Search

Background: The available evidence on determinants of personal exposure to air pollution in low and middle-income countries is very scarce. Moreover, although airway macrophages carbon loading (AMCL) has been suggested to be a biomarker of the long-term exposure to air pollution, to date no study has characterized AMCL for the pregnancy period. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the determinants of AMCL during pregnancy in Iran, a middle-income country. Methods: This study was based on a sample of 234 pregnant women with term and normal vaginal delivery who were residing in Sabzevar, Iran (2019). Image analysis was applied to calculate the carbon area (µm 2 ) in airway macrophages as an indicator of AMCL. For each participant, we characterized 35 potential determinants of personal exposure to air pollution including six personal, nine indoor, and 20 home-outdoor factors. We applied Deletion/Substitution/Addition algorithm to identify the most relevant determinants that could predict AMCL levels. Findings: The median (IQR) of AMCL level was 0·12 (0·30) µm 2 with a successful sputum induction in 82·9% (194) of participants. Ambient residential PM 2·5 levels was positively associated with higher AMCL levels. On the other hand, increased residential distance to the traffic lights, squares and ring-roads, the duration of opening window per day, and opening window during cooking were inversely associated with AMCL levels. Interpretation: Our findings provide novel insights on the different personal, indoor, and outdoor determinants of personal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy in a middle-income country. Funding: This study was supported by a research grant awarded by the Sabzevar University 55 of Medical Sciences [Grant number: 95075]. Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: The Clinical Research Ethical Committee of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences approved our study (IR.MEDSAB.REC.1395.82)

Background Metformin is the first prescribed drug for hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Mainly by activating AMPK pathway, this drug exerts various functions that among them protective effects are of the interest. Purpose Herein, we aimed to gather data about the protective impacts of metformin against various natural or chemical toxicities. Results An extensive search among PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar was conducted by keywords related to protection, toxicity, natural and chemical toxins and, metformin. Our literature review showed metformin alongside its anti-hyperglycemic effect has a wide range of anti-toxic effects against anti-tumour and routine drugs, natural and chemical toxins, herbicides and, heavy metals. Conclusion It is evident that metformin is a potent drug against the toxicity of a broad spectrum of natural, chemical toxic agents which is proved by a vast number of studies. Metformin mainly through AMPK axis can protect different organs against toxicities. Moreover, metformin preserves DNA integrity and can be an option for adjuvant therapy to ameliorate side effect of other therapeutics.

Exposure to air pollution has been associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. However, the available evidence on the impact of air pollution exposures on liver enzymes is still scarce. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between exposure to ambient PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 during pregnancy and serum level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in cord blood samples of newborns. Moreover, the association between total street length in different buffers and distance to major roads at the maternal residential address and liver enzymes were investigated. This cross-sectional study was based on data from a sample of 150 newborns, from Sabzevar, Iran. Land use regression models were used to estimate concentrations of air pollutants at home during pregnancy. Multiple linear regression was developed to estimate association of AST, ALT, ALP and GGT with air pollution controlled for relevant covariates. In fully adjusted models, increase in PM1 and PM2.5 as well as PM10 were associated with higher levels of AST, ALT and GGT. Moreover, there was a significant association between total street length in a 100 m buffer at residential address with AST, ALT and GGT. Each meter increase in distance to major roads was associated with −0.017 (95% confidence interval (CI): -0.028, −0.006) decrease in AST. Overall, our findings were supportive for association between PMs exposure during pregnancy and increase in liver enzymes in newborns. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings in other settings and populations.

Adverse health effects of exposure to air pollution have been investigated in many previous studies. However, there is no study available on the association between maternal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and cord blood lipid profile. This study, based on 150 mother-newborn pairs residing in Sabzevar, Iran (2018), evaluated the association of exposure to ambient air pollution as well as traffic indicators (total street length in different buffers around residential address and distance to major roads) during entire pregnancy with lipid levels cord blood lipid profile. Concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 at maternal residential address were estimated using land use regression (LUR) models. We measured triglyceride (TAG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) levels and TC/HDL-C and TAG/HDL-C ratio in the cord blood samples to characterize their lipid profile. Multiple linear regression models were developed to estimate the association of exposure to air pollution and traffic indicators with cord blood lipid profile controlled for relevant covariates. Higher concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with higher levels of TAG, TC, HDL-C, TC/HDL-C, and TAG/HDL-C in cord blood samples. Moreover, higher concentration of PM1 was associated with higher levels of TAG, TC and LDL-C. There was also a positive association between total street length in 100 m buffer around home and serum levels of TC, TAG, LDL-C and TC/HDL ratio (β = 3.73, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.76, 5.71; β = 2.75, 95% CI: 0.97, 4.53; β = 1.87, 95% CI: 0.64, 3.09; β = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.11, respectively). However, the associations for total street length in larger buffers and distance to major roads were not statistically significant. Our findings support a relationship between exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and increase in cord blood lipid levels.

Exposure to air pollution has been associated with different harmful effects and exposure to greenspace has been related to improved human health. However, the available evidence on the impact of these exposures on renal function is still scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between exposure to ambient levels of PM1, PM2.5, PM10 and indicators of exposure to traffic as well as greenspace during pregnancy and fetal renal function based on the umbilical cord blood. This study was based on 150 pregnant women residing in Sabzevar, Iran (2018). Multiple linear regression models were developed to estimate the association of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) with exposure to air pollution, traffic, and greenspace (one at a time) controlled for relevant covariates. There was an inverse significant association between exposure to PM1, PM2.5, PM10 and total street length in a 100 m buffer around the home and eGFR. Increase in distance to major road and residential surrounding greenness (100 m buffer) was associated with increase in eGFR. We observed a significant direct association between exposure to PMs as well as street length in 100 m buffer and serum level of Cr. There was also an inverse association between distance to major road and NDVI in 100 m buffer and Cr. The associations for blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were not statistically significant. Our results suggest that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy could have negative impact and exposure to greenspace could have positive impact on renal function of fetal.

Background: Ferula assa-foetida is a herbaceous plant of the Umbelliferae family having a broad spectrum of biological activities such as antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammation, and, anti-tumor activity against a wide range of cancers. Among these features, antitumor activity has become more important in recent years and it still demands more investigations to address the underlying mechanisms. Purpose: This current study was conducted to evaluate the anti-proliferative effect of Ferula assa-foetida on PC12 and MCF7 cells as well as examining its mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Cells were cultured in DMEM medium with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 units/ml penicillin, and 100 µg/ml streptomycin. Cells incubated with different concentrations of the ethanolic extract of Ferula assa-foetida. Notably, cytotoxicity and apoptosis assay were measured by MTT and PI staining, respectively. Results: The MTT results showed that the ethanolic extract of Ferula assa-foetida in concentrations of 10, 7, 5, and 2.5 μM on both PC12 and MCF7 cells had a significant effect in cell viability and apoptosis induction in comparison to control group. Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that Ferula assa-fetida through the induction of apoptosis prevented the growth of PC12 and MCF7 cells and made a reduction in cell viability with different concentrations in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, more studies are needed to reveal the mechanisms of Ferula assa-foetida’s extract in apoptosis induction.