COVID-19: Regional Differences in Austria Moshammer, Hanns; Poteser, Michael; Weitensfelder, Lisbeth
International journal of environmental research and public health,
01/2022, Letnik:
19, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In the turbulent year 2020, overshadowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Austria experienced multiple waves of increased case incidence. While governmental measures to curb the numbers were based on ...current knowledge of infection risk factors, a retrospective analysis of incidence and lethality at the district level revealed correlations of relative infection risk with socioeconomic, geographical, and behavioral population parameters. We identified unexpected correlations between political orientation and smoking behavior and COVID-19 infection risk and/or mortality. For example, a decrease in daily smokers by 2.3 percentage points would be associated with an increase in cumulative incidence by 10% in the adjusted model, and an increase in voters of the right-wing populist party by 1.6 percentage points with an increase in cumulative mortality by 10%. While these parameters are apparently only single elements of complex causal chains that finally lead to individual susceptibility and vulnerability levels, our findings might have identified ecological parameters that can be utilized to develop fine-tuned communications and measures in upcoming challenges of this and other pandemics.
An analysis of biological effects induced by environmental toxins and exposure-related evaluation of potential risks for health and environment represent central tasks in classical biomonitoring. ...While epidemiological data and population surveys are clearly the methodological frontline of this scientific field, cellbased in vitro assays provide information on toxin-affected cellular pathways and mechanisms, and are important sources for the identification of relevant biomarkers. This review provides an overview on currently available in vitro methods based on cultured cells, as well as some limitations and considerations that are of specific interest in the context of environmental toxicology. Today, a large number of different endpoints can be determined to pinpoint basal and specific toxicological cellular effects. Technological progress and increasingly refined protocols are extending the possibilities of cell-based in vitro assays in environmental toxicology and promoting their increasingly important role in biomonitoring.
STIM1 (stromal interaction molecule 1) and Orai proteins are the essential components of Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels. We focused on the role of cholesterol in the regulation of ...STIM1-mediated Orai1 currents. Chemically induced cholesterol depletion enhanced store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) and Orai1 currents. Furthermore, cholesterol depletion in mucosal-type mast cells augmented endogenous CRAC currents, which were associated with increased degranulation, a process that requires calcium influx. Single point mutations in the Orai1 amino terminus that would be expected to abolish cholesterol binding enhanced SOCE to a similar extent as did cholesterol depletion. The increase in Orai1 activity in cells expressing these cholesterol-binding-deficient mutants occurred without affecting the amount in the plasma membrane or the coupling of STIM1 to Orai1. We detected cholesterol binding to an Orai1 amino-terminal fragment in vitro and to full-length Orai1 in cells. Thus, our data showed that Orai1 senses the amount of cholesterol in the plasma membrane and that the interaction of Orai1 with cholesterol inhibits its activity, thereby limiting SOCE.
Insulin resistance is associated with a pro-inflammatory state increasing the risk for complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition to its chronobiotic effects, the ...pineal hormone melatonin is known to exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Melatonin was also suggested to affect insulin secretion. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the effect of melatonin on inflammation in diabetic rats and to study the possible involvement of the melatonin receptor, MT2.
Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four experimental groups (
= 10 per group): (1) control, (2) streptozotocin/nicotinamide induced diabetes type 2 (T2DM), (3) T2DM treated with melatonin (500 µg/kg/day), and (4) T2DM treated with melatonin (500 µg/kg/day for 6 weeks) and the selective MT2 receptor antagonist luzindole (0.25 g/kg/day for 6 weeks). Blood samples were taken for biochemical parameters and various tissue samples (liver, adipose tissue, brain) were removed for immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blot (WB), and Q-PCR analyses, respectively.
Melatonin significantly reduced increased blood levels of liver transaminases (AST, ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), triglyceride, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and cholesterol in diabetic rats with luzindole treatment partly reversing this effect regarding the lipids. Furthermore, the liver and adipose tissues of T2DM rats treated with melatonin showed lower expression of the inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-κB as compared to the T2DM group without melatonin. The results also showed that the MT2 receptor is at least partly involved in the protective effects of melatonin.
Our results suggest that melatonin exerts relevant anti-inflammatory effects on various tissues in type 2 diabetic rats.
Little is known about exposure determinants of acrylamide (AA), a genotoxic food-processing contaminant, in Europe. We assessed determinants of AA exposure, measured by urinary mercapturic acids of ...AA (AAMA) and glycidamide (GAMA), its main metabolite, in 3157 children/adolescents and 1297 adults in the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative. Harmonized individual-level questionnaires data and quality assured measurements of AAMA and GAMA (urine collection: 2014-2021), the short-term validated biomarkers of AA exposure, were obtained from four studies (Italy, France, Germany, and Norway) in children/adolescents (age range: 3-18 years) and six studies (Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Iceland) in adults (age range: 20-45 years). Multivariable-adjusted pooled quantile regressions were employed to assess median differences (β coefficients) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) in AAMA and GAMA (µg/g creatinine) in relation to exposure determinants. Southern European studies had higher AAMA than Northern studies. In children/adolescents, we observed significant lower AA associated with high socioeconomic status (AAMA:β = - 9.1 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 15.8, - 2.4; GAMA: β = - 3.4 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 4.7, - 2.2), living in rural areas (AAMA:β = - 4.7 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 8.6, - 0.8; GAMA:β = - 1.1 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 1.9, - 0.4) and increasing age (AAMA:β = - 1.9 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 2.4, - 1.4; GAMA:β = - 0.7 µg/g creatinine, 95% CI - 0.8, - 0.6). In adults, higher AAMA was also associated with high consumption of fried potatoes whereas lower AAMA was associated with higher body-mass-index. Based on this large-scale study, several potential determinants of AA exposure were identified in children/adolescents and adults in European countries.
Cardiac transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels are crucial upstream components of Ca²âº/calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) signaling, thereby controlling cardiac ...transcriptional programs. The linkage between TRPC-mediated Ca²⺠signals and NFAT activity is still incompletely understood. TRPC conductances may govern calcineurin activity and NFAT translocation by supplying Ca²⺠either directly through the TRPC pore into a regulatory microdomain or indirectly via promotion of voltage-dependent Ca²⺠entry. Here, we show that a point mutation in the TRPC3 selectivity filter (E630Q), which disrupts Ca²⺠permeability but preserves monovalent permeation, abrogates agonist-induced NFAT signaling in HEK293 cells as well as in murine HL-1 atrial myocytes. The E630Q mutation fully retains the ability to convert phospholipase C-linked stimuli into L-type (CaV1.2) channel-mediated Ca²⺠entry in HL-1 cells, thereby generating a dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca²⺠signal that is isolated from the NFAT pathway. Prevention of PKC-dependent modulation of TRPC3 by either inhibition of cellular kinase activity or mutation of a critical phosphorylation site in TRPC3 (T573A), which disrupts targeting of calcineurin into the channel complex, converts cardiac TRPC3-mediated Ca²⺠signaling into a transcriptionally silent mode. Thus, we demonstrate a dichotomy of TRPC-mediated Ca²⺠signaling in the heart constituting two distinct pathways that are differentially linked to gene transcription. Coupling of TRPC3 activity to NFAT translocation requires microdomain Ca²⺠signaling by PKC-modified TRPC3 complexes. Our results identify TRPC3 as a pivotal signaling gateway in Ca²âº-dependent control of cardiac gene expression.
In Europe and many countries worldwide, a half-yearly changing time scheme has been adopted with the aim of optimizing the use of natural daylight during working hours and saving energy. Because the ...expected net economic benefit was not achieved, the discussion about the optimal solution has been reopened with a shifted focus on social and health related consequences. We set out to produce evidence for this discussion and analysed the impact of daylight saving time on total mortality of a general population in a time series study on daily total mortality for the years 1970-2018 in the city of Vienna, Austria. Daily deaths were modelled by Poisson regression controlling for seasonal and long-term trend, same-day and 14-day average temperature, humidity, and day of week. During the week after the spring transition a significant increase in daily total mortality of about 3% per day was observed. This was not the case during the week after the fall transition. The increase in daily mortality as observed in the week after spring DST-transition is most likely causally linked to the change in time scheme.
More than 20 years ago, acrylamide was added to the list of potential carcinogens found in many common dietary products and tobacco smoke. Consequently, human biomonitoring studies investigating ...exposure to acrylamide in the form of adducts in blood and metabolites in urine have been performed to obtain data on the actual burden in different populations of the world and in Europe. Recognizing the related health risk, the European Commission responded with measures to curb the acrylamide content in food products. In 2017, a trans-European human biomonitoring project (HBM4EU) was started with the aim to investigate exposure to several chemicals, including acrylamide. Here we set out to provide a combined analysis of previous and current European acrylamide biomonitoring study results by harmonizing and integrating different data sources, including HBM4EU aligned studies, with the aim to resolve overall and current time trends of acrylamide exposure in Europe. Data from 10 European countries were included in the analysis, comprising more than 5500 individual samples (3214 children and teenagers, 2293 adults). We utilized linear models as well as a non-linear fit and breakpoint analysis to investigate trends in temporal acrylamide exposure as well as descriptive statistics and statistical tests to validate findings. Our results indicate an overall increase in acrylamide exposure between the years 2001 and 2017. Studies with samples collected after 2018 focusing on adults do not indicate increasing exposure but show declining values. Regional differences appear to affect absolute values, but not the overall time-trend of exposure. As benchmark levels for acrylamide content in food have been adopted in Europe in 2018, our results may imply the effects of these measures, but only indicated for adults, as corresponding data are still missing for children.
Acrylamide, a substance potentially carcinogenic in humans, represents a very prevalent contaminant in food and is also contained in tobacco smoke. Occupational exposure to higher concentrations of ...acrylamide was shown to induce neurotoxicity in humans. To minimize related risks for public health, it is vital to obtain data on the actual level of exposure in differently affected segments of the population. To achieve this aim, acrylamide has been added to the list of substances of concern to be investigated in the HBM4EU project, a European initiative to obtain biomonitoring data for a number of pollutants highly relevant for public health. This report summarizes the results obtained for acrylamide, with a focus on time-trends and recent exposure levels, obtained by HBM4EU as well as by associated studies in a total of seven European countries. Mean biomarker levels were compared by sampling year and time-trends were analyzed using linear regression models and an adequate statistical test. An increasing trend of acrylamide biomarker concentrations was found in children for the years 2014–2017, while in adults an overall increase in exposure was found to be not significant for the time period of observation (2000–2021). For smokers, represented by two studies and sampling for, over a total three years, no clear tendency was observed. In conclusion, samples from European countries indicate that average acrylamide exposure still exceeds suggested benchmark levels and may be of specific concern in children. More research is required to confirm trends of declining values observed in most recent years.
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