Maciej Rutkowski

Adverse effects of antioxidative vitamins

High doses of synthetic antioxidative vitamins: A, E, C and β-carotene are often used on long-term basis in numerous preventive and therapeutic medical applications. Instead of expected health effects, the use of those vitamins may however lead to cases of hypervitaminosis and even to intoxication. The article points out main principles of safety which are to be observed during supplementation with antioxidative vitamins. Toxic effects resulting from erroneous administration of high doses of those substances on organs and systems of the organism are also discussed. Attention is drawn to interactions of antioxidative vitamins with concomitantly used drugs, as well as intensification of adverse effects caused by various exogenous chemical factors. Moreover, the article presents the evaluation of supplementation with these vitamins, which was performed in large studies.

Adaptation of the phosphotungstate method for the determination of vitamin C contents in animal and human tissues.

The usefulness of phosphotungstate reagent for vitamin C determination in tissue homogenates has been confirmed. An optimal homogenization medium was selected: 1.8 м solution of HPO3 in 1.3 м CH3COOH. With this medium the analytical curve (at 700 nm) demonstrated the right linearity, correlation and recovery coefficients were appropriately high (0.999 and 99.8%) and the values of intraserial and interserial variation coefficient were low (< 5% and < 10%, respectively). It makes this method sensitive, easily repeatable, and useful for vitamin C determination in animal and human tissues, including neoplastic ones.

The effect of electromagnetic radiation emitted by display screens on cell oxygen metabolism – in vitro studies

Introduction Research studies carried out for decades have not solved the problem of the effect of electromagnetic radiation of various frequency and strength on the human organism. Due to this fact, we decided to investigate the changes taking place in human blood platelets under the effect of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitted by LCD monitors. Material and methods The changes of selected parameters of oxygen metabolism were measured, i.e. reactive oxygen species concentration, enzymatic activity of antioxidant defence proteins – superoxide dismutase (SOD-1) and catalase (CAT) – and malondialdehyde concentration (MDA). A suspension of human blood platelets was exposed to electromagnetic radiation of 1 kHz frequency and 150 V/m and 220 V/m intensity for 30 and 60 min. The level of changes of the selected parameters of oxidative stress was determined after the exposure and compared to the control samples (not exposed). Results The measurements revealed an increase of the concentration of reactive oxygen species. The largest increase of ROS concentration vs. the control sample was observed after exposure to EMF of 220 V/m intensity for 60 min (from x = 54.64 to x = 72.92). The measurement of MDA concentration demonstrated a statistically significant increase after 30-min exposure to an EMF of 220 V/m intensity in relation to the initial values (from x = 3.18 to x = 4.41). The enzymatic activity of SOD-1 decreased after exposure (the most prominent change was observed after 60-min and 220 V/m intensity from x = 3556.41 to x = 1084.83). The most significant change in activity of catalase was observed after 60 min and 220 v/m exposure (from x = 6.28 to x = 4.15). Conclusions The findings indicate that exposure to electromagnetic radiation of 1 kHz frequency and 150 V/m and 220 V/m intensity may cause adverse effects within blood platelets’ oxygen metabolism and thus may lead to physiological dysfunction of the organism.

Adaptation of the Phosphotungstate Method to Determine Reduced and Oxidized Vitamin C in Blood Plasma

Abstract The phosphotungstate reagent (PTR) was used for quantitative spectrophotometric determination of physiological forms of vitamin C in blood plasma. An immediate action of PTR on the first half of the tested samples allowed to determine reduced vitamin C concentrations (I) at 700 nm. 10 mм dithiothreitol added to the second half of the samples reduced oxidized vitamin C in it - hence the total amount of this vitamin was reduced with a concentration (II) determined as above (remains of dithiothreitol were removed with N-ethylmaleimide). The difference of results (II) and (I) gave the concentration of oxidized vitamin C. The method is characterised by fault-less analytical parameters: correlation coefficients of analytical curves > 0.99, recovery factor 100.5%, variation coefficients intra- and inter-serial < 3% and < 5%, respectively, detection limit 0.05 μm. The simplicity of the method enables an easy control of the ratio of oxidized and reduced vitamin C concentrations in blood plasma - the biomarker of the level of oxidative damage to cells.

The impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by LCD monitors on selected blood cell counts – in vitro studies

There are numerous reports on the effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in various cellular systems. The article presents the results of in vitro studies aimed at identifying changes in activity of the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) and protective antioxidant role of vitamin E during the exposure of blood platelets to EMR (electromagnetic radiation) generated by LCD monitors. Streszczenie. Istnieje wiele doniesień dotyczacych wpływu promieniowania elektromagnetycznego (EMR) na różne systemy komórkowe. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań in vitro mających na celu określenie zmian aktywności dysmutazy ponadtlenkowej (SOD) i antyoksydacyjnej roli witaminy E podczas ekspozycji płytek krwi na EMR (promieniowanie elektromagnetyczne) generowane przez monitory LCD (Wpływ pola elektromagnetycznego emitowanego przez monitory LCD na wybrane elementy morfotyczne krwi – badania in vitro).

Impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by monitors on changes in the cellular membrane structure and protective antioxidant effect of vitamin A – In vitro study

OBJECTIVES The increasing number of devices emitting electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in peoples everyday life attracted the attention of researchers because of possible adverse effects of this factor on living organisms. One of the EMR effect may be peroxidation of lipid membranes formed as a result of free radical process. The article presents the results of in vitro studies aimed at identifying changes in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration - a marker of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant role of vitamin A during the exposure of blood platelets to electromagnetic radiation generated by liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors. MATERIAL AND METHODS Electromagnetic radiation emitted by LCD monitors is characterized by parameters: 1 kHz frequency and 220 V/m intensity (15 cm from display screen). The time of exposure was 30 and 60 min. The study was conducted on porcine blood platelets. The samples were divided into 6 groups: unexposed to radiation, unexposed + vitamin A, exposed for 30 min, exposed for 30 min + vitamin A, exposed for 60 min, exposed for 60 min + vitamin A. RESULTS The MDA concentration in blood platelets increases significantly as compared to control values after 60 min of exposure to EMR. A significant decrease in MDA concentration after the addition of vitamin A was noticed. In the blood samples exposed to EMR for 30 and 60 min the MDA concentration was significantly increased by addition of vitamin A. CONCLUSIONS The results show the possibly negative effect of electromagnetic radiation on the cellular membrane structure manifested by changes in malondialdehyde concentration and indicate a possible protective role of vitamin A in this process. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):695-703.

Authors’ response (September 1, 2017) to the letter to the Editor concerning the paper “Impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by monitors on changes in the cellular membrane structure and protective antioxidant effect of vitamin A – In vitro study”

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the letter to the Editor [1] concerning the paper entitled “Impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by monitors on changes in the cellular membrane structure and protective antioxidant effect of vitamin A – In vitro study” [2]. This paper has evaluated the effect of electromagnetic radiation (1 kHz frequency, 220 V/m intensity) emitted by liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors on the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) that is a marker of lipid peroxidation. The study has also determined the antioxidant role of vitamin A during the exposure of blood platelets to electromagnetic radiation generated by LCD monitors. The results show the possible negative effect of electromagnetic radiation on the cellular membrane structure manifested by changes in malondialdehyde concentration and indicate a possible protective role of vitamin A in this process. Due to the objections about the radiation source and values of the electromagnetic radiation we can explain that the values of electromagnetic fields given in our article are the values measured in real terms emitted by the LCD monitors commonly used in the current period. Measurements were taken using the electrometers: Spectran NF – 5035 and Spectran HF – 6065 produced by Aaronia firm. In our opinion the measurements made under these conditions are correct. We measured the field by means of the measurement procedure on the location of points placed in front of the monitor adhering to the requirements of the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation – TCO) [3] which specifies strict conditions for the measurement of exposure. With regard to the question of the distance away from the monitor used in the in vitro study, we absolutely agree with the opinion that the standards set down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (according to OSHA) are 50 cm and 100 cm but from the realistic point of view these norms are usually ignored especially when using portable computers in the domestic area. Furthermore, we decided to choose the shorter distance because it is