Abstrakt Bakgrund: Barn som drabbas med tumörer behöver genomgå strålbehandling. För att uppnå optimala behandlingsresultat krävs sederingar eller generella anestesi. Tidigare studier har indikerat att strålningsspecifika effekter påverkade kognitiva funktioner hos barn. Syfte: Karakterisera biomarkörer för skador orsakade av strålning och undersöka de neurotoxiska effekterna som uppstår vid hög exponering för gammastrålning. Metod: Del1: Design av 8 primrar för musgenerna Hes1, Hes5, Timp1, Aldh11l1 . RNA-pool används från fem olika grupper. QPCR-metoden används för att bestämma effektiviteten hos de 8 primrarna. Del2: Experimenten utfördes på NMRI-möss på postnatal dag 10. Genuttryck undersöktes för 5 kontrollgrupper och 5 exponerade grupper för hög dos gammastrålning 2Gy. DNA-extraktion utfördes på hippocampus och prefrontalcortex från mössens hjärna. qPCR-metoden används för att studera uppreglering och nedreglering av gener. Resultat: Effektiviteten för primrarna Hes 5 = 80%, Hes1:2= 93% vilket uppfyllde kriterierna 80–110%. Resultat för genererad nedreglering av BDNF i hippocampus och uppreglering av Hes 5 och Jagged-1 i prefrontal cortex, vilket visade en signifikant skillnad mellan gruppernas medelvärden. Däremot observerade ingen signifikant skillnad i uttrycket av generna Nrf2, Grin2, Jagged-1 i hippocampus. Slutsats: Strålningsdoser som används för att behandla hjärntumörer hos barn kan påverka hur vissa allmänna uttryck och leda till dynamiska förändringar i uttrycket som styr normal hjärnutveckling.

<p>The dietary intake of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) have been estimated for Swedish children. A dietary survey performed in 2003, including 4, 8-9 and 11-12 year olds, and concentrations in individual food items were combined. The food included in the study was mainly of animal origin, consisting of fish and shellfish, dairy products, meat products, eggs, animal and vegetable fats and fats from miscellaneous food products. The medium-bound intake of PBDEs (9 congeners) were estimated to 23.0 ng/day, 30.9 ng/day and 27.7 ng/day for 4, 8-9 and 11-12 years olds respectively. The corresponding estimations for HBCD were 7.94 ng/day 10.7 ng/day and 9.46 ng/day for 4, 8-9 and 11-12 years olds respectively. These results show a higher daily intake for 8-9 year olds compared with the other age groups. However, when estimating the daily intake per kg bw, the intake decreases with age. BDE-47 contributed the most to the total intake of PBDEs, with approximately 40%. The food group contributing the most to the intake of PBDEs and HBCD was fish and shellfish, of which non-Baltic fatty fish was the largest contributor. There were no considerable differences between boys and girls in any of the aspects examined. The result from this study show a lower intake of PBDEs and HBCD in Swedish children compared with children in other studies made in Europe and the United States.</p> / <p>Bromerade flamskyddsmedel används för att skydda brännbara material från att fatta eld, till exempel skyddas textilier och plaster i bland annat elektronik, fordon och möbler. Två typer av bromerade flamskyddsmedel är polybromerade difenyletrar (PBDE) och hexabromocyklododekan (HBCD). Dessa är additiva flamskyddsmedel och blandas i materialet som ska skyddas men binder inte in i produkten och kan därför lätt läcka ut i miljön, vilket också har skett. Halter har påträffats i miljön och i biota långt från plaster där ämnena produceras eller används.</p><p>PBDE och HBCD har visats ha hormonstörande och neurotoxiska effekter i studier på råtta och mus. Thyroxinnivåerna sjunker vid exponering av PBDE och HBCD, vilket skulle kunna leda till sköldkörtelproblem och störd utveckling av bland annat hjärnan om exponering sker perinatalt. De neurotoxiska effekterna inkluderar inlärnings- och minnessvårigheter och ett förändrat beteende med hyper- och hypoaktivitet som följd.</p><p>Human exponering för PBDE och HBCD sker främst via födan och speciellt via animaliska produkter då dessa ämnen är lipofila, bioackumulerande och ofta biomagnifierande vilket gör att de påträffas i högre koncentrationer högre upp i trofinivåerna. Studier från bland annat Sverige och Finland visar att fisk och skaldjur är den största källan till intag av PBDE.</p><p>De flesta intagsberäkningar av PBDE och HBCD baseras på livsmedelskonsumtionen hos vuxna och visar följaktligen endast hur intaget ser ut för den delen av populationen. För barn, som är en av de känsligaste grupperna i populationen, finns inte många studier att tillgå, varken från Sverige eller andra delar av världen. I den här studien har därför intaget av PBDE (summan av 9 kongener) och HBCD beräknats för barn i Sverige.</p><p>I en rikstäckande kostundersökning utförd 2003 deltog barn i åldrarna 4, 8-9 och 11-12 år. De fick i en matdagbok ange sin konsumtion under fyra på varandra följande dagar. Data från denna undersökning kombinerades sedan med haltdata från olika livsmedel för att räkna ut intaget av PBDE och HBCD på individbasis. Undersökningen innefattade främst animaliska livsmedel och innehöll därför fisk och skaldjur, mejeriprodukter, köttprodukter, ägg, animaliskt och vegetabiliskt fett och fett från övriga livsmedel.</p><p>Resultaten visar att födointaget av PBDE var 23,0 ng/dag, 30,9 ng/dag och 27,7 ng/dag för 4, 8-9 respektive 11-12 åringar. Intaget av HBCD beräknades till 7,94 ng/dag, 10,7 ng/dag och 9,46 ng/dag för 4, 8-9 respektive 11-12 åringar. Detta visar att 8-9 åringar har det högsta dagliga intaget av PBDE och HBCD. När intaget beräknas på kroppsvikt däremot, har de yngsta barnen det högsta intaget som sedan sjunker med åldern. Fisk och skaldjur var den största källan till intaget av PBDE och HBCD, trots att konsumtionen av dessa livsmedel var relativt lågt. Det fanns ingen större skillnad mellan pojkar och flickor, varken i intag av PBDE eller av HBCD. Jämfört med de få studier som gjorts i andra länder, är det tydligt att svenska barn har ett lägre intag av PBDE och HBCD.</p><p>Undersökningen tyder också på att intaget av PBDE och HBCD hos svenska barn, utifrån de kunskaper vi har idag, inte utgör någon risk med avseende på de effekter av PBDE och HBCD som påträffats i toxikologiska studier. Däremot är barn i ett känsligt skede i livet och upprepad exponering samt exponering för flera miljögifter samtidigt skulle kunna påverka deras utveckling negativt.</p>

<p>Antifouling paints are applied on vessels to prevent growth of fouling organisms such hasbarnacles. Presently, there are a number of different paints available on the Swedish marketwith different strategies and active substances. The paints might work by either continuouslyreleasing biocides or physically by peeling off or provide an easily cleansed surface whereorganisms cannot attach. The physically working paints do not need to register an activesubstance since its purpose is not to affect living organisms by a chemical or biological modeof action. In this study, two commercially available paints, the copper-based Fabi 3959(International Paint Ltd) and physically eroding, biocide-free labelled Mille Light (HempelFärg AB) were compared to Hard Racing superior, containing copper and the forbiddensubstance Tributyltin. Fabi International is only allowed to be used on the Swedish west coastdue to 6% added as active substance while the biocide-free Mille Light is eligible for eastcoast usage. The toxic effect from respective paint was investigated by assembling a growthinhibition test with the red macro alga Ceramium tenuicorne. The results show that all thestudied paints had a negative effect on growth and therefore leaked substances inconcentrations high enough to be harmful to the alga. The toxic response differed with theeffect on growth being in the following order, Hard racing superior>Fabi >Mille Light.Implications regarding the current legalization involving biocide-free labelled antifoulingpaints are discussed.</p>

<p>Chicken and Japanese quail are commonly used models in developmental and sex specific neuroendocrine research. There is relatively little known about the mechanisms behind their sex specific brain development, especially regarding the impact of the sex chromosomes (male: ZZ, female ZW) in relation to gonadal hormones. This thesis explores several aspects of these processes. Gene expression analysis with cDNA and Affymetrix arrays on brain tissue from both pre-gonadal embryos and embryos with differentiated gonads indicate a strong sex chromosomal presence in sexual dimorphic somatic tissue development in both chicken and Japanese quail. This sex chromosome pattern seems to remain in adult brain tissue. The data demonstrates that chicken males exhibit a significant level of Z-gene dosage compared to females in both somatic and germ line derived embryonic tissues. Several avian sex determination gene candidates (MHM non-coding RNA, DMRT1, HINTW, and HINTZ) were analyzed by real-time PCR. DMRT1 is dosage compensated in male brain tissue, in contrast to its reported gene dosage in male gonads. Early embryonic ethinylestradiol (EE2) exposure did not affect male or female neural gene expression patterns during later development. A peptidomics analysis on quail embryonic day 12 (ed12) and ed17 diencephalon by LC-MS identified over 60 endogenous peptides and analyzed the expression patterns for 38 of them with regard to age, sex and early EE2 exposure. There was a general upregulation between ed12 and ed17, but no clear sex effects were detected. Multivariate analysis indicates that EE2 exposed individuals differ from control individuals in a gender independent manner, and that Gonadotropin-inhibiting hormone related peptide 2 (GnIH-RP2) is a candidate for EE2 induced peptidomic alterations in male embryonic brain.</p>

Chicken and Japanese quail are commonly used models in developmental and sex specific neuroendocrine research. There is relatively little known about the mechanisms behind their sex specific brain development, especially regarding the impact of the sex chromosomes (male: ZZ, female ZW) in relation to gonadal hormones. This thesis explores several aspects of these processes. Gene expression analysis with cDNA and Affymetrix arrays on brain tissue from both pre-gonadal embryos and embryos with differentiated gonads indicate a strong sex chromosomal presence in sexual dimorphic somatic tissue development in both chicken and Japanese quail. This sex chromosome pattern seems to remain in adult brain tissue. The data demonstrates that chicken males exhibit a significant level of Z-gene dosage compared to females in both somatic and germ line derived embryonic tissues. Several avian sex determination gene candidates (MHM non-coding RNA, DMRT1, HINTW, and HINTZ) were analyzed by real-time PCR. DMRT1 is dosage compensated in male brain tissue, in contrast to its reported gene dosage in male gonads. Early embryonic ethinylestradiol (EE2) exposure did not affect male or female neural gene expression patterns during later development. A peptidomics analysis on quail embryonic day 12 (ed12) and ed17 diencephalon by LC-MS identified over 60 endogenous peptides and analyzed the expression patterns for 38 of them with regard to age, sex and early EE2 exposure. There was a general upregulation between ed12 and ed17, but no clear sex effects were detected. Multivariate analysis indicates that EE2 exposed individuals differ from control individuals in a gender independent manner, and that Gonadotropin-inhibiting hormone related peptide 2 (GnIH-RP2) is a candidate for EE2 induced peptidomic alterations in male embryonic brain.

It has been suggested that the rising amounts of chemicals in the environment may affect host resistance and increase susceptibility to infections. Studies have also shown that infections can change the toxicity of pollutants. The aim of this thesis was to study interactions between environmental pollutant exposure in terms of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and a common human coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection adapted to Balb/c mice. The studies focused on virus levels, cytokines, metabolising cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes and tissue distribution of PBDE. A novel finding was an organ-specific effect of CVB3 infection on the metabolising capacity of PBDE. The PBDE metabolising enzyme CYP2B10 was down-regulated by the CVB3 infection in the liver, up-regulated in the lungs, but not affected in the pancreas. Accordingly, CVB3 infection increased the concentration of PBDE in the livers of infected mice. However, serum levels of PBDE were not affected by the infection, indicating that serum does not reflect the actual organ exposure of PBDE in infected individuals. The change in metabolising capacity was likely mediated by infection-induced cytokines and associated effects on the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway. PBDE drastically decreased serum levels of several cytokines and chemokines, an event that may create a slot for viruses to replicate. Accordingly, some results show that infected mice exposed to a high dose of PBDE had higher virus levels than mice exposed to a low dose. In conclusion, infected individuals showed organ-specific changes in metabolism and tissue levels of PBDE, which potentially could change the toxicity of PBDE. PBDE also seems to affect the fate of the infection. NF-κB activated pathways may mediate one possible mechanism underlying these effects. Thus, further investigations of this pathway are warranted. In addition, future studies should address how PBDE exposure affects viral replication.

The DDT metabolite 3-methylsulfonyl-DDE (3-MeSO2-DDE) is bioactivated by cytochrome P450 11B1 (CYP11B1) in the adrenal cortex of mice and forms irreversibly bound protein adducts, reduces glucocorticoid secretion, and induces cell death selectively in cortisol-producing adrenocortical cells. 3-MeSO2-DDE has therefore been proposed as a lead compound for an improved adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) therapy. The aims of this thesis were to (1) develop in vitro test systems based on murine and human adrenocortical cell lines and to (2) investigate the mechanisms behind 3-MeSO2-DDE toxicity in adrenocortical cells. The cytotoxic and endocrine-modulating effects of 3-MeSO2-DDE were compared to those of o,p′-DDD (mitotane), the current ACC therapy, and to those of several structurally analogous compounds in both murine and human cell lines. 3-MeSO2-DDE bioactivation and cytotoxicity proceeded in a similar manner in the murine adrenocortical Y-1 cell line as in mice in vivo. The effects were highly structure-specific. Moreover, 3-MeSO2-DDE formed irreversibly bound protein adducts and caused cell death also in the human H295R cell line, and was slightly more cytotoxic than o,p′-DDD. However, 3-MeSO2-DDE toxicity in human cells was not affected by the CYP11B1 inhibitor etomidate, suggesting that bioactivation in human cells is performed by additional/other enzyme(s) than CYP11B1. 3-MeSO2-DDE generated biphasic responses in cortisol and aldosterone secretion and in expression levels of the steroidogenic genes CYP11B1, CYP11B2, and StAR. Such hormesis-like responses were not seen for o,p′-DDD or the precursor DDT metabolite p,p′-DDE. In addition, the two o,p′-DDD enantiomers (R)-(+)-o,p′-DDD and (S)-(-)-o,p′-DDD exhibited slight differences in cytotoxic and endocrine-modulating activity in H295R cells. In conclusion, this thesis  provides  extended  knowledge  on  the  mechanisms  of  action  of 3-MeSO2-DDE and points out important differences in effects between murine and human cells. Lead optimisation studies of 3-MeSO2-DDE using the herein presented in vitro test systems are ongoing.

Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) are used as an important regulatory instrument to protect workers’ health from adverse effects of chemical exposures. The main objective of this thesis is to study risk assessment practices in the setting of OEL in order to produce knowledge that will help improve the consistency and transparency of OELs. For the purpose of paper I a database of OELs for a total of 1341 substances was compiled. Of these, only 25 substances have OELs from all 18 included organisations while more than one third of the substances are only regulated by one organisation alone. The average level of OELs differs substantially between organisations; the US OSHA exposure limits are (on average) nearly 40 % higher than those of Poland. In paper II six EU member states’ OELs are compared to the European Commission’s OELs. Also within Europe there is a large difference concerning the average level of OELs (35%). The average level of lists tends to decrease over time, although there are exceptions to this. There are also indications that the exposure limits of EU member states are converging towards the European Commission’s OELs. The work presented in paper III identifies steps in the risk assessment that could account for the large differences in OELs for 14 different substances. Differences in the identification of the critical effect could explain the different level of the OELs for half of the substances. But the age of the data review could not account for all the differences in data selection, only one fifth of the documents referred to all available key studies. Also the evaluation of the key studies varied significantly. The aim of paper IV was to investigate how the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) of the European Commission uses assessment factors when proposing health-based indicative OELs. For only one third of the investigated OELs were explicit assessment factors given. On average the safety margin of the recommendations was 2.1 higher when an explicit assessment factor had been used. It is recommended that the SCOEL develop and adhere to a more articulate framework on the use of assessment factors. Paper V focuses on the Derived No-Effect Levels (DNELs) which are to be calculated under the new European Union REACH legislation. It is a comparison of the safety margins of 88 SCOEL recommendations with those of the corresponding worker-DNELs, derived according to the default approach as described in the REACH guidance document. Overall, the REACH safety margins were approximately six times higher than those derived from the SCOEL documentations but varied widely with REACH/SCOEL safety margin ratios ranging by two orders of magnitude, from 0.3 to 58. / QC 20110215

General toxicity evaluation and risk assessment for human exposure is essential when developing new pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Developmental toxicology is an important part of this risk assessment which consumes large resources and many laboratory animals. The prediction of developmental toxicity could potentially be assessed in vitro using embryo-derived pluripotent stem cells for lead characterization and optimization. This thesis explored the potential of short-time assays with pluripotent stem cells of embryonic origin using toxicogenomics. Three established pluripotent stem cell lines; P19 mouse embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells, R1 mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells, and SA002 human embryonic stem (hES) cells were used in the studies. Valproic acid (VPA), an antiepileptic drug which can cause the neural tube defects spina bifida in human and exencephaly in mouse, was used together with microarrays to investigate the global transcriptional response in pluripotent stem cells using short-time exposures (1.5 - 24 h). In addition to VPA, three closely related VPA analogs were tested, one of which was not teratogenic in mice. These analogs also differed in their ability to inhibit histone deacetylase (HDAC) allowing this potential mechanism of VPA teratogenicity to be investigated. The results in EC cells indicated a large number of genes to be putative VPA targets, many of which are known to be involved in neural tube morphogenesis. When compared with data generated in mouse embryos, a number of genes emerged as candidate in vitro markers of VPA-induced teratogenicity. VPA and its teratogenic HDAC inhibiting analog induced major and often overlapping deregulation of genes in mES cells and hES cells. On the other hand, the two non-HDAC inhibiting analogs (one teratogenic and one not) had only minor effects on gene expression. This indicated that HDAC inhibition is likely to be the major mechanism of gene deregulation induced by VPA. In addition, a comparison between human and mouse ES cells revealed an overlap of deregulated genes as well as species specific deregulated genes.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma with very bad prognosis. The genetic hallmark of MCL, is the translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32) which leads to overexpression of cyclin D1, a D-type cyclin that is not usually expressed at high levels in normal B lymphocytes.   Previous studies indicate that cannabinoid receptors are expressed in lymphoma and have shown that lymphoma cell death is induced as a result of exposure to cannabinoids (ligands).   The aim of this diploma work was to combined cytostatics with the cannabinoid receptor ligand R (+)-Methanandmide (R-MA). Our data suggest that combination treatment with cytostatics and R-MA induces synergistic effects in most cases.