Blanka Tariba

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health · Toxicology Unit

The aim of this study was to characterise the elemental and radiological composition of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) leaves and tea preparations and compare it with commercial Uvin H herbal mixture, widely used in treatment of urinary tract infections. The concentration of 17 elements and the activity concentration of selected radionuclides w...

Nanotechnology has the potential to provide formulations of antitumor agents with increased selectivity towards cancer tissue thereby decreasing systemic toxicity. This in vivo study evaluated the potential of novel nanoformulation...

Beginning with blood and urine Pb testing in the 1950s, methods of human biomonitoring (HBM) have been used for the assessment of occupational, and, a few decades later, environmental exposure to metal(loid)s and their health effects in numerous epidemiological studies conducted at the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health. The use...

According to data provided by the World Health Organization in 2020, about 270 million people (or about 5.5 % of the global population aged 15-64) had used psychoactive drugs in the previous year. Advances in the sensitivity of analytical techniques have enabled analyses of substances of abuse in alternative biological matrices such as hair. The un...

Boletus mushrooms are species with the highest nicotine levels among wild mushrooms, occasionally crossing the legally set Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) in dried specimens. So far, there is no clear consensus about origin of nicotine in wild mushrooms. There are two dominant hypotheses explaining presence of nicotine in wild mushrooms: anthropogenic...

Official control of EU market foodstuffs repeatedly reports high nicotine levels in dried wild mushrooms without any clear scientific consensus about their origin. The advised constant monitoring calls for improvements to existing methods. For this purpose, our aim was to develop a headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method coupled to g...

Official control of EU market foodstuffs repeatedly reports high nicotine levels in dried wild mushrooms without any clear scientific consensus about their origin. The advised constant monitoring calls for improvements to existing methods. For this purpose, our aim was to develop a headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method coupled to g...

Tobacco smoke is a mixture of numerous chemical substances with the potential to adversely affect human health, enhance oxidative stress and disturb the antioxidative balance. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is related to a wide range of pregnancy complications and adverse infant outcomes, such as preterm birth and low birth weight. Moreover, it...

This study evaluates the interaction of toxic elements cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) due to exposure from cigarette smoking, essential elements, and steroidogenesis in the maternal–placental– fetal unit. In a cohort of 155 healthy, postpartum women with vaginal term deliveries in clinical hospitals in Zagreb, Croatia, samples of maternal blood/serum a...

Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic used to induce general anaesthesia in humans and laboratory animals. Due to its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects, it is also used as a recreational drug. Anaesthetic agents can cause toxic effects at the cellular level and affect cell survival, induce DNA damage, and cause oxidant/antioxidant imbalance....

The isolation of keratin from poultry feathers using subcritical water was studied in a batch reactor at temperatures (120–250 °C) and reaction times (5–75 min). The hydrolyzed product was characterized by FTIR and elemental analysis, while the molecular weight of the isolated product was determined by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. To determine whether...

Hair analysis provides reliable information on long-term nicotine exposure, depending on hair length. The ability of hair to preserve substances such as nicotine incorporated into its shaft may be compromised by the chemical treatment of hair that can damage the structure of the hair and affect the accurate detection of nicotine in it. The aim of t...

Plastic is the most common type of packaging material on the market today, universally accepted due to characteristics such as low mass, high inertness, low price and good flexibility. Most bottled water and soft drinks are packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles and despite the excellent properties of such packaging, various c...

Due to the increasing popularity of drinking water stored in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, the potential health effects of the possible migration of chemical compounds from packaging into the water has become an important issue. Although ortho-phthalate esters as plasticizers are generally not used in the manufacturing of PET, several r...

To contribute new information to the pyrethroid pesticide α-cypermethrin toxicity profile, we evaluated its effects after oral administration to Wistar rats at daily doses of 2.186, 0.015, 0.157, and 0.786 mg/kg bw for 28 days. Evaluations were performed using markers of oxidative stress, cholinesterase (ChE) activities, and levels of primary DNA d...

The present study reports for the first time the levels of 7 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners and 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) measured in dust samples collected in 10 kindergartens, 11 workplaces, and 25 cars from Zagreb, Croatia. ΣPBDEs mass fractions were 3.11–14.42, <LOD‐313.75, and 0.6–5666.98 ng g−1 dust, while ΣPAH...

Introduction: Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic used to induce general anaesthesia in certain medical procedures. Considering the dissociative and sedative properties of ketamine, it has also been used as a recreational drug in a variety of social settings. Ketamine abuse displays neurobehavioral alterations such as depression, anxiety, cognit...

Codeine and morphine are alkaloids from the opioid family widely used as pain relief drugs or antitussive cough suppressant. Both drugs are found naturally in the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. If misused or abused, neurobehavioral alterations, respiratory depression, constipation, sedation, tolerance, nausea, vomiting, itch, dry mouth and addict...

Introduction: Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic widely used in clinical practice, while its subanaesthetic administration has been explored for treatment of depression and chronic pain. Due to its hallucinogenic and dissociative effects, ketamine is also used as a recreational drug. Agents used for the induction of anaesthesia have been shown...

We studied the potential role of exposure to various metal(oid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, and Pb) in prostate cancer. Two cohorts were established: the Croatian cohort, consisting of 62 cases and 30 controls, and the Serbian cohort, consisting of 41 cases and 61 controls. Blood/serum samples were collected. Levels of investigated metal(oid)s, various p...

Synthetic opioids heroin, buprenorphine, and methadone bind to opioid receptors. The latter two have medical use with moderate to high addiction potential. The neurotoxic effects of opioids are often associated with oxidative stress that should be further investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the induction of oxidative stress paramet...

Indoor dust presents an important source of daily exposure to toxic elements. The present study reports for the first time the levels of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, Se, Sr, Tl, V, and Zn measured in dust samples collected from 10 kindergartens and 21 cars from Zagreb, Croatia. Based on the obtained data, we assessed the heal...

According to data provided by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), more than one quarter of adults (aged 15–64) in the European Union have used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime. Advances in the sensitivity of analytical techniques have enabled analyses of substances of abuse in alternative biological...

Ketamine is a dissociative anaesthetic used in human and veterinary practice. The psychotropic properties of ketamine have been the main reason for its use also as a recreational drug in a variety of social settings, as well as in drug-facilitated sexual assault, owing to its dissociative and sedative properties. Ketamine abuse displays neurobehavi...

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a classic hallucinogen, widely abused for decades, while phencyclidine (PCP) has increased in popularity in recent years, especially among the adolescents. Very little is known about the general toxicity of these compounds, especially about their possible neurotoxic effects at the cell level. The aim of this stud...

Although considered a good alternative to organophosphate pesticides, there are reports indicating adverse effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on reproduction. Our aim was to assess the effects of exposure to low doses of imidacloprid on antioxidant state, DNA damage, and concentration of essential elements in the testes and epididymis using a ra...

Introduction: Amphetamine-like stimulants (ATS) are widely abused substances that impair dopaminergic and serotonergic functions. The mechanisms of their toxicity in human neuronal cells are not clear yet, but they may involve the formation of reactive oxygen species. The aim of this study was to determine the induction of oxidative stress paramete...

Psychoactive substance abuse has been increasing worldwide over recent decades and is a significant burden to human health. The majority of these substances are taken orally, but also by smoking, inhalation or injection. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a classical hallucinogen widely abused for decades, while the popularity of phencyclidine (PC...

Maternal cigarette smoking may impair the pro/antioxidant balance, affect bodily element disposition and disturb nutrient and oxygen transport to the developing foetus. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of active maternal smoking during pregnancy on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and metallothion...

Honey is a nutritionally valuable natural product of honey bees which can be contaminated by anthropogenic chemicals from the surrounding environment and beekeeper practices. Good beekeeping practice in conventional and regulations on organic beekeeping aim to reduce harmful residues in honey for human consumption. We compared prominent metal(loid)...

Maternal cigarette smoking may impair the pro/antioxidant balance, affect bodily element disposition and disturb nutrient and oxygen transport to the developing foetus. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of active maternal smoking during pregnancy on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and metallothion...

Given the large amount of time people spend indoors today, human exposure to indoor contaminants causes increasing public health concerns. The present study reports for the first time the levels of 7 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners, and 18 trace elements measured in dust samples collected in 68 households from Zagreb, Croatia. Based...

The confirmation of honey authenticity is an ongoing challenge. We investigated new authenticity markers (13 macro and trace elements, total phenolic (TP) content, antioxidant capacity) in 62 unifloral and multifloral honeys from Croatia as loadings for principal component analysis (PCA), taking into account the spatial, temporal and production pra...

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are among the most commercialized nanomaterials in biomedicine due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Nevertheless, possible health hazards of exposure to AgNPs are yet to be understood and therefore raise public concern in regards of their safety. In this study, sex-related differences, role of st...

Disruption of element homeostasis may contribute to increased susceptibility of men to cancer development. Whether environmental low-level metal exposure could contribute to the pathogenesis of testicular cancer is unknown. Comparison of the level of 18 elements in whole blood, serum and urine and parameters of oxidative stress/antioxidant status b...

Quality and safety of food, including honey, is one of the leading priorities regarding residues of anthropogenic chemicals with proven adverse health effects. In total, 61 honey samples of known botanical origin were collected in period 2018-2019 from Croatian registered organic and conventional beekeepers (N=16 organic and N=45 conventional honey...

The potential of low doses of the chloro-triazine herbicide terbuthylazine to induce DNA damage and impair activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was evaluated in kidney and parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells of adult male rats. In a 28-day study, terbuthylazine was applied daily by oral gavage at doses: 0.004, 0.4 and 2.29 mg/kg bw/day....

The pods, seeds and leaves of the carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, and especially in the food industry. In this study, the mineral content was investigated in carob pods and leaves in twelve Croatian carob populations. Macro and microelement contents, as highly important nutrients, were determined b...

Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide that acts selectively as an agonist on insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. It is used for crop protection worldwide, as well as for non-agricultural uses. Imidacloprid systemic accumulation in food is an important source of imidacloprid exposure. Due to the undisputable need for investigations of im...

The effect of maternal smoking as a source of exposure to toxic metals Cd and Pb on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, metallothionein (MT), Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se and Zn concentrations were assessed in maternal and umbilical cord blood and placenta in 74 healthy mother-newborn pairs after term delivery. Sparse di...

Abstract: Toxic metals are extensively found in the environment, households, and workplaces and contaminate food and drinking water. The crosstalk between environmental exposure to toxic metals and human diseases has been frequently described. The toxic mechanism of action was classically viewed as the ability to dysregulate the redox status, produ...

Toxic metals are extensively found in the environment, households, and workplaces and contaminate food and drinking water. The crosstalk between environmental exposure to toxic metals and human diseases has been frequently described. The toxic mechanism of action was classically viewed as the ability to dysregulate the redox status, production of i...

Tembotrione is a rather novel pesticide, usually used for post-emergence weed control. Even though its use is rapidly growing, it is not followed by an adequate flow of scientific evidence regarding its toxicity towards non-target organisms. We evaluated the potential of low doses of tembotrione to induce oxidative stress and cytogenetic damage in...

Chronic exposure to high inorganic As levels in drinking water has been related to many diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). The association with low and moderate As levels, however, remains controversial and has yet not been studied in European populations. This study aimed to investigate possible association between As exposure and...

DNA damage in the liver and kidney cells of adult male Wistar rats was studied using the comet assay after a 28-day oral administration of tembotrione at doses of 0.0007, 0.0013 and 0.7 mg/kg b.w./day [AOEL (acceptable operator exposure level), REL (residual exposure level) and 1000× AOEL]. As a descriptor of DNA damage, tail intensity was used. An...

This study proposes the application of the comet assay for the evaluation of DNA damage from frozen human whole blood samples that could be readily used in human biomonitoring and epidemiological studies. It was done on simply frozen whole blood samples collected from male volunteers (N = 60) aliquoted in small volumes and stored at -80 °C without...

The decline of male fertility has become a serious public health concern over the last decades, coinciding with an increase in environmental exposure to toxic pollutants. Toxic elements cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb) seem to contribute to declining fertility in men through progressive impairment of semen quality. Reproductive toxicity of...

Terbuthylazine is a chloro-triazine herbicide that acts primarily as an inhibitor of photosynthesis. It is used mainly in the production of maize but is also applied in the cultivation of various fruits, and vegetables, as well as in forestry. We evaluated the in vivo effects of terbuthylazine following a 28- day oral administration in adult male W...

We investigated the effect of low-dose exposure to glyphosate on 3 months old male Wistar rats that received p.o. for 28-day doses of 0.1 mg kg-1 b.w. of the acceptable operator exposure level-(AOEL), 0.5 mg kg-1 b.w. consumers acceptable daily intake (ADI), 1.75 mg kg-1 b.w. of the chronic population-adjusted dose (cPAD), 10 mg kg-1 b.w. (100xAOEL...

In this 28 day-study, we evaluated the effects of herbicide glyphosate administered by gavage to Wistar rats at daily doses equivalent to 0.1 of the acceptable operator exposure level (AOEL), 0.5 of the consumer acceptable daily intake (ADI), 1.75 (corresponding to the chronic population-adjusted dose, cPAD), and 10 mg kg-1 body weight (bw) (corres...

Terbuthylazine belongs to the chloro-s-triazine group of herbicides and acts primarily as a photosynthesis inhibitor. The mechanisms of action related to its exposure, relevant both in animals and humans, are still insufficiently investigated. This comprehensive study focused on the outcomes of terbuthylazine exposure at cell level in vitro, and a...

In European industrial countries testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men in their twenties and thirties. In the Croatian population, the rapid rise in testicular cancer incidence appears to be one of the highest rates of increase recorded worldwide. Metabolic fingerprinting could be helpful to improve diagnosis and understand the p...

Volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) in human urine can be used in non-targeted metabolomics research to identify specific metabolites that may be useful as new diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic disease biomarkers. Determination of urinary metabolite profile provides novel information on phenotypic characteristics of an organism that cannot be...

Non-targeted metabolomics research of human volatile urinary metabolome can be used to identify potential biomarkers associated with the changes in metabolism related to various health disorders. To ensure reliable analysis of urinary volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), parameters affecting the heads...

In this 28 day-study, we evaluated the effects of the insecticide chlorpyrifos orally administered to Wistar rats at doses 0.160, 0.015, and 0.010 mg/kg b. w./day. Following treatment, total cholinesterase activity and activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) were measured. Oxidative stress responses were evaluated...

The concentration of 23 major and trace elements, total phenolic content (TPC) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity were determined in nine samples of strawberry tree honey and compared to other types of unifloral honeys. The most abundant elements in strawberry tree honey were potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodiu...

In this study possible connection between radiofrequency exposure (RF) and development of oxidative stress was investigated by measuring impairment in cellular oxidation-reduction balance immediately after RF exposure. Fibroblast cells V79 were exposed for 10, 30 and 60 minutes to 1800 MHz RF radiation. Electric field strength was 30 V/m and specif...

We studied the toxic effects of glyphosate in vitro on HepG2 cells exposed for 4 and 24 h to low glyphosate concentrations likely to be encountered in occupational and residential exposures [the acceptable daily intake-ADI (0.5 μg/mL), residential exposure level-REL (2.91 µg/mL) and occupational exposure level-OEL (3.5 µg/mL)]. The assessments were...

Terbuthylazine is a selective pre- and post-emergency chloro-triazine herbicide used for a broad spectrum of weed control. We evaluated the potential of low doses of terbuthylazine to induce oxidative stress and cytogenetic damage in peripheral blood samples of adult male Wistar rats. Following 28-day repeated oral exposure at 0.004 mg/kg b.w./day,...

Circulating platinum (Pt) is detectable in the blood of Pt-treated cancer patients for over a decade after the treatment. Prolonged exposure to Pt, in combination with adverse compounds from nutrition and lifestyle, such as cadmium (Cd), could increase the risk from second cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of simultaneou...

This study evaluated the cyto- and genotoxic effects of three pesticides: α-cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid applied in vitro to human lymphocytes and HepG2 cells for exposure times of 4 and 24 h at concentrations corresponding to OEL, ADI and REL. Assessments were made using oxidative stress biomarkers and the alkaline comet, cytokinesi...

Tembotrione is a triketone herbicide, usually used for post-emergence weed control in corn. Currently, there is little or no published data on its genotoxicity to human cells either in vitro or in vivo. This study evaluated the impact of acute (4 and 24 h) exposure to low concentrations of tembotrione [corresponding to the acceptable daily intake (...

Increased levels of metallothionein (MT) have recently been found in the blood serum of men with newly diagnosed testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). In light of previously published results, the aim of this study was to investigate the difference in serum MT levels among patients with different stages of TGCT and compare MT with commonly used marke...

Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) honey, known as "bitter honey", is a typical product of Mediterranean countries and regions like Sardinia, Corsica, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia. It is recognized as a health-promoting food due to its strong antioxidant activity. Several studies have reported that the antioxidant capacity of the honey is related t...

The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is a wild evergreen shrub characteristic for the Mediterranean region. The leaves and fruit of this plant are used in traditional medicine due to their antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative properties. These health benefits are mainly originate from the phenolic compounds. Beside polyphenolic healt...

Metallothioneins (MTs) have been disclosed as a useful diagnostic factor for tumour progression and drug resistance in a variety of malignancies. Increased levels of MT in blood serum have been found in patients with several types of cancer, but there is no available information on serum MT levels in patients with testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT)...

Strawberry tree honey is known for being rich in total phenols and its high antioxidant and antiradical activity. Apart from phenols, various major and trace elements can affect its antioxidant activity. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the beneficial effects of short-term supplementation of a usual dose of strawberry tree honey (from Pelj...

This study describes optimisation and validation processes for the simultaneous determination of Ag, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, and Zn in seminal plasma samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using the octopole reaction system (ORS) collision/reaction cell. Two sample pre-treatmen...

Background and study design: It is well documented that copper (Cu) blood levels are elevated in combination oral contraceptive (COC) users. The aim of this study was to establish the range of Cu increase in OC users compared to nonusers through a systematic literature overview and quantitative data analysis. Results: Twenty-six articles were in...

A combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors contributes to adverse effects on the reproductive health in men. Metals are pervasive in food, water, air, tobacco smoke, and alcoholic beverages. Experimental studies suggest that many metals have adverse effects on the male reproductive function. However, information about reproductiv...

Estimation of Copper Intake in Moderate Wine Consumers in Croatia To estimate Cu exposure level from wine consumption and to assess possible health risk for moderate wine consumers, wine samples were collected from different wine-growing areas of Croatia. Median concentrations were 180 μg L ⁻¹ , range (76 to 292) μg L ⁻¹ , in commercial wines and 2...

Influence of low-level lead and cadmium exposure on reproductive health in men

Metals in wine can originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and its concentration can be a significant parameter affecting consumption and conservation of wine. Since metallic ions have important role in oxide-reductive reactions resulting in wine browning, turbidity, cloudiness, and astringency, wine quality depends greatly on its me...

Determination of Lead in Croatian Wines by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry A method has been developed for direct determination of lead in wine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) with Zeeman-effect background correction. The thermal behaviour of Pb during pyrolysis and atomisation stages was investigated with...