Adsorção do corante básico Verde Malaquita via carvão ativado a partir do caroço de açaí

Os corantes sintéticos são amplamente utilizados nos diversos seguimentos industriais, gerando um potencial poluente aos corpos hídricos. Desta forma, existindo grande necessidade de realizar-se tratamento adequado desse tipo de efluente, este estudo observou a eficiência na remoção do corante Verde Malaquita utilizando como adsorvente o Carvão Ativado (CA) produzido a partir do caroço de açaí (Euterpe oleracea), resíduo comumente gerado na região Amazônica. Na produção do CA foram utilizados dois agentes ativantes, Ácido Fosfórico (H3PO4), sendo denominado de CAG-A e o Hidróxido de sódio (NaOH), sendo denominado de CAG-B. A caracterização do CA foi realizada através das análises FTIR, ATG/ATD, área BET, e MEV/EDS. Para determinação da capacidade de adsorção bem como estudar e entender os mecanismos e etapas controladoras do processo de adsorção, os dados experimentais foram ajustados aos modelos matemáticos de Langmuir e Freundlich e aos modelos cinéticos de Pseudo-Primeira Ordem, Pseudo-Segunda Ordem e Difusão Intrapartícula. As análises para caracterização dos CA’s indicaram a presença de grupos funcionais ácidos, carregando negativamente a superfície de CAG-A e CAG-B, favorecendo o processo de adsorção, uma vez que o adsorbato deste estudo é um corante catiônico. Os dados experimentais tanto pra CAG-A como para CAG-B melhor se ajustaram à isoterma de Freundlich, bem como também, o modelo cinético de Pseudo-Segunda Ordem teve melhor ajuste em ambos os carvões. A adsorção do Verde Malaquita em CAG-A e CAG-B mostrou-se eficiente para os CA’s, obtendo-se valores de qmax = 113,9 mg/g e 668,88 mg/g respectivamente.

Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Analysis of Thymoquinone and Thymol Compounds from Nigella sativa L. that Inhibit Cag A and Vac A Oncoprotein of Helicobacter pylori: Probable Treatment of H. pylori Infections

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is accountable for most of the peptic ulcer and intestinal cancers. Due to the uprising resistance towards H. pylori infection through the present and common proton pump inhibitors regimens, the investigation of novel candidates is the inevitable issue. Medicinal plants have always been a source of lead compounds for drug discovery. The research of the related effective enzymes linked with this gram-negative bacterium is critical for the discovery of novel drug targets. Objective: The aim of the study is to identify the best candidate to evaluate the inhibitory effect of thymoquinone and thymol against H. pylori oncoproteins, Cag A and Vac A in comparison to the standard drug, metronidazole by using a computational approach. Materials and Methods: The targeted oncoproteins, Cag A and Vac A were retrieved from RCSB PDB. Lipinski’s rule and ADMET toxicity profiling were carried out on the phytoconstituents of the N. sativa. The two compounds of N. sativa were further analyzed by molecular docking and MD simulation studies. The reported phytoconstituents, thymoquinone and thymol present in N. sativa were docked with H. pylori Cag A and Vac A oncoproteins. Structures of ligands were prepared using ChemDraw Ultra 10 software and then changed into their 3D PDB structures using Molinspiration followed by energy minimization by using software Discovery Studio client 2.5. Results: The docking results revealed the promising inhibitory potential of thymoquinone against Cag A and Vac A with docking energy of -5.81 kcal/mole and -3.61kcal/mole, respectively. On the contrary, the inhibitory potential of thymol against Cag A and Vac A in terms of docking energy was -5.37 kcal/mole and -3.94kcal/mole as compared to the standard drug, metronidazole having docking energy of -4.87 kcal/mole and -3.20 kcal/mole, respectively. Further, molecular dynamic simulations were conducted for 5ns for optimization, flexibility prediction, and determination of folded Cag A and Vac A oncoproteins stability. The Cag A and Vac A oncoproteins-TQ complexes were found to be quite stable with the root mean square deviation value of 0.2nm. Conclusion: The computational approaches suggested that thymoquinone and thymol may play an effective pharmacological role to treat H. pylori infection. Hence, it could be summarized that the ligands thymoquinone and thymol bound and interacted well with the proteins Cag A and Vac A as compared to the ligand MTZ. Our study showed that all lead compounds had good interaction with Cag A and Vac A proteins and suggested them to be a useful target to inhibit H. pylori infection.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals responses to Cycloastragenol in Arabidopsis thaliana

Cycloastragenol (CAG), a molecule isolated from ‘Astragalus membranaceus’, stimulates the telomerase activity and cell proliferation significantly. It has been proven that CAG has the ability to prevent some diseases in humans. In this study, we aimed to figure out the CAG effects on the different signaling mechanisms in plants and to broadly analyze the genome-wide transcriptional responses in order to demonstrate CAG as a new key molecule that can potentially help plants to overcome different environmental stresses. RNA-seq strategy was employed to assess the transcriptional profiles in A. thaliana calli. Our work primarily focused on an overall study on the transcriptomic responses of A. thaliana to CAG. A total of 22593 unigenes have been detected, among which 1045 unigenes associated with 213 GO terms were differentially expressed and were assigned to 118 KEGG pathways. The up-regulated genes are principally involved in cellular and metabolic processes in addition to the response to a stimulus. The data analysis revealed genes associated with defense signaling pathways such as cytochrome P450s transporter, antioxidant system genes, and stress-responsive protein families were significantly upregulated. The obtained results can potentially help in better understanding biotic and/or abiotic tolerance mechanisms in response to CAG.

Évaluation d’un procédé d’affinage sur charbon actif en grains à l’échelle pilote pour le traitement d’une sélection de micropolluants peu adsorbables

La charge croissante en contaminants organiques dans les ressources oblige les producteurs d’eau potable à réhabiliter leurs filières de traitement. L’ajout d’une étape d’affinage est ainsi nécessaire pour traiter cette pollution. La filtration sur charbon actif en grains (CAG) est un procédé robuste, éprouvé et préférentiel à l’oxydation et à la filtration sur membranes, pour des raisons techniques et économiques. Elle doit être repensée pour faire face aux nouveaux contaminants difficilement adsorbables. L’approche proposée est celle mise en œuvre dans le procédé d’adsorption sur CAG à flux ascendant avec renouvellement séquentiel du média, pour maintien d’un âge constant. L’évaluation de ce procédé focalisée, sur l’abattement d’une sélection de six micropolluants, est faite à échelle pilote. Les performances de ce procédé sont comparées à celles du procédé conventionnel sur CAG en flux descendant sans renouvellement de média. Les résultats des essais ont démontré des performances d’abattement des micropolluants décroissantes au cours du temps pour le filtre CAG conventionnel, alors qu’elles sont maintenues constantes pour le filtre en flux ascendant, en lien avec le renouvellement maîtrisé du média maintenu constant et proche de 55000m3/m3. Les performances d’adsorption, sont très bonnes (90% et plus) pour l’aminotriazole et la déséthyl-hydroxyatrazine, mais moindres pour les autres composés testés (entre 36 et 85%). Un âge du média inférieur doit ainsi être fixé pour améliorer le traitement de ces composés peu adsorbables. Cette évaluation de performances à échelle pilote est une première étape, en amont du déploiement de ce procédé à échelle industrielle.

Caracterização da matéria orgânica dissolvida em processos de tratamento de água para consumo humano usando fracionamento rápido

RESUMO Matéria orgânica natural (MON) é uma complexa matriz de compostos orgânicos originados de fontes naturais que estão presentes em corpos hídricos. A MON é comprovada precursora de subprodutos da desinfecção (SPD), além de afetar processos de tratamento de água, tais como a coagulação, a desinfecção, a oxidação, a adsorção em carvão ativado e a filtração em membranas. Por essas razões, a redução da MON no tratamento de água para consumo humano é importante. Vários métodos são usados para caracterizar e quantificar a MON, tais como adsorção em resinas e parâmetros de massa. Carbono orgânico total (COT), carbono orgânico dissolvido (COD), absorção na região do ultravioleta (UV254) e absorbância específica de luz ultravioleta (AEUV) são usualmente utilizados como parâmetros de massa. O fracionamento rápido é uma técnica que usa diferentes resinas para separar frações da MON. Nesse contexto, este trabalho teve como objetivo geral caracterizar a matéria orgânica dissolvida (MOD) em processos de tratamento de água para consumo humano usando o método do fracionamento rápido e os parâmetros COD, UV254 e AEUV. Também foram analisados as variáveis turbidez, cor, pH e alcalinidade. Foram avaliados os efeitos dos processos de coagulação, sedimentação, filtração e adsorção em carvão ativado nas frações que formam a MON. Ácidos muito hidrofóbicos (AMH) constituíram a principal fração da MOD na água estudada, havendo redução de 89% entre a água bruta e o efluente do filtro de carvão ativado granular (CAG). A segunda fração predominante foi de ácidos levemente hidrofóbicos (ALH), reduzidos em 83% ao longo do tratamento. Na água bruta, as frações de matérias hidrofílicas carregadas (MHC) e de neutras (MHN) apresentaram concentrações de 0,11 mg L-1 e 0,04 mg L-1, não sendo removidas pelo tratamento.

FIBRINOLYTIC AND PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF BLOOD PLASMA IN PEPTIC ULCER OF THE STOMACH, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE PATHOGENIC STRAINS OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI

The purpose of the study is to investigate changes in fibrinolytic and proteolytic activity of blood plasma in patients with peptic ulcer (PU) taking into account pathogenic Helicobacter pylori (Hp) strains. Materials and methods. 93 patients with PU were examined, of which 30 patients with PU and concomitant Hp cag cag A+/vac A+ (group I), 31 patients with PU and concomitant Hp cag A-/vac A- (group II), 32 patients with PU without concomitant HP infection (group III). The control group consisted of 30 healthy individuals. Fibrinolytic activity of blood plasma was investigated with the help of lysis of azofibrin (fibrin associated with the azo dye orange), which in the alkaline medium turns a bright red color. The level of total (ТFA), enzymatic (FFA) and non-enzymatic fibrinolytic activity (NFA) was evaluated. Proteolytic activity of blood plasma was determined by the lysis of azoalbumin, azocasein and azokol. Research results. The study of fibrinolytic activity of blood plasma showed that the total fibrinolytic activity of blood plasma (TFA) in all groups was significantly higher compared to the control indicators: in patients of group I by 61.5 %, in patients by 40.9 %, in patients of group III by 30.3 %, with a significant intergroup difference between the groups. The growth of TFA was mainly due to FFA. In patients of group I, FFA increased by 2.06 times (p < 0.05), and in patients of group II – by 1.79 times (p < 0.05), in patients of group IIІ – by 1.52 times (p < 0.05) compared with the control. In patients with group I, FFA increased by 12.5 % ​​(p < 0.05) compared with group II. In all patients examined, there was an increase in the proteolytic activity of blood plasma, in particular in group I, the lysis of azoalbumin, azocasein and azocolol increased significantly 2.94 times, 2.83 times and 1.90 times, respectively, and in the patients of group II the investigated indicators increased accordingly 1.87-fold (p < 0.05), 1.96-fold (p < 0.05) and 1.40-fold (p < 0.05), in patients of group III, respectively 1.55 times (p < 0.05), 1.59 times (p < 0.05) and 1.18 times, compared to these values ​​in almost healthy subjects. Significantly more significant changes in proteolysis were detected in the presence of pathogenic Hp strains. Conclusion. Increased proteolytic and fibrinolytic activity of blood plasma is observed in patients with PU. The presence of concomitant Hp in PU leads to more pronounced changes in proteolysis and fibrinolysis. Pathogenic strains of Hp cag cag A+/vac A+ cause significantly more abnormalities in hemostasis.

AMBIVALENCE OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN THE MUSCULOUS STOMACH

For peptic ulcer disease, the etiological role of H. pylori infection has been proven, 60-90% of gastric cancer cases are associated with H. pylori. The bacterium is recognized as a first-order carcinogen. An association has been established between the successful elimination of H. pylori and a reduced risk of gastric cancer and relapse of peptic ulcer. In the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation in the gastric mucosa associated with H. pylori, there are reference points that determine the further path of development of the pathology. If peptic ulcer is not a consequence of the direct damaging effect of NSAIDs, it is associated with the development of gastritis. In gastric ulcer, gastritis is found in both the antrum and the fundus of the stomach Atrophy of the glands begins in the antrum, then its foci are found in the fundus on the front and back walls. Gradu- ally they increase in size, merge with each other, the acid secreting zone decreases, and the border between the fundus and pyloric glands shifts in the proximal direction. With atrophic fundus gastritis, the likelihood of developing high ulcers and stomach cancer increases. Significant increase in apoptosis processes with relative rigidity of proliferation leads to the formation of ulcer, and carcinogenesis is due to excessive proliferation and accumulation of cell mutations. One of the subjects of damage is Cag A H. pylori protein, which implements remodeling of the gastric epithelial barrier. Among its effects are modulation and impaired proliferation of gastric epithelium, leading to morphological changes. The aggressive action of Cag A protein enhances toxic doses of alcohol and smoking, supporting inflammation and causing damage to the gastric mucosa. Despite the common etiology and pathogenesis of gastric ulcer and gastric cancer, the relationship with the de- velopment of atrophic pangastritis and the similarity of convention risk factors determines that the key point in the manifestation of gastric cancer is a genetic predisposition in the form of gene polymorphism causing severe atrophy as a result of chronic inflammation.