Paraquat dichloride (methyl viologen; PQ) is an effective and widely used herbicide that has a proven safety record when appropriately applied to eliminate weeds. However, over the last decades, there have been numerous fatalities, mainly caused by accidental or voluntary ingestion. PQ poisoning is an extremely frustrating condition to manage clinically, due to the elevated morbidity and mortality observed so far and due to the lack of effective treatments to be used in humans. PQ mainly accumulates in the lung (pulmonary concentrations can be 6 to 10 times higher than those in the plasma), where it is retained even when blood levels start to decrease. The pulmonary effects can be explained by the participation of the polyamine transport system abundantly expressed in the membrane of alveolar cells type I, II, and Clara cells. Further downstream at the toxicodynamic level, the main molecular mechanism of PQ toxicity is based on redox cycling and intracellular oxidative stress generation. With this review we aimed to collect and describe the most pertinent and significant findings published in established scientific publications since the discovery of PQ, focusing on the most recent developments related to PQ lung toxicity and their relevance to the treatment of human poisonings. Considerable space is also dedicated to techniques for prognosis prediction, since these could allow development of rigorous clinical protocols that may produce comparable data for the evaluation of proposed therapies.

Paraquat Poisonings: Mechanisms of Lung Toxicity, Clinical Features, and Treatment

In this paper, the interaction between p-aminoazobenzene (PAAB) and BSA was investigated mainly by fluorescence quenching spectra, circular dichroism (CD) and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra under simulative physiological conditions. It was proved that the fluorescence quenching of BSA by PAAB was mainly a result of the formation of a PAAB-BSA complex. The modified Stern-Volmer quenching constant Ka and the corresponding thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔG and ΔS at different temperatures were calculated. The results indicated that van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds were the predominant intermolecular forces in stabilizing the complex. The distance r = 4.33 nm between the donor (BSA) and acceptor (PAAB) was obtained according to Forster’s non-radioactive energy transfer theory. The synchronous fluorescence, CD and three-dimensional fluorescence spectral results showed that the hydrophobicity of amino acid residues increased and the losing of α-helix content (from 63.57 to 51.83%) in the presence of PAAB. These revealed that the microenvironment and conformation of BSA were changed in the binding reaction.

Fluorescence Study on the Interaction of Bovine Serum Albumin with P-Aminoazobenzene

A comprehensive review on flavanones, the major citrus polyphenols

The interactions of two organoplatinum complexes, [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppa)], 1, and [Pt(C^N)Cl(dppm)], 2 (C^N = N(1), C(2')-chelated, deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine, dppa = bis(diphenylphosphino)amine, dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane), as antitumor agents, with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) have been studied by fluorescence and UV-vis absorption spectroscopic techniques at pH 7.40. The quenching constants and binding parameters (binding constants and number of binding sites) were determined by fluorescence quenching method. The obtained results revealed that there is a strong binding interaction between the ligands and proteins. The calculated thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH, and ΔS) confirmed that the binding reaction is mainly entropy-driven, and hydrophobic forces played a major role in the reaction. The displacement experiment shows that these Pt complexes can bind to the subdomain IIA (site I) of albumin. Moreover, synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy studies revealed some changes in the local polarity around the tryptophan residues. Finally, the distance, r, between donor (serum albumin) and acceptor (Pt complexes) was obtained according to Forster theory of nonradiation energy transfer.

Affinity of Two Novel Five-Coordinated Anticancer Pt(II) Complexes to Human and Bovine Serum Albumins: A Spectroscopic Approach

Phenotypic Characterization of the Binding of Tetracycline to Human Serum Albumin

Interaction of the flavonoid hesperidin with bovine serum albumin: A fluorescence quenching study

Studies of the interaction between paraquat and bovine hemoglobin.

Spectroscopic studies on the interaction between silicotungstic acid and bovine serum albumin

The interaction between imidacloprid (IMI) and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated using fluorescence and UV/vis absorption spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that the fluorescence quenching of HSA by IMI was a result of the formation of IMI-HSA complex; static quenching was confirmed to result in the fluorescence quenching. The apparent binding constant K(A) between IMI and HSA at three differences were obtained to be 1.51 x 10(4), 1.58 x 10(4), and 2.19 x 10(4) L mol(-1), respectively. The thermodynamic parameters, DeltaH degrees and DeltaS degrees were estimated to be 28.44 kJ mol(-1), 174.76 J mol(-1) K(-1) according to the van't Hoff equation. Hydrophobic interactions played a major role in stabilizing the complex. The distance r between donor (HSA) and acceptor (IMI) was obtained according to fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The effect of IMI on the conformation of HSA was analyzed using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy CD and three-dimensional fluorescence spectra, the environment around Trp and Tyr residues were altered.

Gen-Cheng Zhang

Papers

Interaction of the flavonoid hesperidin with bovine serum albumin: A fluorescence quenching study

Studies of the interaction between paraquat and bovine hemoglobin.

Spectroscopic studies on the interaction between silicotungstic acid and bovine serum albumin

Studies on the interaction between imidacloprid and human serum albumin: spectroscopic approach.

Human serum albumin interaction with paraquat studied using spectroscopic methods