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Rotenone is a broad-spectrum pesticide and piscicide that inhibits the transport of electrons in NADH-Q-oxidoreductase (complex I), thereby inhibiting cellular respiration. For the past two decades, epidemiologists have suspected that exposure to rotenone increases the risk of developing Parkinsonism. Although restricted for food use in the United States, rotenone is still used in countries exporting produce. Research has determined rotenone’s presence in produce as well as processed food products, such as tea and olive oil, raising the concern that it does not degrade before and during food processing. Furthermore, there are documented issues with the organic certification of imported produce into the United States, including soybeans. Organic and non-organic national brands of soy milk were purchased from a supermarket in the Greater Cleveland Area, and two samples were analyzed in triplicate for rotenone using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with an ultraviolet light detector (HPLC-UV). A positive determination would indicate that rotenone is not degraded during the process that turns soybeans into milk. The samples were analyzed and compared to samples intentionally spiked with rotenone before they were filtered and dissolved in acetonitrile in preparation for the detection by HPLC- UV. Rotenone was not detected in these samples. However, a reliable method was developed for filtering soy milk and analyzing it for rotenone residues. The method detection limit allows for the determination of rotenone residues in soybeans beyond the maximal residual limit fixed by the European Union.
Prior research has utilized brain imaging techniques, such as fMRI, to investigate neural processes underlying learning and memory. Past studies have also explored these processes in different mental conditions to examine how mental illness relates to brain functioning. However, few studies have investigated these patterns in individuals with multiple mental illnesses. In this study, we recruited individuals with comorbid PTSD and depressive symptoms to participate in a series of tasks requiring them to learn and remember specific cues predictive of threat in specific environments. The purpose of this study was to examine how the severity of depressive symptoms is associated with activation in brain areas involved in memory. Generally, we observed that more severe depressive symptoms were associated with differences in activation in parts of the brain involved in memory, findings that lend themselves to further investigation of how this activation is related to learning and memory performance.