In particular, downexpression of genes involved in tumor migration and invasion (CCL5), in increased risk of metastasis and antiapoptotic signal (DUSP1), and in carcinogenesis (GPx-3 and PTGS1), together with overexpression of tumor suppressor gene (MT3), suggested that Umbrian Lycium barbarum berries could play a protective role against hepatocellular carcinoma
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