Environmental Disease

Potential health risks of long-term e-cigarette use Eric A Klomparens, Yuchuan Ding Environmental Disease 2019 4(1):1-5 E-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular in recent years, especially among adolescents. Many healthcare professionals are unsure of what health consequences can be expected after long-term use of e-cigarettes. This review focuses on the currently published data of long-term e-cigarette vapor exposure in cells, animals, and humans. Most research suggests that e-cigarettes are not harmless. Increased oxidative stress from free radicals and systemic inflammation occur after weeks or months of exposure. E-cigarette vapor contains multiple known human carcinogens which are found in the serum of users, and DNA damage is seen in exposed animals. Pulmonary changes seen after months of exposure in mice are reminiscent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and human users report increased respiratory symptoms. Cardiovascular disease risk is also likely, with e-cigarette use leading to multiple pathophysiological changes and possibly associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction. Limitations of the current research are discussed, including the retrospective nature of most human data to date. A call for large, longitudinal prospective studies is deemed necessary to better understand the causal role of long-term e-cigarette use in chronic disease formation.

Bisphenol A (BPA) in liquid portions of canned foods obtained from domestic and Asian markets in the United States Aby Joiakim, David Kaplan, David A Putt, Julia Matzenbacher Santos, Klaus Friedrich, So Hee Kim, Hyesook Kim Environmental Disease 2019 4(1):6-11 Bisphenol A (BPA) is a phenolic environmental estrogen that disrupts endocrine activity thereby increasing the risk of hormone-related health problems. The human population is highly exposed to BPA and food is believed to be a primary source of BPA exposure. The aim of this study was to test the sensitivity and specificity of a BPA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and to measure levels of BPA in supernatants obtained from various canned foods from different countries. The concentration of BPA was measured in supernatant from different types of canned soup and vegetable mixes produced by US companies and two companies each from three different Asian countries (Korea, Japan and China), which are available at markets in the USA. ELISA results were confirmed by LC/MS/MS and shown to be in agreement. Cross-reactivity tests demonstrated that BPA ELISA kit does not cross-react with other tested phenolic compounds. There was no significant difference of BPA levels in different types of soups from different US companies. However, levels of BPA in supernatants of canned vegetable mixes of a company in the USA were 200-fold lower than the levels in canned vegetable soups of the US companies. BPA levels varied greatly among canned foods among companies in various countries. Thus, this study validated the use of a simple ELISA assay to measure levels of BPA in supernatants of canned food, which would facilitate the routine monitoring of dietary exposure to BPA. Decreasing the consumption of BPA will lead to a reduction in the risk of adverse health effects.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara canis and the parasitic effect on plasma cytokines in children aged 6 to 11 years in Saki-East local government area in Nigeria Mathew Folaranmi Olaniyan, Mufutau M Azeez Environmental Disease 2019 4(1):12-16 Study Background: Toxocara canis is a helminths parasite known as dog worm but infects human through infected dog feces or contaminated dirt. It is a neglected disease in economically less privileged areas. The parasitic infection can generate inflammatory process. Aim and Objective: This work was designed to determine the seroprevalence of T. canis and the parasitic effect on plasma cytokines in children aged 6–11 years in Saki-East local government area in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Two hundred children aged 6–11 years (female – 100 and male – 100) were recruited across Saki-East local government area. One hundred and sixty-one of them not infected with any of the infectious agents were studied as control. Sputum, blood, stool, skin snip, and urine samples were obtained for microscopic identification of parasites. Sputum sample was also used for Ziehl–Neelsen staining to demonstrate acid-fast bacilli, while ELISA technique was used for determination of T. canis, anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV), HBsAg, HIV1-p24 antigen, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), and interleukin (IL)-10. Results: The results obtained showed overall seroprevalence of T. canis among the children as 9.5% (19) including 6% (12) male and 3.5% (7) female children. This included 5.5% (11) monoinfected with T. canis; 1% (2) were T. canis coinfected with Ascaris lumbricoides; 1% (2) were T. canis coinfected with hepatitis B virus; 1% (2) were T. canis coinfected with Plasmodium spp.; 0.5% (1) were T. canis coinfected with hookworm; and 0.5% (1) were T. canis coinfected with Schistosoma haematobium. There is no coinfection with either HIV or HCV among the children. 10% (20) were infected with infectious agents but seronegative to T. canis. There was a significant increase in the plasma values of cytokines TNFα and IL-10 in T. canis monoinfected children compared with the control (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The work revealed an overall seroprevalence of T. canis as 9.5% including 5.5% monoinfection and a significant increase in plasma TNFα and IL-10 in T. canis monoinfection.

Method for estimation of hippuric acid as a biomarker of toluene exposure in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography after extraction with ethyl acetate Anupa Yadav, Anirban Basu, Amit Chakarbarti Environmental Disease 2019 4(1):17-22 Aim: This study aimed to establish liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) for estimation of hippuric acid (HA) in urine as a biomarker of the toluene exposure by high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDAD). Method: HA in urine was extracted by LLE and determined by HPLC-PDAD. The operating conditions with HPLC were ODS-2 hypersil column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), 0.1% trifluoro acetic acid (TFA) in acetonitrile and 0.1% TFA in water as mobile phase, 1 ml/min flow rate, and wavelength of 205 nm. The validity of the present method was tested by the estimation of HA in urine samples, collected from toluene-exposed (shoe workers) and unexposed or control subjects. Results: Binary gradient system was used to achieve optimum separation. The analytical curve prepared for HA in aqueous solution in the range of 0.5–10 μg/ml showed determination coefficient value (R2) 0.998. Limit of detection and quantification (LOQ) were 0.46 and 1.53 μg/ml, respectively. The coefficients of variance for intraday precision were 1.4% for HA standard (5 μg/ml) and 1.1% for pooled urine, whereas inter-day precision values were 3.2% and 4.9% for HA standard and pooled urine, respectively. Method recovery obtained was 96%–120% for HA solutions containing 2, 3, and 5 μg/ml, demonstrating that precision and recovery of method were satisfactory. Compared to unexposed group, exposed group had significantly more HA. It was found significantly (P < 0.05) higher in urine of exposed workers (32.52 ± 10.91) than unexposed group (16.21 ± 10.14). Conclusion: Sample preparation by LLE is simple and cost-effective for the determination of HA as a biomarker of toluene exposure by HPLC-PDAD. It can be used to detect HA in urine for population exposed to toluene.

A comparison of clinical characteristics and outcome in pyogenic liver abscess patients with and without diabetes mellitus: A case-control study Haitao Sun, Yuxian Yang, Eric A Klomparens, Dong Zhao Environmental Disease 2019 4(1):23-27 Background: Pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) is a relatively rare and potentially life-threatening disease. The incidence of PLA has been increasing steadily over the past few decades. PLA is relatively common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Although multiple studies have explored the relationship between PLA and DM, it remains controversial, and the evidence comes primarily from case reports. Because of this, more studies are necessary to compare the characteristics of PLA patients with and without DM to explore the relationship between PLA and DM. Materials and Methods: A total of 115 PLA patients admitted in Beijing Luhe Hospital from December 2012 to August 2017 were divided into two groups based on the presence of DM (the DM group and the non-DM group) for the comparison of clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and t-tests were used to analyze the differences between the two groups. Results: Of 115 patients included, 50.4% of patients had DM. The DM group had a lower prevalence of abdominal pain (28% vs. 51%, P = 0.011) and pain to palpation (48% vs. 67%, P = 0.046). Moreover, the DM group had a higher prevalence of misdiagnosis (45% vs. 16%, P = 0.001) and poor outcomes (9% vs. 0%, P = 0.03). Conclusions: We found that patients with DM may have less typical symptoms of PLA than those without DM, which may explain the higher prevalence of misdiagnosis of PLA in patients with DM. Moreover, patients with DM have worse outcomes than those without DM.