Heavy Metal Nanoparticle Detection in Human and Formula Milk.

Breast milk is the natural source of nutrition for infants, but while it supports their health, it can also be a potential source of toxic inorganic particulate matter, and this applies to both breast milk and industrially produced milk. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of nanoparticles in both breast milk and formula milk samples. We collected and analyzed, via a new electron scanning microscopic procedure, 19 samples of breast milk from Italian women and 19 formula milk samples produced by different companies.

Novel chemical-physical autopsy investigation in sudden infant death and sudden intrauterine unexplained death syndromes.

Verify the presence of inorganic nanoparticle entities in brain tissue samples from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)/sudden intrauterine unexplained death syndrome (SIUDS) cases. The presence of inorganic debris could be a cofactor that compromises proper brain tissue functionality. A novel autopsy approach that consists of neuropathological analysis procedures combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy/field emission gun environmental scanning electron microscopy investigations was implemented on 10 SIDS/SIUDS cases, whereas control samples were obtained from 10 cases of fetal/infant death from known cause.

Innovative scanning electron microscopic investigation in blood samples of patients affected by leukaemia: A physical-chemical-biological approach.

The study proposes an innovative, interdisciplinary observation on blood samples of patients coming from the region Marche (Italy) suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) by means of a scanning electron microscope coupled with an X-ray microprobe of an Energy Dispersive Spectroscope. A novel protocol of blood preparation was studied and prepared to identify exogenous, potentially toxic foreign bodies coming from an environmental contamination. The results on the four different blood fractions of 38 blood samples (erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets, and plasma) indicate that the circulating blood of leukaemic patients shows the systematic presence of physical contaminants, with a frequency and concentration which are statistically meaningful as compared to the healthy controls.

Silver nanoparticles in the fetal brain: new perspectives in understanding the pathogenesis of unexplained stillbirths.

We report, for the first time, the surprising presence of toxic nanoparticles, especially silver, in the brain of a fetus, who died unexpectedly at the end of a regular pregnancy. After an accurate autopsy, including the examination of the fetal annexes, an in-depth anatomopathological study of the nervous system and a search by scanning electron microscopy of nanoparticles in the brain, we highlighted the sequence of events that may have led to this fetal death, triggered primarily by the transition of nanosized xenobiotics from the mother to the fetal bloodstream. From this report emerges the importance of considering the search of nanosubstances in the brain during routine investigations following unexpected and unexplained fetal and infant deaths.

Nanopathology and its applications within the forensic discipline.

The impact of nanopathology in medicine necessarily involves also the anatomo-pathological diagnostics, because of the current large spread of nanoparticles in the environment and the wide spectrum of correlated human diseases. The main entrance gates of nanoparticles into the body are respiratory inhalation, gastro-intestinal absorption and injection of polluted drugs. In all these cases, their penetration in the lymphatic or blood streams are possible, with subsequent systemic translocation.

Functionalization of a nanostructured hydroxyapatite with Cu(II) compounds as a pesticide: in situ transmission electron microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy observations of treated Vitis vinifera L. leaves.

Background: The present study evaluated a biocompatible material for plant protection with the aim of reducing the amount of active substance applied. We used a synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) that has been studied extensively as a consequence of its bioactivity and biocompatibility. An aggregation between HA nanoparticles and four Cu(II) compounds applied to Vitis vinifera L.

In Vivo Uptake of Rare Earth Metals by Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells.

Rare earth metals (REM) are a group of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y) and the lanthanides. In relation to atomic volume and geological behavior, the lanthanides are further subdivided into light, medium and heavy REM. They find many applications in the technological field; however, their impact on the human health is still conflicting and, for many aspects, unknown.

Review: Morphofunctional and biochemical markers of stress in sea urchin life stages exposed to engineered nanoparticles.

We describe the use of different life stages of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus for the assessment of the possible risk posed by nanoparticles (NPs) in the coastal water. A first screening for the presence of NPs in sea water may be obtained by checking their presence inside tissues of organisms taken from the wild. The ability of NPs to pass from gut to the coelomic fluid is demonstrated by accumulation in sea urchin coelomocytes; the toxicity on sperms can be measured by embryotoxicity markers after sperm exposure, whereas the transfer through the food chain can be observed by developmental anomalies in larvae fed with microalgae exposed to NPs.

The first investigative science-based evidence of Morgellons psychogenesis.

Morgellons disease is an infrequent syndromic condition, that typically affects middle-aged white women, characterized by crawling sensations on and under the skin, associated with itchy rashes, stinging sores, fiber-like filaments emerging from the sores, severe fatigue, concentrating difficulty, and memory loss. The scientific community is prone to believe that Morgellons is the manifestation of various psychiatric syndromes (Munchausen, Munchausen by proxy, Ekbom, Wittmaack-Ekbom). Up until now, no investigative science-based evidence about its psychogenesis has ever been provided.

A Novel Forensic Investigation Applied to Bone Remains Exhumed near to Quirra Interforce Firing Range.

The need to implement novel techniques, able to support a causal link between exposure and pathology, has been emerged over the recent years. The application of scanning electron microscope coupled with probe X-ray microanalysis (by means of an energy-dispersive spectroscopy) has been developed by our research group for the bone remains investigation. It was aimed to testify the exposure to microsized and nanosized pollutions, due to military activities in the Quirra interforce firing range, of a Sardinian shepherd, died of acute leukemia.

The Uncontrolled Sialylation is Related to Chemoresistant Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Among the scientific communities, there is a convergence of results supporting a direct relationship between dysregulated sialylation and poor prognosis in many human cancers. For this reason, we have retrospectively investigated 169 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, coming from female patients aged between 31 and 76 years old. The whole series was subdivided into two prognostic groups: the first group consisted of 138 patients, who showed a post-treatment survival time more than 5 years, while the second group was made up by 31 patients, died within 5 years despite of chemotherapy.

Heavy Metal Bioaccumulation in an Atypical Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor of the Abdominal Wall.

Heavy metals are able to interfere with the function of vital cellular components. Besides in trace heavy metals, which are essential at low concentration for humans, there are heavy metals with a well-known toxic and oncogenic potential. In this study, for the first time in literature, we report the unique adulthood case of an atypical primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the abdominal wall, diagnosed by histology and immunohistochemistry, with the molecular hybridization support.

ESEM Detection of Foreign Metallic Particles inside Ameloblastomatous Cells.

Ameloblastoma is a borderline tumor of odontogenic origin, with a high recurrence rate and possible local aggressiveness. The etiopathogenetic factors involved in its occurrence are not still defined and our study has been precisely aimed to search for novel factors associated with its development. Sections cut from paraffin blocks, containing the representative specimens of 18 different ameloblastomas, collected in a 15-year period (1999-2014), have been observed by an environmental scanning electron microscope, in order to search micro- and nano-sized particles and to identify their composition.

Uptake and translocation of metals and nutrients in tomato grown in soil polluted with metal oxide (CeO₂, Fe₃O₄, SnO₂, TiO₂) or metallic (Ag, Co, Ni) engineered nanoparticles.

The influence of exposure to engineered nanoparticles (NPs) was studied in tomato plants, grown in a soil and peat mixture and irrigated with metal oxides (CeO2, Fe3O4, SnO2, TiO2) and metallic (Ag, Co, Ni) NPs. The morphological parameters of the tomato organs, the amount of component metals taken up by the tomato plants from NPs added to the soil and the nutrient content in different tomato organs were also investigated. The fate, transport and possible toxicity of different NPs and nutrients in tomato tissues from soils were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).

Gene expression profiles reveal distinct immunological responses of cobalt and cerium dioxide nanoparticles in two in vitro lung epithelial cell models.

Fragmentary knowledge exists on cellular signaling responses underlying possible adverse health effects of CoO- and CeO2-nanoparticles (NP)s after inhalation. We aimed to perform a time kinetic study of gene expression profiles induced by these NPs in alveolar A549 and bronchial BEAS-2B epithelial cells, and investigated possible immune system modulation. The kinetics of the cell responses induced by the NPs were different between the lung epithelial models.

Toxic effects of colloidal nanosilver in zebrafish embryos.

A variety of consumer products containing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are currently marketed. However, their safety for humans and for the environment has not yet been established and no standard method to assess their toxicity is currently available. The objective of this work was to develop an effective method to test Ag NP toxicity and to evaluate the effects of ion release and Ag NP size on a vertebrate model.

Effects of nanosilver exposure on cholinesterase activities, CD41, and CDF/LIF-like expression in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae.

Metal nanosolicoparticles are suspected to cause diseases in a number of organisms, including man. In this paper, we report the effects of nanosilver (Ag, 1-20 nm particles) on the early development of the zebrafish, a well-established vertebrate model. Embryos at the midgastrula stage were exposed to concentrations ranging from 100 to 0.

In vivo diffuse correlation spectroscopy investigation of the ocular fundus.

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) measurements in vivo recorded from rabbits' ocular fundus are presented. Despite the complexity of these ocular tissues, we provide a clear and simple demonstration of the DCS abilities to analyze variations in physiological quantities of clinical interest. Indeed, the reported experimental activities demonstrate that DCS can reveal both choroidal-flow and temperature variations and detect nano- and micro-aggregates in ocular fundus circulation.

Developmental abnormalities and changes in cholinesterase activity in sea urchin embryos and larvae from sperm exposed to engineered nanoparticles.

The objective of this study is to examine the toxicity of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) that are dispersed in sea water by using an in vivo model. Because many products of nanotechnology contain NPs and are commonly used and well-established in the market, the accidental release of NPs into the air and water is quite possible. Indeed, at the end of their life cycle, some NPs are inevitably released into waste water and can reach marine ecosystem and affect the organisms there.

Heavy metals nanoparticles in fetal kidney and liver tissues.

The proliferation of the nanotechnologies with the production of engineered nanoparticles presents a dilemma to regulators regarding hazard identification mostly for human health. We investigated the presence of inorganic micro and nanosized contamination in fetal liver and kidney tissues by Field Emission Gun-Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (FEGESEM) innovative observations. An observational study in 16 fetuses, complicated (n=8) or not (n=8) by neural tube defects, whose mothers obtained the authorization for abortion between 21-23 weeks of gestation was carried out.

Intracellular heavy metal nanoparticle storage: progressive accumulation within lymph nodes with transformation from chronic inflammation to malignancy.

A 25-year-old man had complained of sudden fever spikes for two years and his blood tests were within the normal range. In 1993, a surgical biopsy of swollen left inguinal lymph nodes was negative for malignancy, but showed reactive lymphadenitis and widespread sinus histiocytosis. A concomitant needle biopsy of the periaortic lymph nodes and a bone marrow aspirate were also negative.

Sarcoidosis in a dental surgeon: a case report.

Introduction: Although the causes of sarcoidosis are still unknown, past and current studies have provided evidence that this disease may be associated with occupational exposure to specific environmental agents. We describe a case of sarcoidosis in a dental surgeon with long exposure to inorganic dusts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this kind in the literature.

Toxicity of antimony trioxide nanoparticles on human hematopoietic progenitor cells and comparison to cell lines.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials with one dimension in the range of 1-100 nm. The toxicity of NPs remains widely unknown and still poses concerns, due to the peculiar characteristics of materials in the nano-size range. We analyze the toxicity of seven NPs ((Fe2O3, Fe3O4, Sb2O3, Au, TiO2, Co, and Ag) on primary cultures of human hematopoietic progenitor cells from the bone marrow of healthy donors with CFU assays, and show that antimony oxide (Sb2O3) NPs and cobalt (Co) NPs have a toxic effect, while the other NPs have no effect at the tested concentrations (5, 25 and 100 microg/ml).

Investigation of the presence of inorganic micro- and nanosized contaminants in bread and biscuits by environmental scanning electron microscopy.

A European project called "Nanopathology" allowed to develop a new diagnostic tool through which the presence of inorganic particulate matter in pathological human tissues of the digestive tract could be shown. This unexpected evidence induced the authors to put forward the hypothesis that that sort of contamination was present in ingested food. In order to demonstrate this hypothesis, 86 samples of wheat bread and 49 of wheat biscuits from 14 different countries were analyzed by means of an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy to detect inorganic, micro-, and nano-scaled contaminants.

ESEM evaluations of muscle/nanoparticles interface in a rat model.

In order to examine the influence that shape and chemistry of different materials have on the incitement of a tissue reaction, we implanted five materials (the two metals Ni and Co, the two ceramics TiO2 and SiO2, and the polymer poly vinyl-chloride) as nanoparticles or bulk, in the dorsal muscles of 50 rats. After 6 or 12 months, rats were euthanized and the implanted materials were excised together with the surrounding tissue. After a first histological evaluation, the specimens were prepared for environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and for energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), in order to analyse the chemical composition of the implanted material after the biological interaction had occurred, and to evaluate the possible corrosion and diffusion of the materials at tissue interface.