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International audience; This review aims to provide an update on our current knowledge of the various effects of pesticide cocktails. We have collected data from studies conducted in mammalian models in vitro and in vivo that was published between 2000 and 2014. All ecotoxicological studies were voluntarily excluded. Cocktail effects were classified according to how they had been classified by each author. The frequency of the various cocktail effects and the classes and chemical families of pesticides involved in the observed effects were assessed. When focusing on the function of pesticides (i.e. herbicide, insecticide or fungicide), 46% of the mixtures contained insecticides alone, 15% fungicides alone, and 4.5% herbicides alone. Mixtures with effects associated with neurotoxicity were mainly composed of insecticides, and most studies on the effects of fungicide mixtures (90%) were associated with effects on endocrine regulation and/or reproduction. Dose addition was observed with each kind of mixture except herbicide combinations. In contrast, synergic interactions or greater-than-additive effects were mainly reported for insecticide mixtures. There were few examples of potentiating and antagonistic interactions. We have identified chemical families of compounds specifically involved in synergy, addition, potentiation and antagonism, and those that do not interact when combined. The chemical families identified as being involved in synergy are in agreement with data from another recently published compilation of ecotoxicological studies. For most mixtures investigated, further validation data is still needed from experiments using other compounds and other experimental models but this update provides useful information to help in human health risk assessments.

60 patients with HIV-1 infection in Walter Reed stages 2-4 were randomised to treatment with intravenous or oral dithiocarb (diethyldithiocarbamate, DTC) or placebo for 24 weeks in a paired double-blind design. 55 patients were evaluable at the end of the study: no patient who had received DTC but 6 placebo patients had AIDS, a significant difference. Significantly delayed disease progression was observed in the intravenous DTC group compared with its matching placebo. The benefit in the oral DTC group was not statistically significant. During an 18-month follow-up 3 deaths occurred in the original placebo groups, whereas no patient who had initially received DTC died. A significant delay in progression to AIDS was observed in the DTC groups.

Hepatotoxicity of vinylidene chloride (1, 1-dichloroethylene, VDC) in rats was evidenced by increases of serum enzyme activities of the aminotransferases (GOT, GPT) and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH). Simultaneous treatment with ethanol (4.8 g kg-1; p.o.) totally inhibited these hepatotoxic effects, whereas pretreatment with the same ethanol dose 24 h prior to VDC had no effect. Dithiocarb or (+)-catechin (0.2 g kg-1; p.o.), administered simultaneously with VDC, significantly reduced the VDC-induced increments of serum enzyme activities. Pretreatment with 5% ethanol for 7 days instead of drinking water increased the hepatotoxicity of a single dose of VDC. The combined treatment with VDC (0.125-0.2 g kg-1, twice weekly) and 5% ethanol for 4 weeks led to only small increases of serum enzyme activities as compared with controls treated with VDC alone. However, 60% lethality occurred in the VDC-ethanol group. Administration of either dithiocarb or (+)-catechin with VDC totally antagonized the observed lethality. Metabolic studies with VDC in a closed exposure system indicated that simultaneous treatment with ethanol or dithiocarb totally depressed the metabolic removal of VDC, whereas (+)-catechin had no effect.

The influence of intravenously administered mixtures of paraquat and the chelating agents CaNa 2 -EDTA or dithiocarb on the toxicity of oxygen at normal pressure was studied in rats. No increase in toxic effects of the combination paraquat-oxygen was seen by additionally administered chelate-forming agents. This paper completes the investigations on oxygen toxicity after administration of various chelate-forming agents in mice 1 .

Dithiocarb and (+)-cyanidanol-3-prevented paracetamol-induced liver injury in rats in vivo. Both, as well as two other antihepatotoxic agents, deanol and DMSO, inhibited covalent binding of [3H]-paracetamol to rat liver microsomal proteins in vitro. Dithiocarb and (+)-cyanidanol-3 were the most effective inhibitors. The concentrations of the antidotes yielding 50% inhibition (I50) valued 1 . 8 x 10(-5) M for dithiocarb and 2 . 1 x 10(-5) M for (+)-cyanidanol-3.

In bile-fistula rats, the biliary elimination of conjugated paracetamol and conjugated bilirubin is diminished by simultaneous administration of dithiocarb. This dithiocarb effect could be the result of the interference with the glucuronidation of the compounds.

The metabolism of ethane and pentane in man is demonstrated to occur from the uptake of an enriched atmosphere of these gases in a rebreathe spirometer circuit. Dithiocarb, an inhibitor of alkane metabolism, reduced uptake and increased the respiratory excretion of these gases. This effect was least marked for the slowly metabolised ethane. Therefore the endogenous production of ethane as measured by respiratory excretion is less affected. However pentane is rapidly metabolised and this limits the use of simple respiratory excretion of pentane as a measure of in vivo lipid peroxidation.