Allergic respiratory diseases and environmental pollution: experience in the printing/paper-manufacturing industry

Several studies have shown a correlation between airborne pollutants and respiratory disorders. To determine whether professional exposure to industrial pollution might represent a risk factor for allergic respiratory diseases, we administered allergologic tests to 275 workers employed in a paper-making/printing factory and to a control population composed of 160 office workers from the same urban area. All subjects were evaluated on the basis of personal and family histories, the results of prick tests with common airborne allergens, specific serum IgE levels, pulmonary function test, and standard chest radiography. The percentage of subjects with allergies in the factory-worker group (67/275; 24.4%) was significantly higher than that observed among the office workers (20/160; 12.5%) (chi-square test: 8.17; P<0.01). Of the 67 factory workers with allergies, 94% had histories of daily exposure to aliphatic hydrocarbons. The results of this study indicate that exposure to the latter type of industrial pollutants is associated with a significantly higher prevalence of allergic respiratory diseases.     

Double nondisjunction during karyotypic progression of chemically induced Syrian hamster cell lines

The karyotypic evolution of three chemically induced cell lines of Syrian hamster embryo in culture are described. The only karyotypic alteration of one clone was a trisomy of chromosome #11, which presumably arose by nondisjunction after carcinogen treatment. A pure population of cells with the trisomy was observed repeatedly upon karyotyping of cells at the first three passages after cloning. However, at a late passage, apparently normal diploid cells appeared in the culture, which we propose resulted from a second nondisjunction of one chromosome #11, reverting the cells from trisomy 11 to disomy 11. The karyotypic evolution of two other cell lines also involved double nondisjunction, which resulted in duplication of a translocated chromosome and concurrent loss of the normal nonrearranged chromosome. Taken together with the reported findings of others, the results indicate that double nondisjunction is a mechanism in karyotypic progression during neoplastic development.     

Association of ambient air‐pollution levels with acute asthma exacerbation among children in Singapore

BACKGROUND: Air-pollution levels have been shown to be associated with increased morbidity of respiratory diseases. METHODS: Data for ambient air-pollutant levels, meteorologic factors, and hospitalization or emergency room (ER) visits for acute asthma in Singapore children over a 5-year period (1990-4) were obtained and analyzed for associations by time-series methods. RESULTS: Throughout this period, the annual mean and 24-h mean levels for sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and total suspended particles (TSP) and maximum 1-h daily average for ozone were generally within the air-quality guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, positive correlation between levels of each of these pollutants and daily ER visits for asthma was observed in children aged 3-12 years, but not among adolescents and young adults (13-21 years old). The association with SO2 and TSP persisted after standardization for meteorologic and temporal variables. An adjusted increase in 2.9 ER visits for every 20 microg/m3 increase in atmospheric SO2 levels, lagged by 1 day, was observed on days when levels were above 68 microg/m3. With TSP, an adjusted increase of 5.80 ER visits for every 20 microg/m3 increase in its daily atmospheric levels, lagged by 1 day, was observed on days with levels above 73 microg/m3. Similar results were also obtained after controlling for autocorrelation by time-series analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These associations were observed even though the overall levels of all pollutants were generally within the air-quality guidelines established by the WHO. These findings suggest that asthmatic children are susceptible to increased levels of air pollutants, particularly SO2 and TSP, although the ambient levels are generally within "acceptable" ranges.     

Differential effects of two types of environmental novelty on activity and sleep in BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J mice

Change in the sleeping environment can produce significant alterations in sleep. To determine how these alterations may vary with the amount of change and the relative reactivity of the sleeper, we examined the influences of environmental novelty on sleep in two mouse strains that differ in behavioral anxiety. Mice [BALB/cJ (n=7) and C57BL/6J (n=8)] were implanted for recording EEG and activity via telemetry. Following baseline data collection, activity and sleep were examined over 46 h after routine cage change, after placing a simple novel object (PVC Tee) in the home cage, and after handling controls. Mice of both strains showed immediate increases in activity and decreases in rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and non-REM (NREM) after cage change and novel object. Within strain, changes in activity and sleep were greater after cage change than after novel object. Changes in activity and sleep time were significantly correlated in each strain. Compared to C57BL/6J mice, BALB/cJ mice exhibited greater and longer duration initial reductions in sleep time, and greater increases in EEG slow wave activity power after cage change and novel object, but these changes were not followed with subsequent increases in sleep time. In contrast, C57BL/6J mice showed significantly greater subsequent increases in sleep time following the initial reductions induced by both manipulations. The results suggest that initial decreases and subsequent increases in sleep time are related to putative differences in the intensity of environmental novelty (cage change>novel object) and to previously described strain differences in anxiety (BALB/cJ>C57BL/6J).     

单细胞凝胶电泳在遗传学损伤检测中的应用

单细胞凝胶电泳或彗星试验是在暴露人群中评价遗传学损伤的新式方法。这种分析可以快速的探测单一细胞中不同形式的DNA损伤，因此适于在暴露人群分析应用。本文将对彗星试验在临床研究及监测职业、环境、合理饮食、生活方式等对DNA损伤的危险性，以及在DNA损伤与修复研究中的应用等方面进行综述。     

Pulmonary function changes in asthmatics associated with low-level SO2 and NO2 air pollution, weather, and medicine intake

This paper presents the response in subjects with asthma to gaseous air-pollution levels, weather, and medicine intake as identified by principal-component analysis and neutral network techniques. Pulmonary function measured by respiratory peak-flow rate in nonallergic asthmatics was associated with ambient, low level, air-pollution concentrations of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, temperature, relative humidity, and medicine intake. Results from 27 nonallergic asthmatics aged 18–60 years with well-characterized bronchial asthma and regular medical treatment were analyzed from two cities. During an 8-month period, each subject kept a diary table, which included symptoms, lung function (evening peak flow), medicine intake, and tobbaco smoking.
High intake of medicine and high ambient temperatures correspondend to decreased peak flow. The changes in temperature did not occur in situations with low medicine intake. During frost periods, peak-flow values decreased independently of medicine intake and levels of so². During other times, increased levels of so² and no² increased temperature, and increased intake of medicine, and low relative humidity corresponded to synergistically to decreased peak flow at levels above 40μ/m³.     

Autonomic Correlates of Depression and Clinical Improvement Following Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy

Electrodermal responses (EDRs) and heart rate (HR) were recorded during a variety of tasks from 20 hospitalized depressed patients before and after a series of electroconvulsive shock treatments (ECTs). The depressed patients, compared to nondepressed controls during the pre-ECT test, exhibited lower skin conductance levels, smaller phasic skin conductance responses with longer latencies, higher tonic HR, and smaller HR changes to stimuli. This response pattern suggests a complex state of “environmental rejection” coupled with “low arousal” in the depressed patients. Certain EDR measures were related to the severity of depressive symptomatology while tonic HR was related to the agitation/retardation symptoms. Patients who subsequently responded well following ECT were more like the controls on certain pre-treatment measures than those who failed to respond favorably. There were little EDR or HR changes following ECT and what changes did occur were unrelated to differences in clinical improvement. It was suggested that, despite temporary clinical improvement following ECT, depressed patients have a chronic affective disorder which is reflected in the EDR and HR measures.     

Fine particulate matter exposure during pregnancy and infancy and incident asthma

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Serum levels of total IgE in non-allergic children

The purpose of this study was to establish the range of total serum IgE in a healthy population lacking personal and family history of allergy, as well as the influence of genetic factors (family history of allergy), environmental factors (degree of air pollution), age, and sex on the serum IgE levels. Using a commercial enzyme immunoassay (Phadezym IgE Prist) the mean serum level of IgE was determined in 363 non-atopic children from 0 to 12 years of age. The geometric mean of serum IgE increased according to age, indicating a positive correlation between both. Higher mean values of serum IgE were found for children with a family history of allergy, than for children without (27.82 and 14.49 U/ml respectively). The percentage of variation due to age was about 94.5% in children with no family history of allergy. The mean value of serum IgE increased with the degree of air pollution in the living area (15.49 U/ml in non-polluted areas, 20.78 U/ml in very polluted areas). However, the influence of air pollution was smaller than the influence of family history on the mean values of serum IgE. The mean value of serum IgE was not modified by sex.     

大气污染物短期效应对上海市浦东新区居民肺癌死亡影响的病例交叉研究

目的 分析大气污染物与浦东新区居民每日肺癌死亡人数的相关性,为制定针对肺癌病人的保护措施提供依据。方法 采集浦东新区2005年1月1日至2019年12月31日之间的每日大气污染物浓度、气象因素以及居民肺癌死亡资料,利用时间分层-病例交叉设计并结合分布滞后非线性模型,探讨大气污染物短期暴露对浦东新区居民肺癌死亡的影响。结果 大气污染物(PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂)浓度与浦东新区居民肺癌死亡风险呈正相关。PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂浓度对居民肺癌死亡风险的影响均在累积8 d(Lag 0～7)最强。PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂浓度上升10 μg/m³累积8 d(Lag 0～7)居民肺癌死亡风险分别上升1.09%(95%CI:0.35%～1.83%), 3.78%(95%CI:1.98%～5.61%)与2.76%(95%CI:1.10%～4.44%)。女性人群肺癌死亡对PM₁₀与NO₂的影响不敏感(P>0.05)。大气污染物对高龄人群与低文化水平人群肺癌死亡效应较强,人群间效应差异不显著。结论 大气污染物短期暴露可以升高浦东新区居民肺癌死亡风险,以累积8 d(Lag 0～7)效应最强。