Chemerin Level in the Serum of Knee Osteoarthritis Patients and its Relation to Disease Severity

Background: Chemerin is a new adipokine that has been linked to joint inflammation and degeneration. It has a proinflammatory effect and modulates immune system activity. Objective: The aim of the work was to assess the chemerin role in diagnosis as well as monitoring of severity of the disease in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients.Patients and Methods: This case-control study included a total of 60 subjects, 30 of them had knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and 30 served as controls, attending at Department of Rheumatology, Rehabilitation, and Physical Medicine, Zagazig University Hospitals. Chemerin level was measured for all the subjects by ELISA technique. In osteoarthritis group, knee osteoarthritis was assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Results: Statistically insignificant differences in age, BMI, as well as sex were found among the 2 studied groups. Serum chemerin levels in patients with KOA were statistically significantly higher than in controls, with a p-value of 0.001. Serum chemerin had no statistically significant correlations to age, BMI, or length of illness, while WOMAC scores, CRP, as well as ESR were strongly associated with serum chemerin levels. Conclusion: It could be concluded that serum chemerin can be utilized as an inflammatory marker in KOA patients and it can be considered as a therapeutic target. Further studies are recommended to assess its levels in other types of OA, and other rheumatic diseases

Biological control of some garlic diseases using antagonistic fungi and bacteria

Eight Trichoderma isolates which isolated from rhizospher of garlic plant and one isolte T. asperellum was obtained on PDA medium, from the commercial product (Biocontrol T34).  Also eleven isolates of rhizobacteria namly; B. subtilis, two isolates (Bs1 and Bs2), B.megaterium two isolates (Bm1and Bm2), P. fluorescens two isolates (Pf1 and Pf2), four isolates A. chroococcum (Az1, Az2, Az3 and Az4) and Penibacillus polymyxa one isolate  were tested in vitro to study thir ability against S. ceprivorum , F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae  and P. terrestris which caused white rot, basal rot and pink rot of garlic plants, respectively. The results showed that Trichoderma isolate number (T3) gave the highest reduction on maycelial growth of three pathogenic fungi, which adentified as Trichoderma harzianum, followed T. asperellum (T34), then isolate (T5) and isolate (T7). which adentified as Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma hamatum, respectively. Pseudomonas. fluorescens isolate (Pf1), followed by P. fluorescens (Pf2),  B. subtilis (Bs2), A. chroococcum (Az4)  and B. subtilis  (Bs1), then  A. chroococcum (Az2), B. megaterium (Bm2) and Penibacillus polymyxa  gave highly antagonistic effect was clear against the tested fungi respectively. A pot experiment was crried out under greenhouse conditions to evaluate the efficacy of commercial biofungicides biozeid , Bio-Arc, Plant Guard, T34 biocontrol and Rhizo-N, and biofertilizers Nitrobien, phosphoren, Biogen, Potassiumag, Ascobein and carialin were evaluated individually against garlic white rot, basal rot and pink rot diseases. Data showed that treated soil with biofungicides and biofertilizers reduced white rot, basal rot and pink rot diseases compared with the control. Treated soil with Rhizo-N, T34 biocontrol, Phosphoren and Nitrobien gave the best reduction of disease severity throughout two successive growing seasons

Effect of some biofertilizers and biofungicides applications on control onion root-rot disease

Five biofertilizers and biofungicides namely, (Cerialien, Biogen, Nitrobein, Phosphoren and Potassiumag) and (Rhizo-N, Bio-Arc, Plant-guard, Biozied and T-34) were used to evaluate their ability to protect onion plants (Giza 6 Mohassan var.) against root rot diseases, which mainly caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae causing Fusarium basal rot, Pyrenochaeta terrestris causing pink root rot and Sclerotium cepivorum  causing white rot disease as well as improving growth and yield of onion under greenhouse conditions during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 growing seasons. Data clearly showed that the tested biofungicides decreased the disease severity of onion bulb root rot as compared with the check treatment. The treated soil with different biofungicides significantly decreased the disease severity of onion  root rot diseases compared with the control. T-34 biocontrol at the rate of 2 and 3 g/kg soil was the most effective biofungicide in minimizing disease severity caused with the tested fungi followed by Biozied and Rhizo-N at the same concentrations during 2019/2020growing seasons. Also, Treated transplants with commercial biofertilizers i.e. Cerialien, Biogen, Nitrobein, Phosphoren and Potassiumag at 3 g/Kg soil and planted in infested soil with tested pathogenic fungi caused the highest reduction of the tested pathogenic fungi under greenhouse. As mean treated transplants with Nitrobein gave the greatest reduction of root rot diseases caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. cepae, P. terrestris and S. cepivorum, when used under greenhouse conditions during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 growing seasons. Moreover, all these treatments significantly increased growth parameters i.e. fresh bulb weight, dry bulb weight and bulb diameter as compared with the check treatment