Aristidis M. Tsatsakis

University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece · Chairman Division Morphology and Forensic Sciences & Toxicology

Introduction Traditionally, honey was used not only as food but also as medicine (Yaghoobi et al., 2008). Healthy people, regardless of age, use honey to increase physical endurance, combat fatigue, make up for food deficiencies, and improves digestion. Athletes, due to its energetic properties, use it to increase physical endurance and for a faste...

The current approach for the risk assessment of chemicals does not account for the complex human real-life exposure scenarios. Exposure to chemical mixtures in everyday life has raised scientific, regulatory, and societal concerns in recent years. Several studies aiming to identify the safety limits of chemical mixtures determined hazardous levels...

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and indomethacin (IND) are the most commonly prescribed for inflammation or pain. However, widespread use causes several adverse effects, such as gastric ulcers, upper gastric system bleeding, and erosions. Carnosic acid (CA) is an important natural antioxidant found in rosemary (Rosmari...

Chronic diseases continue to globally represent the top cause of death. Although their aetiology is diverse, anthropogens (including factors related to modern lifestyles or behaviours) are considered common risk factors for meta-inflammation and activation of the inflammatory-oxidative cascade involved in the development and progression of many chr...

The potential health-promoting effects of probiotics against intoxication by pesticides is a topic of increasing commercial interest with limited scientific evidence. In this study, we aimed to investigate the positive effects of probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii on the male reproductive system under low dose neonicotinoid pesticide exposure condit...

Liver morphology, intensity of apoptosis, and activity of xenobiotic metabolism enzymes were studied in a chronic model experiment in rats receiving a mixture of 6 pesticides against the background of life-long diets with adequate and insufficient supply of water-soluble vitamins. The dose of each pesticide in the mixture did not exceed the accepta...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden loss of kidney function secondary to a variety of reasons. Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a form of AKI induced following exposure to iodinated contrast media (CM). Its definition varies due to multiple diagnostic criteria but following the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines rel...

According to population-based studies, lung cancer is the prominent reason for cancer-related mortality worldwide in males and is also rising in females at an alarming rate. Sorafenib (SOR), which is approved for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma, is a multitargeted protein kinase inhibitor. Additionally, SOR is the...

Pesticides are a heterogeneous class of chemicals mainly used for the protection of crops from pests. Because of their very widespread use, acute or/and chronic exposure to these chemicals can lead to a plethora of sequelae inflicting diseases, many of which involve the nervous system. Tremor has been associated with pesticide exposure in human and...

Underwater wet welding is commonly used in joining pipelines and in underwater construction. Harmful and hazardous compounds are added to many flux-cored wires for underwater welding and cutting, and can have a negative impact on marine life. The specific objective of this study was to evaluate the aquatic toxicity of two suspension samples obtaine...

Background: Taxifolin (TXF) is a flavonoid found abundantly in citrus/onion. Encouraging results on its renoprotective effect have been reported in a limited number of drug-induced nephrotoxicity animal models. The present study aimed to evaluate for the first time the potential renoprotective effects of TXF in a paracetamol (PAR)-induced nephroto...

(1) Background: Colon cancer is one of the most common cancer types, and treatment options, unfortunately, do not continually improve the survival rate of patients. With the unprecedented development of nanotechnologies, nanomedicine has become a significant direction in cancer research. Indeed, chemotherapeutics with nanoparticles (NPs) in cancer...

The exposome paradigm through an integrated approach to investigating the impact of perinatal exposure to metals on child neurodevelopment in two cohorts carried out in Slovenia (PHIME cohort) and Greece (HERACLES cohort) respectively, is presented herein. Heavy metals are well-known neurotoxicants with well-established links to impaired neurodevel...

Oxidative stress appears to possess a central role in CIN pathophysiology. Resveratrol (Res) and lycopene (Lyc) are strong natural antioxidants evaluated in a limited number of CIN animal studies in vivo. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential renoprotective effects of Res/Lyc in a CIN rabbit model. Twenty-four adult male New Zealand wh...

The interaction of magnitude and duration of exposure to anthropogens and chemicals with individuals' genetic background and/or epigenetic changes may represent the early stages of the pathogenesis of the chronic cardio-metabolic diseases mentioned earlier (Desaulniers et al., 2021) For effective disease management strategies, health professionals...

In the present study, the mineral and chemical compositions of kudurits consumed by wild ungulates and the chemical composition of forage vegetation near the water‑divide of the Abakan Range, Mountain Altai, Russia, were studied. It was found that the kudurits are represented by smectite‑vermiculite mineral associations with chlorite‑the products o...

(1) Background: Various epidemiological studies suggest that oxidative stress and disrupted neuronal function are mechanistically linked to neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). DNA damage, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and eventually, cell death such as NDs can be induced by nitr...

The current study assessed the risk posed to Iranian consumers by oral exposure to a mixture of 20 pesticides and six metals in 96 fruit juice (FJ) samples (3 batches × 4 brands × 8 types of FJs) collected from Iran market. Concentrations of metals and pesticides in FJs were quantified by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (IC...

Outbreaks of zoonotic viral diseases pose a severe threat to public health and economies worldwide, with this currently being more prominent than it previously was human history. These emergency zoonotic diseases that originated and transmitted from vertebrates to humans have been estimated to account for approximately one billion cases of illness...

Glutamate, one of the most important excitatory neurotransmitters, acts as a signal transducer in peripheral tissues and endocrine cells. Excessive glutamate secretion has been shown to cause excitotoxicity and neurodegenerative disease. Cerebrolysin is a mixture of enzymatically treated peptides derived from pig brain including neurotrophic factor...

The devastating complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) result from an individual's dysfunctional immune response following the initial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Multiple toxic stressors and behaviors contribute to underlying immune system dysfunction. SARS-CoV-2 exploits the dysfunctional...

Biglycan is a class I secreted small leucine-rich proteoglycan (SLRP) which regulates signaling pathways connected to bone pathologies. Autophagy is a vital catabolic process with a dual role in cancer progression. Here, we show that biglycan inhibits autophagy in two osteosarcoma cell lines (p ≤ 0.001), while rapamycin-induced autophagy decreases...

Chronic pathologies or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) include cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurological diseases, respiratory disorders and cancer. They are the leading global cause of human mortality and morbidity. Given their chronic nature, NCDs represent a growing social and economic burden, hence urging the need for ameliorat...

An amphiphilic copolymer of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and acrylic acid—namely, p(VP-AA)-OD6000 (p(VP-AA))—was synthesized to prepare p(VP-AA) nanoparticles (NPs). Furthermore, the copolymer was linked with CFSE, and the so-prepared nanoparticles were loaded with the DiI dye to form D nanoparticles (DNPs). In this study, as demonstrated by immunofluores...

Application of nanocarriers for drug delivery brings numerous advantages, allowing both minimization of side effects common in systemic drug delivery and improvement in targeting, which has made it the focal point of nanoscience for a number of years. While most of the studies are focused on encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs, delivery of hydrophil...

The growing interest in the use of electrically conductive polymers and nanocomposites based on them in medicine requires a comprehensive study of the toxicity of these materials. Although there is a lack of data on the interaction of polyconjugated systems with biological systems, the article deals with the toxicology and biocompatibility of polya...

Bread constitutes a popular and even daily component of human diet world-wide, Iran included. However, there are concerns that various processing methods such as frying and baking could result in the production of potentially a source of known carcinogens such as acrylamide (AA) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). The present study tried to perform a risk as...

In vitro cell systems can support hazard characterization and identify mechanisms involved in toxicity; however, using in vitro data for risk assessment still is challenging. As part of an effort to develop approaches for a complex operating site used for biocide packaging and distribution, we evaluated in vitro assays that could be used in a site...

Objectives To evaluate on animal models the health effects of the combined or separate exposure to main chemical and physical hazards of plasma-based material processing technology environment. Materials and methods Male Wistar rats were exposed to actual levels of hazardous factors in plasma technology occupational environment: i.e., ozone and ni...

Hypertension, as a primary risk factor for many fatal disorders, is prevalent in the elderly. There is wide literature on hypertension dealing with its biological and/or biochemical aspects; however, limited research is available on the multifactorial nature of hypertension from a mechanobiological standpoint. This study intended to study in parall...

Telomeres are tandem DNA repeats associated with the shelterin proteins, protecting the ends of chromosomes through the T-loop formation. Telomere length normally decreases with each cell division due to the incomplete replication of the lagging strand. Prolonged telomere shortening or T-loop unwinding can activate the DNA Damage Response leading t...

Metabolomics comprehensively analyzes the metabolic entities, offering insights into a biological system's current biochemical state under the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as disease, dietary and lifestyle choices, drugs and hazardous agents. Technological advances in the field have been integrated into many research areas, suc...

The extensive use of antibiotics in livestock farming poses increased concerns for human health as residues of these substances are present in edible tissues. The aim of this study was the determination of the levels of four groups of antibiotics (sulfonamides—SAs, tetracyclines—TCs, streptomycines—STr and quinolones—QNLs) in meat samples (muscles,...

Deregulation of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) mechanism has been linked to poor prognosis of upper aerodigestive tract cancers. Our recent in vitro data have provided evidence of crosstalk between deregulated miRNAs and MMR genes, caused by tobacco smoke (TS) N-Nitrosamines, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), in hypopharyngeal ce...

Methicillin‑resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are usually found in hospital settings and, frequently, in patients with open wounds. One of the most critical virulence factors affecting the severity and recurrence of infections is the biofilm; increasing antibiotic resistance due to biofilm formation has led to the search for alterna...

Worldwide regulatory agencies should (re)examine the consideration of: (i) sub-threshold responses, (ii) non-linear dose-response models able to detect sub-threshold responses of both a beneficial and detrimental nature, and (iii) abandoning the use of default dose-response models for their risk assessment. Mounting evidence for significant sub-thr...

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been investigated over the past years with the aim of identifying any association with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, information regarding the potential association of VDR SNP haplotypes with AD is limited. The aim of the present study was to provide a...

Background Valerenic acid (VA), a sesquiterpenoid of the plant Valeriana officinalis, has attracted attention of the research community due to its potential positive role against neurodegenerative diseases induced by chemicals. However, the relevant evidence in the literature is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the putative protective...

High-grade gliomas are the most fatal brain tumors. Grade 4 gliomas are called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which are associated with the poorest survival and a 5-year survival rate of less than 4%. Many patients with GBM developed concomitant cognitive dysfunctions and epilepsy. Although the cognitive decline is well defined in glioblastomas, th...

This paper deals with the development of polymeric nanocarriers based on amphiphilic copolymers of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and acrylic acid of various molecular weights synthesized through the AIBN‐initiated radical copolymerization of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and acrylic acid in the presence of n‐octadecyl mercaptan. The structure of the copolymers was...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between smoking and essential metal (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, V, Zn) and metalloid (Se) levels in hair and serum of adult women using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In this cross-sectional study, a total of 344 women 20–70 years old including 199 smokers and 145 non-smoki...

Recently, an increasing number of chemical compounds are being characterized as endocrine disruptors since they have been proven to interact with the endocrine system, which plays a crucial role in the maintenance of homeostasis. Glyphosate is the active substance of the herbicide Roundup®, bisphenol A (BPA) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) a...

Rationale Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) promises a valuable, non-invasive, and easy to obtain clinical sample. However, it is not currently used diagnostically due to poor reproducibility, sample contamination, and sample loss. Objective We evaluated whether a new, hand-held EBC collector (PBM-HALE™) that separates inertially impacted large drop...

The potential renoprotective effects of vardenafil (VAR) have been evaluated in a very limited number of studies using acute kidney injury animal models other than contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) with promising results, while avanafil (AVA) has not been evaluated in this respect before. The purpose of this study was to evaluate for the first tim...

Nanoparticles are increasingly utilized as drug delivery agents. Previously, we have developed a drug delivery system based on amphiphilic derivatives of poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP-OD4000) with excellent biocompatibility. In the current study, we assessed the pharmacokinetics, anti-inflammatory profile, and ulcerogenic potential of indomethacin (...

Humans are exposed to xenobiotic mixtures daily through the long-term, low-dose regimen. Investigations designed to simulate this exposure profile approach the real-life risk simulation (RLRS) idea of modern toxicology. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of 12-month exposure of New Zealand rabbits to a xenobiotic mixtur...

Tobacco smoking is the most known risk factor for hypopharyngeal cancer. Bile reflux has recently been documented as an independent risk factor for NFκB-mediated hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. However, the carcinogenic effect of tobacco smoke on the hypopharynx and its combination with bile has not yet been proven by direct evidence. We in...

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), referred to as keratinocyte carcinomas, are skin cancer with the highest incidence. BCCs, rarely metastasize; whereas, though generally not characterized by high lethality, approximately 2–4% of primary cSCCs metastasize with patients exhibiting poor prognosis. The extracellul...

Triclosan (TCS) is an organic substance showing antibacterial action, which is commonly used in many branches of industry, including, among others, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the food industry. TCS may penetrate into living organisms and negatively affect the health of humans and animals. The majority of previous investigations on TCS biomonito...

The role of vitamin D in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) has been studied over the past years. The results from numerous studies have indicated that the molecular pathways involved in the development of AD are closely related to the molecular pathways of the mechanisms of action of vitamin D. However, only a limited number of studies have described the ke...

Objectives To use data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) to estimate mortality and disability trends for the population aged ≥70 and evaluate patterns in causes of death, disability, and risk factors. Design Systematic analysis. Setting Participants were aged ≥70 from 204 countries and terri...

The main aim of the present systematic review was to summarize the most frequently used telomerase regulators with an impact on aging and cancer that are referred to in in vitro and in vivo studies. For this purpose, a systematic review of the available literature on telomerase regulators referred to in articles from PubMed and Scopus libraries pub...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Through a genome‑wide association study (GWAS), the Sec1 family domain‑containing protein 1 (SCFD1) rs10139154 variant at 14q12 has emerged as a risk factor gene for ALS. Moreover, it has been reported to influence the age at onset (AAO) of patients with ALS. The aim of...

Glutamate release and reuptake play a key role in the pathophysiology of depression. glutamatergic nerves in the hippocampus region are modulated by histaminergic afferents. Excessive accumulation of glutamate in the synaptic area causes degeneration of neuron cells. The H4 receptor is defined as the main immune system histamine receptor with a pro...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine-gynecology disorder affecting many women of childbearing age. Although a part of the involved mechanism in PCOS occurrence is discovered, the exact etiology and pathophysiology are not comprehensively understood yet. We searched PubMed for PCOS pathogenesis and management in this article and Clinical...

Massive additional quantities of disinfectants have been applied during the COVID-19 pandemic as infection preventive and control measures. While the application of disinfectants plays a key role in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the effects of disinfectants applied during the ongoing pandemic on non-target organisms remain unknown....