Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

The mild inflammatory response against stented bioprosthetic heart valves in the sheep model is often opposed by a more distinct response in failing human implants. With the emergence of stentless root prostheses with their significantly larger proportion of tissue interacting with the immune system of the host, a more relevant animal model than the sheep may be needed. Valved, porcine aortic roots of 5 cm length were fixed in 0.2% glutaraldehyde and implanted in the upper descending aorta of Merino sheep (n = 5; 43+/-3 kg) and Chacma baboons (n = 5; 17+/-3 kg). After 6 weeks of tissue calcification, pannus outgrowth and inflammation were assessed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, histologic damage scoring (0 to 3), image analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The main difference between the two animal models was in aortic wall calcification (64.8+/-39.8 microg/mg in the sheep model versus 4.1+/-5.9 microg/mg in the primate model; p > 0.005). In both models, leaflet calcification was negligible (2.6+/-2.4 microg/mg in the sheep versus 2.5+/-1.9 microg/mg in the primate), and the overall extent of inflammation was comparable (1.2+/-0.8 versus 0.98+/-0.7; p = 0.18 in the sheep and the primate, respectively). Qualitatively, the sheep demonstrated a macrophage-dominated reaction whereas the inflammatory demarcation often resembled a granulocyte-dominated xenograft response in the primate. Pannus outgrowth was comparable in length (8.4+/-2.3 mm versus 9.1+/-4.3 mm proximally and 7.1+/-3.4 mm versus 7.4+/-5.1 mm distally, in the sheep and baboon, respectively; p > 0.05). Our results confirm the sheep as a significantly stronger calcification model for stentless aortic heart valves than the primate. Remaining antigenicity of porcine tissue as a result of incomplete cross-linking, however, elicits a distinctly stronger xenograft-type reaction in the primate model.

Deficiencies of micronutrients (zinc, iron, folic acid and iodine) during pregnancy are known causes of Low Birth Weight (LBW). Studies have documented status of one or two micronutrients amongst pregnant women (PW). However, no attempt has been made to concurrently assess the prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies and the factors associated with them amongst PW.Objective: The present study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies amongst PW in a rural area.Methods: A community based cross sectional survey was conducted in six villages of a rural area of district Faridabad in Haryana state, India during November 2000 and October 2001. All PW aged 18 years or more, with pregnancy duration of more than 28 weeks were enrolled. Data were collected on socio-economic status and other demographic parameters. Serum zinc, copper and magnesium levels were estimated by utilizing the Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS); serum ferritin and folate was estimated by Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) method and the Radio-lmmuno Assay (RIA) method, respectively and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level was estimated by the Abbot AxSYM System. Serum zinc, copper, magnesium, ferritin, and folate levels less than 70.0 μg/dl, 80.0 μg/dl, 1.80 mg/dl, 15 ng/ml, and 3 ng/ml, respectively were considered as indicative of deficiency for respective micronutrients. The TSH levels of 4.670 and more indicated iodine deficiency status. Dietary intake of micronutrients was assessed utilizing 1-day 24-hour dietary recall methodology. Food consumption pattern was assessed utilizing the food frequency questionnaire methodology.Results: Nearly 73.5, 2.7, 43.6, 73.4, 26.3, and 6.4 percent PW were deficient in zinc, copper, magnesium, iron, folic acid and iodine, respectively. The highest concurrent prevalence of two, three, four and five micronutrient deficiency was of zinc and iron (54.9%); zinc, magnesium and iron (25.6%); zinc, magnesium, iron and folic acid (9.3%) and zinc, magnesium, iron, folic acid and iodine (0.8%), respectively. No pregnant woman was found to have concomitant deficiencies of all the six micronutrients. Dietary intake data revealed an inadequate nutrient intake. Over 19% PW were consuming less than 50% of the recommended calories. Similarly, 99, 86.2, 75.4, 23.6, 3.9 percent of the PW were consuming less than 50% of the recommended folic acid, zinc, iron, copper, and magnesium. The consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients (pulses, vegetables, fruits, nuts and oil seeds, animal foods) was infrequent. Univariate and Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that low dietary intake of nutrients, low frequency of consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients and increased reproductive cycles with short interpregnancy intervals were important factors leading to micronutrient deficiencies.Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies amongst the PW of the area, possibly due to the poor dietary intake of food and low frequency of consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients. The concurrent prevalence of two, three, four and five micronutrient deficiencies were common.

Little is known of copper content of Brazilian food. In this paper, copper contents of several typical Brazilian foods were determined. The samples were bought in retail stores in cities of the southeast region of Brazil. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry with wet oxidation of the organic material was employed. The highest copper content was found in beef liver (6.06 mg/100 g of fresh product). Lowest copper content was found in milk and in fish fillet, with values below 0.01 mg/100 g of fresh product. Crude beans, NescauTM and whole wheat had copper contents from 0.44 to 1.04 mg/100 g of fresh food. Other foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grain products, baked products, roots and meat products had copper contents varying from 0.02 to 0.41 mg/100 g.

A multitude of methods exists at present for the solubilization of biological tissues for atomic absorption analysis. We have examined several common methods of wet ashing using NBS bovine liver in order to determine which acids, acid combinations, or bases should be used as digesting agents for accurate and precise measurement of iron, copper, zinc, and manganese. Nitric acid proved to be the most effective wet ashing agent. With nitric acid, mean concentrations for iron, copper, and zinc differed from NBS certified values by less than 1.5% while those for manganese differed by 4%.

The present study elucidates anti-inflammatory potential and biochemical activity via 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging potential (DPPH), total antioxidant activity (TAA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), ferrous chelating activity (FCA), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) of aqua-methanol (AqM) and aqua-acetone (AqA) extracts of Anagallis arvensis L. leaf along with mineral content (AAS) and quantitative phytochemicals (FT-IR and GC-MS). AqM extract exhibited maximum anti-inflammatory activity (82.90 ± 0.91%), DPPH (65.06 ± 1.87%), TAA (46.85 ± 7.32 μg VCE/mg), FRAP (73.82 ± 1.21 μg TE/mg), TPC (104.17 ± 1.41 μg GAE/mg); while AqA showed maximum FCA (64.77 ± 1.61%) and TFC (19.12 ± 1.24 μg QE/mg). FT-IR spectra of AqM extract ranged from 1020.58 to 3853.42 cm-1. The major six phytochemicals investigated through GC-MS were 9-octadecenoic acid (Z)-methylester; 2-hexadecen-1-ol-3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-[R-[R*,R*-(E)]]; methyl elaidate; 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol; 9-octadecenamide-(Z)-; and benzoic acid 2-hydroxy-phenylmethyl ester exhibiting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The present investigation characterizes the pharmacognostic and phytochemical profile of A. arvensis leading towards its futuristic significance in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.

This study explored the heavy metals contamination of fruit juices collected from companies of Lahore, Pakistan. The amount of heavy metals was determined by Atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Heavy metals i-e Nickle, Cadmium and Copper contents in the collected samples (apple, mango, pine apple, red grapes, peach and mix fruit juices) were found at different levels. Not all the three heavy metals were detected in all the juice samples because of their extremely low concentrations. Our results indicated that the concentration of Copper (Cu) and Cadmium (Cd) in all the juice samples were below the maximum permissible limit issued by Punjab Pure Food Rules 2011. But the concentration of Nickel (Ni) is 24% in the samples was exceeding the maximum permissible limit which may cause harmful effects to human health.

Introduction: Work with lead is a universal industrial problem, especially when done without labor hygiene approach. Lead Peruvian's mining and metallurgy maintains good quality programs for management of occupational health, but informal Peruvian industry does not. Objectives: To determine the actual heath status of handicraft and informal batteries factories workers using blood lead levels as exposition indicators. Design: Observational and

In: Air Monitoring and Detection of Chemical and Biological Agents (edited by J. Leonelli and ML Althouse). Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Vol. 3855. pp. 34-41. September 1999. ... A novel laser breakdown spectrometer for environmental ...

Elemental analysis of some medicinal plants used in the Indian Ayurvedic system was performed by employing instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor and the induced activity was counted by gamma ray spec-trometry using an efficiency calibrated high resolution high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Most of the medicinal plants were found to be rich in one or more of the elements under study. The variation in elemental concentration in same medicinal plants samples collected in summer, winter and rainy seasons was studied and the biological effects of these elements on human beings are discussed.

A simple and cost effective spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of Imipenem (IMP) in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the formation of dark yellow colored chromogen when the drug reacts with 1,2 naphtho quinone 4-sulphonic acid sodium salt (NQS) reagent in alkalline medium. The method involves the addition of excess NQS of known concentration in the presence of 2.0 mL NaOH and the unreacted NQS was determined by the measurement of the λmax 449 nm, which was found to be the most suitable of several tests. This method was applied for the determination of drug contents in pharmaceutical formulations and enabled the determination of the drug in microgram quantities (0.5 to 3.0 mL). No interference is observed from excipients and the validity of the method was tested against reference method. The colored species has an absorption maximum at 449 nm for IMP (Method A) and obeys beer’s law in the concentration range 0.02 – 0.12 mg/mL of IMP. The apparent molar absorptivity is 0.0190 and sandell’s sensitivity is 7x10-4. The slope is 0.2284 ± 0.0118 and intercept of the equation of the regression line is 0.04971 ± 0.02144. The optimum experimental parameters for the reaction have been studied and the validity of the described procedure was assessed. Statistical analysis of the results has been carried out revealing high accuracy and good precision. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of IMP in pharmaceutical formulations.

Specific parts (leaves and roots) of different medicinal plants often used in Indian Ayurvedic system were analysed for 18 elements (K, Mn, Na, Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Br, Sm, Cl, La, Al, Cr, Ca Cd, Ni, Pb and Hg) by employing instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor and the induced activities were counted by γ-ray spectrometry using efficiency calibrated high resolution High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Most of the medicinal plants were found to be rich in one or more of the elements under study. The elemental concentration in different part of medicinal plants and their biological effects on human beings are discussed.

The effect of rooting media Cu concentration (0.05–20 mg Cu L-1) on amino acid concentrations and copper speciation in the xylem sap of chicory and tomato plants was measured using 6 week old plants grown in a nutrient film technique system (NFT). ...

- Industrial waste is one of the most important sources of
contamination in the surface environment. The impact of heavy
metals in soils, plants, animals and humans is due to the unabated expansion of toxic effects. The toxic wastes generated are treated by physicochemical processes in which “Bioremediation” is the microbial clean up approach. Plant based remediation (Phytoremediation) is an emerging biotechnological tool, for cleaning metal polluted or contaminated soil. The present study deals with phytoremediation of metal polluted soil collected from Delhi and surrounding areas utilizing Vetiver grass, which is one of the best “Hyperaccumulators” for the hytoremediation of metal polluted sites

Background: One of the main problems of ethnomedicine, Ayurvedic system is lack of solid scientific evidence regarding safety, efficacy, quality of practices and their precise molecular mechanisms. However, many Ayurvedic preparations appear to demonstrate significant success in treatment and cure of complex diseases. Purpose: In order to develop a stronger basis for appreciating the curative effects of Ayurvedic medicinal plants, the aim of the present study was to investigate their elemental composition, which is very often overlooked in biochemical assays. Sample and Method: In the present study is applied one of the sensitive analytical techniques such as instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) to study the essential elemental content in different parts of six different Indian medicinal plants. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor and the induced activities were counted by γ-ray spectrometry using efficiency calibrated high resolution High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Results: The results were discussed with careful reference to established role of essential elements in the physiology and pathology of human life. The overall impact of these essential trace elements on human health is also discussed. Conclusion: The data obtained on elemental concentration of the medicinal plants studied will be useful in deciding the dosage of the Ayurvedic drugs prepared from these plant materials. The results of the present research work will be helpful to Ayurvedic clinicians and scientists who would like to pursue further research in the areas of Ayurvedic and alternative medicines.

Specific parts (leaves and fruits) of different medicinal plants often used in Indian ayurvedic system were analysed for 18 elements (K, Mn, Na, Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Br, Sm, Cl, La, Al, Cr, Ca Cd, Ni, Pb and Hg) by employing instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor and the induced activities were counted by γ-ray spectrometry using efficiency calibrated high resolution high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Most of the medicinal plants were found to be rich in one or more of the elements under study. The elemental concentration in different part of medicinal plants and their biological effects on human beings are discussed.

Assessment of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, and Pb) content of fluted pumpkin leaves (Telfairia occidentalis) cultivated along the bank of river Benue at Makurdi, Central Nigeria was done using atomic absorption spectrophotometery (AAS). The concentration of these metals was also determined in the soil and river Benue water samples. The results show the mean concentration of heavy metals in T. occidentalis leaves samples as: Fe (54.7±21.9 mg/kg), Mn (278 ± 156 mg/kg), Zn (50.4 ± 9.2 mg/kg), Cu (5.03 ± 1.1 mg/kg), Cd (0.760 ± 0.2 mg/kg), Cr (3.78 ± 2.9 mg/kg) and Pb (44.05 ± 22.6 mg/kg). The load of heavy metals in fluted pumpkin leaves ' samples increased in the order Cd<Cr<Cu<Pb<Zn<Fe<Mn. This correlates with the trend of observed heavy metals content in the order Cd<Cu<Cr<Pb<Zn<Mn<Fe for the analysed soil and water samples. The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu in the vegetable were below Codex Alimentarius limits while Cd, Cr an...

To assess the potential of the native plant species for phytoremediation, plant and soil samples were collected from two areas in Thailand that have histories of arsenic pollution from mine tailings. The areas were the Ron Phibun District (Nakorn Si Thammarat province) and ...

The aim of this study is to determine the content of total iron (TFe), heme iron (HeFe), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) in different cuts of meat and viscera from rabbit. Five young New Zealand rabbits were used in the study. Samples in triplicate were obtained from three meat cuts (foreleg, hind leg, and loin) and from main viscera. TFe, Zn, and Cu concentrations from samples were determined by wet acid digestion followed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), while HeFe was determined by acid extraction followed by AAS. Mean TFe, HeFe, Zn, and Cu in meat was 0.83 ± 0.09, 0.56 ± 0.11, 0.95 ± 0.35, and 0.08 ± 0.01 mg/100 g, respectively. TFe content was less than 1 mg/100 g in all meat cuts. Sixty-seven percent of iron content was HeFe. The cut of meat with highest Zn concentrations was the foreleg with 1.33 ± 0.12 mg/100 g. Cu content was low for all meat cuts. TFe, HeFe, Zn, and Cu content in viscera varied greatly. The spleen was the organ with the highest TFe and Zn concentrations (82.79 ± 9.22 mg/100 g and 3.49 ± 0.63 mg/100 g, respectively). Nevertheless, the lungs had the highest concentration of HeFe (5.79 ± 0.90 mg/100 g), accounting for 91% of the total iron. The liver had the highest Cu content (3.89 ± 0.89 mg/100 g). Rabbit meat has low TFe concentration, similar to that of poultry, and most of the iron is HeFe. The amount of minerals in viscera closely depends on their function.