Search

The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the city of Kenitra treats urban wastewater, this said treatment produces significant quantities of dehydrated sludge which are then placed in the public dump. The valorization of the dehydrated sludge of the WWTP-Kenitra became a priority, seen the enormous quantities produced of their complex and heterogeneous composition. Objective: It is in this present work which aims at following the fate of the dehydrated sludge of the WWTP-Kenitra after their dehydration as well as their characterization by the analysis of the heavy metals in order to study the possibility of their valorization with one of the dies answering the protection of the environment. Results: The results of the analyses of the composition of the dehydrated sludge in Metallic Traces Element is in conformity with the standards AFNOR and the directive 86/278/CEE of the European Commission and does not reflect any danger in their use for the agriculture. Conclusion: The valorization of the sludge of the WWTP of the city of Kenitra is encouraged.

The study consists in assessing the quality of the surface waters of the Lower Sebou (from dam to Sebou mouth), by studying the impact of anthropic activities and the tributaries flowing into the Sebou (Oued Beht and Oued sawaret), and by analyzing the various physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters such as : temperature, pH, conductivity, TSS, turbidity, DCO, DBO5, total phosphorus, NO -, NO -, NH4+, SO 2-, Cl-, Mg2+, Ca2+, alkalinity, total and faecal coliforms bacteria, total and faecal streptococci. Nine stations were sampled in mid-September 2021. The water analyzed showed high values: for temperature, from 24.7 to 31.1°C; for alkalinity, from 170.80 to 207.40 mg/L; for total phosphorus, from 0.01 to 1.75 mg/L; for ammonium, from 0.03 to 16.56 mg/L; for nitrite from 0.206 to 0.676 mg/L; for turbidity from 23 to 596 mg/L; for chemical oxygen demand from 50.88 to 168 mg/L; for biochemical demand for oxygen in 5 days from 16 to 58 mg O2/L; for faecal coliforms from 30 to 4500000 B/ml. The statistical analysis is encouraging, showing a temporal evolution in the overall quality of the lower Sebou.

Tacrolimus and sirolimus are important immunosuppressive drugs used in human islet transplantation; however, they are linked to detrimental effects on islets and reduction of long-term graft function. Few studies investigate the direct effects of these drugs combined in parallel with single drug exposure. Human islets were treated with or without tacrolimus (30 μg/L), sirolimus (30 μg/L), or a combination thereof for 24 hrs. Islet function as well as apoptosis was assessed by glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and Cell Death ELISA. Proinflammatory cytokines were analysed by qRT-PCR and Bio-Plex. Islets exposed to the combination of sirolimus and tacrolimus were treated with or without methylprednisolone (1000 μg/L) and the expression of the proinflammatory cytokines was investigated. We found the following: (i) No additive reduction in function and viability in islets existed when tacrolimus and sirolimus were combined compared to the single drug. (ii) Increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines mRNA and protein levels in islets took place. (iii) Methylprednisolone significantly decreased the proinflammatory response in islets induced by the drug combination. Although human islets are prone to direct toxic effect of tacrolimus and sirolimus, we found no additive effects of the drug combination. Short-term exposure of glucocorticoids could effectively reduce the proinflammatory response in human islets induced by the combination of tacrolimus and sirolimus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflammasomes are multiprotein inflammatory platforms that induce caspase-1 activation and subsequently interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 processing. The NLRP3 inflammasome is activated by different forms of oxidative stress, and, based on the central role of IL-1β in the destruction of pancreatic islets, it could be related to the development of diabetes. We therefore investigated responses in wild-type C57Bl/6 (WT) mice, NLRP3 -/- mice, and mice deficient in apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-recruitment domain (ASC) after exposing islets to short-term hypoxia or alloxan-induced islet damage. NLRP3-deficient islets compared with WT islets had preserved function ex vivo and were protected against hypoxia-induced cell death. Furthermore, NLRP3 and ASC-deficient mice were protected against oxidative stress-induced diabetes caused by repetitive low-dose alloxan administration, and this was associated with reduced β-cell death and reduced macrophage infiltration. This suggests that the beneficial effect of NLRP3 inflammasome deficiency on oxidative stress-mediated β-cell damage could involve reduced macrophage infiltration and activation. To support the role of macrophage activation in alloxan-induced diabetes, we injected WT mice with liposomal clodronate, which causes macrophage depletion before induction of a diabetic phenotype by alloxan treatment, resulting in improved glucose homeostasis in WT mice. We show here that the NLRP3 inflammasome acts as a mediator of hypoxia and oxidative stress in insulin-producing cells, suggesting that inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome could have beneficial effects on β-cell preservation.