Role of L-Ornithine in Mitigation of Salt Stress In Allium Cepa L.

Effects of L-ornithine (150 mg/l) on the germination, seedling growth, mitotic index, chromosome aberrations and micronucleus frequency of Allium cepa L. bulbs germinated at 0.125 M salinity were studied. The radicle number of the group III bulbs germinated in the medium with ornithine alone as compared to ones of the group I (control) bulbs which germinated in distilled water medium. But, their germination percentage, radicle length and fresh weight were statistically the same as ones of the group I bulbs. Besides, the micronucleus frequency and chromosomal abnormalities in the root-tip meristematic cells of the group III bulbs showed increased germination compared to ones of the group I bulbs. However, their mitotic index statistically showed the same value as the group I bulbs. Salt stress significantly inhibited the germination and seedling growth of A. cepa bulbs. Moreover, it reduced the mitotic index in the root-meristem cells of the bulbs and fairly increased the number of chromosome aberrations and micronucleus frequency. On the other hand, the inhibitive effect of salt on the germination, seedling growth, mitotic index and micronucleus frequency was dramatically alleviated in varying degrees by ornithine application. But, it was ineffective in reducing the detrimental effect of salinity on the chromosome aberrations. The germination percentage, radicle lenght, radicle number, fresh weight, mitotic index, micronucleus frequency and chromosomal aberrations of the group II seedlings grown in 0.125 M salinity were 27%, 13.5 mm, 18.4, 7.1 g, 5.5, 18.3 and 60.8%, respectively while these values became 68%, 16.4 mm, 16.4, 10.5 g, 15.6, 7.6 and 74.8% in the group IV seedlings treated with L-ornithine. Bangladesh J. Bot. 50(4): 1165-1171, 2021 (December)

Mutagenicity in Tradescantia pallida as an Indicator of the Effect of Air Pollution and Human Health

The present study aims to relate the micronucleus frequency in Tradescantia pallida to environmental factors and cardiorespiratory diseases to infer the effect of air pollution. The number of hospitalizations, diseases cases, frequency of micronuclei in plants, environmental variables, altitude, and vehicle traffic in cities of Mato Grosso do Sul were evaluated due to the high flow that surrounds agribusiness. The frequency of micronuclei decreased with the increase in relative humidity, while the altitude did not influence the mutagenicity or genotoxicity of the evaluated plants. The municipalities with micronucleus frequencies above 200 had the highest number of vehicle and cardiorespiratory diseases. Biomonitoring data obtained in cities throughout the year indicate that the number of cardiorespiratory diseases was probably due to vehicular pollution, which is evidenced by the increased frequency of micronuclei in T. pallida.

Literature Review: Biological Monitoring of Occupational Tetrachloroethylene Exposure in Workers

Introduction: One of the most common chlorinated solvents in the world is tetrachloroethylene (TCE) because it is widely used in various industries. Exposure to tetrachloroethylene can cause health problems so biological monitoring is necessary to do. The aim of this research is to assess which one is more feasible to use among the various types of biological monitoring for tetrachloroethylene exposure, based on the evidence-based literature. Methods: The literature searching was performed via electronic databases from PubMed, Scopus, and Proquest. The keywords used were “biological monitoring”, “biomonitoring”, “tetrachloroethylene”, “perchloroethylene”, “work” and “occupation”. The articles were chosen based on the given inclusion and exclusion criteria. Selected articles were then critically appraised. Results: Initially 29 papers were collected, but only6 cross-sectional articles were selected after the screening process and manual searching. Based on the selected evidence-based literatures, statistically meaningful associations were found between tetrachloroethylene exposure and tetrachloroethylene in blood in pre- and end-of-shift, in urine at end of shift, and in exhaled air at end-of-shift. Moreover, micronucleus frequency and DNA damages between dry cleaning workers and the controls differed significantly. Conclusion: The level of tetrachloroethylene in blood, urine, and exhaled air becomes an appropriate biological exposure index for assessing tetrachloroethylene exposure in dry-cleaning workers. In Indonesia, biomonitoring that is more feasible to be implemented is micronucleus frequency evaluation from buccal mucosal epithelial smears since it is a simpler, faster, and less expensive procedure.Keywords: biological monitoring, biomonitoring, occupational exposure, tetrachloroethylene

Micronucleus frequency in buccal mucosa cells of patients with neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases show an increase in prevalence and incidence, with the most prominent example being Alzheimer’s disease. DNA damage has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis, but the exact mechanisms remain elusive. We enrolled 425 participants with and without neurodegenerative diseases and analyzed DNA damage in the form of micronuclei in buccal mucosa samples. In addition, other parameters such as binucleated cells, karyolytic cells, and karyorrhectic cells were quantified. No relevant differences in DNA damage and cytotoxicity markers were observed in patients compared to healthy participants. Furthermore, other parameters such as lifestyle factors and diseases were also investigated. Overall, this study could not identify a direct link between changes in buccal cells and neurogenerative diseases, but highlights the influence of lifestyle factors and diseases on the human buccal cytome.

Biological Effects of Scattered Versus Scanned Proton Beams on Normal Tissues in Total Body Irradiated Mice: Survival, Genotoxicity, Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

Side effects of proton therapy are poorly studied. Moreover, the differences in the method of dose delivery on normal tissues are not taken into account when proton beams are scanned instead of being scattered. We proposed here to study the effects of both modalities of proton beam delivery on blood; skin; lung and heart in a murine model. In that purpose; C57BL/6 mice were total body irradiated by 190.6 MeV proton beams either by Double Scattering (DS) or by Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) in the plateau phase before the Bragg Peak. Mouse survival was evaluated. Blood and organs were removed three months after irradiation. Biomarkers of genotoxicity; oxidative stress and inflammation were measured. Proton irradiation was shown to increase lymphocyte micronucleus frequency; lung superoxide dismutase activity; erythrocyte and skin glutathione peroxidase activity; erythrocyte catalase activity; lung; heart and skin oxidized glutathione level; erythrocyte and lung lipid peroxidation and erythrocyte protein carbonylation even 3 months post-irradiation. When comparing both methods of proton beam delivery; mouse survival was not different. However, PBS significantly increased lymphocyte micronucleus frequency; erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity and heart oxidized glutathione level compared to DS. These results point out the necessity to take into account the way of delivering dose in PT as it could influence late side effects.

Evaluating the Effect of Working in the Dental Radiology Center on Micronucleus Frequency in Buccal Mucosa

Background: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of working in the dental radiology department on the frequency of micronucleus. Results: The mean frequency of micronucleus per cell in the control and case groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.4). In addition, no statistically significant difference was observed in males and females regarding the mean frequency of micronucleus per cell (P = 0.6). Employment background and age had no significant impact on the percentage of micronucleus-containing cells and the mean frequency of micronucleus per cell. Conclusions: Working in a dental radiology center had no impact on the percentage of micronucleuscontaining cells and the mean frequency of micronucleus per cell.

Micronucleus Frequency in Exfoliated Buccal Cells of Children Living in an Industrialized Area of Apulia (Italy)

Micronuclei (MN) are biomarkers of early biological effect often used for detecting DNA damage in human population exposed to genotoxic agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of MN in exfoliated buccal cells of children living in an industrialized (impacted) area compared with that found in children living in a control area without significant anthropogenic impacts. A total of 462 6–8-year-old children (206 in the impacted area, 256 in the control area) attending primary school were enrolled. A questionnaire was administered to the parents of the recruited children to obtain information about personal data, lifestyles, and food habits of their children. Atmospheric particulate fractions were collected near the involved schools to assess the level of environmental exposure of the children. The presence of MN was highlighted in 68.4% of children living in the impacted area with a mean MN frequency of 0.66‰ ± 0.61‰. MN positivity and frequency were significantly lower in the control area (37.1% and 0.27‰ ± 0.43‰, respectively). The frequency of MN was positively associated with quasi-ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.5), traffic near the home, and consuming barbecued food; while adherence to the Mediterranean diet and practicing sport were negatively associated.

Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Effect of Piper aduncum L. against Sodium Fluoride (NaF)-Induced Toxicity in Albino Mice

Piper aduncum, commonly known as matico, is a plant that grows in the mountainous and coastal regions of Peru, and is studied for its antimicrobial properties and various ethnopharmacological uses. The main objective of this study was to determine the cytoprotective and antioxidant effects of the methanolic extract of Piper aduncum leaves in Mus musculus previously administered with sodium fluoride (NaF) using the Micronucleus test and the Comet assay. The extract was administrated orally in four different concentrations: 150, 300, 600, and 1200 mg/Kg for ten days. At the 11th day, a single dose of NaF was administrated via intraperitoneal at 20 mg/Kg. The genotoxicity study was performed with mice from the strain BALB/c, using the Micronucleus test on bone marrow and the Comet assay on peripheral blood according to OECD guidelines 474 and 489, respectively. The statistical analysis was performed by median analysis with ANOVA. Significant differences were found in Micronucleus frequency between the highest concentrations of Piper aduncum and NaF. The Comet assay showed significant reduction of NaF-induced damage on erythrocytes depending on the different concentrations of the extract which were evaluated in this study. It is concluded that the methanolic extract of P. aduncum leaves has cytoprotective and antioxidant activity against sodium fluoride.