Variability of lipid hydroperoxides in pregnant and nonpregnant women.

Lipid peroxidation is thought to be important in numerous disease states, including pregnancy complications. Study of its role requires markers, but the variability of available markers in non-diseased populations has not been well-characterized. We examined the variability over time of blood lipid hydroperoxides, as measured by iodometric analysis, in 49 healthy young women, 21 nonpregnant and 28 pregnant.

Exposure to oxidized nitrogen: lipid peroxidation and neonatal health risk.

Pregnant women exposed to extensive environmental contamination by oxidized nitrogen compounds were studied at parturition, their neonatal health status was assessed and the involvement of oxidative stress in pathology was evaluated. Methemoglobin in maternal and cord blood was measured as a biomarker of individual exposure. Blood lipid peroxides and glutathione (reduced and total) were determined as oxidative stress biomarkers.

Maternal exposure to exogenous nitrogen compounds and complications of pregnancy.

Increased lipid peroxidation and reduced antioxidant activity have been reported with pregnancy complications. Given that exogenous oxidants stimulate formation of lipid peroxides, the authors investigated the relationship between exposure to nitrogen-oxidizing species and pregnancy complications and took into account markers of antioxidant and oxidant status. The study sample included pregnant women who were from an area polluted by oxidized nitrogen compounds.

Placental arsenic and cadmium in relation to lipid peroxides and glutathione levels in maternal-infant pairs from a copper smelter area.

Arsenic exposure may enhance oxidative damage causing adverse health effects in pregnant women. The purposes of this paper are: (i) to evaluate placental arsenic concentration as a biomarker of arsenic exposure for pregnant women; and (ii) to examine the relationship between metal exposure from a copper smelter area in Bulgaria and oxidative damage during pregnancy (as measured by glutathione and lipid peroxides) in 49 maternal-infant pairs. Placental levels of arsenic were highest in areas with the highest environmental contamination, and environmental variables (residency, smoking and occupational exposure) explained a large portion of the observed variability in placental arsenic levels (linear regression R2 = 0.

Complications of pregnancy in relation to maternal lipid peroxides, glutathione, and exposure to metals.

Lipid peroxides, glutathione, and metals (lead, cadmium, and arsenic) were measured in pregnant women residing in the vicinity of a copper smelter. A diagnosis of pregnancy complications experienced by each woman was made on the basis of interview and clinical record. Patients were assigned to groups of normal or pathologic pregnancies (threatened spontaneous abortion, toxemia, and anemia) according to this diagnosis.

Environmental pollutants in relation to complications of pregnancy.

Certain complications of pregnancy, e.g., threatened spontaneous abortion, toxemia, emesis, and anemia, were studied in pregnant women living in industrial areas contaminated by smelters and the petrochemical industry.

[Atmospheric pollution in the city of Ruse and its effect on the health of the population].

The atmospheric air pollution in the town of Ruse and the related with that changes in the health status of the population has been studied. As a result of the transference from Giurgiu (Romania) hydrogen chloride pollution is observed. Immediate changes in the morbidity of respiratory diseases is determined on the days of pollution.

[Heavy metal exposure of the population in an area of nonferrous metallurgy--a prerequisite for the development of atherosclerotic diseases].

A survey is carried out among the population of a district with nonferrous metallurgy in view of studying the mutual relation between the exposure to heavy metals and some basic risk factors for the development of ischemic disease of the heart. The study pertains to the content of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc in blood and its relation to the serum lipids, glutathione in blood, arterial pressure and age. A higher level of triglycerides and free butyric acids were established in the serum with absence of clinical manifestations as a result of exposure to heavy metals.

[Health effects of atmospheric pollution in areas of paper-cellulose production and fodder yeast manufacture].

In one of the studied towns with a large plant for cellulose and paper and another for fodder yeasts the ambient air was polluted by specific contaminants--hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans considerably higher in town R than in town B after data of the Principle Hydrological and Meteorological Administration. A higher incidence was established both in the general morbidity and the nosological units, probably etiologically determined by the defined pollutants in town R. Both the allergic reactivity and the clinico-laboratory indices, which characterise the functional state of the exposed pollution, were raised.

Postnatal effects of maternal exposure to nitrogen dioxide.

Pregnant albino rats were exposed to nitrogen dioxide in concentrations of 0.05, 0.10, 1 and 10 mg/m3 for 6 hr each day throughout gestation.

[Comparative data on the glutathione and methemoglobin levels in the blood of pregnant and nonpregnant white rats inhaling NO2].

Nitrogen dioxide /NO2/, is one of the basic photochemical atmospheric pollutants possessing both direct and indirect toxic effects. When inhaled NO2 affects directly the blood hemoglobin forming methemoglobin. The rate of effect depends on the level of the intra-erythrocyte redox systems and in the first place on the reduced glutathione.

Carbon disulphide intrauterine sensitization.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of carbon disulphide (CS2) exposure during pregnancy in two subsequent generations. Albino rats (F1), which had been prenatally exposed by maternal inhalation to teratogenic (200 and 100 mg m-3) and subteratogenic (10 and 0.03 mg m-3) concentrations of CS2, were reared until maturity and mated to produce an F2 generation.

[Relation between population morbidity and atmospheric pollution in several industrial regions of the country].

Population morbidity rate was studied in some regions of chemical industry, petro-chemical and metallurgical industry as well as in some big towns of the country according to the data on the appeals for medical aid for a 7-year long period (1972-1978). A correlation was established between the type and degree of atmospheric pollution in the polluted regions and morbidity rate, according to nozological entities, both among infant and adult population.

[Effect of long-term exposure to carbon disulfide on various biochemical indices in albino rats].

The effect of carbon sulphide was studied on sexually matured male and female albino rats, subjected to 180-day exposure with concentrations 0.03, 50 and 200 mg/m3, 6 hours daily, 5 days a week. Carbon sulphide effect was studied by indices, characterizing the state of the oxidation processes and lipid metabolism.

[Creation of experimental emphysema by the intratracheal administration of papain].

The authors formed lung emphysema in white rats under experimental conditions by intratracheal application of various concentrations of papaine at different intervals. In the performed experiment the most suitable dose for formation of emphysema was two fold administration of 2 milligrams of papaine. The following indices were observed in the experimental and control animals: body weight, weight coefficient of the internal organs, indices of lipid and nucleinic metabolism in homogenates of lung as well as histomorphologic examination of lung.

[Evaluation of the MPEL for SO2 and NO2 and the development of new MPELs for atmospheric pollutants based on modern epidemiological, ecological and toxicological studies].

Proceeding from modern experimental and natural observations on the effect of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide on live organism and environment, the now, operative in Bulgaria maximum allowable concentrations of these contaminants are reassessed. The maximal single and mean diurnal SO2 MAC are proposed to be reduced to 0.15 mg/m3 and 0.

Subtle consequences of prenatal exposure to low carbon disulphide levels.

Exposure by inhalation of pregnant albino rats to 10 and 0.03 mg/m3 carbon disulphide (CS2) does not produce congenital malformations or functional biochemical changes in the neonate, but it affects the postnatal development, causing at 10 mg/m3 impairment of viability, retardation of morphological and sensory development and behavioral deviations (the latter at both exposure levels). These changes are more pronounced in the early postnatal life.

[Changes in lipid metabolism in pregnant white rats and their fetuses in inhalational exposure to carbon disulfide].

It is known from the literature that carbon bisulphide affects lipid metabolism, but observations in this field are quite controversial. In the present work the authors studied the influence of carbon bisulphide on some parameters of lipid metabolism in pregnant albino rats, following inhalatory exposure to carbon bisulphide concentrations of 50, 100 and 200 mg/m3, 8 hours daily throughout the whole gestation period. The lipid metabolism changes were followed up both in two subsequent generations.

[Attempt to assess the effect of atmospheric pollution on human beings and experimental animals via biochemical indices].

Three biochemical methods--erythrocyte oxygen consumption, erythrocyte decarboxylation and oxygen consumption of tissue homogenates--to determine the influence of atmospheric pollution in populated communities are suggested. The first two methods which provide information on erythrocyte metabolism, employed both in humans and in animals experimented upon, adequately reflect the atmospheric pollution effect in four industrial areas, differing by the type and degree of pollution agents. Oxygen consumption in tissue homogenates of liver and kidney from experimental animals, raised in the same areas, exhibits an analogical correlation.