Effects of soaking process on arsenic and other mineral elements in brown rice

One of the main food crops in the world,rice can accumulate high levels of arsenic from flooded paddy soils,which seriously threatens human health.Soaking,a common processing method for brown rice products,especially for brown rice noodles,was investigated in this study.Japonica rice(Dao Hua Xiang No.2)and Indica rice(Ye Xiang You No.3)were selected for studying the effects of soaking on arsenic concentrations,species,and distributions.Results revealed that soaking can efficiently remove arsenic in these two rice varieties,and the main part of removal is endosperm with the maximal rate of about 40%.Inorganic arsenic(I-As)(about 85%)is the main species of arsenic reduction.Meanwhile,the variations of four other elements(i.e.,Mg,Ca,Zn,and Fe)were analyzed.Collectively,the findings of this study indicate that soaking can efficiently remove arsenic in brown rice under controlled soaking conditions,which thereby reduces the arsenic intake for brown rice customers.

Arsenic Exposure and Association with Hepatitis E IgG Antibodies

Arsenic is a known toxic chemical, has immuno-modulatory properties, and can change the susceptibility of infection in humans. Acute hepatitis E is an infectious disease;it can be self-limiting, but in severe cases, can cause acute-on-chronic liver failure. The presence of IgG anti-HEV (hepatitis E IgG antibody) in blood represents a past hepatitis E infection in an individual. Very few studies have investigated the association between arsenic levels and hepatitis E seroconversion in humans. The primary objective of this study was to assess the relationship between total urinary arsenic and speciated urinary arsenic (urinary arsenous acid, urinary arsenic acid, urinary arsenobetaine, urinary arsenocholine, urinary dimethylarsinic acid, urinary monomethylarsonic acid) and the presence of IgG anti-HEV. The 2011-2012, 2013-2014, and 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III data sets were analyzed, with participants aged 20 years and older (n = 7061). We used weighted logistic regression to determine the association between total and speciated urinary arsenic concentrations and IgG anti-HEV. For each analyte considered, a separate weighted logistic regression model was fitted. Each of these models regressed log-transformed analyte levels on the log-odds of the presence of IgG Anti-HEV. To evaluate the relationships between the urinary arsenic measurements, pairwise Pearson correlation coefficients were determined for each of the urinary arsenic measurements. Of the human subjects included, 6628 (93.9%) were negative for IgG Anti-HEV while 433 (6.1%) were positive for IgG anti-HEV. Total urinary arsenic was associated with 1.161 times greater odds of IgG anti-HEV (95% CI: [1.035, 1.303]) for each unit increase in concentration on a log-scale. For speciated urinary arsenic measurements, the odds ratios and 95% CI’s were: arsenobetanine 1.168 [1.075, 1.270], arsenocholine 1.201 [0.944, 1.529], dimethylarsinic acid 1.183 [1.009, 1.386], monomethylacrsonic acid 1.095 [0.915, 1.310], aresnous acid 0.907 [0.762, 1.079], and arsenic acid 1.951 [0.905, 4.209]. Our analysis indicates that total urinary arsenic, arsenobetanine, and dimethylarsinic acid are significantly associated with the odds of the presence of IgG anti-HEV. Future prospective studies are required to evaluate the association between hepatitis E infection and arsenic exposures.