Early initiation of MARS® dialysis in Amanita phalloides-induced acute liver injury prevents liver transplantation.

 Amanita phalloides is the most relevant mushroom intoxication leading to acute liver failure. The two principal groups of toxins, the amatoxins and the phallotoxins, are small oligopeptides highly resistant to chemical and physical influences. The amatoxins inhibit eukaryotic RNA polymerase II causing transcription arrest affecting mainly metabolically highly active cells like hepatocytes and renal cells.

Interference of engineered nanoparticles with in vitro toxicity assays.

Accurate in vitro assessment of nanoparticle cytotoxicity requires a careful selection of the test systems. Due to high adsorption capacity and optical activity, engineered nanoparticles are highly potential in influencing classical cytotoxicity assays. Here, four common in vitro assays for oxidative stress, cell viability, cell death and inflammatory cytokine production (DCF, MTT, LDH and IL-8 ELISA) were assessed for validity using 24 well-characterized engineered nanoparticles.