Page 71 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

may be due to the gene variation of key molecules that determine how efficiently a blood clot can be removed from circulation.
Phulukdaree has also collaborated with researchers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professors Anil A Chuturgoon and Rajen N Naidoo, to compare the response of pregnant women to nitrogen oxide pollution. They found that women living
in industrialised areas, or those
living in areas with higher levels of nitrogen oxide pollution, had higher serum concentrations of 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8- OHdG), an indicator of oxidative stress. Their research, published in 2018, in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology and International Journal of Immunogenetics, suggests that women who are
exposed to nitrogen oxide pollution may have shortened pregnancies, and have also linked increased levels of 8-OHdG to carcinogenesis.
Further collaborative work with Chuturgoon and Dr Rene Khan is focused on understanding how various types of cancer cells respond to oxidative stress. Published in 2018, in Human and Experimental Toxicology and in Toxicon, they tested the relationship between Fumonisin B1, a toxin produced by fungi that grow in stored grain products such as maize, and oxidative stress in oesophageal cancer cells. Fumonisin B1 also has epidemiological links with increased prevalence of oesophageal cancer. Their findings demonstrate that when exposed to Fumonisin B1, oesophageal cancer cells displayed signs of oxidative stress.
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