The intake of high fat diet with different trans fatty acid levels differentially induces oxidative stress and non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Trans</it>-fatty acids (TFA) are known as a risk factor for coronary artery diseases, insulin resistance and obesity accompanied by systemic inflammation, the features of metabolic syndrome. Little is known about the effects on the liver induced by lipids and also few studies are focused on the effect of foods rich in TFAs on hepatic functions and oxidative stress. This study investigates whether high-fat diets with different TFA levels induce oxidative stress and liver dysfunction in rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male Wistar rats were divided randomly into four groups (n = 12/group): C receiving standard-chow; Experimental groups that were fed high-fat diet included 20% fresh soybean oil diet (FSO), 20% oxidized soybean oil diet (OSO) and 20% margarine diet (MG). Each group was kept on the treatment for 4 weeks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A liver damage was observed in rats fed with high-fat diet via increase of liver lipid peroxidation and decreased hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase). The intake of oxidized oil led to higher levels of lipid peroxidation and a lower concentration of plasma antioxidants in comparison to rats fed with FSO. The higher inflammatory response in the liver was induced by MG diet. Liver histopathology from OSO and MG groups showed respectively moderate to severe cytoplasm vacuolation, hypatocyte hypertrophy, hepatocyte ballooning, and necroinflammation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It seems that a strong relationship exists between the consumption of TFA in the oxidized oils and lipid peroxidation and non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The extent of the peroxidative events in liver was also different depending on the fat source suggesting that feeding margarine with higher TFA levels may represent a direct source of oxidative stress for the organism. The present study provides evidence for a direct effect of TFA on NAFLD.</p

Coupling of narrow and wide band-gap semiconductors on uniform films active in bacterial disinfection under low intensity visible light: Implications of the interfacial charge transfer (IFCT)

This study reports the design, preparation, testing and surface characterization of uniform films deposited by sputtering Ag and Ta on non-heat resistant polyester to evaluate the Escherichia coil inactivation by TaON, TaN/Ag, Ag and TaON/Ag polyester. Co-sputtering for 120 s Ta and Ag in the presence of N-2 and O-2 led to the faster E. coil inactivation by a TaON/Ag sample within similar to 40 min under visible light irradiation. The deconvolution of TaON/Ag peaks obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) allowed the assignment of the Ta2O5 and Ag-species. The shifts observed for the XPS peaks have been assigned to Ago to Ag2O and Ag-0, and are a function of the applied sputtering times. The mechanism of interfacial charge transfer (IFCT) from the Ag2O conduction band (cb) to the lower laying Ta2O5 (cb) is discussed suggesting a reaction mechanism. The optical absorption of the TaON and TaON/Ag samples found by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) correlated well with the kinetics of E. coli inactivation. The TaON/Ag sample microstructure was characterized by contact angle (CA) and by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Self-cleaning of the TaON/Ag polyester after each disinfection cycle enabled repetitive E. coil inactivation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Photocatalysis/catalysis by innovative TiN and TiN-Ag surfaces inactivate bacteria under visible light

This study presents the design, preparation, testing and characterization of TiN and TiN-Ag nanoparticulate films leading to photocatalytic and catalytic inactivation of Escherichia coli. When Ti was sputtered in N2 atmosphere, the TiN films unexpectedly revealed semiconductor properties when irradiated under visible light due to the formation of TiO2 showing absorption in the visible spectral region. In TiN-Ag films, Ag enhances the photocatalytic activity of TiN leading to faster bacterial inactivation. Evidence for the presence of TiO2 and TiN in the films is presented by XPS. The TiN layers 50 nm thick sputtered by DC for 3 min led to complete inactivation of E. coli within 120 min. But TiN layers with a thickness >50 nm hinder the surface diffusion of charges reducing bacterial inactivation. The rate of TiN deposition was ∼1.4 ×1015 atoms TiN/cm2s. For the TiN-polyester samples under visible light a 3 log10 bacterial reduction (99.9%) was observed within 30 min while for TiN-Ag samples the same bacterial reduction was attained within ∼15 min. The absorption of the TiN-Ag samples in Kubelka–Munk (KM) units was directly proportional to the E. coli inactivation kinetics. TiN-Ag plasmon nanostructures are concurrently formed under low intensity visible light and accelerated bacterial inactivation. This study shows that TiN films have the potential to replace Ag-based disinfection materials leaching Ag into the environment

ZrNO-Ag co-sputtered surfaces leading to E. coli inactivation under actinic light: Evidence for the oligodynamic effect

This study reports visible light sensitive ZrNO and ZrNO-Ag polyester samples prepared by sputtering in an Ar/N-2/O-2 atmosphere leading to Escherichia coil bacterial inactivation. The bacterial inactivation by ZrNO avoids the increasing environmental concern involving the fate of Ag-leaching of many disinfectants. The simultaneous co-sputtering of ZrNO and Ag2O enhanced the E. coli bacterial inactivation kinetics compared to the sequential sputtering of ZrNO and Ag. A reaction mechanism is suggested triggered by photoinduced interfacial charge transfer (IFCT) suggesting electron injection form the Ag2Ocb, to the ZrO2cb. The sizes of the ZrO2 and Ag nanoparticles in the co-sputtered ZrNO-Ag were 80-130 nm and 8-15 nm respectively as determined by high angular annular dark field (HAADF) microscopy. Evidence is presented by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the self-cleaning of the photocatalysts after bacterial inactivation. This enabled a stable catalyst reuse. The XPS experimental spectra of ZrNO and ZrNO-Ag were deconvoluted into their ZrN, ZrNO and ZrO2 components. The amounts of Ag-ions released during bacterial inactivation were <5 ppb/cm(2) and well below the Ag cytotoxic levels. Since no cytotoxicity was introduced during the bacterial inactivation process, the ZrNO-Ag disinfection proceeds through an oligodynamic effect. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Photocatalytic, sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B using ZnO/CNTs composites photocatalysts

A series of ZnO nanoparticles decorated on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (ZnO/CNTs composites) was synthesized using a facile sol method. The intrinsic characteristics of as-prepared nanocomposites were studied using a variety of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area analyzer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Optical properties studied using UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy confirmed that the absorbance of ZnO increased in the visible-light region with the incorporation of CNTs. In this study, degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) as a dye pollutant was investigated in the presence of pristine ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO/CNTs composites using photocatalysis and sonocatalysis systems separately and simultaneously. The adsorption was found to be an essential factor in the degradation of the dye. The linear transform of the Langmuir isotherm curve was further used to determine the characteristic parameters for ZnO and ZCC-5 samples which were: maximum absorbable dye quantity and adsorption equilibrium constant. The natural sunlight and low power ultrasound were used as an irradiation source. The experimental kinetic data followed the pseudo-first order model in photocatalytic, sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic processes but the rate constant of sonophotocatalysis is higher than the sum of it at photocatalysis and sonocatalysis process. The sonophotocatalysis was always faster than the respective individual processes due to the more formation of reactive radicals as well as the increase of the active surface area of ZnO/CNTs photocatalyst. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) of textile wastewater was measured at regular intervals to evaluate the mineralization of wastewater

Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

Background: We previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15–20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in ~ 80% of cases. Methods: We report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded. Results: No gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5–528.7, P = 1.1 × 10−4) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR = 3.70[95%CI 1.3–8.2], P = 2.1 × 10−4). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR = 19.65[95%CI 2.1–2635.4], P = 3.4 × 10−3), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR = 4.40[9%CI 2.3–8.4], P = 7.7 × 10−8). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD] = 43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P = 1.68 × 10−5). Conclusions: Rare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60&nbsp;years old

Titanium silicalite-1 macrostructures for photocatalytic removal of organic pollutants from aqueous media

Titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) structures in the form of macroscopic beads with hierarchical porosity were prepared by the resin templating method. The Ti content within the samples was varied between 1 and 7 wt%, with corresponding surface areas ranging from 725 to 350 m2 g−1, respectively. The samples contained a large amount of amorphous material, which was necessary to achieve high mechanical stability of the beads. The TS-1 macrostructures were used as catalysts for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB), and results were compared to the results for a commercial anatase nanopowder (CristalACTiV™ PC500). All TS-1 beads showed similar MB degradation rates independently of their Ti content, which was linked to variations in the surface areas and structure. The macroscopic shape of the TS-1 beads allowed easy recovery from the mother liquor upon decolouration of the MB solutions, which was highly beneficial compared to the reference anatase nanopowder. The TS-1 beads could be reused in subsequent photocatalytic cycles after decanting exhausted solutions and replacing with fresh MB solutions without any energy-consuming regeneration steps involved. The samples were tested in five consecutive cycles and MB degradation rates remained broadly unchanged during all tests