The impact of diabetes on the pathogenesis of sepsis

Diabetes is associated with an increased susceptibility to infection and sepsis. Conflicting data exist on whether the mortality of patients with sepsis is influenced by the presence of diabetes, fuelling the ongoing debate on the benefit of tight glucose regulation in patients with sepsis. The main reason for which diabetes predisposes to infection appears to be abnormalities of the host response, particularly in neutrophil chemotaxis, adhesion and intracellular killing, defects that have been attributed to the effect of hyperglycaemia. There is also evidence for defects in humoral immunity, and this may play a larger role than previously recognised. We review the literature on the immune response in diabetes and its potential contribution to the pathogenesis of sepsis. In addition, the effect of diabetes treatment on the immune response is discussed, with specific reference to insulin, metformin, sulphonylureas and thiazolidinediones

Dye photo-enhancement of TiO2-photocatalyzed degradation of organic pollutants: the organobromine herbicide bromacil

Dye chemicals from the textile industry are a principal source of environmental pollution. The industrial effluents must therefore be treated before their release into the aqueous environment. However, application of conventional biological methods for textile wastewater treatment is limited by unsatisfactory degradation of the refractory dyes and associated chemicals. In the present study a complete degradation of selected azo- and thiazine-dyes has been achieved by TiO2-solar photocatalytic oxidation (SPO). Here the SPO is accompanied by a reaction of dye sensitization. Enhanced degradation of colourless refractory pollutants has been observed in the combined process. The main advantage of the combined approach is the utilization of visible light for assisting the degradation of refractory organic pollutants, not only coloured, but also colourless, which cannot be photosensitized in the visible region. Although very little is known on the subject, the present results demonstrate that the process is promising for the removal of undesirable toxic chemicals from textile industry wastewater. To simulate such conditions we have recently studied the dye photosensitized solar photocatalysis of an uracil derivative. Both UV and visible light are required for enhanced substrate and dye decomposition. Irradiation by UV alone decreased the degradation rate of dye, while visible light alone did not lead to any decomposition at all. It seems that the mechanism of the studied reaction involves a combination of oxidation by hydroxyl radicals, via the hole-electron semiconductor route, with oxidation by singlet oxygen.</jats:p