Socio-economic costs of indoor air pollution: A tentative estimation for some pollutants of health interest in France.

An evaluation of the socio-economic costs of indoor air pollution can facilitate the development of appropriate public policies. For the first time in France, such an evaluation was conducted for six selected pollutants: benzene, trichloroethylene, radon, carbon monoxide, particles (PM fraction), and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The health impacts of indoor exposure were either already available in published works or were calculated.

Relationships between socioeconomic and lifestyle factors and indoor air quality in French dwellings.

Background: To date, few studies have analyzed the relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and indoor air quality (IAQ).

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between socioeconomic and other factors and indoor air pollutant levels in French homes.

Methods: The indoor air concentrations of thirty chemical, biological and physical parameters were measured over one week in a sample of 567 dwellings representative of the French housing stock between September 2003 and December 2005.

Higher prevalence of breathlessness in elderly exposed to indoor aldehydes and VOCs in a representative sample of French dwellings.

The purpose of this study was to explore respiratory health effects of indoor exposures to aldehydes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in elderly living in a population-based representative sample of French dwellings and to compare them to the rest of the occupants of the dwellings. Twenty VOCs were objectively measured in 490 main dwellings. The respiratory conditions were assessed through a standardized questionnaire in 1012 inhabitants aged over 15 years, 144 of whom were aged over 65 years.

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether induces adipogenic differentiation of multipotent stromal stem cells through a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-independent mechanism.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), used in manufacturing coatings and resins, leach from packaging materials into food. Numerous studies suggested that BPA and BADGE may have adverse effects on human health, including the possibility that exposure to such chemicals can be superimposed on traditional risk factors to initiate or exacerbate the development of obesity. BPA is a suspected obesogen, whereas BADGE, described as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) antagonist, could reduce weight gain.

Quantitative assessments of indoor air pollution and respiratory health in a population-based sample of French dwellings.

Background: Various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been related to respiratory health effects, but have generally been assessed individually without taking into account the fact that such pollutants are highly correlated to one other.

Aims: We investigated the effects of exposure to various VOC, and considered their combined effect on adult asthma and rhinitis.

Method: A national cross-sectional representative survey conducted by the Indoor Air Quality Observatory objectively assessed 20 VOCs in 490 main dwellings in France.

Pregnane X receptor knockout mice display osteopenia with reduced bone formation and enhanced bone resorption.

The steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR) and its murine ortholog pregnane X receptor (PXR) are nuclear receptors that are expressed mainly in the liver and intestine where they function as xenobiotic sensors. In addition to its role as a xenobiotic sensor, previous studies in our laboratories and elsewhere have identified a role for SXR/PXR as a mediator of bone homeostasis. Here, we report that systemic deletion of PXR results in marked osteopenia with mechanical fragility in female mice as young as 4 months old.

Prenatal exposure to the environmental obesogen tributyltin predisposes multipotent stem cells to become adipocytes.

The environmental obesogen hypothesis proposes that pre- and postnatal exposure to environmental chemicals contributes to adipogenesis and the development of obesity. Tributyltin (TBT) is an agonist of both retinoid X receptor (RXR) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma). Activation of these receptors can elevate adipose mass in adult mice exposed to the chemical in utero.

Dependence on sampling rates of Radiello((R)) diffusion sampler for BTEX measurements with the concentration level and exposure time.

Radiello((R)) diffusive samplers filled with a thermally desorbable adsorbent (graphitised charcoal Carbograph 4) have been tested for the monitoring of BTEX. The sampling rates have been estimated under various controlled atmospheres in order to evaluate the effects of two factors (exposure time, concentration levels and their interaction) on the performances of the Radiello((R)) sampler. Experiments have been carried out under various atmospheres in exposure chamber.

Luminal fructose inhibits rat intestinal sodium-phosphate cotransporter gene expression and phosphate uptake.

Background: While searching by microarray for sugar-responsive genes, we inadvertently discovered that sodium-phosphate cotransporter 2B (NaPi-2b) mRNA concentrations were much lower in fructose-perfused than in glucose-perfused intestines of neonatal rats. Changes in NaPi-2b mRNA abundance by sugars were accompanied by similar changes in NaPi-2b protein abundance and in rates of inorganic phosphate (Pi) uptake.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that luminal fructose regulates NaPi-2b.

The role of hepatic, renal and intestinal gluconeogenic enzymes in glucose homeostasis of juvenile rainbow trout.

Rainbow trout is unable to utilize high levels of dietary carbohydrates and experiences hyperglycemia after consumption of carbohydrate-rich meals. Carbohydrates stimulate hepatic glycolytic activity, but gene expression of the rate-limiting gluconeogenic enzymes glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) remains high. Although there is significant mRNA expression and activity of gluconeogenic enzymes in trout intestine and kidney, the regulation of these enzymes by diet is not known.

Vanadate but not tungstate prevents the fructose-induced increase in GLUT5 expression and fructose uptake by neonatal rat intestine.

Intermediary signals, precociously enhancing GLUT5 transcription in response to perfusion of its substrate, fructose, in the small intestine of neonatal rats, are not known. Because glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), glucose-6-phosphate translocase (G6PT), and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) expression increases parallel to or precedes that of GLUT5, we investigated the link between these gluconeogenic genes and GLUT5 by using vanadate or tungstate, potent inhibitors of gluconeogenesis. Small intestinal perfusions of 20-d-old rats were performed with fructose alone, fructose + vanadate or tungstate, glucose alone, and glucose + vanadate or tungstate.

Low protein intake is associated with reduced hepatic gluconeogenic enzyme expression in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Our objective was to understand the reasons behind the persistent postprandial hyperglycemia in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). We hypothesized that in this species, high levels of dietary protein could increase the hepatic production of glucose, irrespective of the dietary carbohydrate supply. We fed juvenile rainbow trout four diets containing graded levels of protein for 14 d.