Potent Chemopreventive/Antioxidant Activity Detected in Common Spices of the Apiaceae Family

Spices are used worldwide, particularly in the Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and considered protective against degenerative diseases, including cancer. Here, we report the efficacy of aqueous and non-aqueous extracts of 11 Apiaceae spices for free radical-scavenging activity and to inhibit cytochrome P450s in two separate reactions involving: 1) 4-hydroxy-17ß-estradiol (4E₂), DNA, and CuCl₂ and 2) 17ß-estradiol, rat liver microsomes, cofactors, DNA and CuCl₂. Oxidative DNA adducts resulting from redox cycling of 4E₂ were analyzed by ³²P-postlabeling. Aqueous (5 mg/ml) and non-aqueous extracts (6 mg/ml) substantially inhibited (83–98%) formation of DNA adducts in the microsomal reaction. However, in nonmicrosomal reaction, only aqueous extracts showed the inhibitory activity (83–96%). Adduct inhibition was also observed at five-fold lower concentrations of aqueous extracts of cumin (60%) and caraway (90%), and 10-fold lower concentrations of carrot seeds (76%) and ajowan (90%). These results suggests the presence of 2 groups of phytochemicals: polar compounds that have free radical-scavenging activity and lipophilic compounds that selectively inhibit P450 activity associated with estrogen metabolism. Because most of these Apiaceae spices are used widely with no known toxicity, the phytochemicals from the Apiaceae spices used in foods may be potentially protective against estrogen-mediated breast cancer.     

Murder by radiation poisoning: implications for public health

On November 23, 2006, former Russian military intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital. Authorities determined he was deliberately poisoned with the radionuclide Polonium-210 (210Po). Police subsequently discovered that those involved in this crime had--apparently inadvertently--spread 210Po over many locations in London. The United Kingdom Health Protection Agency (HPA) contacted many persons who might have been exposed to 210Po and provided voluntary urine testing. Some of those identified as potentially exposed were U.S. citizens, whom the HPA requested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assist in contacting. CDC also provided health care professionals and state and local public health officials with guidance as to how they might respond should a Litvinenko-like incident occur in the U.S. This guidance has resulted in the identification of a number of lessons that can be useful to public health and medical authorities in planning for radiological incidents. Eight such lessons are discussed in this article.     

Concentrations of Heavy Metals in Commercially Important Oysters from Goa,Central-West Coast of India

The major beds of oyster along the central-west coast of India are exposed to different anthropogenic activities and are severely exploited for human consumption. In this viewpoint, tissues of oyster Crassostrea madrasensis, C. gryphoides and Saccostrea cucullata were analyzed for Cu, Ni, Cd and Pb concentrations (dry weight) from Chicalim Bay, Nerul Creek and Chapora Bay in pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. A higher concentration of Cu (134.4–2167.9 mg kg^?1) and Cd (7.1–88.5 mg kg^?1) was found, which is greater than the recommended limits in all the three species (and sites). Moreover, significant (p?<?0.05) variations were observed for all the metals concentrations among the species, seasons and sites. The high concentrations of Cd and Cu in tissues of edible oyster pose a threat to human health. Therefore, continuous monitoring, people awareness and a stringent government policy should be implemented to mitigate the metal pollution along the studied sites.     

Impact of supplementary royal jelly on in vitro maturation of sheep oocytes: genes involved in apoptosis and embryonic development

Optimizing culture conditions lead to the improvement of oocyte developmental competence and additives with anti-oxidative activity in culture media improved embryonic development. Royal jelly (RJ) is a product from the cephalic glands of nurse bees that has considerable health effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different concentrations of RJ on the maturation, cleavage, and blastocyst rates and gene expression in the oocyte and cumulus cells during in vitro maturation (IVM) of sheep oocyte. IVM of oocyte was performed in the presence of control (RJ₀), 2.5 (RJ_2.5), 5 (RJ₅), 10 (RJ₁₀), 20 (RJ₂₀), and 40 (RJ₄₀) mg/mL of RJ. Following the maturation period, parthenogenetic activation was carried out in two treatment groups (RJ₀ and RJ₁₀) and embryonic development was examined three and eight days thereafter. Moreover, the relative expression of BCL2 and BAX in oocyte as well as BCL2, BAX, HAS2, PTGS2, and STAR in cumulus cells were assessed. The results indicated that the addition of 10?mg/mL of RJ (90?±?4.51%) to the maturation medium linearly increased the oocyte maturation rate compared to the control group (57?±?2.42%), then it remained constant to the RJ₄₀ (93?±?3.10%) group. The higher RJ concentrations were associated with increased (p?<?0.01) cleavage (53.3?±?1.55% to 82.3?±?2.82%) and blastocyst rate (15.5?±?1.16% to 33.8?±?3.09%) from the RJ₀ to the RJ₁₀ group. The relative mRNA expression of BCL2 and BAX in the oocyte was higher at RJ₁₀. In cumulus cells, the expression of BCL2 was not affected, but that of BAX decreased, and expression of HAS2, PTGS2, and STAR were increased following the addition of RJ to the maturation media. In conclusion, the addition of 10?mg/mL of RJ to maturation medium improved blastocyst formation and decreased the apoptotic incidence in sheep cumulus cells and the oocyte during the in vitro development.     

Development and psychometric evaluation of a new team effectiveness scale for all types of community adult mental health teams: a mixed‐methods approach

Defining ‘effectiveness’ in the context of community mental health teams (CMHTs) has become increasingly difficult under the current pattern of provision required in National Health Service mental health services in England. The aim of this study was to establish the characteristics of multi‐professional team working effectiveness in adult CMHTs to develop a new measure of CMHT effectiveness. The study was conducted between May and November 2010 and comprised two stages. Stage 1 used a formative evaluative approach based on the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System to develop the scale with multiple stakeholder groups over a series of qualitative workshops held in various locations across England. Stage 2 analysed responses from a cross‐sectional survey of 1500 members in 135 CMHTs from 11 Mental Health Trusts in England to determine the scale's psychometric properties. Based on an analysis of its structural validity and reliability, the resultant 20‐item scale demonstrated good psychometric properties and captured one overall latent factor of CMHT effectiveness comprising seven dimensions: improved service user well‐being, creative problem‐solving, continuous care, inter‐team working, respect between professionals, engagement with carers and therapeutic relationships with service users. The scale will be of significant value to CMHTs and healthcare commissioners both nationally and internationally for monitoring, evaluating and improving team functioning in practice.     

Outcome and risk factors for late-onset complications 24 months beyond allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the incidence of late complications occurring ≥2 years after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for malignant diseases using a T‐cell depletion strategy. Methods: Between 1984 and 2004, 142 patients were eligible for the study. Total body irradiation (TBI) was carried out in 85% of the patients and T‐cell depletion in 84%. Results: Non‐relapse mortality (NRM) was 3% (95% CI 0–11) at 10 years, and serious late events affected a substantial number of patients. The cumulative incidence (CI) of chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (cGvHD) was 30% (95% CI 23–40), and that of infectious complications was 17% (95% CI 11–23). Multivariate analysis showed a higher risk for late complications in patients with cGvHD (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2–3.2, P = 0.011) and patients receiving methylprednisolone during conditioning (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.3, P = 0.019 1), patients with cGvHD also having a higher risk for NRM (HR 13.2, 95% CI 1.2–143, P = 0.03), as well as those receiving steroids for >3 months (HR 40.3, 95% CI 2.3–718, P = 0.02) and those receiving antithymocyte globulin (HR 9.6, 95% CI 0.8–68, P = 0.024). Conclusions: A significant proportion of long‐term survivors of HSCT had late complications. cGvHD remained an important risk factor for late complications despite T‐cell depletion resulting in immunosuppression and infectious complications.     

Patterns of HIV infection among native and refugee Afghans

The current study was conducted to explore the origins of the HIV epidemics among the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the native Afghans in Afghanistan. Phylogenetic analysis of HIV gag gene from 40 samples showed diverse HIV variants, originating from a number of countries. Intermixing of diverse HIV variants among Afghans may give rise to seeding of infections with rare HIV strains which may pose serious challenges for the treatment and control of infection.