Activation of the neutrophil bactericidal activity for non-typable Haemophilus influenzae by tumor necrosis factor and lymphotoxin

Previous studies have suggested that, in vivo, activated T lymphocytes and neutrophils are important in immunity to non-typable Haemophilus influenzae. We now extend this work by showing that neutrophils pretreated with products of activated T lymphocytes or activated macrophages show significantly enhanced killing of nontypable H. influenzae. Lymphotoxin, a product of activated T lymphocytes, significantly enhanced the neutrophil-mediated killing of nontypable H. influenzae, and tumor necrosis factor, produced by activated T lymphocytes as well as macrophages stimulated by activated T lymphocytes, also significantly increased the bactericidal activity of neutrophils. These cytokine-induced effects were seen with short pretreatment times of neutrophils and were maximal by 30 min. The killing of H. influenzae by neutrophils required the presence of heat-labile opsonins. In the absence of these opsonins, both tumor necrosis factor and lymphotoxin were unable to promote the killing of the bacteria by neutrophils. Furthermore, the results showed that tumor necrosis factor-primed neutrophils displayed significantly increased expression of CR3 and CR4 that was associated with increased phagocytosis of complement-opsonized nontypable H. influenzae. These cytokines may play an important role in immunity toward nontypable H. influenzae by stimulating neutrophil bactericidal activity.Anne-Marie Tan, Antonio Ferrante, David H. B. Goh, Don M. Roberton, and Allan W. Cripp

Anaerobe Tolerance to Oxygen and the Potentials of Anaerobic and Aerobic Cocultures for Wastewater Treatment

The anaerobic treatment processes are considered to be well-established methods for the elimination of easily biodegradable organic matter from wastewaters. Some difficulties concerning certain wastewaters are related to the possible presence of dissolved oxygen. The common belief is that anaerobes are oxygen intolerant. Therefore, the common practice is to use sequencing anaerobic and aerobic steps in separate tanks. Enhanced treatment by polishing off the residual biodegradable oxygen demand from effluents of anaerobic reactors, or the biodegradation of recalcitrant wastewater pollutants, usually requires sequenced anaerobic and aerobic bacteria activities. However, the combined activity of both bacteria can also be obtained in a single reactor. Previous experiments with either pure or mixed cultures showed that anaerobes can tolerate oxygen to a certain extent. The oxygen toxicity to methanogens in anaerobic sludges was quantified in batch experiments, as well as in anaerobic reactors. The results showed that methanogens have a high tolerance to oxygen. In practice, it was confirmed that dissolved oxygen does not constitute any detrimental effect on reactor treatment performance. This means that the coexistence of anaerobic and aerobic bacteria in one single reactor is feasible and increases the potentials of new applications in wastewater treatmen