Selenite Adsorption and Reduction via Iron(II) Impregnated Activated Carbon Produced from the Phosphoric Acid Activation of Construction Waste Wood.

Chemical activation of waste materials, to form activated carbon, (AC) is complicated by the large amounts of chemical activating agents required and wastewater produced. To address these problems, we have developed an optimized process for producing AC, by phosphoric acid activation of construction waste. Waste wood from construction sites was ground and treated with an optimized phosphoric acid digestion and activation that resulted in high surface areas (> 2000 m2/g) and a greater recovery of phosphoric acid. Subsequently the phosphoric acid activated carbon (PAC), was functionalized with iron salts and evaluated for its efficacy on the adsorption of selenite and selenate. Total phosphoric acid recovery was 96.7% for waste wood activated with 25% phosphoric acid at a 1:1 ratio, which is a substantially higher phosphoric acid recovery, than previous literature findings. Post activation impregnation of iron salts resulted in iron(II) species adsorbed to the PAC surface. The iron(II) chloride impregnated AC removed up to 11.41 ± 0.502 mg selenium per g Iron-PAC. Competitive ions such as sulfate and nitrate had little effect on selenium adsorption, however, phosphate concentration did negatively impact the selenium uptake at high phosphate levels. At 250 ppm, approximately 75% of adsorption capacity of both the selenate and the selenite solutions was lost, although selenium was still preferentially adsorbed. Peak adsorption occurred between a pH of 4 and 11, with a complete loss of adsorption at a pH of 13.

Transforming micropores to mesopores by heat cycling KOH activated petcoke for improved kinetics of adsorption of naphthenic acids.

Formation of activated carbon from petroleum coke by KOH, results in high specific surface area materials that are predominantly microporous. This initial microporosity means that the adsorption kinetics of target species are not as rapid as they could be, thus limiting environmental remediation applications for the material. To address this problem a series of additional heat cycles with no additional chemical inputs were applied after activation but prior to the removal of activating agents. This process resulted in the oxidation of residual potassium metal from the initial activation which allows it to function again as an activating agent for the subsequent cycles. The heat cycling resulted in an increase in mesoporosity by 10-25% with each successive cycle independent of the KOH to feedstock ratio. This was shown to be demonstrably different than equivalently extended heating times, thus identifying the importance of thermal cycling. Adsorption kinetics of three model naphthenic acids showed faster kinetics for the pore widened activated carbon. The t1/2 times dropped from 20 to 6.6 min for diphenyl acetic acid, 34.3 to 4.5 min for cyclohexane acetic acid, and 51.4 to 12.0 min for heptanoic acid.

A novel mutation af Cln3 associated with delayed-classic juvenile ceroid lipofuscinois and autophagic vacuolar myopathy.

Juvenile neuronal-ceroid-lipofuscinosis (JNCL) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in CLN3. The most frequent mutation is a 1.02-kb deletion that, when homozygous, causes the classical clinical presentation. Patients harboring mutations different than the major deletion show a marked clinical heterogeneity, including protracted disease course with possible involvement of extraneuronal tissues. Cardiac involvement is relatively rare in JNCL and it is usually due to myocardial storage of ceroid-lipofuscinin. Only recently, histopathological findings of autophagic vacuolar myopathy (AVM) were detected in JNCL patients with severe cardiomyopathy. We describe a 35-year-old male showing a delayed-classic JNCL with visual loss in childhood and neurological manifestations only appearing in adult life. He had an unusual CLN3 genotype with an unreported deletion (p.Ala349_Leu350del) and the known p.His315Glnfs*67 mutation. Autophagic vacuolar myopathy was shown by muscle biopsy. At clinical follow-up, moderately increased CPK levels were detected whereas periodic cardiac assessments have been normal to date. Adult neurologists should be aware of protracted JNCL as cause of progressive neurological decline in adults. The occurrence of autophagic vacuolar myopathy necessitates periodic cardiac surveillance, which is not usually an issue in classic JNCL due to early neurological death.

Infusion of alpha-galactosidase A reduces tissue globotriaosylceramide storage in patients with Fabry disease.

Fabry disease is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-gal A). This enzymatic defect results in the accumulation of the glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb(3); also referred to as ceramidetrihexoside) throughout the body. To investigate the effects of purified alpha-gal A, 10 patients with Fabry disease received a single i.v. infusion of one of five escalating dose levels of the enzyme. The objectives of this study were: (i) to evaluate the safety of administered alpha-gal A, (ii) to assess the pharmacokinetics of i.v.-administered alpha-gal A in plasma and liver, and (iii) to determine the effect of this replacement enzyme on hepatic, urine sediment and plasma concentrations of Gb(3). alpha-Gal A infusions were well tolerated in all patients. Immunohistochemical staining of liver tissue approximately 2 days after enzyme infusion identified alpha-gal A in several cell types, including sinusoidal endothelial cells, Kupffer cells, and hepatocytes, suggesting diffuse uptake via the mannose 6-phosphate receptor. The tissue half-life in the liver was greater than 24 hr. After the single dose of alpha-gal A, nine of the 10 patients had significantly reduced Gb(3) levels both in the liver and shed renal tubular epithelial cells in the urine sediment. These data demonstrate that single infusions of alpha-gal A prepared from transfected human fibroblasts are both safe and biochemically active in patients with Fabry disease. The degree of substrate reduction seen in the study is potentially clinically significant in view of the fact that Gb(3) burden in Fabry patients increases gradually over decades. Taken together, these results suggest that enzyme replacement is likely to be an effective therapy for patients with this metabolic disorder.

Management of neutralizing antibody to Ceredase in a patient with type 3 Gaucher disease.

OBJECTIVES: The beneficial effects of macrophage-targeted glucocerebrosidase (Ceredase) in patients with Gaucher disease are well established. A minority of recipients develop transient nonneutralizing antibodies to the exogenous enzyme. A 7-year-old patient with type 3 Gaucher disease whose clinical course began to deteriorate while receiving Ceredase developed a progressively increasing titer of IgG antibody that blocked the catalytic activity of Ceredase. We sought to develop a strategy that would restore the benefit of enzyme replacement therapy in this patient. METHODS: The patient was treated with two courses of a combination of plasma exchange, cyclophosphamide, intravenous IgG, and large doses of Ceredase. RESULTS: After the second course of this regimen, the titer of the neutralizing antibody in the blood gradually declined to negligible levels. Clinical parameters that had been deteriorating (reduction of hemoglobin level, increased serum acid phosphates activity, repeated skeletal infarctions, progressive enlargement and infarction of the spleen) all improved. There has been no recurrence of the neutralizing antibody in this patient. CONCLUSIONS: Very few patients with Gaucher disease who are treated with Ceredase develop a neutralizing antibody to the exogenous enzyme. In the rare instances where this phenomenon occurs, it is likely that the strategy we have used (plasma exchange, cyclophosphamide, intravenous IgG, and large doses of enzyme) may provide benefit to such individuals. It is also likely that this technique may be helpful when enzyme replacement therapy is attempted in patients with other disorders in which the genetic mutation abrogates the production of the protein (CRIM-negative individuals).

Studies on the turnover of exogenous mannose-terminal glucocerebrosidase in rat liver lysosomes.

Mannose-terminal glucocerebrosidase prepared by exoglycosidase digestion of human placental glucocerebrosidase is reported effective in the treatment of patients with type 1 Gaucher's disease [Barton et al. (1991); N Engl J Med 324:1464-1470]. However, the amount of enzyme that is necessary for therapeutic effect is much higher than would be predicted from in vitro activity measurements. We have investigated the fate of infused enzyme following intravenous administration in Sprague-Dawley rats. In this model system, the enzyme is rapidly cleared from the plasma compartment by receptor-mediated endocytosis via the mannose-specific receptor present on reticuloendothelial cells. Enzyme activity measured in rat liver biopsy specimens at various times post-infusion revealed a rapid initial loss of approximately one-half of the maximum delivered enzyme in the first hour followed by a slower decay with a half-life of approximately 6-8 h. The loss in enzyme activity is paralleled by a loss in enzyme protein when analyzed by Western blots. There is no evidence for return of enzyme activity or inactive enzyme protein to the plasma. Incomplete integration into the lysosomal membrane was demonstrated by the use of differential extraction of purified rat liver lysosomes to distinguish between lumenal and membrane bound enzyme. Immunoelectron microscopy of rat liver following infusion of mannose-terminal glucocerebrosidase confirmed localization of the delivered enzyme primarily within the lumen of the lysosomes of Kupffer cells and to a lesser extent associated with the lysosomal membrane. Enzyme activity was stable in isolated rat liver lysosomes preloaded with mannose-terminal glucocerebrosidase and incubated in the absence or presence of ATP. Acidification of the lysosomes to pH 3 results in a rapid loss of enzyme activity and protein; however, the relationship between the in vitro loss and the loss in enzyme activity in intact liver is not clear. We conclude from these studies that rapid intracellular degradation of administered glucocerebrosidase is the prime factor responsible for the high dose required for effective treatment of Gaucher's disease.

Biochemical and morphological effects of 20,25-diazacholesterol on cultured muscle cells.

Effects of 20,25-diazacholesterol (DAC), a myotonia-inducing drug, were evaluated on certain biochemical and morphological properties of embryonic rat muscle cells grown in tissue culture. During DAC treatment, muscle fibers exhibited spontaneous contractions that changed from coarse twitches to finer fibrillation movements, The ultrastructural alterations produced by DAC were smeared Z-lines, disorganized myofibrils, occasional honeycomb appearance of membranes and large vacuoles connected to zipper-like structures. Biochemically, a microsomal fraction prepared from DAC-treated cells (compared to that of normal cells) showed a 30-45 per cent decrease in the isoproterenol-enhanced and the NaF-enhanced adenylate cyclase activity. however, the beta-adrenergic receptors, through which isoproterenol activates the enzyme, showed no change in density or affinity as judged by the binding of [125I]iodohydroxybenzylpindolol. That indicated that DAC treatment caused an uncoupling of beta-receptor-adenylate cyclase interaction. Guanylate cyclase and cyclic GMP-phosphodiesterase were both markedly increased in DAC-treated cells, indicating a greater turnover of cyclic GMP. Binding of [3H]concanavalin A to DAC-treated muscle membranes was decreased 20-40 per cent. The data indicate that DAC exert a direct influence on muscle fibers, affecting their functional, biochemical and morphological properties.

The effect of pharmacologic acetylcholine receptor on fibrillation and myotonia in rat skeletal muscle.

Myotonic discharges in rats given 20, 25-diazacholesterol hydrochloride and fibrillation discharges in denervated rat muscle both were silenced by procaine hydrochloride, tetrodotoxin or ischemia, or potassium chloride (after initial activation). They both were activated by succinylcholine, but only the fibrillations were silenced by alpha-bungarotoxin or atropine sulfate. It is hypothesized that fibrillations and diazacholesterol-induced myotonia are mediated through mechanisms involving ionic channels, that both can be produced by activation of the junctional/nonjunctional acetylcholine receptors (or some mechanism coupled to the receptors), but that an unfettered alpha-bungarotoxin-binding portion of the acetylcholine-receptor molecule and an unblocked atropine-binding site are obligatory only for production of fibrillations.

In vitro studies of skeletal muscle membranes. Adenylate cyclase of fast and slow twitch muscle and the effects of denervation.

Sarcolemmal membranes were prepared from slow-twitch (red) and fast-twitch (white) skeletal muscle of the rat. A sensitive adenylate cyclase assay was used and basal, fluoride- and catecholamine-stimulated activities measured. The greater in vivo sensitivity of red muscle to the effects of catecholamines correlates, in the present study, with approximately a twofold stimulation of its sarcolemmal adenylate cyclase with isoproterenol (10 micronm). The white muscle enzyme, on the other hand, is only minimally stimulated (20%) at the same concentration of beta-adrenergic agonist. Fast-twitch muscle is known to be physiologically insensitive to catecholamine in vivo. A course of sciatic nerve denervation was followed to further distinguish these two metabolic types of skeletal muscle and their respective adenylate cyclases. The slow-twitch muscle enzyme activities were completely and permanently lost on denervation. The white muscle enzyme, however, recovered almost completely after an initial reduction in specific activity the first week. Interestingly, the NaF-stimulated activity lagged behind both the basal and hormone-stimulated activities of the white muscle enzyme, in returning to control levels. The activities of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase were evaluated in homogenates of the two muscle types in innervated rats and following denervation, in order to further define the neural influence on skeletal muscle cyclic nucleotide metabolism. The results suggest that the motor nerve may regulate some of the metabolic properties of slow-twitch muscle (which may involve cyclic AMP) by controlling the responsiveness of its sarcolemmal-bound adenylate cyclase system.

In vitro studies of skeletal muscle membranes. Effects of denervation on the macromolecular components of cation transport in red and white skeletal muscle.

The effects of denervation on the macromolecular components of active monovalent cation transport in skeletal muscle have been studied using purified sarcolemma membranes. A comparison of membrane activities of fast-twitch, slow-twitch, and mixed-fiber muscles was made to determine what role, if any, the motor nerve has in regulating this important aspect of muscle metabolism. A dramatic increase in the basal sarcolemmal Mg++ ATPase activity (three- to fourfold) was found for both major muscle types. An increase in the ouabain-inhibitable (Na+ + K+)-stimulated enzyme was also found, but the effect was substantially less (1.5- to twofold). [3H]-ouabain binding, as an index of glycoside receptor sites, also increased (two- to threefold) midway in the course of denervation. On the other hand, the phosphorylated intermediate activity, a functional component of the transport system, clearly decreased over the same time course and remained below control values for the remainder of the course. This resulted in a two- to threefold increase in the turnover number, suggesting that active transport of cations should increase dramatically with denervation. The membrane protein patterns on SDS gels were less obvious than the changes observed in the functional components. The major effects appeared after only one week and seemed to be restricted to high molecular weight membrane proteins, especially in the 100,000 to 250,000 daltons range. This effect was more prominent in slow-twitch membranes with an apparent semiquantitative decrease in stain at 240,000 daltons. In gels of membranes from fast-twitch muscles a decreased stain in the range of 100,000 to 110,000 daltons occurred, and this became more obvious with longer periods of denervation. The results suggest that considerable influence on the macromolecular components of active cation transport in skeletal muscle is exerted by the motor nerve. No appreciable difference was found in this effect when the two major types of skeletal muscle, fast-twitch and slow-twitch, were compared, suggesting that motor nerve regulation of this membrane property is qualitatively the same.