Cadmium uptake by Spirulina maxima: toxicity and mechanism

Cadmium uptake by Spirulina maxima cells was more pronounced in living than in dead cells, with a maximum recovery of 47.63mg Cd/g cells for living cells and 37.00mg Cd/g cells for inactivated cells. When in the medium at 1.2mg/l, cadmium affected cell growth and diminished cell productivity. Cadmium was detected in the outer and inner faces of the external membrane, essentially in the lipid layer.     

吸烟对男性生殖和遗传毒性的研究进展

吸烟作为一个社会问题受到广泛关注,目前研究认为吸烟可对生殖系统存在有害影响。从吸烟对睾丸功能、精液质量、生殖内分泌功能的影响及吸烟对生殖细胞的遗传毒作用几个方面,总结了近几年国内外有关吸烟对男性生殖与遗传毒性研究进展,为进一步研究吸烟的生殖毒性提供参考。     

The effect of ecoestrogens on the development of the mammalian reproductive system

Recently, it has been shown that the environment contains a large variety of chemical substances possessing estrogenic activity (ecoestrogens/environmental estrogens). In this connection, the problem of estrogenic effects exerted by the environment on animal ontogenesis is very important. Here, we review the available data concerning the effects of ecoestrogens on the development of the reproductive system in mammals. We discuss issues of reproductive toxicology related to the effects of these substances during prenatal and postnatal development, with special attention to the effect of ecoestrogens and modern reproductive technologies on preimplantation embryonic development.     

铅对雄性生殖毒性的研究进展

从铅对睾丸与附睾形态、精子生成和发育以及生殖内分泌功能等三方面的影响综述了铅对雄性生殖毒性的研究进展;并从铅对睾丸的脂质过氧化损伤,对睾丸标志酶活性的影响,对染色体、DNA及基因的影响以及对CaM、Ca2 -ATP酶活性的影响等方面探讨了铅对雄性生殖毒性作用机理。同时,提出了铅对雄性生殖毒性的研究中存在的若干问题和发展方向。     

Acute toxicity tests on three species of the genus Lecane (Rotifera: Monogononta)

Three rotifer species, Lecane hamataL. luna, and L. quadridentata, were submitted to acute toxicity tests to compare their susceptibility to 11 toxicants. In acute tests with 48-h exposure of neonates of less than 24 h old, copper was most toxic with LC₅₀ values in the range of 0.06–0.33 mg l^–1, while acetone was the least toxic with LC₅₀ values in the range of 5000–7000 mg l^–1. Differences in LC₅₀ value of up to 22-fold were found in the susceptibility to lead between the three species. These data indicate large differences in toxicity among members of the same genus, and point out that it is necessary to submit several species to toxicity tests in order to assess the potential effects of toxicants to rotifers. The commonly used Brachionus calyciflorus cannot be considered representative of all freshwater rotifers in this respect.     

The Concept of Hormesis in Developmental Toxicology

Animal bioassay experiments are frequently conducted to assess the toxicity of chemicals on the developing fetus. Experiments are normally conducted at dosage levels that are much higher than human exposure levels to elicit the toxic reproductive effect of the chemical in a limited number of litters. Recently there has been much discussion on the fact that some chemicals may have beneficial effects at low doses and become toxic at high doses. This concept, known as chemical hormesis, has been the focus of attention in many investigations. Here, we consider the prevalence of hormesis in developmental toxicology and show that current design of developmental toxicity testing does not accommodate the study of hormesis. If it can be proved that some developmental toxicants may have stimulatory low dose effects, then design and analysis of developmental toxicity experiments need to be revised by the scientific community and the regulatory agencies. Using a thorough analysis of an experimental data set, we further demonstrate that in order to establish the possible hormetic effects of a chemical in reproduction, often a multiple replication of the experiment may be necessary to examine such effects. Using a trend test, we illustrate that while it is possible that one replicate of a developmental toxicity experiment with a known teratogen shows strong evidence of hormesis, other replicates may show no sign of beneficial effects at low doses.     

杀菌剂丙环唑对斜纹夜蛾的毒性

在研究比较了11种农药对斜纹夜蛾Spodoptera litura细胞（简称SL细胞）的毒杀活性基础上,选择毒杀活性最高的杀菌剂丙环唑,对其毒理学机理进行进一步研究。结果表明,丙环唑的细胞毒力最高,在100 μg/mL浓度下处理后48 h,SL细胞的死亡率为98.08％。处理后36 h,丙环唑对SL细胞的LC₅₀值为20.31 μg/mL。丙环唑能明显降低SL细胞的蛋白质含量。以0.5 μg/头的丙环唑注射斜纹夜蛾4龄幼虫,处理后72 h,试虫血淋巴总含量及血细胞数分别下降了26.80％和25.26％;在1.0 μg/头的剂量下,则分别下降了37.67%和36.32%。以0.5 μg/头和1.0 μg/头的丙环唑注射处理后,斜纹夜蛾幼虫体重显著降低。此外,丙环唑能降低斜纹夜蛾幼虫血淋巴含糖量及血淋巴蛋白质含量。在注射处理后96 h和120 h,丙环唑对斜纹夜蛾4龄幼虫的LD₅₀值分别为0.59 μg/头和0.45 μg/头。丙环唑对SL细胞和斜纹夜蛾幼虫均具有较好的毒杀活性,显示出丙环唑类似物控制害虫的可能性。     

Comparative toxicology of borates

Inorganic borates, including boric acid, Na, ammonium, K, and Zn borates generally display low acute toxicity orally, dermally, and by inhalation. They are either not irritant or mild skin and eye irritants. Exceptions owing to physiochemical properties do occur. Longer-term toxicological studies have been reported mainly on boric acid or borax where the properties are generally similar on an equivalent boron (B) basis. The critical effects in several species are male reproductive toxicity and developmental toxicity. The doses that cause these effects are far higher than any levels to which the human population could be exposed. Humans would need to consume daily some 3.3 g of boric acid (or 5.0 g borax) to ingest the same dose level as the lowest animal NOAEL. No effects on fertility were seen in a population of workers exposed to borates or to a population exposed to high environmental borate levels. There is remarkable similarity in the toxicological effects of boric acid and borax across different species. Other inorganic borates that simply dissociate to boric acid are expected to display similar toxicity, whereas those that do not dissociate simply to boric acid may display a different toxicological profile.     

MicroRNA在环境毒理学中的研究进展

MicroRNA（miRNA）是一类长为20～24nt的非编码单链小分子RNA,主要存在于真核生物中,具有组织特异性、无开放阅读框等特点,在转录或翻译水平调控基因表达,参与细胞增殖、分化、凋亡,并与炎症、肿瘤等疾病发生、发展密切相关。环境毒理学研究表明,当生物暴露于环境化学物质时,会引起相关miRNA表达发生变化,进而导致其靶基因表达发生改变。因此,有必要明确环境化学物质、miRNA和相关靶基因三者问的作用关系。在环境毒理学研究和环境监测中,miRNA可作为识别环境中化学物质基因毒性和致癌性的生物标记物,并可用于预测环境化学物质对生物体的毒性。