Inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure is a serious health problem that affects more than 140 million individuals worldwide, mainly, through contaminated drinking water. Acute iAs poisoning produces several symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe diarrhea, whereas prolonged iAs exposure increased the risk of several malignant disorders such as lung, urinary tract, and skin tumors. Another sensitive endpoint less described of chronic iAs exposure are the non-malignant health effects in hepatic, endocrine, renal, neurological, hematological, immune, and cardiovascular systems. The present review outlines epidemiology evidence and possible molecular mechanisms associated with iAs-toxicity in several non-carcinogenic disorders.

Two siblings from a Mexican family who carried lethal Raine syndrome are presented. A newborn term male (case 1) and his 21 gestational week brother (case 2), with a similar osteosclerotic pattern: generalized osteosclerosis, which is more evident in facial bones and cranial base. Prenatal findings at 21 weeks and histopathological features for case 2 are described. A novel combination of biallelic FAM20C pathogenic variants were detected, a maternal cytosine duplication at position 456 and a paternal deletion of a cytosine in position 474 in exon 1, which change the reading frame with a premature termination at codon 207 and 185 respectively. These changes are in concordance with a negative detection of the protein in liver and kidney as shown in case 2. Necropsy showed absence of pancreatic Langerhans Islets, which are reported here for the first time. Corpus callosum absence is added to the few reported cases of brain defects in Raine syndrome. This report shows two new FAM20C variants not described previously, and negative protein detection in the liver and the kidney. We highlight that lethal Raine syndrome is well defined as early as 21 weeks, including mineralization defects and craniofacial features. Pancreas and brain defects found here in FAM20C deficiency extend the functional spectrum of this protein to previously unknown organs.

Diabetes mellitus is the most common chronic disease worldwide that causes numerous complications, including male infertility. The prevalence of DM is 451 million people and estimated that would increase to 693 million in 2045. Fluorosis caused by drinking water contaminated with inorganic fluoride is a public health problem in many areas around the world. Previous studies have shown that fluoride exposure damages the male reproductive function. This study aimed to evaluate the fluoride sub-chronic exposure on the spermatozoa function in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. After confirming diabetes by measuring blood glucose levels, the male mice received 45.2 ppm of fluoride added or deionized water. We evaluated several parameters in diabetic mice exposed to fluoride: standard quality analysis, the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ψm), the caspase activity in spermatozoa, urinary fluoride excretion, and histological evaluation in the testes. After 60 days of fluoride-exposure, diabetic mice, significantly decreased sperm quality (motility, viability, and concentration). Spermatozoa from fluoride-exposure in diabetic mice presented a significant decrease in ψm and a significant increase in activity caspase 3/7. Urinary fluoride excretion was decreased in diabetic mice exposed to fluoride. Subchronic fluoride exposure of mice with STZ-induced diabetes aggravated testicular damage and the spermatozoa function.

Los principales polinizadores de la flora silvestre son las abejas sin aguijón y los productos del nido como el polen recolectado, el propóleo y principalmente la miel; han sido empleados en la dieta diaria y aún mejor en la medicina tradicional. Empleando palabras clave como: actividad antimicrobiana, antioxidante, antibacteriana y anticancerígena se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en libros y artículos de investigación de los buscadores científicos PubMed, World Wide Science, Google Scholar y Springer Link, para describir aspectos generales y ejemplos de los beneficios en la salud de la miel. Estudios in vitro e in vivo han demostrado una relación positiva entre las características fisicoquímicas y la composición fitoquímica de la miel con el efecto benéfico en el tratamiento de afecciones leves como cicatrización de heridas, hasta procesos complejos de inflamación, estrés oxidativo, o infecciones microbianas. Así, la miel de abejas sin aguijón representa un producto con potencial terapéutico.  

Current therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has improved patient life expectancy close to that of healthy individuals. However, molecular alterations other than BCR::ABL1 fusion gene in CML are barely known. MicroRNAs are important regulators of gene expression, and variants in some of the components of microRNA biosynthesis pathways have been associated with genetic susceptibility to different types of cancer. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association of variants located in genes involved in the biogenesis of microRNAs with susceptibility to CML. Fifteen variants in eight genes involved in the biogenesis of miRNAs were genotyped in 296 individuals with CML and 485 healthy participants using TaqMan probes. The association of gene variants with CML and clinical variables was evaluated by a Chi-square test, and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by logistic regression. The variant rs13078 in DICER1 was significantly higher among CML individuals than in healthy participants. In addition, the variants rs7813 and rs2740349 were significantly associated with worse prognosis, according to their Hasford scores, whereas the rs2740349 variant was also associated with a later age at diagnosis. These findings suggest that variants in components of the microRNA biogenesis pathway could be involved in CML genetic risk.

La presencia de Arsénico en agua de consumo humano se ha vuelto un problema se salud pública a nivel mundial. En México, se ha reportado la exposición a este contaminante en diferentes estados de la república, y se ha asociado con diversas afectaciones a la salud. Utilizando la base de datos científica PubMed, se introdujeron las palabras clave Arsénico, Agua y México a fin de recopilar los estudios existentes sobre las concentraciones de Arsénico en agua en diferentes sitios de la república, así como de los efectos en la salud de poblaciones mexicanas expuestas. Después del análisis se encontró asociación con enfermedades metabólicas y cardiopulmonares, así como la presencia de indicios de daño renal y al ADN. Todo esto muestra la necesidad de contar con estrategias de remoción y, sobre todo, políticas públicas más estrictas y aplicables que puedan ayudar a mejorar la salud pública en nuestro país.