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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201609.0107.v1

Comprehensive Safety Evaluation of the Chemicals with Human and Environmental Relevance

Matteo Floris, Federica Albanese, Ricardo Medda, Emilio Benfenati

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Pollution Keywords: QSAR, Toxicology

Online: 27 September 2016 (11:34:40 CEST)

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Reducing the levels of toxic chemicals that cause adverse health and environmental impacts is a challenge for the international community. There is a need of a global strategy. Indeed, too often the problems associated to the exposure of chemical substances is recognized a posteriori, in the presence of consequences already observed. The prediction of the likely effects of chemical exposure on human health is based on classical tests with animals, which are time and money consuming, may deviate from an accurate prediction towards humans, and arises ethical concerns. Regulations are now considering the adoption of in silico (or computational) methods, which can be used for prioritizing substances according to the probability to be toxic for the biosphere. Several initiatives have prioritized chemicals, typically based according to some criteria, such as chemicals which may be endocrine disruptors, or persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxic (PBT). However, these initiatives focused on a certain range of adverse properties, and covered a certain number of substances only. We applied a set of largely validated and widely used predictive methods to large collections of chemicals: (i) to about 340,000 with a defined function, and (ii) to about 6 millions, which have been synthetized. The aim of this study is to quantify the putative impact of existing and future chemicals on towards human health, ecological and environment properties. The impact on the environment is the cause of major concern. This is the case of pesticides and hazardous, which is quite expected; however, also pharmacologically active candidate compounds of natural origin may have a high level of ecotoxicity. Pesticides and hazardous are also the categories of higher concern for humans, followed by pharmaceuticals. The pesticides and the hazardous are the categories of higher concern also on the environmental point of view. The results of our analysis could be the basis for the identification of new safety rules.

Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0816.v1

Is Sulphite a Toxicant?

Raghul M

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Food Science And Technology Keywords: Sulphite; food additive; food toxicology.

Online: 11 May 2023 (08:05:15 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0255.v1

Ghassan Shaikhain, Mohammed Gaballah, Ahmad Alhazmi, Ibrahim Khardali, Ahmad Hakami, Magbool Oraiby, Sultan Alharbi, Mohammed Tobaigi, Mohammed Ghalibi, Mohsen Fageeh, Mohammed Albeishy, Ibraheem Attafi

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: forensic toxicology; khat; cathinone; cathine; postmortem

Online: 4 May 2023 (10:22:24 CEST)

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Interpreting khat-related fatalities is challenging due to a lack of data on cathinone and cathine reference concentrations in postmortem tissues. This study investigated the autopsy findings and toxicological results of Khat-related fatalities in Saudi Arabia's Jazan region from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021. All confirmed cathine and cathinone results in postmortem blood, urine, brain, liver, kidney, and stomach samples were recorded and analyzed. Autopsy findings and the manner and cause of death of the deceased were assessed. Saudi Arabia's Forensic Medicine Center investigated 651 fatality cases over four years. Thirty postmortem samples were positive for khat's active constituents, cathinone and cathine. The percentage of khat-related fatalities was 3% in 2018 and 2019, and increased from 4% in 2020 to 9% in 2021, when compared to all fatal cases. They were all male ranging in age from 23 to 45. Firearm injuries (10 cases), hanging (7 cases), road traffic accident (2 cases), head injury (2 cases), stab wounds (2 cases), poisoning (2 cases), unknown (2 cases), ischemic heart disease (1 case), brain tumor (1 case), and choking (1 case) were responsible for deaths. 57% of postmortem samples tested positive for khat only, while 43% tested positive for khat with other drugs. Amphetamine is the drug most frequently involved. Cathinone and cathine average concentrations were 85 and 486 ng/mL in blood, 69 and 682 ng/mL in brain, 64 and 635 ng/mL in liver, and 43 and 758 ng/mL in kidney. The 10th–90th percentiles of blood concentrations of cathinone and cathine were 18 – 218 ng/mL and 222 – 843 ng/mL, respectively. These findings show that 90% of khat-related fatalities had cathinone concentrations greater than 18 ng/mL and cathine concentrations greater than 222 ng/mL. According to the cause of death, homicidal was most common in fatalities involving khat alone (77%). More research is required, especially toxicological and autopsy findings, to determine the involvement of khat in crimes and fatalities. This study may help forensic scientists and toxicologists investigate khat-related fatalities.

Working Paper REVIEW

Microbiome-Aware Ecotoxicology of Organisms: Relevance, Pitfalls and Challenges

Sébastien Duperron, Sébastien Halary, Alison Gallet, Benjamin Marie

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics Keywords: toxicology; microbiota; symbiosis; contaminants; resilience; environment

Online: 8 August 2020 (05:01:26 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints201910.0034.v1

Structural Diversity, Characterization and Toxicology of Microcystins

Noureddine Bouaïcha, Christopher O. Miles, Daniel G. Beach, Zineb Labidi, Amina Djabri, Naila Yasmine Benayache, Tri Nguyen-Quang

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: microcystin; cyanobacteria; cyanotoxin; structural elucidation; toxicology

Online: 3 October 2019 (03:43:55 CEST)

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Hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs) are the most widespread class of cyanotoxins and the one that has most often been implicated in cyanobacterial toxicosis. One of the main challenges in studying and monitoring MCs is the great structural diversity within the class. The full chemical structure of the first MC was elucidated in the early 1980s and since then the number of reported structural analogues has grown steadily and continues to do so, thanks largely to advances in analytical methodology. The structures of some of these analogues have been definitively elucidated after chemical isolation using a combination of techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance, amino acid analysis and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Others have only been tentatively identified using liquid chromatography-MS/MS without chemical isolation. An understanding of the structural diversity of MCs, the genetic and environmental controls for this diversity and the impact of structure on toxicity are all essential to the ongoing study of MCs across several scientific disciplines. However, because of the diversity of MCs and the range of approaches that have been taken for characterizing them, comprehensive information on the state of knowledge in each of these areas can be challenging to gather. We have conducted an in-depth review of the literature surrounding the identification and toxicity of known MCs and present here a concise review of these topics. At present, at least 269 MCs have been reported. Among these, about 20% (54 of 269) appear to be the result of chemical or biochemical transformations of MCs that can occur in the environment or during sample handling and extraction of cyanobacterial, including oxidation products, methyl esters, or post-biosynthetic metabolites. The toxicity of many MCs has also been studied using a range of different approaches and a great deal of variability can be observed between reported toxicities, even for the same congener. This review will help clarify the current state of knowledge on the structural diversity of MCs as a class and the impacts of structure on toxicity, as well as to identify gaps in knowledge that should be addressed in future research.

Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202008.0167.v1

Toxic Effects of Organophosphates Pesticides. A Review

Ayobami Adesiyan, Ayomikun Kade, Kafayat Oladimeji, Kehinde Sowunmi, Gurpreet Kaur

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Toxicology Keywords: Organophosphate Pesticides, Pesticide Toxicology, Human Health, Environment

Online: 6 August 2020 (12:22:38 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202006.0261.v1

Unbiased Approach for the Identification of Molecular Mechanisms Sensitive to Chemical Exposures

Alexander Suvorov, Victoria Salemme, Joseph McGaunn, Anthony Poluyanoff, Menna Teffera, Saira Amir

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biochemistry And Molecular Biology Keywords: adverse outcome pathway; toxicity pathway; computational toxicology

Online: 21 June 2020 (11:10:34 CEST)

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Background: Targeted methods that dominated toxicological research until recently did not allow for screening of all molecular changes involved in toxic response. Therefore, it is difficult to infer if all major mechanisms of toxicity have already been discovered, or if some of them are still overlooked. Objectives: To identify molecular mechanisms sensitive to chemical exposures in an unbiased manner. Methods: We used data on 641,516 unique chemical-gene interactions from the Comparative Toxicogenomic Database. Only data from high-throughput gene expression experiments with human, rat or mouse cells/tissues were extracted. The total number of chemical-gene interactions was calculated for every gene, and used as a measure of gene sensitivity to chemical exposures. These values were further used in enrichment analyses to identify molecular mechanisms sensitive to chemical exposures. Results: Remarkably, use of different input subsets with non-overlapping lists of chemical compounds identified largely the same genes and molecular pathways as most sensitive to chemical exposures, indicative of an unbiased nature of our analysis. One of the most important findings of this study is that almost every known molecular mechanism may be affected by chemical exposures. Predictably, xenobiotic metabolism pathways and mechanisms of cellular response to stress and damage were among the most sensitive. Additionally, our analysis identified a range of highly sensitive molecular pathways, which are not widely recognized by modern toxicology as major targets of toxicants, including lipid metabolism pathways, longevity regulation cascade and cytokine mediated signaling. Discussion: Molecular mechanisms identified as the most sensitive to chemical exposures are relevant for significant public health problems, such as aging, cancer, metabolic and autoimmune disease. Thus, public health system will likely benefit from future research focus on these sensitive molecular mechanisms. Additionally, approach used in this study may guide identification of priority adverse outcome pathways (AOP) for in-vitro and in-silico toxicity testing methods.

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202303.0231.v1

Antidotal Effect of Dihydroxyacetone in Aluminum Phosphide-Intoxicated Patients

Reza Heidari, Hossein Niknahad, Ali Jangjoo, Vahidreza Asghari

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: Aluminum phosphide; Clinical Toxicology; Dihydroxyacetone; Pharmacotherapy; Phosphine; Suicide; Toxicity

Online: 13 March 2023 (10:37:23 CET)

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Background: Aluminum phosphide (AlP), also known as “rice tablet,” is widely used as an effective pesticide. However, AlP poisoning is a common cause of mortality in many countries, such as Iran. Unfortunately, there is no specific antidote for AlP toxicity to date. AlP releases phosphine gas when it is exposed to moisture and acid. Phosphine is a robust mitochondrial toxin that could significantly inhibit cellular energy metabolism. AlP poisoning is an emergency condition that needs instant and effective intervention. Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is a simple saccharide used for several pharmacological as well as cosmetic purposes. Previously, we found that DHA could significantly prevent mitochondrial impairment induced by toxic agents such as cyanide and phosphine in various in vitro and in vivo experimental models.Methods: Hospitalized patients (n = 111) were evaluated for eligibility criteria. Among these patients, n = 35 cases were excluded due to incomplete data (n = 11) and suspicion of poisoning rather than AlP (n = 24). Meanwhile, n = 76 cases with confirmed AlP poisoning were included in the study. AlP-poisoned patients who did not receive DHA (n =18) were used as the control group.Patients (n = 58) received at least one dose of DHA (500 ml of 5% DHA solution w/v, i.v.) in addition to routine treatment of AlP poisoning. Arterial blood gas (ABG), blood pH, bicarbonate levels, and other vital signs and biochemical measurements were monitored. Moreover, the mortality rate and time of hospitalization were evaluated in both DHA-treated (n = 58) and AlP-poisoned patients without DHA administration (n = 18). Several biomarkers were assessed before (upon hospitalization) and after DHA treatment. The routine tests for AlP-poisoned patients in this study were the measurement of electrolytes (K+ and Na+), WBC, RBC, hemoglobin, INR, carbonate (HCO3), blood pH, PaCO2, and PaO2 and SGPT, SGOT, BUN, Cr. Results: Upon patients' admission, significant decreases in blood pH (acidosis), blood PaO₂, and HCO₃ levels were the hallmarks of AlP poisoning. It was found that DHA significantly alleviated biomarkers of AlP poisoning and tremendously enhanced patients’ survival rate compared to patients treated based on hospital routine AlP poisoning protocols (no DHA). No significant adverse effects were evident in DHA-treated patients in the current study.Interpretation: These data suggest that parenteral DHA is a novel and effective antidote against AlP poisoning.Trial registration: IR.SUMS.REC.1394.102

Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201701.0100.v1

Toxin Release of Cyanobacterium Microsystis aeruginosa after Exposure to Typical Tetracycline Antibiotic Contaminants

Jing Ye, Yuping Du, Lumei Wang, Jingru Qian, Jiejing Chen, Qingwen Wu, Xiaojun Hu

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: toxin release; blue-green algae; tetracycline antibiotics; environmental toxicology

Online: 23 January 2017 (09:42:15 CET)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202205.0193.v1

In Vitro Bovine Embryo Production Using Medium’s Supplemented with Recombinant Human Galectin-1 Buffered

Marcelo Roncoletta, Erika da Silva Carvalho Morani, Nathalia Adrielli Agassi De Salles, Guilherme Camargo Ferraz

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: Tolerana®; Pregnancy; Fetal-Maternal Recognition; Reproduction; Reproductive Safety Toxicology

Online: 13 May 2022 (15:14:42 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0332.v1

Step-by-Step Endophthalmitis Treatment

Victor Kazajkin, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, Aleksei Zhdanov, Mikhail Ronkin

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Ophthalmology Keywords: Ophthalmology; Toxicology Pharmacology and therapeutics; Drug interactions; Pharma-cology and therapeutics

Online: 5 May 2023 (08:56:37 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202303.0250.v1

Insecticidal and Synergistic Potential of Three Monoterpenoids Against the Yellow Fever Mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Cu-Licidae), and the House Fly, Musca domestica

Oshneil S. Baker, Edmund J. Norris, Edwin R. Burgess IV

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Insect Science Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Musca domestica; house fly; toxicology; natural products; insecticide synergists

Online: 14 March 2023 (06:34:58 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202204.0277.v2

A Historical Review of the Use of Pesticides in Colombian Agriculture

Diana Angélica Varela-Martínez, Natalia Fuentes-Molina, Diego Alejandro Riaño-Herrera

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Environmental Science Keywords: Agriculture; agri-food sector; analytical methods; Colombia; pesticides residues, toxicology effects

Online: 27 May 2022 (09:02:52 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202208.0504.v1

Development and Validation of UPLC-Qtof-MS Method for Blood Analysis of Amphetamine-Related Drug Isomers

Ahmad Alamir, James Watterson, Ibraheem Attafi

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: Amphetamine-related drugs; Forensic Toxicology; blood; UPLC-qTOF-MS; MMSPE; Validation; SWGTOX

Online: 30 August 2022 (04:09:57 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202309.0417.v1

Adenylosuccinic Acid Is a Non-Toxic Small Molecule In Vitro and In Vivo

Cara A Timpani, Lorna Rasmussen, Emma Rybalka

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: adenylosuccinic acid; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; myopathy; metabolic disease; skeletal muscle; toxicology; drug development

Online: 7 September 2023 (05:09:43 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202308.0052.v1

Efficacy, Pharmacokinetic and Toxicity Profiles of a Broadly SARS-CoV2 Neutralizing Antibody

Silvia Godínez-Palma, Edith González-González, Frida Ramírez-Villedas, Circe Garzón-Guzmán, Luis Vallejo-Castillo, Gregorio Carballo-Uicab, Gabriel Marcelín-Jiménez, Dany Batista, Sonia M. Pérez-Tapia, Juan C. Almagro

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Biology And Biotechnology Keywords: COVID-19; therapeutic antibody; SARS-CoV-2 Delta; SARS-CoV-2 Omicron; toxicology

Online: 1 August 2023 (11:27:40 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202304.1245.v1

Flow Cytometry of Oxygen and Oxygen-Related Cellular Stress

Beatriz Jávega, Guadalupe Herrera, Alicia Martínez-Romero, José-Enrique O’Connor

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Toxicology Keywords: Fluorescence; Image Cytometry; Cytomics; Reactive Oxygen Species; Antioxidants; Oxydative Stress; In Vitro Toxicology

Online: 30 April 2023 (03:08:04 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints201901.0062.v1

Small Molecule Docking of DNA Repair Proteins Associated with Cancer Survival following PCNA Metagene Adjustment: A Potential Novel Class of Repair Inhibitors

Leif E. Peterson

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: small molecule; ligand; receptor; docking; molecular dynamics; DNA repair; inhibition; PCNA; ADME; toxicology

Online: 8 January 2019 (11:10:26 CET)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202010.0086.v1

PFAS Environmental Pollution and Antioxidant Responses: An Overview of the Impact on Human Field

Marco Bonato, Francesca Corrà, Marta Bellio, Laura Guidolin, Laura Tallandini, Paola Irato, Gianfranco Santovito

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Anatomy And Physiology Keywords: antioxidant defenses; human health; environmental pollution; oxidative stress; epidemiology; perfluorinated substances; reactive oxygen species; toxicology

Online: 5 October 2020 (12:58:24 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0269.v1

Murad Tumayhi, David Banji, Ibrahim Khardali, Otilia Banji, Saeed Alshahrani, Saad Alqahtani, Safiah Muqri, Amal Abdullah, Wedad Sherwani, Ibraheem Attafi

Subject: Medicine And Pharmacology, Pharmacology And Toxicology Keywords: forensic toxicology; amphetamine-related fatalities; brain; omega-3 fatty acids; docosahexaenoic acid; Comparative Toxicogenomic Database (CTD)

Online: 4 May 2023 (13:28:44 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202204.0107.v1

On the Redox-Activity and Health-Effects of Atmospheric Primary and Secondary Aerosol: Phenomenology

Francesca Costabile, Stefano Decesari, Roberta Vecchi, Franco Lucarelli, Gabriele Curci, Dario Massabò, Matteo Rinaldi, Maurizio Gualtieri, Emanuela Corsini, Elena Menegola, Silvia Canepari, Lorenzo Massimi, Stefania Argentini, Maurizio Busetto, Gianluca Di Iulio, Luca Di Liberto, Marco Paglione, Igor Petenko, Mara Russo, Angela Marinoni, Gianpietro Casasanta, Sara Valentini, Vera Bernardoni, Federica Crova, Gianluigi Valli, Alice Corina Forello, Fabio Giardi, Silvia Nava, Giulia Pazzi, Paolo Prati, Virginia Vernocchi, Teresa La Torretta, Ettore Petralia, Milena Stracquadanio, Gabriele Zanini, Gloria Melzi, Emma Nozza, Martina Iulini, Donatella Caruso, Lucia Cioffi, Gabriele Imperato, Flavio Giavarini, Maria Battistoni, Francesca Di Renzo, Maria Agostina Frezzini, Cinzia Perrino, Maria Cristina Facchini

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science And Meteorology Keywords: atmospheric aerosol; chemical composition; secondary aerosol; source apportionment; ultrafine particles; oxidative potential; exposure; toxicology; forecasting; micrometeorology

Online: 12 April 2022 (09:54:57 CEST)

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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202301.0415.v2

Psychological Health and Drugs: Data-Driven Discovery of Causes, Treatments, Effects, and Abuses

Sarah Alswedani, Rashid Mehmood, Iyad Katib, Saleh M. Altowaijri

Subject: Computer Science And Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Keywords: Psychological Health; Drugs; Twitter; Machine Learning; Big Data; Drug Abuse; Toxicology; Social Factors; Economic Factors; Environmental Factors

Online: 27 February 2023 (13:31:40 CET)

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Mental health issues can have significant impacts on individuals and communities and hence on social sustainability. There are several challenges facing mental health treatment, however, more important is to remove the root causes of mental illnesses because doing so can help prevent mental health problems from occurring or recurring. This requires a holistic approach to understanding mental health issues that are missing from the existing research. Mental health should be understood in the context of social and environmental factors. More research and awareness are needed, as well as interventions to address root causes. The effectiveness and risks of medications should also be studied. This paper proposes a big data and machine learning-based approach for the automatic discovery of parameters related to mental health from Twitter data. The parameters are discovered from three different perspectives, Drugs & Treatments, Causes & Effects, and Drug Abuse. We used Twitter to gather 1,048,575 tweets in Arabic about psychological health in Saudi Arabia. We built a big data machine learning software tool for this work. A total of 52 parameters were discovered for all three perspectives. We defined 6 macro-parameters (Diseases & Disorders, Individual Factors, Social & Economic Factors, Treatment Options, Treatment Limitations, and Drug Abuse) to aggregate related parameters. We provide a comprehensive account of mental health, causes, medicines and treatments, mental health and drug effects, and drug abuse, as seen on Twitter, discussed by the public and health professionals. Moreover, we identify their associations with different drugs. The work will open new directions for social media-based identification of drug use and abuse for mental health, as well as other micro and macro factors related to mental health. The methodology can be extended to other diseases and provides a potential for discovering evidence for forensics toxicology from social and digital media.

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