Chronic low-dose exposure to organophosphorus pesticides is associated with the risk of neurodegenerative disease. The mechanism of neurotoxicity is independent of acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Adducts on tyrosine, lysine, threonine, and serine can occur after exposure to organophosphorus pesticides, the most stable being adducts on tyrosine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNovichok (NV) nerve agents were recently added to the list of Schedule 1 chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention. There is a well-accepted method for assessment of nerve agent exposure based on mass spectrometric analysis of a nonapeptide with the serine-198 residue modified by the nerve agent, but this approach has not yet been reported for the class of NV agents and requires the availability of reference standards, which may be a limitation for NV agent exposure assessment. Thus, a goal of this study was to first verify the utility of the nonapeptide method for the characterization of human plasma samples exposed to the NV agents A-230, A-232, and A-234.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe primary aim of this study was to identify biomarkers of exposure to some so-called Schedule 1 sulfur mustard (HD) analogues, in order to facilitate and expedite their retrospective analysis in case of alleged use of such compounds. Since these HD analogues can be regarded as model compounds for possible impurities of HD formed during synthesis processes, the secondary aim was to explore to which extent these biomarkers can be used for chemical provenancing of HD in case biomedical samples are available. While the use of chemical attribution signatures (CAS) for neat chemicals or for environmental samples has been addressed quite frequently, the use of CAS for investigating impurities in biomedical samples has been addressed only scarcely.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the last decade, there has been a concerning increase in the number of invasive meningococcal serotype W infections in Europe. Although sepsis and meningitis are the most feared complications, focal complications of systemic disease such as pneumonia, pericarditis and arthritis can also occur. We present a rare case of isolated meningococcal W135 arthritis of the hip without invasive meningococcal disease in a 6-year-old patient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Partial lipodystrophy is a rare acquired disorder characterised by gradual loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue in the upper half of the body.
Case Description: We saw a 9-year-old girl who had been referred on account of recurrent urinary tract infections. On physical examination, she was noticed to be very thin in the face.