Behavioural Fever Promotes an Inflammatory Reflex Circuit in Ectotherms.

BACKGROUND: The communication between the brain and the immune system is a cornerstone in animal physiology. This interaction is mediated by immune factors acting in both health and pathogenesis, but it is unclear how these systems molecularly and mechanistically communicate under changing environmental conditions. Behavioural fever is a well-conserved immune response that promotes dramatic changes in gene expression patterns during ectotherms' thermoregulatory adaptation, including those orchestrating inflammation. However, the molecular regulators activating the inflammatory reflex in ectotherms remain unidentified. METHODS: We revisited behavioural fever by providing groups of fish a thermal gradient environment during infection. Our novel experimental setup created temperature ranges in which fish freely moved between different thermal gradients: (1) wide thermoregulatory range; T° = 6.4 °C; and (2) restricted thermoregulatory range; T° = 1.4 °C. The fish behaviour was investigated during 5-days post-viral infection. Blood, spleen, and brain samples were collected to determine plasmatic pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels. To characterize genes' functioning during behavioural fever, we performed a transcriptomic profiling of the fish spleen. We also measured the activity of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and acetylcholine in brain and peripheral tissues. RESULTS: We describe the first set of the neural components that control inflammatory modulation during behavioural fever. We identified a neuro-immune crosstalk as a potential mechanism promoting the fine regulation of inflammation. The development of behavioural fever upon viral infection triggers a robust inflammatory response in vivo, establishing an activation threshold after infection in several organs, including the brain. Thus, temperature shifts strongly impact on neural tissue, specifically on the inflammatory reflex network activation. At the molecular level, behavioural fever causes a significant increase in cholinergic neurotransmitters and their receptors' activity and key anti-inflammatory factors such as cytokine Il10 and Tgfß in target tissues. CONCLUSION: These results reveal a cholinergic neuronal-based mechanism underlying anti-inflammatory responses under induced fever. We performed the first molecular characterization of the behavioural fever response and inflammatory reflex activation in mobile ectotherms, identifying the role of key regulators of these processes. These findings provide genetic entry points for functional studies of the neural-immune adaptation to infection and its protective relevance in ectotherm organisms.

Assessment of a Fenton reaction driven by insoluble tannins from pine bark in treating an emergent contaminant.

Iron ligands as 1,2-dihydroxybenzenes (1,2-DHBs) have been used to increase the oxidizing ability of Fenton systems. However, these kinds of ligands become toxic quinones in the process creating an environmental problem since these compounds cannot be easily separated from a solution. To avoid this problem, in the present work, water-insoluble tannins, obtained from Pinus radiata bark, were used as a source of 1,2-DHBs to promote the oxidizing ability of the Fenton process. The developed system was tested using atrazine, as a substrate, which is a toxic and recalcitrant compound, present in different sources of water. The best reaction conditions established by the experimental design were as follows: pH of 3.6; 2.4 mmol L-1 of H2O2; 150 µmol L-1 of Fe(III); and 800 mg L-1 of tannins. A significant increase in the efficiency of the degradation of atrazine by the heterogeneous Fenton process was observed under these conditions. The repetitive use of the insoluble tannins for Fenton-like processes showed a similar oxidizing ability and did not produce the lixiviation of phenols or other aromatic compounds. Together, the results showed that insoluble tannins could be used safely at least five times to promote the reactivity of Fenton systems.

Optimization of Cyclohexanol and Cyclohexanone Yield in the Photocatalytic Oxofunctionalization of Cyclohexane over Degussa P-25 under Visible Light.

The sustainable transformation of basic chemicals into organic compounds of industrial interest using mild oxidation processes has proved to be challenging. The production of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone from cyclohexane is of interest to the nylon manufacturing industry. However, the industrial oxidation of cyclohexane is inefficient. Heterogeneous photocatalysis represents an alternative way to synthesize these products, but the optimization of this process is difficult. In this work, the yields of photocatalytic cyclohexane conversion using Degussa P-25 under visible light were optimized. To improve cyclohexanol production, acetonitrile was used as an inert photocatalytic solvent. Experiments showed that the use of the optimized conditions under solar light radiation did not affect the cyclohexanol/cyclohexanone ratio. In addition, the main radical intermediary produced in the reaction was detected by the electronic paramagnetic resonance technique.