Polymeric nanocarriers: A promising tool for early diagnosis and efficient treatment of colorectal cancer

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent type of cancer for incidence and second for mortality worldwide. Late diagnosis and inconvenient and expensive current diagnostic tools largely contribute to the progress of the disease. The use of chemotherapy in the management of CRC significantly reduces tumor growth, metastasis, and morbidity rates. However, poor solubility, low cellular uptake, nonspecific distribution, multiple drug resistance and unwanted adverse effects are still among the major drawbacks of chemotherapy that limit its clinical significance in the treatment of CRC. Owing to their remarkable advantages over conventional therapies, the use of nanotechnology-based delivery systems especially polymeric nanocarriers (PNCs) has revolutionized many fields including disease diagnosis and drug delivery.Aim of Review: In this review, we shed the light on the current status of using PNCs in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC with a special focus on targeting strategies, surface modifications and safety concerns for different types of PNCs in colonic cancer delivery.Key Scientific Concepts of Review: The review explores the current progress on the use of PNCs in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC with a special focus on the role of PNCs in improvement of cellular uptake, drug targeting and co-delivery of chemotherapeutic agents. Possible toxicity and biocompatibility issues related to the use of PNCs and imitations and future recommendation for the use of those smart carriers in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC are also discussed.Acknowledgement This research was supported by Univeristy of Sharjah (UOS) tar-geted research project funds, 2101110345 to MH

Transmission of human hepatitis C virus from patients in secondary cells for long term culture

Infection by human hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the principal cause of post-transfusion hepatitis and chronic liver diseases worldwide. A reliable in vitro culture system for the isolation and analysis of this virus is not currently available, and, as a consequence, HCV pathogenesis is poorly understood. We report here the first robust in vitro system for the isolation and propagation of HCV from infected donor blood. This system involves infecting freshly prepared macrophages with HCV and then transmission of macrophage-adapted virus into freshly immortalized B-cells from human fetal cord blood. Using this system, newly isolated HCV have been replicated in vitro in continuous cultures for over 130 weeks. These isolates were also transmitted by cell-free methods into different cell types, including B-cells, T-cells and neuronal precursor cells. These secondarily infected cells also produced in vitro transmissible infectious virus. Replication of HCV-RNA was validated by RT-PCR analysis and by in situ hybridization. Although nucleic acid sequencing of the HCV isolate reported here indicates that the isolate is probably of type 1a, other HCV types have also been isolated using this system. Western blot analysis shows the synthesis of major HCV structural proteins. We present here, for the first time, a method for productively growing HCV in vitro for prolonged periods of time. This method allows studies related to understanding the replication process, viral pathogenesis, and the development of anti-HCV drugs and vaccines

Bi-allelic genetic variants in the translational GTPases GTPBP1 and GTPBP2 cause a distinct identical neurodevelopmental syndrome.

The homologous genes GTPBP1 and GTPBP2 encode GTP-binding proteins 1 and 2, which are involved in ribosomal homeostasis. Pathogenic variants in GTPBP2 were recently shown to be an ultra-rare cause of neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Until now, no human phenotype has been linked to GTPBP1. Here, we describe individuals carrying bi-allelic GTPBP1 variants that display an identical phenotype with GTPBP2 and characterize the overall spectrum of GTP-binding protein (1/2)-related disorders. In this study, 20 individuals from 16 families with distinct NDDs and syndromic facial features were investigated by whole-exome (WES) or whole-genome (WGS) sequencing. To assess the functional impact of the identified genetic variants, semi-quantitative PCR, western blot, and ribosome profiling assays were performed in fibroblasts from affected individuals. We also investigated the effect of reducing expression of CG2017, an ortholog of human GTPBP1/2, in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Individuals with bi-allelic GTPBP1 or GTPBP2 variants presented with microcephaly, profound neurodevelopmental impairment, pathognomonic craniofacial features, and ectodermal defects. Abnormal vision and/or hearing, progressive spasticity, choreoathetoid movements, refractory epilepsy, and brain atrophy were part of the core phenotype of this syndrome. Cell line studies identified a loss-of-function (LoF) impact of the disease-associated variants but no significant abnormalities on ribosome profiling. Reduced expression of CG2017 isoforms was associated with locomotor impairment in Drosophila. In conclusion, bi-allelic GTPBP1 and GTPBP2 LoF variants cause an identical, distinct neurodevelopmental syndrome. Mutant CG2017 knockout flies display motor impairment, highlighting the conserved role for GTP-binding proteins in CNS development across species

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Hydrogeochemical characteristics of the groundwater in the quaternary aquifer of western fringes of El-Minia Governorate, Egypt using an integration of geochemical modeling and geo-statistical techniques

Groundwater is a very important source of drinking and irrigation water especially in areas with little to no surface water sources. In the western desert of Egypt, groundwater acts as the main source of irrigation in the new reclamation project. The authors of the article used major constituents and trace elements chemistry as well as bacteriological and biological water analysis to assess the hydrogeochemical characteristics in the western bank of the River Nile, West El-Minia District. In order to fulfill the scope of work for this study, 88 groundwater samples were collected from the Pleistocene aquifer which represents the main aquifer in the study area. The groundwater samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na-, K+), major anions (HCO3-, SO42- and Cl-) and trace metals (Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, As, Hg, Se, Al, Cd, Cr, B, and Fe). Microbiological and microscopic studies of the collected water samples were carried out to determine the micro-organisms' in order to confirm the safety of the water for human consumption. Also, statistical analysis and hydrogeochemical modeling were used to interpret the collected data. The study revealed that in all the collected water samples, alkaline earth metals have values higher than alkalies and are of meteoric origin. The groundwater chemistry is mainly controlled by rock weathering with a secondary contribution from anthropogenic sources. Forty-nine percent (49%) of analyzed water samples have trace constituents above the recommended limits for water use for drinking and irrigation purposes. The highest linear correlation was shown between TDS and EC, HCO3, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, all macro-components and chlorides, between boron and chrome, as well as cobalt and lead. All sampled waters were classified as Ca-HCO3 water type and calcite precipitate in all collected water samples.Web of Science18915113

Design and Synthesis of Novel Antimicrobial Acyclic and Heterocyclic Dyes and Their Precursors for Dyeing and/or Textile Finishing Based on 2-N-Acylamino-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-benzo[b]thiophene Systems

A series of novel polyfunctionalized acyclic and heterocyclic dye precursors and their respective azo (hydrazone) counterpart dyes and dye precursors based on conjugate enaminones and/or enaminonitrile moieties were synthesized. The dyes and their precursors are based on 2-cyano-N-(3-cyano-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-acetamide, 2-ethoxycarbonyl-N-(3-cyano-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-acetamide or 2-phenylcarbamoyl-N-(3-cyano-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)-acetamide systems as precursors. The latter compounds were used to synthesize polyfunctional thiophene-, thiazole-, pyrazole, pyridine-, pyrimidine-, oxazine-, as well as acyclic moieties. The dyes and dye precursors were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral methods. All dyes and their precursors were screened in vitro and evaluated for both their antibacterial and antifungal activities. MIC data of the novel dye systems and their respective precursors showed significant antimicrobial activity against most tested organisms. Some compounds exhibited comparable or even higher efficiency than selected standards. Dyes were applied at 5% depth for disperse dyeing of nylon, acetate and polyester fabrics. Their spectral characteristics and fastness properties were measured and evaluated

Inhibitory effect of natural compounds on Dihydropteroate synthase of <i>Mycobacterium leprae</i>: Molecular dynamic study

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. According to official data from 139 countries in the 6 WHO Regions, there were 127558 new leprosy cases worldwide in 2020. Leprosy mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. If this disease is left untreated, can harm the skin, nerves, limbs, eyes, and skin permanently. The disease is curable with multidrug therapy. Over a period of time Mycobacterium leprae has become resistant to these drugs. Therefore, new therapeutic molecules are warranted. This study was aimed to carry out the in-silico analysis to determine the inhibitory effect of natural compounds on Dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) of Mycobacterium leprae. The DHPS is a key enzyme in the folate biosynthesis pathway in M. leprae and acts as a competitive inhibitor of PABA. The 3D structure of DHPS protein was modeled using homology modeling and was validated. Molecular docking and simulation along with other in-silico methods were employed to determine the inhibitory effect of ligand molecules towards DHPS target protein. Results revealed ZINC03830554 molecule as a potential inhibitor of DHPS. Binding experiments and bioassays utilizing this strong inhibitor molecule against purified DHPS protein are necessary to validate these early findings. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma</p

Seroprevalence of Alkhurma and Other Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses, Saudi Arabia

A 2009 deployment of military units from several Saudi Arabian provinces to Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia, enabled us to evaluate exposure to Alkhurma, Crimean-Congo, dengue, and Rift Valley hemorrhagic fever viruses. Seroprevalence to all viruses was low; however, Alkhurma virus seroprevalence was higher (1.3%) and less geographically restricted than previously thought

Clinical and molecular spectrum of a large Egyptian cohort with ALS2‐related disorders of infantile‐onset of clinical continuum IAHSP/JPLS

This study presents 46 patients from 23 unrelated Egyptian families with ALS2-related disorders without evidence of lower motor neuron involvement. Age at onset ranged from 10 months to 2.5 years, featuring progressive upper motor neuron signs. Detailed clinical phenotypes demonstrated inter- and intrafamilial variability. We identified 16 homozygous disease-causing ALS2 variants; sorted as splice-site, missense, frameshift, nonsense and in-frame in eight, seven, four, three, and one families, respectively. Seven of these variants were novel, expanding the mutational spectrum of the ALS2 gene. As expected, clinical severity was positively correlated with disease onset (p = 0.004). This work provides clinical and molecular profiles of a large single ethnic cohort of patients with ALS2 mutations, and suggests that infantile ascending hereditary spastic paralysis (IAHSP) and juvenile primary lateral sclerosis (JPLS) are belonged to one entity with no phenotype-genotype correlation