Enhanced anticancer activities of curcumin-loaded green gum acacia-based silver nanoparticles against melanoma and breast cancer cells

Nano-anticancer drugs are gaining importance in cancer treatment due to their unique properties and wide range of applications. The efforts are made to synthesize silver nanoparticles by a green method and used as nano-carriers for curcumin. Green synthesis of the gum-stabilized AgNPs was monitored by UV–Vis spectrophotometry and the possible interactions of gum with AgNPs were evaluated by FT-IR. The curcumin-loaded AgNPs were characterized for their size, polydispersity index, ζ potential, morphology, size distribution, drug loading efficiency, and excipients’ interactions. The prepared nano-anticancer formulations were characterized and tested for anti-cancer potentials against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. The AgNPs acted as excellent nano-carriers for an increased amount of curcumin. In in vitro anticancer study, the IC50 values for AgNPs, curcumin, and curcumin-loaded AgNPs were 166.3, 82.2 and 61.6 µg/mL; 153.2, 107.3 and 77.1 µg/mL; and 144.6, 81.2 and 60.6 µg/mL against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. It was observed that silver nanoparticles showed good loading capacity for curcumin. Also, the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles showed good anticancer activities against MM-138, FM-55 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. The reported nano-anticancer drug formulations may be tested in vivo studies and clinical trials for treating cancer in the future

Assessing the Knowledge of Environmental Risk Factors for Cancer among the UAE Population: A Pilot Study

The incidence of cancer is increasing worldwide as well as in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Currently, researchers are advocating not only for prevention programs but also for early detection. In this study, we aimed to assess the general awareness of cancer among the UAE population, with a focus on environmental risk factors. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 385 participants. A total of 91.2% of the study population identified cancer as the leading cause of death, while 64.6% of the subjects were able to identify the key causes of cancer. A total of 87.3% and 70.5% of the participants were able to define tobacco and alcohol, respectively, as cancer-causing agents. Most of the study population failed to identify cancer-related infectious agents and incense smoke as carcinogens. Respondents in the medical professions had the highest knowledge score when compared with respondents with a non-medical profession and unemployed participants (p < 0.0005). To fill the gaps in cancer-related knowledge, participants were asked about their preferred method for cancer education, and 83.9% of the participants favored the media as a source of information. Conclusively, our findings indicated a gap in cancer knowledge among UAE residents, which highlights the importance of educational campaigns by health authorities; a follow-up study evaluating the success of educational campaigns is also warranted

Association of specific ACE2 and TMPRSS2 variants with circulatory cytokines of COVID-19 Emirati patients

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic represented one of the most significant challenges to researchers and healthcare providers. Several factors determine the disease severity, whereas none alone can explain the tremendous variability. The Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease type-2 (TMPRSS2) genes affect the virus entry and are considered possible risk factors for COVID-19. Methods: We compiled a panel of gene variants from both genes and used in-silico analysis to predict their significance. We performed biological validation to assess their capacity to alter the ACE2 interaction with the virus spike protein. Subsequently, we conducted a retrospective comparative genome analysis on those variants in the Emirati patients with different disease severity (total of 96) along with 69 healthy control subjects. Results: Our results showed that the Emirati population lacks the variants that were previously reported as associated with disease severity, whereas a new variant in ACE2 “Chr X:g.15584534” was associated with disease severity specifically among female patients. In-silico analysis revealed that the new variant can determine the ACE2 gene transcription. Several cytokines (GM-CSF and IL-6) and chemokines (MCP-1/CCL2, IL-8/CXCL8, and IP-10/CXCL10) were markedly increased in COVID-19 patients with a significant correlation with disease severity. The newly reported genetic variant of ACE2 showed a positive correlation with CD40L, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-15, and IL-17A in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: Whereas COVID-19 represents now a past pandemic, our study underscores the importance of genetic factors specific to a population, which can influence both the susceptibility to viral infections and the level of severity; subsequently expected required preparedness in different areas of the world