Publications by authors named "Derek B Janszen"

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the environment as components of fossil fuels and by-products of combustion. These multi-ring chemicals differentially activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) in a structurally dependent manner, and induce toxicity via both AHR-dependent and -independent mechanisms. PAH exposure is known to induce developmental malformations in zebrafish embryos, and recent studies have shown cardiac toxicity induced by compounds with low AHR affinity.

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Article Synopsis
  • The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is crucial for understanding the toxic effects of compounds like TCDD, and research continues to explore its various roles in cellular signaling.
  • A mutant zebrafish line, ahr2(hu3335), was created to study AHR functionality, revealing that this variant is non-functional and helps analyze the toxicity mechanisms of TCDD through different AHR paralogues.
  • Additionally, in silico modeling and in vivo studies indicated that while AHR1A is a pseudogene and does not interact with TCDD, it may still bind to leflunomide, showing the complexity of AHR functionality in toxicological responses during development.
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Sodium and potassium cyanide are highly toxic, produced in large amounts by the chemical industry, and linked to numerous high-profile crimes. The U.S.

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Background: A phase 2a, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study was conducted to evaluate safety, tolerability, and pilot efficacy of immunization with beta-amyloid((1-42)) in patients with Alzheimer disease. Six immunizations were planned but were halted when meningoencephalitis was recognized as an adverse event in 6% of immunized patients.

Objective: To identify biomarkers associated with both the risk of meningoencephalitis and antibody responsiveness.

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Alpha-lactalbumin, a 14-kD protein, plays a central biochemical role in the mammary gland as the regulatory subunit of lactose synthase, and also plays a nutritional role for the rapidly growing neonate as the protein in highest concentration in human milk. The current study was undertaken to better characterize alpha-lactalbumin concentrations in human milk from a variety of countries. Mature human milk (lactation duration > or =1 month) was collected from at least 50 women from nine different countries on five continents.

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Tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME) is a gasoline fuel additive used to reduce emissions. Understanding the metabolism and distribution of TAME is needed to assess potential human health issues. The effect of dose level, duration of exposure and route of administration on the metabolism and distribution of TAME were investigated in male and female F344 rats and CD-1 mice following inhalation or gavage administration.

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Interest in understanding the biological behavior of aliphatic ethers has increased owing to their use as gasoline additives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the blood pharmacokinetics of the oxygenate tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME), its major metabolite tertiary amyl alcohol (TAA) and acetone in rats and mice following inhalation exposure to TAME. Species differences in the area under the curve (AUC) for TAME were significant at each exposure concentration.

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Formaldehyde induced squamous-cell carcinomas in the nasal passages of F344 rats in two inhalation bioassays at exposure levels of 6 ppm and above. Increases in rates of cell proliferation were measured by T. M.

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Female mice, rats, and hamsters were exposed to 10, 50, or 250 mg/m(3) pigmentary titanium dioxide (p-TiO(2)) particles for 6 h per day and 5 days per week for 13 weeks with recovery groups held for an additional 4, 13, 26, or 52 weeks postexposure (46 weeks for the p-TiO(2)-exposed hamsters). At each time point p-TiO(2) burdens in the lung and lymph nodes and selected lung responses were examined. The responses studied were chosen to assess a variety of pulmonary parameters, including inflammation, cytotoxicity, lung cell proliferation, and histopathologic alterations.

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