ASSESSMENT OF CYTOTOXIC AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF Zygophyllum album AND Suaeda palastina EXTRACTS ON HUMAN LIVER CANCER CELL LINES

In this study, anticancer activity of Zygophyllum album and Suaeda palastina extracts was evaluated. Dichloromethane, methanol and hot water were used as solvents for extraction. Results indicated that the highest half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) on human lung carcinoma (A549) cell lines was achieved by dichloromethane extracts of Z. album and S. palastina (70.48 μg/ml and 34.82 μg/ml respectively) compared to methanolic and hot water extracts. Furthermore, dichloromethane extracts of both plants had antiproliferative effect and highly cytotoxicity on human cancer cells. IC50 of Z. album was 27.74 μg/ml in the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), while IC50 of S. palaestina was 30.76 μg/ml with no cytotoxic activity on normal cell lines. In conclusion, these results suggest that Z. album and S. palaestina could be a good candidate species as a natural source of anticancer agents

Fetuin-A level in type 2 diabetic patients: relation to microvascular complications

Background Fetuin-A is a hepatic secretory protein that binds to insulin receptors and inhibits insulin resistance (IR) kinase activity as well as IR autophosphorylation in vivo and in vitro. Aim This study aimed to investigate fetuin-A levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and their relation to microvascular complications. Patients and methods This descriptive study was conducted on 160 patients. Group 1 included (n=40) diabetic patients without microvascular complications, group 2 (n=40) included diabetic patients with nephropathy, group 3 (n=40) included diabetic patients with retinopathy, and group 4 represented (n=40) healthy control. Serum fetuin-A and insulin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Glucose was measured, and homeostasis model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR) was estimated. Results Fetuin-A levels were significantly higher in all T2DM groups compared with controls. There was a significant positive correlation between fetuin-A, insulin, and HOMA-IR in all studied groups. There was a significant positive correlation between fetuin-A and some of metabolic syndrome criteria in all diabetic patients. There were high significant increases in the mean levels of fetuin-A, insulin, and HOMA-IR in the diabetic patients with nephropathy group than other groups. There was a nonsignificant increase in fetuin-A levels in diabetic patients with retinopathy than the diabetics without microvascular complications. Conclusion Fetuin-A may be used as a marker for microvascular complications in T2DM, especially the diabetic nephropathy. Antifetuin drugs may be invented to delay diabetic microvascular complications

Evaluation of Serum and Gene Expression of Galectin-4, Interleukin-27, and Complement-7 in Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Egyptian Patients

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered a major global public health problem. Recently, there are great advances in HCV therapy, but there are some limitations that are creating an urgent need for assessment of some cytokines that have a potent antiviral effect in the immune system and anti-inflammatory effects to provide a potential novel immunotherapeutic target in HCV infection. Objective. This study was directed to assess the serum levels and gene expression levels of Galectin-4 (LEG4), Interleukin-27 (IL-27), and Complement-7 (C-7) and their correlation with the viral load in HCV infection. Subjects and Methods. This work was conducted on 80 subjects, Group 1 (n=40) early detected HCV patients and Group 2 (n=40) healthy controls. LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 were assessed at the protein levels by ELISA, and their gene expression was assessed by RT-qPCR. The viral load was measured by PCR. Results. There were significant elevations in the mean levels of gene expression and serum levels of all studied parameters LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 in the HCV group compared to the control group. Significant negative correlations between the viral load and each of the serum proteins and gene expressions of both LEG4 and IL-27 in HCV patients were found. The gene expression levels of LEG4, IL-27, and C-7 were positively correlated with their corresponding serum proteins in HCV patients.Conclusion. LEG4 and IL-27 showed significant negative correlations with the viral load, which could be an immune response to the control of the extent of hepatic inflammation, thus creating a potential novel immunotherapeutic approach in HCV infection for further studies or therapeutic clinical trials

Probiotic potentials of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Egyptian fermented food

Abstract Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are of major concern due to their health benefits. Fermented food products comprise variable LAB demonstrating probiotic properties. Discovering and evaluating new probiotics in fermented food products poses a global economic and health importance. Therefore, the present work aimed to investigate and evaluate the probiotic potentials of LAB strains isolated from Egyptian fermented food. In this study, we isolated and functionally characterized 100 bacterial strains isolated from different Egyptian fermented food sources as probiotics. Only four LAB strains amongst the isolated LAB showed probiotic attributes and are considered to be safe for their implementation as feed or dietary supplements. Additionally, they were shown to exert antimicrobial activities against pathogenic bacteria and anticancer effects against the colon cancer cell line Caco-2. The Enterococcus massiliensis IS06 strain was exclusively reported in this study as a probiotic strain with high antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-colon cancer activity. Hitherto, few studies have focused on elucidating the impact of probiotic supplementation in vivo. Therefore, in the current study, the safety of the four strains was tested in vivo through the supplementation of rats with potential probiotic strains for 21 days. The results revealed that probiotic bacterial supplementation in rats did not adversely affect the general health of rats. The Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IS07 strain significantly increased the growth performance of rats. Furthermore, the four strains exhibited increased levels of antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione in vivo. Consistently, all strains also showed high antioxidant activity of the superoxide dismutase enzyme in vitro. Overall, these findings demonstrated that these isolated potential probiotics harbor desirable characteristics and can be applied widely as feed additives for animals or as dietary supplements for humans to exert their health benefits and combat serious diseases