Iranian Journal of Toxicology
Volume:17 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

Mushroom poisoning is a major health condition with a wide range of clinical and paraclinical features. This study aimed at evaluating the frequency of clinical and paraclinical manifestations of mushroom poisoning in patients referred to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad, Iran, over a one-year period (2018-2019).

The data collected were associated with the clinical manifestations, age, sex, seasons, type of mushrooms, patients’ residence, latent phase, clinical and laboratory findings, length of hospital stay, interventions and the treatments. The underlying diseases were also recorded. After data collection, they were entered into SPSS, version 18 software and analyzed statistically.

124 patients with a mean age of 36.65 years old were recruited into the study, 73 of whom were male and 51 female. The mean duration of the hospital stay was 2.19 days. The mean time elapsed between the consumption and the symptoms development was 4.42 hours. Similarly, the duration between the consumption and referral to the hospital was 4.72 hours. Most cases occurred in the Spring (91.1%). The most common clinical signs in the poisoned subjects were nausea and vomiting (81.5%). The most therapeutic medications were Livergol (48.4%) and Atropin (33.1%), and most subjects had consumed mushrooms grown in the nature (79.8%). One person died because of the poisoning (0.8%).

A large majority of the patients developed nausea and vomiting, whom were treated with drugs, but one patient died. People should be aware of, warned againt, and educated about the types of mushrooms before consumption.

Colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease, which is treated effectively with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs. This study evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of the extracts of Viola odorata and Cassia fistula on the acetic acid-induced colitis in rats.

We determined the total contents of phenols, alkaloids, saponins, and tannins in the plants’ extracts. Further, we used 28 male Wistar rats in four groups of seven each.  Colitis was induced in the experimental groups by the intra-rectal administration of 1% acetic acid. Distilled water was used in the sham group. After induction of colitis, the control group received distilled water, the sham group received normal saline, the standard group received 360 mg/kg oral sulfasalazine, and the experimental group received the combined extracts at 200 mg/kg orally. The severity of colitis was assessed in all animal groups.

The phytochemical assays showed that both extracts contained alkaloid and saponin. Also, the V. odorata extract contained tannin while C. fistula had anthraquinone. Acetic acid increased the thickness of the colonic epithelial layer and caused edema, cell necrosis, and increased myeloperoxidase enzyme in the colon tissues. The inflammation, colon weight per unit area, and macroscopic scores in the group treated with the combined extracts were reduced more than that in the standard group. The extracts reduced the activity in the experimental group. However, sulfasalazine resulted in a better healing of the colitis.

The combined extracts at 200 mg/kg effectively reduced the colitis induced by acetic acid in the rats.

Sertraline is prescribed mainly for the treatment of patients with depression. However, this drug is known to have toxic effects on the male germ cells. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the ameliorative effects of curcumin on the sertraline-induced male reproductive toxicity.

Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups of eight each. The first group served as the control and received only tap water orally. The second group was given sertraline orally at 20mg/kg. The third group received sertraline at the same dose plus an oral dose of curcumin at 100mg/kg. The fourth group served as a positive control, which was given curcumin at 100mg/kg. All treatments were given once daily over 42 consecutive days.

Sertraline exerted testicular toxicity mainly by triggering oxidative stress, resulting in adverse degenerative and atrophic alterations in the seminiferous tubules. Further, the rats’ testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels in the serum declined significantly in the sertraline group compared to those of the controls. Curcumin combined with sertraline, mitigated almost all of the histological abnormalities and significantly inhibited the oxidative stress by restoring the antioxidant levels in the testicular tissue. Also, in the combined group, the serum testosterone level significantly increased compared to that of the controls. Lastly, curcumin alone had no adverse effect on any of the examined parameters, similarly to the controls.

We found that curcumin played an ameliorative role in the sertraline-mediated testicular injury in male Wistar rats through its considerable anti-oxidant property.

In light of severe and growing shortages of clean water and the rising environmental pollution in many countries, seawater desalination has been an effective method to produce freshwater. Cationic membranes have enabled environmental scientists to effectively remove toxic heavy metals from wastewater and to regenerate freshwater.

We used a novel method, involving electro- and physico-chemical membranes to successfully remove toxic heavy metal ions (copper & chromium) from wastewater samples. Specifically, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, surface wettability, flux, selectivity and electrical resistance measurements were applied to conduct this study.

The obtained results illustrated relatively uniform foaming of the modified membranes. Also, electron microscopic images indicated almost even distribution of the particles. The dada indicated that applying polydopamine layer and incorporating nanofibers in monomer solution caused surface hydrophilic enhancement. Also, increased carbon nanofibers loading ratio to 0.07% raised the ionic flux. The data also showed a higher capacity in the modified membranes for the removal of copper and chromium ions from the wastewater samples. Although the surface modified membranes displayed a higher flux and lower permselectivity to some extents, utilizing nanoparticles led to a steady trend of ion elimination. Generally, carbon nanofibers incorporation to the membrane surface modified samples up to 0.1% weight, resulting in nearly a constant areal electrical resistance.

The novel method developed by this study is an excellent candidate with high potential for the removal of toxic heavy metal ions from wastewater samples.

There is a high prevalence of intentional paraquat poisoning especially for suicide reported from many part of the world, with its negative effects on the lungs, kidneys, heart, and digestive system. This study was planned, aimed at investigating the efficacy of sucralfate in the treatment of oral paraquat poisoning with respect to its clinical outcomes.

A randomized double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 70 patients, suffering from oral paraquat poisoning. These patients were divided into two groups of 35 each. Subsequently, gastric lavage was performed for each patient in the control and treatment groups with 5g sucralfate mixed in tap water in the treatment group, but with tap water alone in the controls. The patients’ hemodynamic and laboratory parameters were evaluated and recorded, on admission and the hospital discharge dates. In addition, the patients’ final clinical outcome, including survival or death was also recorded.

The results of the present study revealed that the patients’ hemodynamic parameters, coagulation factors, renal and liver laboratory findings did not differ significantly between the two groups (P>0.05). Moreover, 45.7% and 31.4% of the patients died in the control and treatment groups, respectively (P>0.05).

The sucralfate administration did not have a significant effect on the patients’ hemodynamic and laboratory parameters. The survival of patients in the treatment group was slightly higher than those in the control group. Also the patients in the treatment group had less pulmonary and renal complications in the long-term than those in the control group.

Kidneys are the most vulnerable organs with respect to oxidative stress caused by lead poisoning. In this study, renal biomarkers were investigated in rats, exposed to lead after treatment with or without Lactobacillus fermentum.

Twenty-four rats were divided into four groups of five each as follows: a) control,b) lead-exposed, c) Lactobacillus fermentum–treated, and d) rats exposed to lead followed by  treatment with L. fermentum. After eight weeks of treatment, the renal biomarkers in blood and antioxidant factors in the kidneys were evaluated. The kidneys were also examined histopathologically for alterations due to lead exposure.

In lead-exposed rats, the creatinine, urea, uric acid, malondialdehyde, and tissue lead contents were significantly higher, while catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione levels were lower than those found in the controls. After treatment of lead-exposed rats with L. fermentum, the levels of these factors were significantly lower and the last two factors were higher compared to those of the lead-exposed group.  There was no significant change in the level of catalase. The histopathological changes due to lead exposure in these rats decreased after treatment with L. fermentum.

The results indicated that L. fermentum reduced the toxic effects of lead on the kidneys, either by potentiating the renal antioxidant system or by removing lead from the treated rats, or both. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanisms by which L. fermentum exerts its anti-lead poisoning effects.

Rhabdomyolysis is caused by the release of enzymes from skeletal muscles into the blood, which leads to systemic complications with diverse etiologies. This study evaluated the serum aminotransferases in patients with rhabdomyolysis following acute intoxication with either psychotropic drugs or other chemical agents.

This study randomly recruited 140 patients suffering from rhabdomyolysis. They were divided into two groups affected by either psychotropic drugs or chemical agents. Rhabdomyolysis was defined as having serum creatine kinase (CK) levels greater than 250 U/L, based on the poisoning severity score.

On day 1, the CK/AST correlation was significantly stronger in the psychotropic than the chemical group (P=0.0009). On Day 5, patients in the psychotropic group had significantly higher AST (P=0.0138) and ALT (P=0.0129) than those poisoned with other chemicals. The difference in the strength of the CK/ALT correlation between the two groups was insignificant. Between the two groups, the differences between the CK levels and the following serum parameters were insignificant: alkaline phosphatase; gamma-glutamyl transferase; prothrombin time; total bilirubin; and albumin.

The elevated aminotransferases in patients with rhabdomyolysis due to acute psychotropic toxicity might have resulted from the skeletal muscle injury rather than hepatotoxicity. In rhabdomyolysis patients poisoned with other chemicals, the elevated serum aminotransferases are likely due to liver toxicity arising from the consumed substances. These patients are likely to manifest clinically severe long-term multi-organ failure. Intoxications with typical agents, such as herbicides, petroleum distillates, and corrosives were responsible for the rhabdomyolysis in the second group.

Microbial infections and the resistance to antibacterial drugs are on the rise, and scientists are in search of the safest and most effective approach to overcome them. Medicinal plants are potentially effective against many microorganisms. Therefore, this study was planned to examine the antibacterial properties and cytotoxicity of the extracts of Allium sativum and Myrtus communis against bacteria that cause nosocomial infections.

A. Sativum and M. communis were collected from the northern regions of Iran during the spring. After preparing the hydroalcoholic extracts of A. sativum and M. communis, the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC & MBC) were determined. The cytotoxicity of the extracts was asseyed in normal cells and Hu02 fibroblast cell line.

The MIC and MBC of A. sativum (62.5 mg/ml) against Salmonella enterica were similar. Also, the MIC of A. sativum and M. communis against Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were similar (62.5 & 15.6 mg/ml), respectively. The viability percentage of skin fibroblasts after treatment for 48 hours with the extract of A. sativum was significantly higher than that of M. communis.

Both extracts from A. sativum and M. communis demonstrated good antimicrobial properties. Based on the results, the safe antibacterial potential of the extracts may be used as alternative agents to fight against nosocomial bacterial infections.