Toxicity of corticosteroids and catecholamines for mice neuronal cell cultures: Role of preservatives.

Objective: To confirm previous reports on dexamethasone and sulfite neurotoxicity, and to investigate methylprednisolone, dopamine, and dobutamine neurotoxicity.

Methods: Pure dexamethasone, injectable dexamethasone containing sodium metabisulfite (Soludecadron), pure methylprednisolone, injectable methylprednisolone (Solu-Medrol), pure dopamine, injectable dopamine containing potassium metabisulfite (Revivan), pure dobutamine, injectable dobutamine containing sodium metabisulfite (Dobutrex), and sodium metabisulfite were added to the medium of mixed glial-neuronal cell cultures at concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 microM.

Synthesis, binding affinity at glutamic acid receptors, neuroprotective effects, and molecular modeling investigation of novel dihydroisoxazole amino acids.

The four stereoisomers of 5-(2-amino-2-carboxyethyl)-4,5-dihydroisoxazole-3-carboxylic acid(+)-4, (-)-4, (+)-5, and (-)-5 were prepared by stereoselective synthesis of two pairs of enantiomers, which were subsequently resolved by enzymatic procedures. These four stereoisomers and the four stereoisomers of the bicyclic analogue 5-amino-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH-cyclopenta[d]isoxazole-3,5-dicarboxylic acid (+)-2, (-)-2, (+)-3, and (-)-3 were tested at ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptor subtypes. The most potent NMDA receptor antagonists [(+)-2, (-)-4, and (+)-5] showed a significant neuroprotective effect when tested in an oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) cell culture test.

[Air quality monitoring and personal exposure of children to NO(2) and fine particles].

Background: Personal exposure to air pollutants and ambient air measurements are poorly correlated in the short term. Nevertheless, air quality surveillance data are often used to characterize exposure in epidemiological studies. This work explores a method to derive exposure estimates for a population of children, through appropriate usage of surveillance data that allows for heterogeneity of life environments.

Can one use ambient air concentration data to estimate personal and population exposures to particles? An approach within the European EXPOLIS study.

The objective of this paper is to devise a way to facilitate the use of fixed air monitors data in order to assess population exposure. A weighting scheme that uses the data from different monitoring sites and takes into account the time-activity patterns of the study population is proposed. PM2.