Selenium supplementation through Se-rich dietary matrices can upregulate the anti-inflammatory responses in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophages.

The accessibility of selenium from naturally enriched sources such as cereals crops can potentially be used as selenium supplements to support nutritional requirements. Dietary selenium supplementation, as Se-rich wheat extracts, on RAW264.7 macrophage cells enhanced the antioxidant capacity via augmentation of cellular selenoprotein glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx-1) expression in the absence or presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment. Cells were supplemented with Se in the form of sodium selenite (SS), seleniferous wheat extract (SeW) and seleniferous wheat extract with rMETase treatment (SeW+rMET) at three different concentrations. Cells supplemented with SS and SeW+rMET showed increase in GPx-1 expression as compared to SeW treated cells. SeW+rMET, further, down-regulated the LPS-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2, microsomal PGE synthase-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase w.r.t. Se-deficient cells, while the expression of hematopoietic PGD synthase was upregulated. This demonstrates SeSup effectively modulates the expression inflammatory responses, indicating the potential benefits of dietary selenium supplementation.

Persistence and biodegradation of quinalphos using soil microbes.

The present study reports the degradation of the persistent and toxic organophosphate, quinalphos, by employing microorganisms that were already members of the natural soil community for degradation. Bacillus and Pseudomonas spp., both of which are capable of degrading quinalphos from aqueous streams, were isolated from different contaminated soils. Batch experiments were performed to determine the natural and induced biodegradation of quinalphos in the aqueous medium. The rate of degradation was analyzed through determination of residual concentration using UV-Vis spectrophotometer and high-performance liquid chromatography. A single peak of a metabolite was observed on the 160th day, and identified as dihydroxy quinalphos oxon by mass spectrometry. The presence of quinalphos and its metabolite in water over an extended period prompted the authors to investigate its induced biodegradation using indigenous microbes extracted from soil. For biodegradation studies, the isolated microbes were inoculated into minimal media with quinalphos for 17 days. The results revealed that > 80% of quinalphos was degraded in 17 days in the presence of isolated microbes, and no metabolite was observed during the biodegradation process.