The effects of alpha-lipoic acid transdermal patch for local subcutaneous fat reduction: A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial in overweight volunteers.

Background: Combating obesity is challenging, as anti-obesity compounds lose effectiveness or cause severe side effects when delivered via conventional routes. Thus, there is a need for new, effective treatment routes that are home-based and safe for long-term use. This double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial aimed to investigate the efficacy of a biocellulose transdermal patch containing α-lipoic acid (ALA), an anti-obesity compound, in reducing subcutaneous fat accumulation.

"Assessing exposure of printing factory workers in thailand to selected heavy metals using urine and hair as non-invasive matrices".

Background: There are few thorough studies on the extent and inter-element relationships of heavy metal contamination in printing factory workers, especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of eight heavy metals, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and manganese (Mn), in urine and scalp hair of printing industry workers, and assess inter-element correlations.

Methods: We examined a total of 85 urine samples and 85 scalp hair samples (3 cm hair segments taken from near the scalp) in 85 printing workers from a printing house in Bangkok, Thailand.

N-acetylcysteine reverses the decrease of DNA methylation status caused by engineered gold, silicon, and chitosan nanoparticles.

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are one of the most widely used types of nanomaterials. Recently, ENPs have been shown to cause cellular damage by inducing ROS (reactive oxygen species) both directly and indirectly, leading to the changes in DNA methylation levels, which is an important epigenetic mechanism. In this study, we investigated the effect of ENP-induced ROS on DNA methylation.