Toxicology
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common condition with significant associated morbidity and mortality. Epidemiologic data suggest that a significant proportion of AKI cases is at least partially attributable to nephrotoxin exposure. This is not surprising given intrinsic renal susceptibility to toxicant-induced injury, a consequence of the unique physiologic and biochemical properties of the normally functioning kidney. ⋯ Unfortunately, standard metrics used to diagnose and monitor kidney injury, such as blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine, are insensitive and nonspecific, resulting in delayed diagnosis and intervention. Considerable effort has been made to identify biomarkers that will allow the earlier diagnosis of AKI. Further characterization of these candidate biomarkers will clarify their utility in the setting of acute nephrotoxicity, define new diagnostic and prognostic paradigms for kidney injury, facilitate clinical trials, and lead to novel effective therapies.
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As part of the SAFOTEST project the immunmodulating effect of Cry1Ab protein from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and PHA-E lectin from kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris erythroagglutinin) was examined in 28- and 90-day feeding studies in Wistar rats. PHA-E lectin was chosen as positive control. Rats were fed control rice, transgenic rice expressing Cry1Ab protein or PHA-E lectin, or transgenic rice spiked with the purified recombinant protein. ⋯ An anti-PHA-E and anti-Cry1Ab antibody response was induced both after inhalation (control groups) and after inhalation/ingestion (groups fed recombinant protein alone or together with transgenic rice). In conclusion, only PHA-E lectin was found to have an immunomodulating effect when feeding rats for 90 days with approximately 70 mg PHA-E/kg bodyweight per day. As both PHA-E lectin and Cry1Ab protein were capable of inducing an antigen-specific antibody response it is important to make careful considerations when designing future animal studies to avoid intake of proteins from the other groups by inhalation as well as to examine the sensitization and elicitation potential of 'foreign' proteins before introduction to the world market.