Nitrosamines and Related N-nitroso Compounds


Book Description

Investigates the compound formation, bioactivation, and detoxification of the N-nitroso group of compounds, which increasingly appears to be implicated in human carcinogenesis. The topics include exposure, formation, and blocking; nitric oxide; nitrosamine; toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects; and reactive intermediates. The 45 papers largely report on research rather than review the literature. The symposium that occasioned them was in Washington, DC, in August 1992. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Analytical Determination of Nicotine and Related Compounds and their Metabolites


Book Description

This book provides for the first time a single comprehensive source of information on the analytical chemistry of nicotine and related alkaloids. The editors have brought together scientists from academia and the tobacco industry to describe the state-of-the-art of the chemistry and analytical methods for measurement of nicotine. Both the scope and detail of the book are impressive. Chapters describe the history, pharmacology and toxicology of nicotine, the biosynthesis of nicotine and other alkaloids in the tobacco plant, the general chemistry of nicotine and the analytical methodologies that have been used to measure nicotine and related alkaloids in biological specimens, in tobacco and pharmaceutical products and in tobacco smoke. There is also a comprehensive review of the chemistry and toxicology of nicotine-derived nitrosamines, an important class of tobacco carcinogens.




Mutation, Cancer, and Malformation


Book Description

During the early 1930s, when I was a graduate student and later a post-doctoral researcher at the National Research Council for the University of Wisconsin at Madison, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with many graduate students from China who were sent to the University for training in modern basic sciences as well as social sciences. The University of Wisconsin continues to graduate a large number of Chinese students. Economic conditions in the 1930s were very precarious for the United States and other parts of the world. Many of us students grew closer together because we were living on similarly tight budgets. As a matter of fact, we subleased a part of our apartment in Madison to some Chinese graduate students. This was a very nice opportunity for us to learn about the scientific and cultural back ground of our Chinese friends. Many of them came from the interior of China and had had very little opportunity to become acquainted with people from a western culture. Living with these students was a very pleasant and educational experience which gave us a good pic ture of the cultural life and educational system of China at that time--an intimate picture that one normally would not see without travelling in that country.




Nitrosation Reactions and the Chemistry of Nitric Oxide


Book Description

Since 1988, there has been much literature published on the chemistry of nitric oxide, particularly in the field of S-nitrosation and the chemistry of S-nitroso compounds. Written by a chemist for the chemistry community, this book provides an update of the chemistry of nitrosation reactions, dealing with both the synthetic and mechanistic aspects of these reactions. It also looks at the chemistry of nitric oxide in relation to the amazing biological properties of this simple diatomic molecule, which were unknown until around 1990.* Provides an update on previously published literature on nitric oxide chemistry* Contains chapters on reagents for nitrosation, nitrosation at nitrogen, aliphatic and aromatic carbon, oxygen, sulfur and metal centres* Looks at hot research topics such as synthesis, properties and reactions of s-nitrosothiols




Autoxidation in Food and Biological Systems


Book Description

The material presented in this book deals with basic mechanisms of free radical reactions in autoxidation processes and anitoxidant suppression of autoxidation of foods, biochemical models and biologi cal systems. Autoxidation in foods and corresponding biological effects are usually approached separately although recent mechanistic developments in the biochemistry and free radical chemistry of per oxides and their precursors tend to bring these two fields closer. Apparent ability of antioxidants in diets to reduce the inci dence of cancer has resulted in scrutiny of autoxidized products and their precursors as possibly toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic agents. Mechanisms of any of these effects have been barely ad dressed. Yet we know now that free radicals, as esoteric as they were only a few decades ago, are being discovered in foods, biochem ical and biological systems and do play a role in the above-mentioned causalities. The purpose of the Workshop and the resulting book was to give a unifying approach towards study of beneficial and deleterious effects of autoxidation, based on rigorous scientific considerations. It is our hope that the material presented in this book will not only provide a review of the "state of the art" of autoxidation and anti oxidants, but also reflect the interaction which occurred during the Workshop between workers using model sytems, and food and biological systems.




How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease


Book Description

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.




Betel-quid and Areca-nut Chewing and Some Areca-nut-derived Nitrosamines


Book Description

A working group of sixteen experts from seven countries re-evaluated the evidence of the carcinogenicity of betel-quid and areca-nut chewing and some areca-nut related nitrosamines. Betel-quid and areca-nut chewing are widely practised in many parts of Asia and in Asian-migrant communities elsewhere in the world. There are hundreds of millions of users worldwide. They evaluated betel quid with tobacco as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the basis of sufficient evidence of an increased risk of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx and oesophagus. The working group reviewed epidemiological studies of human cancer, mainly studies from India, Pakistan and Taiwan (China). Studies on betel quid with tobacco and areca nut with tobacco in experimental animals now also provide sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity. The working group also evaluated betel quid without tobacco as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), on the basis of sufficient evidence of an increased risk of oral cancer. Studies on betel quid without tobacco and areca nut without tobacco in experimental animals now also provide sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity. Areca nut, a common ingredient of betel quid and many different chewing preparations, including those available commercially, has been observed to cause oral submucous fibrosis







Chemical Carcinogenesis


Book Description

About two centuries after the communication by Sir Percival Pott that the "chimney sweeper disease" was a cancer and its suggestion that active compounds of soot were the causative agents, and about one century after the description of urinary bladder cancer in dye workers, an enormous number of substances have been synthesized and have probably come into contact with man. Research in cancer prevention is of primary importance, and may receive continuous support from new discoveries on cancer etiology and pathogenesis. If one accepts the multistage model of chemical carcinogenesis, one has also to accept that many events occur between the contact of carcino genic compounds and their specific targets and the development of a clinically recognizable neoplasm. Thus, animal studies become essential to elucidate the different steps by which chemical carcinogens induce neoplasia. The analysis of these steps and the comparative evaluation of experimental models is essential to an understanding of pathogenesis.




Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems and Management


Book Description

Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems, and Management is the first volume to provide a holistic perspective and comprehensive treatment of nitrogen from field, to ecosystem, to treatment of urban and rural drinking water supplies, while also including a historical overview, human health impacts and policy considerations. It provides a worldwide perspective on nitrogen and agriculture. Nitrogen is one of the most critical elements required in agricultural systems for the production of crops for feed, food and fiber. The ever-increasing world population requires increasing use of nitrogen in agriculture to supply human needs for dietary protein. Worldwide demand for nitrogen will increase as a direct response to increasing population. Strategies and perspectives are considered to improve nitrogen-use efficiency. Issues of nitrogen in crop and human nutrition, and transport and transformations along the continuum from farm field to ground water, watersheds, streams, rivers, and coastal marine environments are discussed. Described are aerial transport of nitrogen from livestock and agricultural systems and the potential for deposition and impacts. The current status of nitrogen in the environment in selected terrestrial and coastal environments and crop and forest ecosystems and development of emerging technologies to minimize nitrogen impacts on the environment are addressed. The nitrogen cycle provides a framework for assessing broad scale or even global strategies to improve nitrogen use efficiency. Growing human populations are the driving force that requires increased nitrogen inputs. These increasing inputs into the food-production system directly result in increased livestock and human-excretory nitrogen contribution into the environment. The scope of this book is diverse, covering a range of topics and issues from furthering our understanding of nitrogen in the environment to policy considerations at both farm and national scales.