Investigation of Heavy Metal Level and Mineral Nutrient Status in Widely Used Medicinal Plants’ Leaves in Turkey: Insights into Health Implications

The use of plants in treatments has been as old as humanity and it has preserved its popularity for centuries til now because of their availability, affordability and safeness. However, despite their widespread use, safety and quality issues have been major concerns in the world due to industrial- and anthropogenic-based heavy metal contamination risks. Thus, this study was attempted to analyze the heavy metal levels and mineral nutrient status of widely used medicinal plants in Turkey to have insights about their health implications on humans. The plant concentrations of B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn were analyzed by ICP-OES in the leaves of 44 medical plants purchased from herbal markets of three different districts of Istanbul/Turkey. The measured lowest to highest concentrations were 0.065–79.749 mg kg⁻¹ B, 921.802–12,854.410 mg kg⁻¹ Ca, 0.020–0.558 mg kg⁻¹ Cd, 0.015–4.978 mg kg⁻¹ Cr, 0.042–8.489 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, 34.356–858.446 mg kg⁻¹ Fe, 791.323–15,569.349 mg kg⁻¹ K, 102.236–2837.836 mg kg⁻¹ Mg, 4.915–91.519 mg kg⁻¹ Mn, 10.224–3213.703 mg kg⁻¹ Na, 0.001–5.589 mg kg⁻¹ Ni, 0.003–3.636 mg kg⁻¹ Pb and 2.601–36.102 mg kg⁻¹ Zn. Those levels in plants were in acceptable limits though some elements in some plants have high limits which were not harmful. Variations (above acceptable limits) in element concentrations also indicated that these plants could be contaminated with other metals and that genetic variations may influence accumulation of these elements at different contents. Overall, analyzed medicinal plants are expected not to pose any serious threat to human health.

     

From mitochondrial dynamics to arrhythmias

The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent mitochondrial oscillator described in cardiac cells exhibits at least two modes of function under physiological conditions or in response to metabolic and oxidative stress. Both modes depend upon network behavior of mitochondria. Under physiological conditions cardiac mitochondria behave as a network of coupled oscillators with a broad range of frequencies. ROS weakly couples mitochondria under normal conditions but becomes a strong coupling messenger when, under oxidative stress, the mitochondrial network attains criticality. Mitochondrial criticality is achieved when a threshold of ROS is overcome and a certain density of mitochondria forms a cluster that spans the whole cell. Under these conditions, the slightest perturbation triggers a cell-wide collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential, Δψ_m, visualized as a depolarization wave throughout the cell which is followed by whole cell synchronized oscillations in Δψ_m, NADH, ROS, and GSH. This dynamic behavior scales from the mitochondrion to the cell by driving cellular excitability and the whole heart into catastrophic arrhythmias. A network collapse of Δψ_m under criticality leads to: (i) energetic failure, (ii) temporal and regional alterations in action potential (AP), (iii) development of zones of impaired conduction in the myocardium, and, ultimately, (iv) a fatal ventricular arrhythmia.     

Concentration-Dependent Effects of Zinc Sulfate on DU-145 Human Prostate Cancer Cell Line: Oxidative,Apoptotic, Inflammatory,and Morphological Analyzes

Biological Trace Element Research - Zinc takes part in several of cellular signaling pathways, containing defense against free radicals, apoptosis, and inflammation. However, interaction between...     

Contractile regulation of the Na+-K+-2Cl{-} cotransporter in vascular smooth muscle

Vasoconstrictors activate theNa⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter NKCC1 inrat aortic smooth muscle, but the mechanism is unknown. Efflux of⁸⁶Rb⁺ from rat aorta in response tophenylephrine (PE) was measured in the absence and presence ofbumetanide, a specific inhibitor of NKCC1. Removal of extracellularCa²⁺ completely abolished the activation of NKCC1 by PE.This was not due to inhibition of Ca²⁺-dependentK⁺ channels since blocking these channels withBa²⁺ in Ca²⁺-replete solution did not preventactivation of NKCC1 by PE. Stimulation of NKCC1 by PE was inhibited70% by 75 µM ML-9, 97% by 2 µM wortmannin, and 70% by 2 mM2,3-butanedione monoxime, each of which inhibited isometric forcegeneration in aortic rings. Bumetanide-insensitive Rb⁺efflux, an indication of Ca²⁺-dependent K⁺channel activity, was reduced by ML-9 but not by the other inhibitors. Stretching of aortic rings on tubing to increase lumen diameter to120% of normal almost completely blocked the stimulation of NKCC1 byPE without inhibiting the stimulation by hypertonic shrinkage. Weconclude that activation of theNa⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter by PE isthe direct result of smooth muscle contraction throughCa²⁺-dependent activation of myosin light chain kinase.This indicates that theNa⁺-K⁺-2Cl cotransporter isregulated by the contractile state of vascular smooth muscle.

     

Iloprost (ZK 36374) modulates the responses to beta-adrenoceptor agonists in guinea-pig airways and pulmonary vasculature

The effect of iloprost on airway smooth muscles and its influence on the actions of beta-agonists and histamine were studied in the isolated perfused lung and isolated tracheal strips from guinea-pigs. Bolus injection of iloprost into the pulmonary artery elicited a concentration-dependent decrease in pulmonary perfusion pressure and an increase in airway resistance. These effects are not mediated through cholinergic, serotoninergic and histaminergic receptors. A rapid tachyphylaxis affected the effect of iloprost in airway resistance but not in pulmonary perfusion pressure. Iloprost did not induce a response in the isolated tracheal strips and did not alter the effect of histamine in both tracheal strips and airway resistance. This compound, however, caused an inhibition in the airway resistance-reducing effect of adrenaline and isoprenaline in the isolated perfused lung and a potentiation in the perfusion pressure-increasing effect of adrenaline. Iloprost also inhibited the relaxing effect of adrenaline and isoprenaline in the isolated tracheal strips precontracted with histamine and potentiated the inhibitory effect of propranolol against adrenaline and isoprenaline. From these results it was concluded that: Iloprost, a stable analogue of prostacyclin, modulates the beta-adrenoceptor blocking effect of propranolol in both airway smooth muscles and pulmonary vasculature.     

Determination of serum methylarginine levels by tandem mass spectrometric method in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Amino Acids - Our aim in this study was to measure serum levels of methylarginines and related metabolites in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), moreover, to investigate the relationship...     

657del5 mutation of the Nijmegen breakage syndrome gene (NBS1) in the Turkish population

The 657del5 mutation of the NBS1 gene has been demonstrated in most patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS). We identified four Turkish families in which probands were diagnosed as having NBS and found to be homozygous for the 657del5 mutation. The 657del5 allele in the four Turkish families had a single origin.     

Y chromosomal haplogroup J as a signature of the post-neolithic colonization of Europe

In order to attain a finer reconstruction of the peopling of southern and central-eastern Europe from the Levant, we determined the frequencies of eight lineages internal to the Y chromosomal haplogroup J, defined by biallelic markers, in 22 population samples obtained with a fine-grained sampling scheme. Our results partially resolve a major multifurcation of lineages within the haplogroup. Analyses of molecular variance show that the area covered by haplogroup J dispersal is characterized by a significant degree of molecular radiation for unique event polymorphisms within the haplogroup, with a higher incidence of the most derived sub-haplogroups on the northern Mediterranean coast, from Turkey westward; here, J diversity is not simply a subset of that present in the area in which this haplogroup first originated. Dating estimates, based on simple tandem repeat loci (STR) diversity within each lineage, confirmed the presence of a major population structuring at the time of spread of haplogroup J in Europe and a punctuation in the peopling of this continent in the post-Neolithic, compatible with the expansion of the Greek world. We also present here, for the first time, a novel method for comparative dating of lineages, free of assumptions of STR mutation rates.