ascorbic-acid and potassium-perchlorate

Perchlorate is a chemical compound commonly used in military artillery and equipment. It has been detected in drinking water, air, soil, and breast milk. Exposure of humans to perchlorate can occur in the theater of war and areas adjacent to military training grounds. A high concentration of perchlorate has been found to affect reproduction in vertebrates, including fish. However, whether environmental concentrations of perchlorate can affect primordial germ cells (PGCs), the founders of sperm and eggs, is not clearly understood. In the present study, we examined the effects of 0, 10, 100, and 1000 μg/L potassium perchlorate exposure on the embryonic development of medaka and their PGCs. Perchlorate exposure delayed hatching time, reduced heartbeat, inhibited migration of PGCs, and increased developmental deformities in the larvae. The 10 and 20 mg/L concentrations of perchlorate were lethal to embryos, whereas vitamin C co-treatment (1 mg/L) completely blocked perchlorate-induced mortality. RNA-seq analysis of isolated PGCs showed a non-linear pattern in expression profiles of differentially altered genes. Significantly upregulated genes were found in PGCs from the 10 and 1000 μg/L groups, whereas the 100 μg/L groups showed the highest number of significantly downregulated genes. Gene ontology analysis predicted differentially expressed genes to be involved in proteolysis, metabolic processes, peptides activity, hydrolase activity, and hormone activity. Among the cellular components, extracellular, intracellular, sarcoplasmic, and 6-phosphofructokinase and membrane-bounded processes were affected. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of PGC transcriptomes revealed thyroid hormone signaling to be affected by all concentrations of perchlorate. The present results suggested that perchlorate affected the development of medaka larvae and vitamin C was able to ameliorate perchlorate-induced embryo mortality. Additionally, perchlorate altered the global transcriptional network in PGCs in a non-linear fashion suggesting its potential effects on developing germ cells and fertility.

Topics: Animals; Ascorbic Acid; Drinking Water; Female; Germ Cells; Hormones; Humans; Hydrolases; Larva; Male; Oryzias; Perchlorates; Potassium Compounds; Semen; Soil; Water Pollutants, Chemical

The trace detection and forensic analysis of black powders and black powder substitutes, directly from wipe-based sample collections, was demonstrated using infrared thermal desorption (IRTD) coupled with direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS). Discrete 15 s heating ramps were generated, creating a thermal desorption profile that desorbed more volatile species (e.g., organic and semivolatile inorganic compounds) at lower temperatures (250-400 °C) and nonvolatile inorganic oxidizers at high temperatures (450-550 °C). Common inorganic components of black powders (e.g., sulfur and potassium nitrate) as well as the alternative and additional organic and inorganic components of common black powder substitutes (e.g., dicyandiamide, ascorbic acid, sodium benzoate, guanidine nitrate, and potassium perchlorate) were detected from polytetrafluoroethylene-coated fiberglass collection wipes with no additional sample preparation. IRTD-DART-MS enabled the direct detection of intact inorganic salt species as nitrate adducts (e.g., [KClO

Topics: Ascorbic Acid; Forensic Sciences; Guanidine; Guanidines; Humans; Mass Spectrometry; Nitrates; Perchlorates; Potassium Compounds; Powders; Sodium Benzoate; Spectrophotometry, Infrared; Sulfur; Temperature; Time Factors