Accurate labelling of meat (e.g. wild versus farmed, geographical and genetic origin, organic versus conventional, processing treatment) is important to inform the consumers about the products they ...buy. Meat and meat products declared as game have higher commercial value making them target to fraudulent labelling practices and replacement with non-game meat. We have developed and validated a new method for authentication of wild rabbit meat using elemental metabolomics approach. Elemental analysis was performed using rapid ultra-trace multi-element measurement by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Elemental signatures showed excellent ability to discriminate the wild rabbit from non-wild rabbit meat. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of metabolic markers -rare earth signatures, as well as other trace element signatures for game meat authentication.
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•Elemental metabolomics is a powerful new methodology for authentication of game rabbit meat.•New method for meat authentication utilizing rare earths elemental signatures.•Samples are compared to group signatures using angular and Euclidean distances.•Meat reference materials (>70 elements) can be used for cross-comparison between studies.
Objectives: The cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 mediates ischaemic brain damage in rodents. The endogenous, highly selective, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) protects against ischaemic cerebral injury ...in a range of experimental settings, and IL-1ra causes a marked reduction of cell death when administered peripherally or at a delay in transient cerebral ischaemia. We report here the first randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial of recombinant human IL-1ra (rhIL-1ra) in patients with acute stroke. Methods: Patients within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms of acute stroke were randomised to rhIL-1ra or matching placebo. Test treatment was administered intravenously by a 100 mg loading dose over 60 seconds, followed by a 2 mg/kg/h infusion over 72 h. Adverse events and serious adverse events were recorded for up to 3 months, serial blood samples were collected for biological markers up to 3 months, and 5–7 day brain infarct volume was measured by computed tomography. Results: No adverse events were attributed to study treatment among 34 patients randomised. Markers of biological activity, including neutrophil and total white cell counts, C reactive protein, and IL-6 concentrations, were lower in rhIL-1ra treated patients. Among patients with cortical infarcts, clinical outcomes at 3 months in the rhIL-1ra treated group were better than in placebo treated. Conclusions: These data suggest that rhIL-1ra is safe and well tolerated in acute stroke. In addition, rhIL-1ra exhibited biological activity that is relevant to the pathophysiology and clinical outcome of ischaemic stroke. Our findings identify rhIL-1ra as a potential new therapeutic agent for acute stroke.
We report a rare case of adrenal extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) in a thalassaemia patient in Cyprus. A 40-year-old woman with β-thalassaemia presented with a 2-day history of non-specific ...right-sided abdominal pain on routine follow-up for her thalassaemia treatment. Her laboratory tests were not dissimilar to her routine results and no palpable mass was detected. Computed tomography findings revealed a 5.8×4.2×4.6cm solid lesion in the right adrenal gland. Surgical excision was advised for this symptomatic large tumour with the possibility of malignancy in a young patient, and a laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed. Postoperative follow-up was uneventful. A review of the literature in PubMed and MEDLINE revealed 14 case reports worldwide with adrenal EMH secondary to β-thalassaemia. EMH tumours in patients with thalassaemia have been reported incidentally, which stresses the importance of considering this in the list of differentials of adrenal incidentalomas in this patient population.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs), La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Sc, and Y, & two actinides, Th and U were assessed in muscle and liver tissues of wild, backyard and commercially ...raised rabbits through ICP-MS. Higher concentrations were found in liver in comparison to muscle tissue. Liver of wild rabbits accumulates all studied elements beyond Tm. Backyard rabbits do not show any statistically significant accumulation while commercial accumulate all beyond La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd and Tb. Wild rabbits were with the highest amounts for most of these elements. The different living and rearing environments of wild, backyard and commercial rabbits may affect accumulation, fate and transfer of REEs in rabbits' tissues. A dataset for establishing reference values of REEs in Lemnos island wild rabbits' is shown and the literature gap on safety limits for REEs is discussed.
•Rabbit liver accumulates rare earth elements (REEs).•All sixteen REEs beyond Tm are accumulated in wild rabbit's liver.•All sixteen REEs beyond La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd and Tb are accumulated in commercial rabbit's liver.•Production method affects the accumulation of rare earth elements in rabbit tissues.
The effects of dietary organic selenium (Se) addition at 0.1, 0.5 and 2.5 mg/kg vs. an unsupplemented basal diet (BD) on the accumulation of some toxic and essential trace elements were studied in ...the liver and muscle tissues of growing rabbits. Dietary Se addition increased liver and muscle Se concentration linearly (P < .001), and decreased linearly Cd, As, Ni and Cr (P < .001) in liver, as well as As (P < .01) and Cd (P < .001) in muscle. Muscle Cu and Zn contents were significantly lower (P < .05) in rabbits fed 2.5 mg Se/kg diet compared to the other 3 groups. Selenium was negatively correlated with Cr, Ni, Cd and As (P < .01) in liver, and with Cu (P < .05) and Cd (P < .01) in muscle. In conclusion, dietary Se supplementation decreased the accumulation of toxic (Cd and As) and potentially toxic (Cr and Ni) trace elements in rabbits. However, at excessive quantities may negatively affect essential trace elements.
Worldwide, suicide is a leading cause of death. Although a sizable proportion of deaths by suicide may be preventable, it is well documented that despite major governmental and international ...investments in research, education and clinical practice suicide rates have not diminished and are even increasing among several at-risk populations. Although nonhuman animals do not engage in suicidal behavior amenable to translational studies, we argue that animal model systems are necessary to investigate candidate endophenotypes of suicidal behavior and the neurobiology underlying these endophenotypes. Animal models are similarly a critical resource to help delineate treatment targets and pharmacological means to improve our ability to manage the risk of suicide. In particular, certain pathophysiological pathways to suicidal behavior, including stress and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, neurotransmitter system abnormalities, endocrine and neuroimmune changes, aggression, impulsivity and decision-making deficits, as well as the role of critical interactions between genetic and epigenetic factors, development and environmental risk factors can be modeled in laboratory animals. We broadly describe human biological findings, as well as protective effects of medications such as lithium, clozapine, and ketamine associated with modifying risk of engaging in suicidal behavior that are readily translatable to animal models. Endophenotypes of suicidal behavior, studied in animal models, are further useful for moving observed associations with harmful environmental factors (for example, childhood adversity, mechanical trauma aeroallergens, pathogens, inflammation triggers) from association to causation, and developing preventative strategies. Further study in animals will contribute to a more informed, comprehensive, accelerated and ultimately impactful suicide research portfolio.
Greek Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheeses are characterised by high nutritional values and origin traits. The aim of the study was to determine the content of 65 elements, of Greek PDO ...cheeses, through inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and examine the elemental metabolome as a potential authenticity marker. One hundred twelve samples from 21 PDO, one potential PDO and nine non-PDO cheeses were assessed. Discriminant analysis based on total fingerprinting was able to determine the geographic origin with 99.1% accuracy. The most significant variables of the model were Ce, Dy, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Y, Yb, Pd, As, Ba, Co, Fe, Ga, Mo, Ni, Ti, Zr, Ca and P. The results demonstrate that elemental metabolomics can be successfully applied for cheese authentication. The elemental fingerprint could provide a reliable discrimination while rare earth elements are promising authenticity markers.
Greek protected designation of origin (PDO) cheeses are well-known for their quality and nutritive value. One hundred and twelve samples from 21 Greek PDO cheeses, a non-PDO and a potential PDO were ...analyzed for fatty acid (FA) profile and several physicochemical parameters including moisture, fat on dry matter (FDM), protein content, pH and salt content. Analyzed hard and semi-hard cheeses were Sfela, Kefalograviera, Kasseri, Ladotyri Mytilinis, Formaella Arachovas Parnassou, Graviera Agrafon, Graviera Kritis, Metsovone, Graviera Naxou, Mastelo, Batzos and San Michali. Soft, spread and whey cheeses included Kopanisti, Xynomyzithra Kritis, White cheese, Kalathaki Limnou, Manouri, Feta, Xygalo Siteias, Galotyri, Katiki Domokou, Pichtogalo Chanion and Anevato. The profile of 37 FAs combined with physiochemical properties was utilized to discriminate cheeses by label (cheese identity), cheese type (hard, semi-hard, soft, spread and whey) and milk type (cow, goat, sheep and combinations). The study found that Sfela had the highest salinity, Manouri the highest FDM and San Michali the highest content of proteins. Regarding FAs, the dominant ones in almost all cheeses were C
14:0
, C
16:0
, C
18:0
and
cis-9
C
18:1
. For classification concerning cheese identity, the most significant parameters were moisture, fat, C
18:2n-6c
, pH and salt. The most significant discriminants by cheese type were pH, moisture, FDM, salt and C
16:0
while C
10:0
, C
11:0
, C
14:1
, C
18:2n-6c
, C
20:0
, C
20:3n-6
and saturated FAs were more influential to separate by milk type. Results depict the FA profile of Greek PDO cheeses and show that in combination with physicochemical characteristics can be used as authenticity markers.
•Reactive oxygen species modulate cell signalling and cause oxidant imbalance locally at the site of apical periodontitis.•Oxidative stress biomarkers are also found in blood and saliva of subjects ...with apical periodontitis.•Antioxidants can be used to accelerate the return to oxidative balance locally or systemically.
The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the existing evidence on the local production and systemic traces of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in apical periodontitis (AP).
A search of MEDLINE-PubMed and EMBASE was conducted up to January 12 of 2021 to identify studies in 6 different languages. Eligibility was evaluated and data were extracted from the eligible studies following the predefined objective. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used for quality assessment of the included studies.
After screening, 21 papers met the inclusion criteria. Six studies were about systemic oxidative stress, 14 studies examined local production of reactive oxygen species and one studied both. ROS modulate cell signalling and cause oxidant imbalance locally at the site of AP. Cell signalling leads to a pro-inflammatory response, activation of MMPs and formation and progression of the AP lesion. Simultaneously, these oxidative stress biomarkers are also found in blood and saliva of subjects with AP.
Understanding the mechanism of ROS generation, involved in chronic inflammation, can provide us with important information to enhance local and systemic healing and possibly improve diagnostic tools. Future research considerations would be to use antioxidants to accelerate the return to oxidative balance.
1. The study was part of a project designed to investigate if organic selenium (Se) can ameliorate the toxic effects of cadmium (Cd). The main objective of the present study was to investigate, in ...the chicken, the interactions between Se, Cd and the following elements: Sb, Ca, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, V and Zn.
2. A total of 300 1-d-old chickens (broilers) were randomly distributed among 4 dietary treatments with 5 replicate pens per treatment. In T1, chickens were fed on a diet with 0·3 mg/kg added Se, without added Cd. In T2, chickens were fed on a diet with 0·3 mg/kg Se and 10 mg/kg Cd. In T3, chickens were fed on a diet with 0·3 mg/kg Se and 100 mg/kg of Cd added and in T4 treatment, chickens were fed on a diet with 3 mg/kg Se and 100 mg/kg Cd added. Se was added as Se-yeast. Cd was added as cadmium chloride (CdCl
2
). On d 28 and 42, two chickens per replicate pen were killed for collection of whole blood, liver, kidney and breast muscle samples. Samples were analysed by ICP-MS. The data were analysed using a multivariate linear model.
3. While low Cd concentrations in the diet led only to an increase of Cd concentration in the examined tissues, addition of high concentrations of Cd increased the concentration of Cd, Cu, Sb and V and decreased that of Se, Mn and Fe. Addition of high Se concentrations did not significantly reduce Cd concentration.
4. Prior to model application, correlations of 78 elements were noted, while after model application 39 correlations were noted. Most notably, Cd was correlated with Ca, Co, Cu and Mg, while Se was correlated with Mn.
5. The present study revealed several correlations between essential, probably essential and toxic elements illustrating the importance of the balance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants.
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