Beni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences最新文献

Background

Alogliptin belongs to gliptin family of drugs that inhibits ubiquitous enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). Gliptins increase the life-span of incretin hormones that appear to benefit functioning of several organs via various signaling pathways.

Main body

Alogliptin is approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in majority of the countries. It is administered orally and efficacious as monotherapy as well as combined therapy with other T2DM drugs, such as pioglitazone and metformin. It has a good safety profile, well-tolerated in elderly patients and in patients with co-morbid conditions including risks of cardiovascular event, renal or hepatic insufficiency. Therefore, alogliptin is incessantly experimented and investigated for its therapeutic benefit. Recent developments have indicated potential of alogliptin in discrete pathological conditions. Emerging evidences suggest prominent cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, reno-protective, anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering capacity of alogliptin. Apart from inhibiting DPP-4 enzyme, alogliptin also affects several signaling mechanisms to exhibit protective effects in patients with diabetes-induced complications.

Conclusion

This review highlights the potential role of alogliptin and mechanisms involved in amelioration of several other pathological conditions apart from its role in glucose metabolism. Thus, this may provide insights for better utilization and repurposing of alogliptin as a therapeutic agent.

Background

Cervical cancer is the 4th most prevalent cancer among females globally. In India, approximately 123,907 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year, leading to 77,348 deaths annually. However, Indian healthcare system lacks the sufficient information regarding the factors influencing survival and mortality among cervical cancer patients at regional levels. Thus, we aimed to identify the predictors associated with survival outcomes and mortality rates among cervical cancer.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was conducted over 8 months at a tertiary care hospital where 10-year (January 2013–December 2022) data of cervical cancer patients were analyzed from medical record department (MRD). Telephonic interviews were carried out with patients or patient parties to know the survival status of patients. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Kaplan–Meier curve, log-rank test and Cox regression.

Results

Out of 330 cervical cancer patients, majority (64.24%) were > 50 years of age followed by 35.76% were < 50 years. Most of the patients had abnormal body mass index (BMI) (46.96%), postmenopausal stage (75.76%), stage II cancer (43.03%), histologically poorly differentiated grade (47.88%) and squamous cell carcinoma (87.88%), with radiation plus chemotherapy being popular treatment choice (48.79%) and with the overall mean age of 56 years. Age, BMI, menopause, stage of cancer, histological grades and types of treatment were found to be significant predictors (p < 0.05) of survival among cervical cancer patients. Using cox regression analysis, advanced age (age > 50 years: hazard ratio (HR): 1.82), underweight (BMI < 18.5: HR:1), postmenopause (HR:1), advanced stage of cervical cancer (Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, Stage IV: HR:1, HR:2.78, HR:10.08, HR:20.81), poorly differentiated cervical cancer (HR:1.70), radiation therapy (HR:4.86), chemotherapy (HR:6.55) or chemoradiation therapy (HR:3.31) and surgery plus chemotherapy (HR: 4.55) were identified to be significant predictors of mortality among cervical cancer patients.

Conclusion

We conclude that the 5- and 10-year survival rates for cervical cancer patients were found to be 51.2% and 42.9%, respectively. Advanced age, underweight, postmenopausal status, advanced cancer stage, poor cancer cell differentiation and chemotherapy-based treatment were significant predictor of mortality and vice-versa for survival which might guide clinicians and policymakers in making informed clinical decisions to combat cervical cancer.

Background

Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium parvum are the primary causes of diarrhea with global attention due to the severe pathophysiological changes leading to mortality. During this study, we explored the biological protozoal contaminants (Giardia and Cryptosporidium spp.) in some areas of the Nile River. Then, we evaluated effectiveness of melatonin (Mel) and melatonin loaded lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles (Mel-LCNPs) against giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in mice models using parasitological and inflammatory response examination.

Results

The number of positive samples for Cryptosporidium was higher than that for Giardia with percentage of 46.67% and 40.0%, respectively. Prior to treatment, the physical characterization (hydrodynamic size and zeta potential) and in vitro characterization of Mel-LCNPs were carried. Mel-LCNPs revealed a hydrodynamic size of 78.8 nm and a zeta potential of − 27.2 mV. Furthermore, they have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, while displaying minimal anticoagulant and cytotoxic effects during in vivo evaluation. Mel was consistently discharged from nanoparticles in a regulated and enduring manner for 36 h. Moreover, Mel in NPs has an entrapment efficiency (EE) of 33.6% and a drug loading capacity (DLC) of 7.2% and significant reduction (100% and 99.4%, respectively) in the shedding of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts. This reduction was higher than that observed with Mel alone or LCNPs alone on the 14th day post-infection. Moreover, mice of group V, which received Mel-LCNP treatment, exhibited significantly normal levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) as well as healthy control mice group (group I).

Conclusion

Mel-LCNPs were highly effective preparations against giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in Balb/c mice experimentally infected with proved antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunological modulatory characteristics.

Background

Avian pox viruses (APVs) are highly contagious poultry diseases, posing a major economic threat to poultry production systems, and have a high mortality rate among young birds, Infected birds also face condemnation of affected carcasses due to the unsightly appearance of the nodular skin lesions.

This study aimed to provide an overview of the current genetic status of APV in backyard poultry, with a focus on the commercially available vaccines. To achieve this, molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of APVs were conducted, comparing their sequences with vaccine strains used in Egypt.

Results

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was able to detect APV in all the tested samples; 12 positive samples (6 chicken flocks and 6 pigeon flocks) were selected for DNA sequencing. The sequences were submitted to GenBank with accession numbers OR027032 to OR027043. The chicken strains exhibited 100% nucleotide identity with commercially available fowl pox virus (FPV) vaccines and were phylogenetically clustered within subclade A1 with other FPVs. On the other hand, the pigeon pox virus (PPV) strains were closely related to other PPV strains within subclade A2 and showing 100% and 91% nucleotide identity with the PPV and the FPV vaccines, respectively.

Conclusions

Despite the availability of APV vaccines in Egypt, a persistent threat of APV to poultry in the backyard system remains a significant concern. Our molecular characterization revealed the high genetic similarity between our field strains and commercially available vaccine strains, suggesting an urgent need for vaccination in backyard systems to counteract this emerging threat to bird populations.

Background

The discovery of hepcidin, a peptide hormone primarily known for iron homeostasis regulation, has revealed promising anticancer properties. While extensively studied in mammals, fish-derived hepcidins represent an unexplored area in cancer therapeutics, offering unique structural and functional characteristics that may prove valuable in oncological applications.

Method

A scoping review was conducted using the Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and PubMed databases to comprehensively analyse published literature on fish-derived hepcidins. Publications were identified using Boolean combinations of ‘fish’, ‘hepcidin’, and ‘cancer’. Two independent reviewers screened articles, with a third reviewer resolving disagreements. Research themes were categorised and analysed with focus on species distribution, mechanisms of action, and therapeutic potential.

Result

Analysis of 881 publications revealed research distribution across four main categories: immune response (60.07%), antimicrobial peptides (17.65%), iron homeostasis (13.69%), and cancer research (2.94%). The review identified 17 fish species with documented hepcidin studies. Tilapia-derived hepcidins demonstrated notable anticancer properties, including concentration-dependent effects, selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells, and potential enhancement of conventional chemotherapy efficacy through mechanisms involving reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial apoptosis pathways.

Conclusion

Despite promising anticancer properties of fish-derived hepcidins, particularly from tilapia, significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding their cancer-specific mechanisms and clinical applications. Future research should prioritise broader species investigation, safety profiling, and delivery system development to advance their therapeutic potential in cancer treatment.

Background

Nosema ceranae, the predominant microsporidian parasite, weakens Apis mellifera honey bee colonies and reduces their productivity and reproduction. This research aims to detect the impact of thymol and propolis extracts on genotoxicity repair, oxidative enzymes, expression of some antimicrobial genes and some hypopharyngeal glands genes in N. ceranae-infected bees. Experimentally, infected honeybee colonies were divided into four groups: (1) untreated, (2) for propolis (3 g/L) treatment, (3) for thymol (0.1 g/L) treatment and (4) for mixed treatment with thymol and propolis. Workers from adult honeybee colonies, treated and untreated, were randomly sampled. The collected samples were used in studying the genotoxicity effect, the concentration of oxidative enzymes (superoxide-dismutases, glutathione S transferase, catalase and malondialdehyde (MDA)), measuring the relative expression of antimicrobial genes and hypopharyngeal glands genes major royal proteins 1 & 2 (MJRP1 and MJRP2).

Results

The results show that thymol and propolis extract decreased genotoxicity effect, increased expression of antimicrobial genes, increased expression levels of MJRP1 and MJRP2 genes and decreased activities of oxidative enzymes when applied to Nosema-infected bees.

Conclusion

Thymol and propolis extract positively affect honey bee health and mix of them. This study reveals that natural product extracts and their mixture may fight Nosema and prevent honey bee colonies decline and sudden death.

Background

One of the psychological problems that have become very prevalent in the modern world is depression, where mental health disorders have become very common. Depression, as reported by the WHO, is the second-largest factor in the worldwide burden of illnesses. As these issues grow, social media has become a tremendous platform for people to express themselves. A user’s social media behavior may therefore disclose a lot about their emotional state and mental health. This research offers a novel framework for depression detection from Arabic textual data utilizing deep learning (DL), natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and BERT transformers techniques in light of the disease’s high prevalence. To do this, a dataset of tweets was used, which was collected from 3 sources, as we mention later. The dataset was constructed in two variants, one with binary classification and the other with multi-classification.

Results

In binary classifications, we used ML techniques such as “support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), logistic regression (LR), and Gaussian naive Bayes (GNB),” and used BERT transformers “ARABERT.” In comparison ML with BERT transformers, ARABERT has high accuracy in binary classification with a 93.03 percent accuracy rate. In multi-classification, we used DL techniques such as “long short-term memory (LSTM),” and used BERT transformers “Multilingual BERT.” In comparison DL with BERT transformers, multilingual has high accuracy in multi-classification with an accuracy of 97.8%.

Conclusion

Through user-generated content, we can detect depressed people using artificial intelligence technology in a fast manner and with high accuracy instead of medical technology.

Background

Among those aged 20–74 in industrialized countries, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the main cause of visual impairment. Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the leading cause of blindness in people with DR. DME that is resistant to therapy is now being treated with a number of different management strategies. This research was to examine the efficacy of sub-tenon steroid and anti- vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections as a combination therapy for the treatment of resistant DME, owing to the synergistic effect of this combination.

Methods

This is a two-arm, randomized, prospective clinical trial that included 100 eyes of patients with refractory DME divided into 2 equal groups: group 1 received posterior subtenon triamcinolone (STTA) and anti-VEGF injections (0.5 mg ranibizumab), and group 2 received anti-VEGF injections (0.5 mg ranibizumab) only, in the same session. The 2 groups were followed up for a period of 6 months.

Results

Group 1 showed significant improvements in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (from 0.20 ± 0.11 to 0.32 ± 0.12, p = 0.04) and central macular thickness (CMT) (from 393.2 ± 35.29 to 260.2 ± 11.43 µm, p = 0.001), with fewer injections required compared to Group 2. Recurrence rates were significantly higher in Group 2 (42% vs. 12%, p = 0.026). After injections, there was a noticeable rise in intraocular pressure (IOP) (16.02 ± 1.56 Vs 16.26 ± 1.24 in both groups respectively). However, this elevation is usually just transitory lasting for short periods of time and is within the safe, insignificant rise ranges.

Conclusion

The use of combined therapy with anti-VEGF treatment and STTA has been found to be an effective and safe approach to managing resistant DME. The lower number of injections needed help to reduce the economic burden, especially under constrained financial circumstances.

Background

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) resembles the components of biological hard tissue. Recent research has been interested in the biomedical application of HAP nanoparticles (HAP-NPs) in cancer treatment, HAP-NPs have high cytotoxic activity against cancerous cells, in addition, they are nontoxic to healthy normal cells, biocompatible, biodegradable, and have a high absorption rate within the tissue. Therefore, this study evaluated HAP-NPs' antitumoral activity in Ehrlich solid carcinoma (ESC)-bearing mice, in addition, we examined the anticancer efficacy of combined treatment of a common chemotherapeutic drug such as Cisplatin (CDDP) and HAP-NPs in ESC-bearing mice.

Methods

Forty female mice were inoculated with 200 µl of diluted ascites fluid containing approximately two million viable cancer cells in the mice's left thigh, after 14 days of inoculation, the mice were distributed into four groups: 10 mice in each. ESC group was administrated distilled water, the HAP-NPs group was treated orally with 100 mg/kg of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, the CDDP group was administrated intraperitoneally with 5 mg/kg of Cisplatin, the HAP-NPs + CDDP group was treated with both doses of hydroxyapatite and cisplatin, the animal treatment was conducted for 20 days. Antitumor activity was assessed for two durations after 10 and 20 days. DNA damage assessment was performed using comet assay in ESC, in addition, we measured the expression of the following genes (P53, Bcl2, and Bax,) using quantitative real-time PCR, and the apoptotic-related proteins (P53 and Ki-67) using immunohistochemical analysis. A histopathological examination of ESC was performed.

Results

The obtained data illustrated a promising anticancer activity of HAP-NPs, and the combined treatment of HAP-NPs and CDDP illustrated a higher anticancer efficacy. HAP-NPs, CDDP, and HAP-NPs + CDDP resulted in significant (P < 0.05) nucleic acid destruction, and significant (P < 0.05) overexpression of apoptotic-related genes (P53, Bax, and Bcl2) and proteins (Ki-67 and P53), causing the tumor bulk to be greatly reduced in HAP-NPs, CDDP, and HAP-NPs + CDDP (1100, 570, and 450 mm³), respectively, compared to ESC group was 2240 mm³.

Conclusion

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles can provoke DNA damage and regulate apoptosis, selectively eliminating tumor cells. The co-administration of HAP-NPs and CDDP resulted in a synergistic enhancement of cisplatin activity within the tumor tissue.