Sodium bicarbonate protects uranium-induced acute nephrotoxicity through uranium-decorporation by urinary alkalinization in rats

To evaluate the effectiveness of sodium bicarbonate (SB) in removing uranium and protecting animals from uranium toxicity, we intramuscularly administered 1 mg/kg of uranyl nitrate to 8-wk-old male SD rats, and 20 min after administration of uranyl nitrate, the animals were given a single oral administration of SB at 0.1, 0.3 or 1 g/kg. The SB treatment at a dose of 0.3 g/kg or more raised the pH of the rats’ urine until 4 h after treatment, and it significantly reduced the uranium amounts in the kidneys at 1 day after treatment. In another experiment, rats were intramuscularly administered 1 mg/kg of uranyl nitrate, and 20 min later, the animals were treated with sodium bicarbonate (0.1 or 1 g/kg). The rats were autopsied at 1, 3 and 7 days after uranium treatment. High-dose SB resulted in a significant increase in urinary uranium excretion in the first 24 h and a reduction of uranium deposition in the kidneys and femurs, and it also significantly suppressed uranium-induced renal toxicity, as shown by both histopathology and clinical chemistry at 3 days after uranium treatment. Low-dose SB did not show such marked effects. Our findings demonstrated that the uranium decorporation effect of sodium bicarbonate was observed at the dosage showing urine alkalinization in rats and that decorporation effect of sodium bicarbonate might be beneficial if it is administered immediately after incorporation of soluble uranium.     

Salinity an Environmental “Filter” Selecting for Plant Invasiveness? Evidence from Indigenous Lepidium alyssoides on Chihuahuan Desert Shrublands

A better understanding of site-specific factors such as soil salinity that regulate plant invasions is needed. We conducted a 3-mo greenhouse study to evaluate the salinity responses of three local maternal sources of Lepidium alyssoides, which is an indigenous species shown to aggressively colonize disturbed shrubland sites in the southwestern United States, including those affected by high salinity and sodicity. Results indicated that there were little or no population effects on plant evapotranspiration (ET), growth, and tissue Na and Cl concentrations. Significant reductions in seedling growth and ET were largely independent of various isosmotic saline irrigation solutions that included NaCl, Na₂SO₄, and CaCl₂, each at ? 0.1 MPa and ? 0.2 MPa, suggesting that ET and growth were controlled by solution osmotic potential. The combined Na and Cl concentrations in leaves were 9–10% of dry weight with no visible sign of injury. However, increasing leaf mortality and abscission as a proportion of total leaf production was observed in the high-salt treatments (? 0.2 MPa), with a combined Na and Cl concentration reaching 16% with high NaCl. Under saline conditions, considerable foliage salt loads of this species could deposit high-salt litter to potentially alter a landscape to its own favor and to the detriment of other salt-sensitive species. Results of this study add to a limited quantitative database on site-specific salinity factors governing plant invasions by showing the potential for these populations to behave invasively under saline conditions and, thus, potential for soil salinity assessment to predict incipient populations. However, due to its halophytic traits and indigenous status, L. alyssoides may alternatively provide ecosystem services to salinized shrublands of the arid and semiarid southwestern United States.     

NaOH溶液脱绒对白羊草种子活力的影响

[目的] 探究NaOH溶液脱绒处理对白羊草（Bothriochloa ischaemum）种子活力的影响,为机械化播种提供便利条件。[方法] 分别利用浓度为10%、20%、30%、40%、50%（W/V）的NaOH溶液对白羊草种子进行脱绒处理0（CK）、1、5、10、15 min,分析其对发芽率（Gp）、发芽指数（Gi）、平均发芽时间（MGT）、幼苗活力指数（SVI）的影响,筛选白羊草种子NaOH溶液脱绒的最佳条件。[结果] NaOH溶液浓度及处理时间均对白羊草种子活力具有极显著（P<0.01）影响。相同处理时间下,白羊草种子脱绒1~10 min后Gp、Gi随NaOH溶液浓度的增加而增加,脱绒1 min和10 min后SVI随着NaOH溶液浓度的增加而增加,脱绒5 min后SVI随NaOH溶液浓度的增加呈先降低后升高的趋势,脱绒15 min时Gp、Gi和SVI随NaOH溶液浓度的增加呈先升后降的趋势;在20%~50%的NaOH溶液浓度下,脱绒后白羊草种子Gp、Gi和SVI随处理时间的增加呈先升后降的趋势。经NaOH溶液脱绒处理后白羊草种子的MGT均高于CK。[结论] 适宜浓度的NaOH溶液浸种能有效脱去白羊草种子表面的绒毛,提高白羊草种子的活力。浓度为50%的NaOH溶液浸种5 min对白羊草种子活力的促进效果最好。     

Vertebrate pesticide risk assessment by indigenous communities in New Zealand

In New Zealand, the vertebrate pesticide sodium fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is aerially applied in baits for control of the brush-tailed possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792). Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, have raised concerns about 1080 impacts on culturally-important species. Here, we outline two steps taken to help Maori assess 1080 risk. First, field research was undertaken to determine if naturally-occurring plants utilized by a Maori community for food and medicine would take up 1080 from baits. Single baits were placed at the base of individual plants of two species, pikopiko (Asplenium bulbiferum) and karamuramu (Coprosma robusta). Plants were sampled at various times up to 56 days, and samples were analyzed for 1080 content. No 1080 was detected in any of the pikopiko samples, whereas 1080 was detected in karamuramu, at a maximum concentration of 5 ppb after seven days, and 2.5 ppb after 14 days. This concentration decreased to 0 at 28 days, indicating that 1080 was not persistent. The results of the present study suggest there is negligible risk of humans being poisoned by consuming plants that have taken up 1080 from baits. To allay community concerns that minute concentrations of 1080 might influence the medicinal properties of plants, it is suggested that a withholding period of 30 days after 1080 control operations could be adopted. Second, after further consultation we undertook a review of the scientific literature relating to 1080 impacts on additional non-target species of cultural importance to Maori. The information was presented on an interactive foodweb database that allowed the collection and presentation of a large volume of complex information about 1080 in a holistic and pictorial fashion. This database was presented to many Maori communities throughout New Zealand, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The database is likely to play a key role in informing these communities about 1080, and is seen as an important new tool to help these communities make their own risk assessments.     

The influence of nitrate and ammonium forms of nitrogen fertilizer on the growth and osmoregulation of digitaria eriantha and Chloris gayana grown under saline conditions

Abstract

Digltaria eriantha and Chloris gayana were grown under controlled conditions for three months and were treated with a nutrient solution containing 150 mMol NaCl and the following nitrogen sources: 25 or 200 mg/l NH₄ ⁺‐N or NO₃ ^?‐N or no nitrogen. The application of nitrogen was found to stimulate growth, i.e. leaf area and dry mass in both grasses, with a greatest growth response to both NH₄ ⁺—N treatments in D. eriantha, and NH₄ ⁺‐N and NO₃ ^?—N treatments in C. gayana. Proline accumulated in both grasses, but this accumulation followed different trends in the two grasses. Soluble sugars (non‐structural) accumulated in the above ground component in D. eriantha, while in C. gayana soluble sugars accumulated predominantly in the roots, possibly as osmotica, or for storage and may thus have been available for regrowth.     

钼酸钠对低温胁迫下狼尾草渗透调节物质和膜稳定性的影响

以狼尾草（Pennisetum alopecuroides）为材料,研究了不同质量浓度的钼酸钠对低温胁迫下狼尾草幼苗中几种渗透调节物质含量和细胞膜稳定性的影响。结果表明,钼酸钠可显著提高低温胁迫下的狼尾草叶片总叶绿素、可溶性蛋白质、抗坏血酸、可溶性糖、游离脯氨酸等物质的含量,降低丙二醛含量和细胞膜透性,缓解狼尾草受到的低温冷害;钼酸钠缓解低温胁迫的最低效应质量浓度为0.5 mg·L-1,且在0.5~5.0 mg·L-1质量浓度范围内对狼尾草渗透调节物质和细胞膜稳定性的影响无显著差异。     

Comparison of two topical treatments of gastro-oesophageal regurgitation in dogs during general anaesthesia

ObjectiveTo determine whether suction, lavage and instillation of sodium bicarbonate, following a gastro-oesophageal regurgitation event under general anaesthesia, would alter oesophageal pH to a greater degree than when lavage was not used.Study designProspective, randomised, clinical study.AnimalsA group of 22 client-owned dogs.MethodsDogs presenting with gastro-oesophageal regurgitation (GOReg) under general anaesthesia were randomised into groups: no lavage (G1) or lavage (G2). All dogs underwent oesophageal suctioning until no further regurgitant material was retrieved. Dogs in G2 had oesophageal lavage with tap water until the suctioned water was clear. All dogs then had 4.2% sodium bicarbonate (0.6 mL kg^–1) instilled into the oesophagus. An oesophageal pH probe was placed to record pH immediately after: GOReg (T1), suctioning (T2), lavage of the oesophagus (T3; G2 only) and sodium bicarbonate instillation (T4). Categorical data were analysed using Fisher’s exact test, and continuous data were analysed using either the two-sample t-test or the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Parametric data are reported as mean ± standard deviation and non-parametric data as median (interquartile range). A p value < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsOesophageal pH was low in both groups immediately after GOReg [G1: 2.95 (2.20–4.18), G2: 3.29 (1.41–4.03)] but oesophageal pH was not significantly different between groups at T1, T2 and T4. Oesophageal lavage significantly increased pH but the overall change in pH following bicarbonate administration (T2–T4) was not significantly different between groups [G1: 3.16 ± 1.52, G2: 3.52 ± 1.47]. No adverse events following GOReg were recorded.Conclusions and clinical relevance:Both groups had similar and clinically important increases in oesophageal pH. Although oesophageal lavage increased pH, this did not affect the final oesophageal pH when sodium bicarbonate was instilled and therefore may be an unnecessary step.     

Time course of the incidence/multiplicity and histopathological features of murine colonic dysplasia,adenoma and adenocarcinoma induced by benzo[a]pyrene and dextran sulfate sodium

Benzo[a]pyrene (BP) is mutagenic but noncarcinogenic in the murine colon. Recently, we reported rapid induction of colonic tumors by treatment of CD2F₁ mice with BP (125 mg/kg for 5 days) followed by a colitis inducer, dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) (4% in drinking water for 1 or 2 weeks). However, there are no reports on detailed time course and histopathological features of colonic proliferative lesions in this model. Here, we show the detailed time course of colonic dysplasia, adenoma and adenocarcinoma induced by treatment with BP, DSS, and a combination of the two (BP/DSS). In the colon of mice exposed to BP/DSS, 14.6 dysplastic foci per mouse were present one week after DSS treatment (week 4). The number of dysplastic foci decreased with time to 3.1 at week 9 and thereafter remained almost constant. At week 4, 1.5 adenocarcinomas were also observed, with a marked increase in numbers with time, reaching 29.3 at week 14. In contrast, the number of dysplastic foci induced by DSS alone showed a time course similar to that following BP/DSS treatment; however, only a few tumors appeared. Neither dysplastic foci nor neoplastic lesions were induced by BP only. In mice exposed to BP/DSS, β-catenin was demonstrated immunohistochemically in the nucleus and/or cytoplasm of the tumor cells, and this translocation from the cell membrane was evident in subsets of dysplastic foci. In dysplastic foci induced by DSS alone, β-catenin was absent in the nucleus/cytoplasm. These finding suggest that aberrant β-catenin accumulation in dysplastic foci is associated with tumor progression in this BP/DSS model.     

氯化钠对饲喂棉饼诱发山羊泌尿系结石的预防试验

16只3~5月龄阉割波尔公山羊随机分为4组,即对照Ⅰ组(n=3)、对照Ⅱ组(限水对照组n=3)、试验Ⅰ组(n=5)、试验Ⅱ组(限水试验组,n=5)。对照组饲喂羊精料和花生秧,试验组饲喂棉饼和稻草,同时在试验组棉饼中加入4%棉饼量的氯化钠,对照Ⅰ组和试验Ⅰ组在试验期间不限制饮水,而对照Ⅱ组和试验Ⅱ组每天限制饮水,经预试期后试验期为4个月。结果表明:(1)添加氯化钠各试验组均未发现临床型尿石症,未添加氯化钠对照Ⅰ组有1头发病,未添加氯化钠限水对照Ⅱ组有3头发病。(2)添加氯化钠不限制水组,山羊的饮水量、排尿量较未添加氯化钠组(对照组)明显增加,尿液pH值明显降低,且差异显著;而添加氯化钠限水组,山羊的排尿量、尿液pH值与限水对照组差异不显著。(3)两个试验组血清醛固酮含量较对照组明显降低,并且尿沉渣生成量明显减少。由此推测氯化钠预防棉饼诱发山羊泌尿系结石的机理是通过降低血清中的醛固酮含量,减轻醛固酮对肾脏的损害,减少了结石核心的形成和尿液中盐类结晶沉着点,在非限饮水的情况下羊还可通过增加饮水量和排尿量,使沉渣生成量减少,从而有效地防止尿石症的发生。