Growth hormone, contaminated

The differences in environmental contaminants between our two countries are striking. In Belarus, better living through chemicals is not a lifestyle option. The economic crisis in the country is so devastating that most people can barely meet basic survival needs. Pesticides are not in heavy use, if used at all. New clothes are not affordable, let alone new carpeting. The use of preservatives, growth hormones and antibiotics in the production of food is almost unheard of. The majority of people don t own cars. On the other hand, in Belarus there are less restrictions on industrial pollution, there are no requirements for disclosure of ingredients in food and other products, and the food, air and water are contaminated by radiation pollution that will affect human health in untold ways for millenniums. 

There are many examples of ELIS As used for detecting host cell impurities in the literature. Pauly et al.12 developed an ELISA to detect impurities in erythropoietin that had a detection limit of around 0.05 ng/ml. SDS polyacrylamide gel and Western blot analysis were used to confirm the spectrum of proteins detected and to demonstrate the specificity of the antibody preparation. Anicetti et al.14 describe an assay for the detection of E. coli proteins in recombinant DNA-derived human growth hormone. Whitmire and Eaton15 report on an immuno-ligand assay for quantitation of process-specific E. coli host cell contaminant proteins in a recombinant bovine somatotropin. 

Similarly, concern about minute amounts of contaminants co-purified with human growth hormone extracted from brain tissues, which could lead to the development of Jacob-Kreutzfeld syndrome, inevitably resulted in the development of recombinant human growth hormone. Inactivated hepatitis B particles isolated from hepatitis B-positive patients were originally used to prevent hepatitis B virus infection, but a small fraction of individuals became infected through vaccination. When the hepatitis B surface antigen was... 

F. Role in therapy Somatropin (rDNA origin) is a safe alternative to growth hormone derived from human pituitary glands, which carries the risk of viral contamination. Pituitary-derived growth hormone has been withdrawn from the... 

Growth hormone is a 191-amino-acid peptide with two sulfhydryl bridges. Its structure closely resembles that of prolactin. In the past, medicinal GH was isolated from the pituitaries of human cadavers. However, this form of GH was found to be contaminated with prions that could cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. For this reason, it is no longer used. Somatropin, the recombinant form of GH, has a 191-amino acid sequence that is identical with the predominant native form of human GH. 

Immunotechniques have recently been developed to detect food contaminants, e.g., toxins, growth hormone, antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides. Penicillin (62) in milk, aflatoxins and mycotoxins (63, 64, 65) in milk, cheeses, yogurt, corn have been detected by immunosensors. Characteristics of protein and receptors in or on the cell surface were used in detecting pathogens such as Listeria and Salmonella by immunosensors (11, 66). The principle of immunosensors has also been applied in pesticide determinations (67, 68). 

Huillard d Aignaux J, Alperovitch A, Maccario J. A statistical model to identify the contaminated lots implicated in iatrogenic transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease among French human growth hormone recipients. Am J Epidemiol 1998 147(6) 597-604. 

Contamination of biologicals by viruses is not just a theoretical possibility. This has been documented throughout the history of biologicals production. Human growth hormone, blood-derived products, and monoclonal antibodies are typical examples. 

There are other herbicides in use which cannot be discussed in detail here, but one particular pair of chemicals should be mentioned. These are 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, which are abbreviations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid. These chemicals act like plant growth hormones but cause excessive growth. They are selectively toxic against weeds. Although these herbicides have low toxicity to animals they can be contaminated with the most toxic type of dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD), as a result of the manufacturing process. The mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T was... 

Iatrogenic CJD is the second most common acquired human prion disease and these cases are the result of accidental infection due to contact with prion contaminated tissues or instruments during medical procedures (Table 29.1). The mode of prion infection include surgical equipment (e.g., surgical insd uments, depth electrodes), transplantation of human tissues (comeal, dura mater), intramuscular injections with growth hormone or gonadotrophin extracted from human pituitary tissues, or blood transfusion (reviewed by Will, 2003). The most likely source of infection is from donors with subclinical sCJD, except for the tw o transfusion-related cases that have been linked to blood donors who developed vCJD several years later (reviewed by Ironside, 2006). The incubation period in these transfusion related cases was 5 to 6 years, v hich is shorter than primary vCJD infection in humans. 

Fatal viral infections resulting from the use of contaminated human tissue or fluids as components of medicines are well recorded. Examples of this include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of haemophiliacs by contaminated and inadequately treated factor VIII products made from pooled human blood, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) from injections of human growth hormone derived from human pituitary glands, some of which were infected. 

Somatotropin (growth hormone GH) is a pituitary somatotrophic linear peptide hormone of 191 residues. The name somatotropin is used for human growth hormone (HGH), which was isolated from the pituitary glands of cadavers. This when used to treat short stature (dwarfism) brought with it the risk of acquiring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease through contamination. It is now replaced in many countries by somatropin, which is a biosynthetic form of human growth hormone without this liability. 

Food supplies are contaminated with environmental pollutants, pesticides, growth hormones, and antibiotics. Foods are further impacted by additives... 

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