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Background and purpose: In the past century, concerns about the harmful effects of lead, cadmium and other toxic agents has been increasing emitted from automobile exhaust on human health. The present study investigated the concentrations of lead-cadmium in blood of traffic officers and taxi drivers in Arak, Iran, in experimental group compared to a control group. Materials and methods: The subjects of this study included 49 traffic officers, 47 taxi drivers (case group) and 47 teachers who were studied as the control group. Blood samples were taken from subjects and atomic absorption was used to determine the concentration. Results: In the present study, the mean blood lead level of traffic officers, taxi drivers and control group were (22.855 ± 17.854 µg.dl), (21.783 ± 17.615 µg.dl), and (18.074 ± 19.688 µg.dl), respectively and also mean blood cadmium level in traffic officers, taxi drivers and control group were (0.161 ± 0.126 µg.dl), (0.168 ± 0.117 µg.dl) (0.161 ± 0.121 µg.dl), respectively. There was not any statistically significant difference between the groups who studied with blood lead and cadmium levels. In addition, no statistical significant association was found between work experience and smoking, and blood levels of lead and cadmium. Blood lead levels were lower than occupational exposure limit (OEL) and blood levels of cadmium were also below the OEL. Conclusion: Lead concentrations in the blood groups of Arak city, according to previous studies in this field have been increased which was probably due to an increase in environmental pollution and industrial regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many cancer studies have intensely focused on the role of diet, among other factors involved in cancer establishment. The positive effect of green tea polyphenols (GTP) on controlling breast cancer cells has been reported in several studies. Cancer stem cell-like cells (CSC-LCs) possessing self-renewal, metastatic, and drug-resistant capacities are considered prominent therapeutic targets. In many tumors, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression levels are high; however, they have a dual effect on breast cancer pathogenesis., Objective: This study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of the iNOS agonist (Sildenafil) and antagonist (LNAME), both alone and in combination with GTP, on MDA-MB-231, CD44+/CD24- CSC-LCs, and their parental cells (MCF-7)., Methods: The cell viability assay has been studied using the MTT assay. To analyze drug-drug combinations, CompuSyn and Combenefit software were used. The cytotoxicity mechanism was determined using flow cytometric analysis., Results: L-NAME and GTP showed a synergistic effect on MDA-MB-231 and CSC-LCs. Such an effect was not observed on MCF-7. Sildenafil and GTP, on the other hand, showed synergistic cytotoxicity in all the cells mentioned above. Flow cytometric tests resulted in more than 70% apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. Also, sub-G1 arrest among MCF-7 cells and a considerable decrease in ROS production by MDA-MB-231 cells following treatment with Sildenafil and GTP were observed., Conclusion: Sildenafil, in combination with flavonoids, may be considered a novel strategy for cancer treatment., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)