Search Results (3)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects nearly 10% of the global population, ranks among the top ten causes of death, and often progresses silently to end-stage disease without timely intervention. Increasing evidence indicates that many adult-onset cases originate in early life through adverse influences on kidney development, a process termed kidney programming within the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) framework. Environmental pollutants are now recognized as key drivers of kidney injury across the life course. Heavy metals, air pollutants, plastic contaminants such as bisphenol A, phthalates, and micro/nanoplastics—as well as biocontaminants like mycotoxins and aristolochic acid—and chronic light pollution can accumulate in kidney tissue or act systemically to impair function. These exposures promote oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial and circadian disruption, culminating in tubular injury, glomerular damage, and fibrosis. Notably, early-life exposures can induce epigenetic modifications that program lifelong susceptibility to CKD and related complications. Oxidative stress is central to these effects, mediating DNA, lipid, and protein damage while influencing developmental reprogramming during gestation. Preclinical studies demonstrate that antioxidant-based interventions may mitigate these processes, providing both renoprotective and reprogramming benefits. This review explores the mechanistic links between environmental pollutants, oxidative stress, and kidney disease and highlights antioxidant strategies as promising avenues for prevention and intervention in vulnerable populations. Full article

Biocontamination of medical devices and implants is a growing issue that causes medical complications and increased expenses. In the fight against biocontamination, developing synthetic surfaces, which reduce the adhesion of microbes and provide biocidal activity or combinatory effects, has emerged as a major global strategy. Advances in nanotechnology and biological sciences have made it possible to design smart surfaces for decreasing infections. Nevertheless, the clinical performance of these surfaces is highly depending on the choice of material. This review focuses on the antimicrobial surfaces with functional material coatings, such as cationic polymers, metal coatings and antifouling micro-/nanostructures. One of the highlights of the review is providing insights into the virus-inactivating surface development, which might particularly be useful for controlling the currently confronted pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The nanotechnology-based strategies presented here might be beneficial to produce materials that reduce or prevent the transmission of airborne viral droplets, once applied to biomedical devices and protective equipment of medical workers. Overall, this review compiles existing studies in this broad field by focusing on the recent related developments, draws attention to the possible activity mechanisms, discusses the key challenges and provides future recommendations for developing new, efficient antimicrobial and antiviral surface coatings. Full article

Thyroid cancer incidence is significantly increased in volcanic areas, where relevant non-anthropogenic pollution with heavy metals is present in the environment. This review will discuss whether chronic lifelong exposure to slightly increased levels of metals can contribute to the increase in thyroid cancer in the residents of a volcanic area. The influence of metals on living cells depends on the physicochemical properties of the metals and their interaction with the target cell metallostasis network, which includes transporters, intracellular binding proteins, and metal-responsive elements. Very little is known about the carcinogenic potential of slightly increased metal levels on the thyroid, which might be more sensitive to mutagenic damage because of its unique biology related to iodine, which is a very reactive and strongly oxidizing agent. Different mechanisms could explain the specific carcinogenic effect of borderline/high environmental levels of metals on the thyroid, including (a) hormesis, the nonlinear response to chemicals causing important biological effects at low concentrations; (b) metal accumulation in the thyroid relative to other tissues; and (c) the specific effects of a mixture of different metals. Recent evidence related to all of these mechanisms is now available, and the data are compatible with a cause–effect relationship between increased metal levels in the environment and an increase in thyroid cancer incidence. Full article