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Soumaya Ferchichi,1 Hamdi Trabelsi,1 Inès Azzouz,1 Amel Hanini,2 Ahmed Rejeb,3 Olfa Tebourbi,1 Mohsen Sakly,1 Hafedh Abdelmelek1 1Laboratory of Integrative Physiology, Faculty Of Sciences of Bizerte, 2Laboratory of Vascular Pathology, Carthage University, Carthage 3Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy, National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, Manouba Univeristy, Manouba, Tunisia Abstract: The purpose of our study was the evaluation of toxicological effects of silica-coated gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and static magnetic fields (SMFs; 128 mT) exposure in rat lungs. Animals received a single injection of GNPs (1,100 µg/kg, 100 nm, intraperitoneally) and were exposed to SMFs, over 14 days (1 h/day). Results showed that GNPs treatment induced a hyperplasia of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue. Fluorescence microscopy images showed that red fluorescence signal was detected in rat lungs after 2 weeks from the single injection of GNPs. Oxidative response study showed that GNPs exposure increased malondialdehyde level and decreased CuZn-superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in rat lungs. Furthermore, the histopathological study showed that combined effects of GNPs and SMFs led to more tissular damages in rat lungs in comparison with GNPs-treated rats. Interestingly, intensity of red fluorescence signal was enhanced after exposure to SMFs indicating a higher accumulation of GNPs in rat lungs under magnetic environment. Moreover, rats coexposed to GNPs and SMFs showed an increased malondialdehyde level, a fall of CuZn-superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in comparison with GNPs-treated group. Hence, SMFs exposure increased the accumulation of GNPs in rat lungs and led to more toxic effects of these nanocomplexes. Keywords: malondialdehyde, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue, nanotoxicity, histopathological study

Background: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health nutrition problem in the developing world. There have been no studies on this topic in Iraq. This study was designed to evaluate the serum retinol levels of preschool children, pregnant and lactating women. Objectives: The present study is an attempt to estimate the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among preschool children, pregnant and lactating women attending primary health care centers in Baghdad, in addition to figure out the relation between vitamin A deficiency with some demographical, clinical, variables. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted during the period from October to December 2009. The sample was comprised of 490 subjects, Lactating women pregnant women and under 6 year's old children attending ten primary health care centers in Baghdad. The data were collected through direct interview; blood samples were taken and analyze for serum retinol (SR) by HPLC analysis and hemoglobin (Hb) level, anthropometric measurement were obtained for the study sample. Results: The study showed that the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in preschool aged children (below 6 years) was (38.3 %); and that for lactating women and pregnant women were (7.1 %) and (25 %) respectively. Forty percent of pregnant women, (25.8 %) of lactating women and a total of (58.6 %) preschool children were anemic, A correlation coefficient between SR and Hb concentrations was significant (N=490, r=0.533, P<0.0001). Conclusion: Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem, this study shows that subjects in the 3 groups (preschool children, pregnant and lactating women) are at risk of VAD and anemia; nearly half of them had the co-occurrence of VAD and anemia. A close association between vitamin A deficiency and anemia with a correlation coefficient between SR and Hb concentrations was significant.