scholarly journals Mercury in Pancreatic Cells of People with and without Pancreatic Cancer

Author(s):  
Roger Pamphlett ◽  
Andrew J. Colebatch ◽  
Philip A. Doble ◽  
David P. Bishop

Toxic metals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. Human exposure to mercury is widespread, but it is not known how often mercury is present in the human pancreas and which cells might contain mercury. We therefore aimed to determine, in people with and without pancreatic cancer, the distribution and prevalence of mercury in pancreatic cells. Paraffin-embedded sections of normal pancreatic tissue were obtained from pancreatectomy samples of 45 people who had pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and from autopsy samples of 38 people without pancreatic cancer. Mercury was identified using two methods of elemental bio-imaging: (1) With autometallography, inorganic mercury was seen in islet cells in 14 of 30 males (47%) with pancreatic cancer compared to two of 17 males (12%) without pancreatic cancer (p = 0.024), and in 10 of 15 females (67%) with pancreatic cancer compared to four of 21 females (19%) without pancreatic cancer (p = 0.006). Autometallographic mercury was present in acinar cells in 24% and in periductal cells in 11% of people with pancreatic cancer, but not in those without pancreatic cancer. (2) Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of mercury in islets that stained with autometallography and detected cadmium, lead, chromium, iron, nickel and aluminium in some samples. In conclusion, the genotoxic metal mercury is found in normal pancreatic cells in more people with, than without, pancreatic cancer. These findings support the hypothesis that toxic metals such as mercury contribute to the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer.

Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Roger Pamphlett ◽  
Philip A. Doble ◽  
David P. Bishop

The kidney plays a dominant role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension, but the initial pathogenic events in the kidney leading to hypertension are not known. Exposure to mercury has been linked to many diseases including hypertension in epidemiological and experimental studies, so we studied the distribution and prevalence of mercury in the human kidney. Paraffin sections of kidneys were available from 129 people ranging in age from 1 to 104 years who had forensic/coronial autopsies. One individual had injected himself with metallic mercury, the other 128 were from varied clinicopathological backgrounds without known exposure to mercury. Sections were stained for inorganic mercury using autometallography. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used on six samples to confirm the presence of autometallography-detected mercury and to look for other toxic metals. In the 128 people without known mercury exposure, mercury was found in: (1) proximal tubules of the cortex and Henle thin loops of the medulla, in 25% of kidneys (and also in the man who injected himself with mercury), (2) proximal tubules only in 16% of kidneys, and (3) Henle thin loops only in 23% of kidneys. The age-related proportion of people who had any mercury in their kidney was 0% at 1–20 years, 66% at 21–40 years, 77% at 41–60 years, 84% at 61–80 years, and 64% at 81–104 years. LA-ICP-MS confirmed the presence of mercury in samples staining with autometallography and showed cadmium, lead, iron, nickel, and silver in some kidneys. In conclusion, mercury is found commonly in the adult human kidney, where it appears to accumulate in proximal tubules and Henle thin loops until an advanced age. Dysfunctions of both these cortical and medullary regions have been implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension, so these findings suggest that further studies of the effects of mercury on blood pressure are warranted.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Plathe ◽  
F. von der Kammer ◽  
M. Hassellöv ◽  
J. Moore ◽  
M. Murayama ◽  
...  

Environmental context. Determining associations between trace metals and nanoparticles in contaminated systems is important in order to make decisions regarding remediation. This study analysed contaminated sediment from the Clark Fork River Superfund Site and discovered that in the <1-μm fraction the trace metals were almost exclusively associated with nanoparticulate Fe and Ti oxides. This information is relevant because nanoparticles are often more reactive and show altered properties compared with their bulk equivalents, therefore affecting metal toxicity and bioavailability. Abstract. Analytical transmission electron microscopy (aTEM) and flow field flow fractionation (FlFFF) coupled to multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) and high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (HR-ICPMS) were utilised to elucidate relationships between trace metals and nanoparticles in contaminated sediment. Samples were obtained from the Clark Fork River (Montana, USA), where a large-scale dam removal project has released reservoir sediment contaminated with toxic trace metals (namely Pb, Zn, Cu and As) which had accumulated from a century of mining activities upstream. An aqueous extraction method was used to recover nanoparticles from the sediment for examination; FlFFF results indicate that the toxic metals are held in the nano-size fraction of the sediment and their peak shapes and size distributions correlate best with those for Fe and Ti. TEM data confirms this on a single nanoparticle scale; the toxic metals were found almost exclusively associated with nano-size oxide minerals, most commonly brookite, goethite and lepidocrocite.


1998 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
pp. 3746-3749 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Reubi ◽  
A. Kappeler ◽  
B. Waser ◽  
A. Schonbrunn ◽  
J. Laissue

Somatostatin and octreotide inhibit endocrine pancreatic functions in man, via specific somatostatin receptors. However, the cellular distribution of the different somatostatin receptor subtype proteins has not been determined in the human pancreas. Here, the immunohistochemical distribution of the sst2A receptor was investigated using the sst2A receptor specific anti-peptide antibody R2-88 in cryostat as well as in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections of human pancreatic tissue, and compared with insulin, glucagon and somatostatin immunostaining of adjacent sections. All pancreatic islets were immunostained with R2-88. Most islet cells were labeled: the sst2A receptors were present in insulin as well as glucagon producing cells, but were not detected in intra-islet vessels nor in adjacent acinar tissue. Absorption of the sst2A antibody with 100 nM of the antigen peptide abolished specific staining in tissue sections. Immunohistochemical staining with 125I-Tyr3-octreotide. Therefore, the clinical efficacy of octreotide on glucagon and insulin release can be explained by the presence of sst2A receptors in human A and B pancreatic islet cells. Moreover, absence of sst2A receptors in human acinar tissue suggests that the action of somatostatin on pancreatic exocrine secretion is mediated either indirectly or through a different somatostatin receptor subtype on acinar cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayang Fredalina Basri ◽  
Nur Faizah Abu Bakar ◽  
Ahmad Fudholi ◽  
Mohd Hafidz Ruslan ◽  
Im Saroeun

The content of 12 elements in Cambodian dried striped snakehead fish was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The present study compares the level of the trace toxic metals and nutritional trace elements in the fish processed using solar drying system (SDS) and open sun drying (OSD). The skin of SDS fish has lower level of As, Pb, and Cd compared to the OSD sample. As such, the flesh of the fish accumulated higher amount of toxic metals during OSD compared to SDS. However, arsenic was detected in both samples within the safe limit. The nutritional elements (Fe, Mn, Mg, Se, Mo, Cu, Ni, and Cr) were higher in the skin sample SDS fish compared to OSD fish. These beneficial metals were not accumulated in the flesh sample SDS fish demonstrating lower level compared to drying under conventional system. The reddish coloration of the SDS fish was due to the presence of high Cu content in both the skin and flesh samples which possibly account for no mold formation 5 days after packaging. As conclusion, drying of CambodianC. striatausing solar-assisted system has proven higher content of the nutritious elements compared to using the conventional system despite only slight difference in the toxic metals level between the two systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis ◽  
Lívia Figueiredo ◽  
Leila Lemos ◽  
Jailson Fulgêncio de Moura ◽  
Rafael C. C. Rocha ◽  
...  

Marine mammals are considered excellent ocean health sentinels and are ubiquitously exposed to chemical contaminants worldwide. The Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) is a near-threatened dolphin species from Brazil with unknown population size data. This indicates the need for assessments regarding deleterious effects that may arise from exposure to chemical contamination, especially metals. After entry in the organism, these compounds are subject to internal subcellular compartmentalization, which in turn alters their bioavailability. However, almost no assessments regarding subcellular metal contents in marine mammals are available. In this context, metal compartmentalization was determined in three subcellular fractions for three toxic elements, Cd, Hg and Pb, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in Guiana dolphin kidney and liver samples from Southeastern Brazil. Differential metal-detoxification mechanisms were observed for the three elements, where metallothionein (MT) detoxification was postulated for only for Pb, while Cd and Hg were poorly associated to MT, and mostly present in the insoluble fraction, indicating low bioavailability. This is the first report on subcellular metal compartmentalization in Guiana dolphins and indicates that critical biochemical detoxification data is obtained through subcellular fraction analyses in marine mammals. This indicates an emerging study field for this type of assessment, which may, in turn, aid in conservation efforts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 1867-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Sangiuliano ◽  
C. Rubio ◽  
A. J. Gutiérrez ◽  
D. González-Weller ◽  
C. Revert ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cephalopods are an important source of nutrients and some of the most widely consumed marine foods. However, because of contamination of the oceans and the bioaccumulative nature of toxic metals, these foods may pose a health risk. For this reason, the concentrations of some trace elements (chromium [Cr], lithium, strontium [Sr], copper [Cu], and nickel) and toxic metals (aluminum [Al], cadmium, and lead) were determined in 65 frozen samples of cuttlefish, octopus, common squid, and shortfin squid by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry to evaluate dietary intake and toxic risk. Sr was the major trace element (3.03 mg/kg) in cuttlefish; however, Cu (1.57 mg/kg) was found in the highest concentration in common squid. Among the toxic metals, Al had the highest concentration (3.09 mg/kg) in common squid. Al can pose an important health risk to individuals with kidney problems and to children because these groups are most vulnerable to the toxic effects. Significant differences among the four cephalopod types were found in the concentrations of most of the metals examined. Taking into account the average consumption of cephalopods, the contribution of toxic metals does not pose a risk to the health of adults.


Author(s):  
Fatma Kocasari ◽  
Ozen Kursun Yurdakul ◽  
Asim Kart ◽  
Halil Yalcin ◽  
Erhan Keyvan ◽  
...  

In the present study, the occurrence of some heavy metals was determined in muscle, liver and kidney tissues of cattle in Burdur, Turkey. The samples were analyzed for cadmium, lead, arsenics and mercury using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry in 50 samples. Concentrations of Cd exceed the permissible limits in 2 samples of muscle tissues (0.05 mg/kg), while the concentrations of Cd in the liver and kidney tissues were below the allowed limits (0.5 mg/kg for liver; 1.0 mg/kg for kidney). One sample in muscle tissue contained Pb above the allowed limit (0.1 mg/kg). Arsenic was detected in one sample of muscle, liver and kidney tissues. Hg was not detected in any of the samples. A high proportion of samples did not contain detectable level of the heavy metals. Except for Cd and Pb in muscle tissue, concentrations of other metals were below the permissible limits.


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