Occupational exposure to pesticides deregulates systemic cortisol levels in women with breast cancer and correlates with poor prognosis features

Pesticides have been pointed out as hormone disruptors and may significantly affect the prognosis of hormone-dependent diseases such as breast cancer (BC). Here, we investigated the impact of occupational pesticide exposure on systemic cortisol levels in female rural workers diagnosed with BC. Occupational exposure was assessed by interviews with a standardized questionnaire. Plasma samples (112 from pesticide-exposed women and 77 from unexposed women) were collected in the afternoon, outside the physiological cortisol peak, and analyzed by a chemiluminescent paramagnetic immunoassay for the quantitative determination of cortisol levels in serum and plasma. The results from both groups were categorized according to patients' clinicopathological and exposure data. BC pesticide-exposed women presented higher levels of cortisol than the unexposed. Higher cortisol levels were also detected in the exposed group with more aggressive disease (triple-negative BC), with tumors over 2 cm, with lymph node metastases, and with high risk of disease recurrence and death. These findings demonstrated that there is an association between pesticide exposure and BC that affected cortisol levels and correlated to poor disease prognosis.

Proinflammatory circulating markers: new players for evaluating asymptomatic acute cardiovascular toxicity in breast cancer treatment

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate markers of cardiac damage (total CK, CKMB and CRP), inflammatory markers (free iron, homocysteine and TNF-α) as well as lipidogram in breast cancer patients undergoing acute cycles of doxorubicin (DOX), paclitaxel (PTX) or trastuzumab (TZ) and to verify if there is an association between these markers and the toxicity of the chemotherapeutic treatment. Methods: Included in the study were 120 breast cancer patients and 50 healthy controls. All analyzes were performed on automated systems. For the statistical analysis, each group was compared with the controls according to their normality by Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney test. Results: Our results showed that DOX treatment led to increased hsCRP (4.80 ± 1.23 mg/dL, p = 0.0005), triglycerides (187.6 ± 25.06, p = 0.0231), TNF-α (42.31 ± 17.96 pg/mL, p = 0.01) and Fe levels (138.8 ± 18.6 μg/dL, p = 0.0193). In the meantime, PTX induced changes in CK-MB (8.78 ± 4.2 U/L, p = 0.0361), hsCRP (7.12 ± 1.87 mg/dL, p = 0.0006), cholesterol (201.7 ± 19.54, p = 0.05), triglycerides (201.7 ± 19.54, p = 0.0277), TNF-α (38.27 ± 9.12 pg/mL, p = 0.023), homocysteine (10.95 ± 0, 86 μmol/L, p = 0.005), and free iron (113 ± 18 6 μg/dL, p = 0.045) while TZ augmented CK-MB (6.9 ± 1.97 U/L, p < 0.00), hsPCR (3.12 ± 0.68 mg/dL, p = 0.095), cholesterol (218.3 ± 16.79, p = 0.0317), triglycerides (218.3 ± 16.79, p = 0.0127), TNF-α (89.6 ± 12.11, p = 0.032), homocysteine (9.95 ± 1.15 μmol/L, p = 0.0396), free iron (120.5 ± 4.64 μg/dl, p = 0.0058) as well. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated the existence of a proinflammatory net triggered by breast cancer chemotherapy that could increase cardiomyocytes permeability and allow the leakage of circulating proteins as CK-MB and induce the production of hsCRP.

Lipid peroxidation and total radical-trapping potential of the lungs of rats submitted to chronic and sub-chronic stress

Exposure to stress induces a cluster of physiological and behavioral changes in an effort to maintain the homeostasis of the organism. Long-term exposure to stress, however, has detrimental effects on several cell functions such as the impairment of antioxidant defenses leading to oxidative damage. Oxidative stress is a central feature of many diseases. The lungs are particularly susceptible to lesions by free radicals and pulmonary antioxidant defenses are extensively distributed and include both enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems. The aim of the present study was to determine lipid peroxidation and total radical-trapping potential (TRAP) changes in lungs of rats submitted to different models of chronic stress. Adult male Wistar rats weighing 180-230 g were submitted to different stressors (variable stress, N = 7) or repeated restraint stress for 15 (N = 10) or 40 days (N = 6) and compared to control groups (N = 10 each). Lipid peroxidation levels were assessed by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and TRAP was measured by the decrease in luminescence using the 2-2'-azo-bis(2-amidinopropane)-luminol system. Chronic variable stress induced a 51% increase in oxidative stress in lungs (control group: 0.037 +/- 0.002; variable stress: 0.056 +/- 0.007, P < 0.01). No difference in TBARS was observed after chronic restraint stress, but a significant 57% increase in TRAP was presented by the group repeatedly restrained for 15 days (control group: 2.48 +/- 0.42; stressed: 3.65 +/- 0.16, P < 0.05). We conclude that different stressors induce different effects on the oxidative status of the organism.