Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Effect Of Authentic Kefir And Nigella Sativa On Broilers Challenged By Coccidia And Clostridium Perfringens, Julian E. Nixon

All Dissertations

Black seed oil concentrations of 0%, 0.1%, 1% and 5% were added to milk inoculated with kefir grains and incubated at 25°C for 22 h. The pH and microbial count indicated 1% black seed oil caused low inhibition (P > 0.05) of fermentation, but 5% black seed oil caused significant inhibition of the kefir microorganisms (P < 0.05).

Cobb 500 male chicks (n = 256) were distributed in a randomized block design and received one of four treatments: CTRL1 (Non-medicated, no kefir, no Clostridium perfringens), CTRL2 (Non-medicated, no kefir, C. perfringens inoculated), CTRL3 (BMD medicated, no kefir, C. perfringens inoculated), KTRT (Non-medicated, …

Epitranscriptomic Regulation In Breast Cancer And Pcb-Induced Liver Disease., Belinda Petri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Post-transcriptional RNA modifications including N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulate mRNA stability, splicing, and translation. My research examined m6A in two disease models: breast cancer (BCa) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Acquired resistance to endocrine therapies (ET) develops in approximately 20% of BCa patients with estrogen receptor α positive (ER+) tumors following treatment. The mechanisms by which tumor cells evade ET are not completely understood. Using a cell line model, we investigated the role of an m6A reader protein, HNRNPA2B1 (A2B1) that is upregulated in ET-resistant ER+ BCa cells. Stable overexpression of A2B1 in ET-sensitive MCF-7 cells (MCF-7-A2B1), results in ET resistance, …

Pcb126 Exposure During Pregnancy Alters Maternal And Fetal Gene Expression, Cetewayo S. Rashid, Joshua D. Preston, Sara Y. Ngo Tenlep, Marissa K. Cook, Eric M. Blalock, Changcheng Zhou, Hollie I. Swanson, Kevin J. Pearson

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organic pollutants that can have lasting impacts on offspring health. Here, we sought to examine maternal and fetal gene expression differences of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)- regulated genes in a mouse model of prenatal PCB126 exposure. Female mice were bred and gavaged with 1 μmole/kg bodyweight PCB126 or vehicle control on embryonic days 0 and 14, and maternal and fetal tissues were collected on embryonic day 18.5. Total RNAs were isolated, and gene expression levels were analyzed in both maternal and fetal tissues using the NanoString nCounter system. Interestingly, we found that the expression levels of …

Artificial Light At Night And Social Vulnerability: An Environmental Justice Analysis In The Us 2012-2019, Qian Xiao, Yue Lyu, Meng Zhou, Jiachen Lu, Kehe Zhang, Jun Wang, Cici Bauer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is an emerging health risk factor that has been linked to a wide range of adverse health effects. Recent study suggested that disadvantaged neighborhoods may be exposed to higher levels of ALAN. Understanding how social disadvantage correlates with ALAN levels is essential for identifying the vulnerable populations and for informing lighting policy.

METHODS: We used satellite data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Black Marble data product to quantify annual ALAN levels (2012-2019), and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to quantify social disadvantage, both at …

Hair And Drugs: The Impact Of Dry Shampoo And Gel On Cocaine-Contaminated Hair, Marialejandra Faure Betancourt

Student Theses

Hair is a biological sample used in forensic toxicology to identify and quantify drug exposure. However, when interpreting analytical results, hair can be challenging due to the presence of external contamination. Previous studies have shown that cosmetic treatments remove drugs within the hair shaft decreasing their concentration. Nevertheless, not enough information is available to explain this phenomenon. This study focused to determine whether cosmetic products such as dry shampoo and gel influence the concentration of externally deposited cocaine (COC) and benzoylecgonine (BE) in different hair types/colors. Hair samples from fifteen COC-free volunteers of various hair colors/types were collected and divided …

Brominated Flame Retardants: A Literature Review Of The Toxicity Mechanisms, Clinical Manifestations, And Current Treatments, Yacobus Christian Prasetyo, Eti Nurwening Sholikhah

Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal of Indonesia

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are organohalogen compounds that can inhibit fire formation and delay its spread in manufacturing materials. BFRs are known to be toxic for the environment and humans. BFRs could persist for years prolonging potential exposure and toxicity to living beings. Indonesia had begun to reduce the use, even though some of toxic BFRs are still illegally circulating. This review aims to describe some aspects of BFRs toxicity including the mechanism, its clinical manifestations, and the current possible treatments. Toxicity after BFRs exposure includes endocrine, neurodevelopmental, and genotoxicity. The toxicity is manifested into some clinical conditions such as …

Altering United States Drug Policy And Shifting The Focus Of Drug Use From Conviction Toward Drug Addiction Treatment, Natalie Marra

Honors Projects

While these substances were not always controlled by law, drug use has been as issue throughout time going back thousands of years and continues to be a concern in the twenty-first century. Possession, distribution, and manufacturing of controlled substances outside of what is considered legal can lead to fines and or jail time and can also increases the severity of other crimes committed either due to or under the influence of drugs. As of Saturday June 10th, 2023, 44.5% of Federal inmates are incarcerated for drug offenses, including possession, distribution, and manufacturing1. Drug offenses make up the largest percentage of …

Coal Ash Dumps In The Mountain West, Julia Salangsang, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data on coal ash dumps, their management, and the pollutants that exist at each site in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report includes data on coal ash dumping sites for all 50 states.

An Observed Increase In Cardiovascular And Respiratory-Disease Related Hospitalizations And Mortality In An Area Surrounding A Hazardous Waste Thermal Treatment Plant, Liana Isabelle Dela Torre Baconguis

LSU Master's Theses

Particulate matter (PM) pollution is highly correlated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease incidence. The generation of oxidative stress is a major way by which PM can damage the body. Environmentally persistent free radical-containing PM are generated by combustion processes and are capable of exerting increased damage on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems due to their ability to remain stable and regenerate reactive oxygen species for up to five years. Clean Harbors, LLC operates a thermal treatment plant near the city of Colfax, LA in Central Louisiana. Its regular open burning of explosives causes disturbances to the community, such as loud …

Developing A National-Scale Exposure Index For Combined Environmental Hazards And Social Stressors And Applications To The Environmental Influences On Child Health Outcomes (Echo) Cohort., Sheena E. Martenies, Mingyu Zhang, Anne E. Corrigan, Anton Kvit, Timothy Shields, William Wheaton, Deana Around Him, Judy Aschner, Maria M. Talavera-Barber, Emily S. Barrett, Theresa M. Bastain, Casper Bendixsen, Carrie V. Breton, Nicole R. Bush, Ferdinand Cacho, Carlos A. Camargo, Kecia N. Carroll, Brian S. Carter, Andrea E. Cassidy-Bushrow, Whitney Cowell, Lisa A. Croen, Dana Dabelea, Cristiane S. Duarte, Anne L. Dunlop, Todd M. Everson, Rima Habre, Tina V. Hartert, Jennifer B. Helderman, Alison E. Hipwell, Margaret R. Karagas, Barry M. Lester, Kaja Z. Lewinn, Sheryl Magzamen, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Thomas G. O'Connor, Amy M. Padula, Michael Petriello, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Joseph B. Stanford, Tracey J. Woodruff, Rosalind J. Wright, Amii M. Kress, Program Collaborators For Environmental Influences On Child Health Outcomes

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Tools for assessing multiple exposures across several domains (e.g., physical, chemical, and social) are of growing importance in social and environmental epidemiology because of their value in uncovering disparities and their impact on health outcomes. Here we describe work done within the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-wide Cohort Study to build a combined exposure index. Our index considered both environmental hazards and social stressors simultaneously with national coverage for a 10-year period. Our goal was to build this index and demonstrate its utility for assessing differences in exposure for pregnancies enrolled in the ECHO-wide Cohort Study. Our unitless …

Self-Administered Intranasal Etripamil Using A Symptom-Prompted, Repeat-Dose Regimen For Atrioventricular-Nodal-Dependent Supraventricular Tachycardia (Rapid): A Multicentre, Randomised Trial, Bruce S Stambler, A John Camm, Marco Alings, Paul Dorian, Hein Heidbuchel, Jaco Houtgraaf, Peter R. Kowey, Jose L Merino, Blandine Mondésert, Jonathan P Piccini, Sean D Pokorney, Philip T Sager, Atul Verma, J Marcus Wharton, David B Bharucha, Francis Plat, Silvia Shardonofsky, Michael Chen, James E Ip

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Etripamil is a fast-acting, intranasally administered calcium-channel blocker in development for on-demand therapy outside a health-care setting for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of etripamil 70 mg nasal spray using a symptom-prompted, repeat-dose regimen for acute conversion of atrioventricular-nodal-dependent paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia to sinus rhythm within 30 min.

METHODS: RAPID was a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, event-driven trial, conducted at 160 sites in North America and Europe as part 2 of the NODE-301 study. Eligible patients were aged at least 18 years and had a history of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia with sustained, symptomatic episodes …

Lung And Colorectal Cancer Disparities In Appalachian Kentucky: Spatial Analysis On The Influence Of Education And Literacy, Nicole Robertson Mph, Todd Burus, Lauren Hudson, Pamela C. Hull, Lee Park, Nathan L. Vanderford

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Low educational attainment and high cancer incidence and mortality rates have long been a challenge in Appalachian Kentucky. Prior studies have reported disparities in cancer incidence and mortality between Appalachian and non-Appalachian populations, but the influence of education on this disparity has not been extensively studied. Herein, all cancers and two cancer sites with available screenings (colorectal and lung) were joined with education indicators (educational attainment and literacy) and one geographic indicator across all 120 Kentucky counties. This dataset was used to build choropleth maps and perform simple linear and spatial regression to assess statistical significance and to measure the …

Linking The Metabolic And Ecological Fate Of Caribbean Ciguatoxins And Related Neurotoxins In Reef Herbivores, Jessica K. Gwinn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Ciguatera poisoning (CP) is one of the most prominent seafood-borne illnesses worldwide, affecting between 25,000–500,000 people annually. Ciguatera is caused by the ingestion of seafood contaminated with algal-derived ciguatoxins (CTX), the precursors of which are produced by benthic and toxigenic dinoflagellates in the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa. These compounds enter marine food webs through herbivory and are subsequently transferred to higher trophic levels, undergoing complex metabolic biotransformations, which produce structurally related CTX derivatives. Consumption of CTX induces a variety of severe neurological, gastrointestinal, and/or cardiovascular symptoms beginning within hours and lasting for weeks to months following exposure. Despite the impact …

Ameliorative Effects Of Vitamins C And E On Haematotoxicity And Spleen Histopathology Induced By Dichlorvos Insecticide In Female Wistar Rats, Halima Mfaume, Harishchandra Pratap, Claudius Luziga, Felister Urasa

Tanzania Journal of Science

This research aimed to assess the toxicological effects of dichlorvos insecticide (2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate or DDVP) on haematological indices of female Wistar rats and to investigate the antioxidant properties of vitamins C and E in ameliorating haematotoxicity. The rats were divided into 6 groups; control-water, control-oil, dichlorvos group, dichlorvos + vitamin C group, dichlorvos + vitamin E group and dichlorvos + vitamin C + E group. Dichlorvos and vitamins were orally administered to rats with an interval of half an hour between treatments. The control-oil group was given 2 ml corn oil and the control-water group was given water adlib. …

Investigation Of Antidiabetic Activities Of Cu(Ii) Complex Of Anacardium Occidentale Leaves Crude Extract, Mary Adelaide Oladipo, Folasade Omobolanle Ajao, Adewusi John Adepoju, Kayode Taiwo Ishola, Deborah Omowumi Afolabi

Tanzania Journal of Science

Many synthetic chemical drugs have been widely used for the treatment of diabetes. However, many of these drugs are not locally available, are less effective, and are unaffordable for many diabetic patients in developing and underdeveloped countries. Therefore, in order to search for a locally available, effective, and cost-effective antidiabetic agent, this study synthesized the Cu(II) complex of crude leaf extract of Anacardium occidentale and investigated its antidiabetic activity in alloxan induced albino rats. The leaf crude extract and its metal complex were characterized using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Experimental diabetic animals were induced by a …

Utilization Of Detonation Nanodiamonds: Nanocarrier For Gene Therapy In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Allan E. Gutierrez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent and high mortality cancers in the world. Two different categories of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer which makes up 85% of cases, and small cell lung cancer which makes up the remaining 15% of cases. A significant risk factor that can lead to lung cancer is cigarette smoking (CS) however non-smoking cases i.e., secondhand CS, exposure to certain toxins and family history are on the rise. Both the main types of lung cancer have different system of stages, different ranges of treatment, and consequently low survival rates. Unfortunately, detection and …

Pharmacogenetic Testing For The Pediatric Gastroenterologist: Actionable Drug-Gene Pairs To Know., Tracy L. Sandritter, Rachel Chevalier, Rebecca Abt, Valentina Shakhnovich

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Gastroenterologists represent some of the earlier adopters of precision medicine through pharmacogenetic testing by embracing upfront genotyping for thiopurine S-methyltransferase nucleotide diphosphatase (TPMT) before prescribing 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Over the last two decades, pharmacogenetic testing has become more readily available for other genes relevant to drug dose individualization. Common medications prescribed by gastroenterologists for conditions other than inflammatory bowel disease now have actionable guidelines, which can improve medication efficacy and safety; however, a clear understanding of how to interpret the results remains a challenge for many clinicians, precluding wide implementation of …

Using Lanthanide Ions As Magnetic And Sensing Probes For The Detection Of Tetracycline From Complex Samples, Yan-Cen Zhan, Chin-Poa Chiu, Yu-Chie Chen

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Tetracycline (TC) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic and has been added to animal feeds to grow livestock under healthy conditions, making it important to have effective methods for rapidly detecting TC in complex samples. In this study, a novel method that uses lanthanide ions (i.e. Eu³⁺ and Gd³⁺) as magnetic and sensing probes for the detection of TC from aqueous samples is explored. When dissolving Gd³⁺ in tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) buffer at pH 9, magnetic Gd³⁺-Tris conjugates can be readily generated. The magnetic Gd³⁺-Tris conjugates possess trapping capacity toward TC from sample solutions via …

Urolithin A Exhibits A Neuroprotective Effect Against Alzheimer’S Disease By Inhibiting Dyrk1a Activity, Huang-Ju Tu, Chih-Jou Su, Chao-Shiang Peng, Tony Eight Lin, Wei-Chun Huang Fu, Kai-Cheng Hsu, Tsong-Long Hwang, Shiow-Lin Pan

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease with more than 50 million people suffer from it. Unfortunately, none of the currently available drugs is able to improve cognitive impairment in AD patients. Urolithin A (UA) is a metabolite obtained from ellagic acid and ellagitannin through the intestinal flora, and it has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Previous reports found that UA had neuroprotective effects in an AD animal model, but the detailed mechanism still needs to be elucidated. In this study, we performed kinase-profiling to show that dual-specific tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) is the main target of UA. Studies …

Chemometrics-Assisted Spectroscopic Methods For Rapid Analysis Of Combined Anti-Malarial Tablets, Panawan Pruksapha, Putthiporn Khongkaew, Chaweewan Suwanvecho, Nantana Nuchtavorn, Chutima Phechkrajang, Leena Suntornsuk

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Combination of piperaquine (PQ) (320 mg) and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) (40 mg) is an anti-malarial formulation, which is recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). Simultaneous analysis of PQ and DHA can be problematic due to the lack of chromophores or fluorophores in DHA molecule. Whereas PQ possesses strong UV absorption and it presents in 8 times of DHA contents in the formulation. In this study, two spectroscopic methods, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, were developed for the determination of both drugs in combined tablets. The FTIR and Raman spectra were recorded in the attenuate total reflectance (ATR) and scattering …