The Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum CQPC02 on Fatigue and Biochemical Oxidation Levels in a Mouse Model of Physical Exhaustion

Chinese Sichuan pickle is a fermented food rich in microorganisms. Microorganisms have the potential to become an important new form of potent future therapeutic capable of treating human disease. Selecting vitamin C as a positive control, a lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum CQPC02, LP-CQPC02) isolated from Sichuan pickle was given to mice over 4 weeks to investigate the effect of CQPC02 on fatigue levels and biochemical oxidation phenomena in exercise-exhausted Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice. The fatigue model was established by forced swimming of mice, the levels of hepatic glycogen, skeletal muscle glycogen, lactic acid, blood urea nitrogen and free fatty acid were measured by physicochemical methods, serum serum creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured by kits, the histopathological changes in the livers of mice were observed by H&E slicing, and the mRNA changes in the livers and skeletal muscles were observed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Both vitamin C and LP-CQPC02 increased swimming exhaustion time. The concentration of LP-CQPC02 and exhaustion time were positively correlated. LP-CQPC02 also increased liver glycogen, skeletal muscle glycogen and free fatty acid content in mice and reduced lactic acid and blood urea nitrogen content in a dose-dependent manner. As walnut albumin antioxidant peptide concentration increased, levels of mouse CK, AST, and AST gradually decreased. LP-CQPC02 increased SOD and CAT levels and decreased MDA levels in a dose-dependent fashion. LP-CQPC02 up-regulated expression of mRNA encoding copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), manganese-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), and CAT in swimming exhaustion mouse liver tissue. LP-CQPC02 also up-regulated alanine/serine/cysteine/threonine transporter 1 (ASCT1) expression while down-regulating syncytin-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression in swimming exhaustion mouse skeletal muscle. Overall, LP-CQPC02 had a clear anti-fatigue and anti-oxidation effect. This suggests that LP-CQPC02 can be developed as a microbiological therapeutic agent.

Oxidation of a Mixture of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons by a Mixed Culture of Hydrocarbon-Oxidizing Microorganisms

The possibility of biochemical oxidation of polyaromatic hydrocarbon mixtures (PAHs) by the mixed culture of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms (HOM) in a liquid medium and soil was investigated. The mixed HOM culture was represented by Pseudomonas stutzeri, Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus cereus, and Arthrobacter globiformis genera. It was shown that during HOM cultivation of the microorganisms under study in the liquid medium their number increases from 0.25·104 to 11·108 CFU/ml, which is accompanied by an increase in their oxygenase activity. All PAHs identified were subjected to oxidation from 11.3 to 100%. The results of experiments on biodegradation of PAHs under natural conditions have shown that for 60 days the total utilization of oil products in soils was on the average 65% of the initial contamination. This suggests the prospects for the use of the mixed HOM culture under study for effective biodegradation of PAHs polluting soil and waste waters.

Tertiary wastewater treatment using bioreactors-clarifiers

The use of technical oxygen instead of air in biological treatment plants can increase their oxidizing ability. Bioreactor-clarifier is a new technical device for tertiary wastewater treatment with the use of oxygen. The design, operation principle and research results of the bioreactor-clarifier for tertiary treatment of urban wastewater are given The use of bioreactors-clarifiers for tertiary treatment of urban wastewater using dissolved technical oxygen allows intensifying the process of biochemical oxidation of organic substances in a contact weighed load and increasing the efficiency of wastewater treatment by BOD and other components.

The possibility of processing rock dump of the Luhansk region coal mines: environmental and geochemical justification

Objective: To justify ecologically and geochemically rock dump processability of the Luhansk region coal mine for obtaining metals. Methods: The common methods of chemical and physicochemical analysis of debris, soil and vegetation samples as well as the valuation methods of ecological situation were applied. Results: The research data on migration of heavy metals to soils contiguous to dump and in the “soilplant” system were presented. The type of ecological situation when heavy metals pollute vegetation was established. The main cause of heavy metals migration is in the processes of chemical and biochemical oxidation of sulfide minerals being a part of stock debris as well as the processes of sulfuric acid formation. It was shown that debris contained a large number of metals with ferrous oxide, aluminum and silicon prevailing. While the debris of coal mines could be regarded as lean aluminum raw material. Practical importance: It was suggested to use natural processes for the formation of sulfuric acid in debris for the purpose of biochemical oxidation of aluminum as the main method of reducing the environmental impact and rational use of natural resources.

The model of eutrophication of marine and estuarine ecosystems in the northwest Black Sea Region

The paper outlines the mathematical structure of the numerical mathematical model of water eutrophication. The model is based on the numerical non-stationary hydrothermodynamic model MECCA (Model for Estuarine and Coastal Circulation Assessment) supplemented with a chemical-biological modular unit designed in accordance with the principles of preparation of the water quality model RCA-HydroQual with some modifications introduced by the author. The chemical-biological unit of the model includes a description of the dynamics of the following hydroecological variables at a local point of space: biomass of phytoplankton, mineralization-resistant organic phosphorus in suspended (detrital) and dissolved fractions, labile organic phosphorus in suspended and dissolved fractions, dissolved mineral phosphorus, stable organic nitrogen in suspended and dissolved fractions, labile organic nitrogen in suspended and dissolved fractions, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, suspended and dissolved fractions of organic carbon resistant to biochemical oxidation, suspended and dissolved fractions of labile organic carbon and water-dissolved oxygen. The paper presents results of calibration and verification of 1D version of the model for the case of the Tyligulskiy Liman (Estuary) in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. A conclusion is drawn that the model makes it possible to display the main features of the annual dynamics of hydroecological characteristics of the liman during phytoplankton vegetation season, in particular, the conditions determining the processes of primary production and biochemical oxidation of organic substance, regeneration of mineral forms of biogenic elements. Application of the model in order to assess the impact of deepening the ‘liman-sea’ connecting canal on the hydroecological characteristics of the Tyligulskiy Liman proved that intensification of water exchange with the sea through the canal will help to reduce phytoplankton production, concentration of organic substance in the water of the liman and, ultimately, will lead to improvement of its trophic status. The model is expected to be further used to assess the effectiveness of various scenarios of managing the hydroecological regime of the limans of the north-western Black Sea region considering the changes of climatic conditions.