Histopathological and functional effects of antimony on the renal cortex of growing albino rat

Contamination of the environment with antimony compounds may affect human health through the persistent exposure to small doses over a long period. Sixty growing male albino rats, weighing 43-57 grams, utilized in this study. The animals were divided into 3 groups; each of 20 rats: animals of group I served as control, animals of group II received 6 mg/kg body weight antimony trisulfide daily for 8 weeks with drinking water, and those of group III received the same dose by the same route for 12 weeks. The Malpighian renal corpuscles showed distortion, destruction and congestion of glomerular tuft, vacuoles in the glomeruli, peritubular haemorrhage, obliteration of Bowman’s space, and thickening with irregularity of Bowman’s membrane. The proximal convoluted tubules demonstrated patchy loss of their brush border, thickening of the basement membrane with loss of its basal infoldings, disarrangement of the mitochondria, pleomorphic vacuoles in the cytoplasm, apical destruction of the cells, apical migration of the nuclei, and absence of microvilli. On the other hand, peri-tubular hemorrhage, apical vacuolation, small atrophic nuclei, swelling of mitochondria, obliteration of the lumina, destruction of cells, and presence of tissue debris in the lumina, were observed in the distal convoluted tubules. The present work demonstrated the hazardous effect of antimony on the renal function as evidenced by the significant increase of the level of blood urea, serum creatinine, and serum sodium and potassium. In conclusion, this study proposed that continuous oral administration of antimony for 8 and 12 weeks has hazardous toxic effect on the structure and function of the kidney in growing albino rat. Based on the results of the present study, it is recommended to avoid the use of any drinking water contaminated with antimony compounds and forbidden its use in infants and children foods.     

Thermoelectric Performance of Mechanically Mixed BixSb2-xTe3—ABS Composites

In the current study, polymer-based composites, consisting of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Bismuth Antimony Telluride (Bi_xSb_2−xTe₃), were produced using mechanical mixing and hot pressing. These composites were investigated regarding their electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient, with respect to Bi doping and Bi_xSb_2-xTe₃ loading into the composite. Experimental results showed that their thermoelectric performance is comparable—or even superior, in some cases—to reported thermoelectric polymer composites that have been produced using other complex techniques. Consequently, mechanically mixed polymer-based thermoelectric materials could be an efficient method for low-cost and large-scale production of polymer composites for potential thermoelectric applications.     

三氧化二锑尘肺临床动态观察研究

目的探讨三氧化二锑(Sb2O3)粉尘职业接触对人体肺组织的损伤作用及脱离粉尘作业后病变的转归、机体对Sb2O3的清除作用。方法采用现场职业流行病学调查及临床动态观察的方法进行研究。结果包装岗位锑及其化合物平均浓度为3.03mg/m3。39例包装工中咳嗽、咯痰、慢性咽炎、胸片异常的发生率明显较对照组高(P<0.05),高千伏X射线胸片15例异常,其中3例确诊Ⅰ期Sb2O3尘肺,4例确诊为无尘肺(0 )。3例Sb2O3尘肺患者支气管肺活组织病理检查显示肺组织弥漫性炎性病变和少量胶原纤维形成。脱离粉尘作业的3例Sb2O3尘肺和4例无尘肺(0 )病例经住院治疗后,症状较前有所改善;高千伏X射线胸片观察见肺门密度增高影较前有增加,但肺野中弥漫性分布的圆形或不规则形影的分布范围与4年前比较无明显改变,肺区密集度仍在1/0级以上(病例)或0/1级[无尘肺(0 )病例]。其中4例自身前后比较,尿锑在脱尘第3年时(平均69.12mg/L)比脱尘第2年时(平均为212.5mg/L)明显减少(P<0.05)。结论人体对吸入并潴留于肺内的Sb2O3粉尘有一定的自净作用,但这一过程比较长,在此过程中Sb2O3粉尘可致肺组织弥漫性炎性病变、肺间质纤维化和少量胶原纤维形成,高千伏X射线胸片表现有1级密集度p或s影,Sb2O3粉尘可致尘肺。     

Toxicity of antimony trioxide nanoparticles on human hematopoietic progenitor cells and comparison to cell lines

Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials with one dimension in the range of 1–100 nm. The toxicity of NPs remains widely unknown and still poses concerns, due to the peculiar characteristics of materials in the nano-size range. We analyze the toxicity of seven NPs (Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, Sb₂O₃, Au, TiO₂, Co, and Ag) on primary cultures of human hematopoietic progenitor cells from the bone marrow of healthy donors with CFU assays, and show that antimony oxide (Sb₂O₃) NPs and cobalt (Co) NPs have a toxic effect, while the other NPs have no effect at the tested concentrations (5, 25 and 100 μg/ml). While Co NPs suspension is toxic to both erythroid and granulocytic–monocytic precursors, Sb₂O₃ NPs at 5 μg/ml are specifically toxic to erythroid colony development, suggesting a highly selective type of toxicity. With liquid culture assays we show that Sb₂O₃ NPs impair the proliferation of erythroid progenitors, while no toxic effect is observed when Sb₂O₃ NPs are added during erythroid differentiation. CFU assays and liquid culture assays on seven human cell lines of hematopoietic origin (K562, HL-60, CEM, CEM-R, Thp-1, Jurkat, and Molt-4) show that, contrary to what observed on primary cultures of bone marrow progenitors, Sb₂O₃ NPs have no toxic effect on proliferation of any of the cell lines, raising concerns about the use of immortalized cell lines for nanotoxicology tests.     

矿泉水中锑的原子荧光光谱测定法

目的研究以L-半胱氨酸作为还原剂,氢化物发生—原子荧光光谱法测定矿泉水中锑的方法。方法选择测定的最佳条件、共存元素对测定的影响及方法的准确度和精密度。结果方法标准曲线回归方程为Y=216.7C-38.1,r=0.9995,线性范围为0～10μg/L;样品加标回收率为93.0%～99.8%,RSD为0.5%、1.0%和6.4%。结论该方法适用于矿泉水中锑的测定,具有快速、准确、灵敏度高等优点。     

三氧化二锑职业性肺损伤研究概况

锑的冶炼和三氧化二锑的生产过程中产生的三氧化二锑粉尘大多为直径4μm以下的细小粉尘颗粒,可直接吸入肺组织深部造成职业性肺损害,但其有无致纤维化作用尚不十分清楚。本文拟就锑及其化合物的毒性、锑及三氧化二锑的冶炼和生产过程的职业卫生与其尘肺流行病学、实验研究,以及三氧化二锑致肺损伤等方面的国内外研究概况作一综述。     

Transfer of antimony and arsenic to the developing organism

The transfer of ⁷³As and ¹²⁵SB to the developing mouse organism was studied in the following ways. a) A diet containing the isotopes was given from the day of the vaginal plug and the radioactivity in uterus, ovaries and different maternal organs was determined 2, 4, and 6 days after initiation of feeding. b) The isotopes were injected i.p. during organogenesis at day 12, and the transfer into the fetus as well as activity in maternal organs were followed for a period of 7 days. c) The radioactive diet was supplied during the entire pregnancy and 15 days thereafter. The radioactivity in the females was followed for 150 days, that in the litter for 50 days. Components of turnover of less than a day, less than a week and several months can be discerned in the adult for both isotopes and transfer to the fetus occurs during organogenesis. Less antimony than arsenic is transferred from food during fetal life. After birth, arsenic as well as antimony are taken up by the newborn via the milk.     

同位镀锑膜修饰电极方波溶出伏安法同时测定痕量锡、镉

目的:建立同位镀锑膜电极测定痕量锡和镉的新方法。方法:在玻碳电极上,采用同位镀锑的方法富集被测离子并形成锑膜,利用方波脉冲伏安法使富集的Sn、Cd重新溶出,根据溶出峰电流,实现对痕量Sn2+、Cd2+的同时测定。在十六烷基三甲基溴化胺(CTAB)存在的条件下,溶出峰形良好。讨论了底液的pH值、CTAB浓度、富集时间、富集电位和不同的扫描速率对金属离子溶出峰的影响。结果:在优化实验条件下,Sn2+和Cd2+的线性范围分别为5μg/L～180μg/L和10μg/L～170μg/L,最低检出限分别为0.46μg/L和2μg/L。利用本方法测定了茶叶中Sn2+的含量,结果令人满意。结论:锑膜电极可成为又一种新的环保型膜电极用于重金属离子的测定。     

Successful treatment of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania amazonensis

Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis is a rare universal disease associated with an inadequate host cell immune response, caused by different species: infantum, aethiopica, major, mexicana, and others, which presents the challenge of a poor therapeutic response. In Brazil, it is caused by L. amazonensis. A case confirmed by histopathology with an abundance of vacuolated macrophages full of amastigotes and lymphocyte scarcity, identified by RFLP-ITS1PCR and in vitro decrease and exhaustion of the host cell immune response to L. amazonensis antigen, was treated early (3 months after the onset) with Glucantime (2 months) and allopurinol (29 months) with clinical cure, after a follow-up for 30 months after treatment.