Intracerebral Haemorrhage Caused by Endosulfan Intoxication: A Case Report

Introduction: many chemical substances used in industry, households, agriculture, often result in bad side effects to people and environment. As an agricultural country, the frequency of the use of pesticides in Indonesia is quite high since those chemical substances are still badly needed by the people for their farming. The bad side effects should strongly be avoided. Related with the disadvantages or dangers of those, especially pesticides. It is often found that a sudden death can be related with intoxication. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate them, whether if caused by disease, violence or intoxication. During 2008-2018 extra toxicological examination performed in the Forensic Laboratory of Toxicology in East Java Regional Police Headquarter in the period of 2008 up to 2018 indicated 44% of 25 cases were dominated by intoxication, which were mostly caused by propoxur intoxication (carbamate insecticide) 90 % and by endosulfan 10%. It means that endosulfan as the restricted pesticides can be the cause of death, wether by accidental action or even homicide and suicide action. Objective: To be able to analyze the changes or the clinical effects due to endosulfan intoxication, especially in death acutely which shown the intracerebral haemorrage from the death. Method: case report of the sudden death on women suspected poisoning by endosulfan. Conclussion: Symptoms of acute endosulfan poisoning include hyperactivity, tremors, convulsion, lack of coordination, staggering, difficulty of breathing, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, unconsciousness and many cases of sub lethal poisoning have resulted in permanent brain damage.

Time-Course Changes in Urine Metabolic Profiles of Rats Following 90-Day Exposure to Propoxur

As a major kind of carbamate insecticide, propoxur plays an important role in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and public health. The acute toxicity of propoxur is mainly neurotoxicity due to the inhibition of cholinesterase. However, little is known regarding the toxicity of propoxur upon long-term exposure at low dose. In this study, Wistar rats were orally administrated with low dose (4.25 mg/kg body weight/day) for consecutive 90 days. And the urine samples in rats treated with propoxur for 30, 60, and 90 days were collected and analyzed by employing 1H NMR-based metabolomics approach. We found that propoxur caused significant changes in the urine metabolites, including taurine, creatinine, citrate, succinate, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine-N-oxide. And the alteration of the metabolites was getting more difference compared with that of the control as the exposure time extending. The present study not only indicated that the changed metabolites could be used as biomarkers of propoxur-induced toxicity but also suggested that the time-course alteration of the urine metabolomic profiles could reflect the progressive development of the toxicity following propoxur exposure.

Menthol Increases Bendiocarb Efficacy Through Activation of Octopamine Receptors and Protein Kinase A

Great effort is put into seeking a new and effective strategies to control insect pests. One of them is to combine natural products with chemical insecticides to increase their effectiveness. In the study presented, menthol which is an essential oil component was evaluated on its ability to increase the efficiency of bendiocarb, carbamate insecticide. A multi-approach study was conducted using biochemical method (to measure acetylcholinesterase enzyme activity), electrophysiological technique (microelectrode recordings in DUM neurons in situ), and confocal microscopy (for calcium imaging). In the electrophysiological experiments, menthol caused hyperpolarization, which was blocked by an octopamine receptor antagonist (phentolamine) and an inhibitor of protein kinase A (H-89). It also raised the intracellular calcium level. The effect of bendiocarb was potentiated by menthol and this phenomenon was abolished by phentolamine and H-89 but not by protein kinase C inhibitor (bisindolylmaleimide IX). The results indicate that menthol increases carbamate insecticide efficiency by acting on octopamine receptors and triggering protein kinase A phosphorylation pathway.