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Antenatal exposition could produce xenobiotic side-effects on lactating women and breastfeeding children, they are a vulnerable target about these risks in a high susceptibility window. Sparse and contradictory data are available for health professional and a list could describe 17 pollutants classified at risk during breastfeeding. Lactation must be encouraged although pollution still exists to its protecting effects on breastfed children against infections and other diseases. Still nowadays, right and well balanced public health advices are needed about nutrition with public health policies and laws to reduce contaminant pollutant productions and emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé La pharmacogenetique se définit comme l’étude des variations interindividuelles, d’origine génétique, de réponse aux médicaments. Cette discipline a pour but de comprendre et surtout de prévenir l’apparition d’effets indésirables ou d’inefficacité thérapeutique survenant chez certains individus lors de la prise de doses standards de médicaments. À ce titre, la pharmacogénétique a pour but ultime l’individualisation des traitements médicamenteux, tant en termes d’efficacité que de sécurité d’emploi. Par extension, la toxicogénétique peut-être considérée comme une sous-discipline de la pharmacogénétique puisque restreinte au champ de la toxicité aiguë ou chronique, qui concerne cependant non seulement les médicaments, mais également l’ensemble des xénobiotiques auxquels l’homme est exposé. De nombreux polymorphismes génétiques, affectant les gènes codant pour des enzymes, des transporteurs, des cibles pharmacologiques ou encore des xenosensors, ont été décrits et leurs conséquences sur la biodisponibilité et l’effet d’un grand nombre de xénobiotiques ont été élucidées. Après un rappel des concepts généraux et des méthodes d’étude, quelques exemples d’applications médicales de la pharmaco-toxicogénétique permettront d’illustrer l’intérêt de cette discipline pour la prise en charge thérapeutique des patients, ainsi que son développement dans d’autres champs de la médecine tels que la toxicologie médicolégale. Summary Pharmacogenetics is defined as the study of interin-dividual variability, of genetic origin, in drug response. The aim of this discipline is to better understand and, furthermore, to predict the occurrence of inadequate response (adverse effects or therapeutic failure) to standard dosages of drugs in certain individuals. In this context, the ultimate goal of pharmacogenetics is the individualization of drug treatments, both in terms of efficacy and safety. By extension, toxicogenetics can be considered as a sub-discipline of pharmacogenetics, being restricted to the field of acute or chronic toxicity of drugs, but also of all xenobiotics to which humans are exposed. Numerous polymorphisms in genes encoding drug-metabolising enzymes, trans-porters, pharmacological targets or even xenosensors have been described and their consequences on the disposition and effects of a substantial number of xenobiotics have been elucidated. After presentation of general aspects and associated methodologies, a few examples of current medical applications of pharmaco/toxicogenetics will illustrate the relevance of this discipline for patient-tailored drug therapy, as well as its development in other medical areas, such as forensic toxicology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Résumé: Ces dernières années, un intérêt croissant s’est manifesté pour la recherche et le dosage de xénobiotiques dans les laboratoires de toxicologie. L’utilisation de matrices alternatives comme les cheveux permet d’élargir la fenêtre de détection des xénobiotiques. En revanche, celle-ci est soumise à des contraintes de performances analytiques en termes de sensibilité et de spécificité. De plus, de nombreuses précautions quant à l’interprétation des résultats doivent être observées. Cet article présente de manière synthétique les différents aspects, modes d’emploi, précautions et applications de l’analyse toxicologique des cheveux. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Endometriosis is an oestrogen-dependant inflammatory disease affecting 10 % of reproductive-aged women. Often accompanied by chronic pelvic pain and infertility, endometriosis rigorously interferes with women''s quality of life. Although the pathophysiology of endometriosis remains unclear, a growing body of evidence points to the implication of environmental toxicants. Over the last decade, an increase in the incidence of endometriosis has been reported and coincides with the introduction of genetically modified foods in our diet. Even though assessments of genetically modified food risk have not indicated any hazard on human health, xenobiotics-associated genetically modified food, such as pesticides residues and xenoproteins, could be harmful in the long-term. The “low-dose hypothesis”, accumulation and biotransformation of pesticides-associated genetically modified food and the multiplied toxicity of pesticides – formulation adjuvants support this hypothesis. This review summarizes toxic effects (in vitro and on animal models) of some xenobiotics-associated genetically modified food, such as glyphosate and Cry1Ab protein, and extrapolates on their potential role in the pathophysiology of endometriosis. Their roles as immune toxicants, pro-oxidants, endocrine disruptors and epigenetic modulators are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Goldfish were exposed to either treated municipal effluent (FE wastewater) or reuse water produced through membrane ultrafiltration (MF reuse water) or membrane ultrafiltration followed by activated carbon filtration (MCF wastewater) for up to 90 days. The xenobiotics present in the wastewater were identified using gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy and the efficacy of their removal by membrane ultrafiltration and activated carbon filtration were determined. At various time points post-exposure to wastewater or reuse water the following biological parameters were assessed: vitellogenin (Vtg) induction, immune gene expression, and mitogen-induced proliferation of blood leukocytes. Membrane ultrafiltration alone did not remove xenobiotics from FE wastewater, while activated carbon filtration efficiently reduced the levels of most xenobiotics. Vitellogenin was induced in fish exposed to both FE wastewater and MF reuse water, but not in fish exposed to MCF reuse water. Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of select immune genes (tumor necrosis factor alpha, colony stimulating factor receptor-1) were up-regulated in FE and MF exposed fish on days 7 and 21 post exposure, while Toll-like receptor 22 mRNA level was similar in fish exposed to wastewater or control water. Prolonged exposure of fish to FE and MF wastewaters caused a significant reduction in the mitogen-induced proliferation of blood leukocytes. Our results suggest that goldfish may be used as biosentinels for xenobiotics present in wastewater and reuse water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of enzymes for the treatment or the removal of environmental and industrial pollutants has attracted increasing attention because of their high efficiency, high selectivity, and environmentally benign reactions. Of these enzymes studied for such purposes, extracellular fungal peroxidases, such as lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and Coprinus cinereus peroxidase, and fungal laccases are the two major classes of enzymes that have been evaluated for the removal of toxic phenolic compounds from industrial wastewater and the degradation of recalcitrant xenobiotics. Numerous reports have been published recently on the improvements of the production of these enzymes, such as discovery of new fungal strains, modification of growth conditions, use of inducers, and use of cheaper growth substrates such as agricultural and food wastes. In this review, these recent advances in the production of extracellular fungal peroxidases and laccases, along with brief summaries of background of these enzymes and their applications, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]