The burden of cancer diseases is increasing every year, therefore, the demands to figure out novel drugs that can retain antitumor properties have been raised. This study aimed to investigate the anti-tumor properties of amygdalin (Amy) against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) bearing mice and its protective properties against liver damage. Amy and the standard anticancer drug Sorafenib (Sor) were given alone or in combination to Swiss albino female mice that had been injected with EAC cells. Biochemical parameters of liver function (AST, ALT, GGT, total protein, albumin), tumor volume, oxidative stress [malondialdehyde, (MDA)] and antioxidative [superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione (GSH)] markers were measured. The hepatic expression of the antioxidant-related gene [nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)], the migration-related gene [matrix metalloprotease 9 (MMP9)], and the angiogenesis-related gene [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)] were evaluated by qPCR. The results revealed that EAC-bearing mice treated with Amy and/or Sor showed a decrease in the tumor burden and hepatic damage as evidenced by (1) decreased tumor volume, number of viable tumor cells; (2) increased number of dead tumor cells; (3) restored the liver function parameters; (4) reduced hepatic MDA levels; (5) enhanced hepatic GSH and SOD levels; (6) upregulated expression of Nrf2; (7) downregulated expression of MMP9 and VEGF, and (8) improved hepatic structure. Among all treatments, mice co-treated with Amy (orally) and Sor (intraperitoneally) showed the best effect. With these results, we concluded that the Amy improved the antitumor effect of Sor and had a protective role on liver damage induced by EAC in mice.

T YPHOID fever a food-borne disease caused by Salmonella species, is a worldwide prevalent disease. In endemic areas, children are at highest risk owing to weaning from passively acquired maternal antibody and lack of acquired immunity. Several studies have been done to clarify the pathogenesis and underlying immune aspects of typhoid fever. The Objective is to study the changes of some proinflammatory cytokines in plasma of children and adults with typhoid fever and resistance to therapy. This study included 128 cases from which 34 consecutive children and adult admitted to Benha Fever Hospital with proven diagnosis of typhoid fever patients with typhoid fever resistant to combined therapy with Ciprofloxacin and Cefotax in addition to Zithrokan and Zantac have higher plasma levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Toxic look, constipation and splenomegaly may be considered as indicators of drug resistance. Study of changes in the levels of some cytokines may offer a new dimension in the assessment of the clinical efficacy of antimicrobial therapy.

The serum levels of lysozyme, serum electrophoresis, and serum immunoglobulins were determined prospectively in 101 patients with ulcerative colitis, ulcerative proctitis, Crohn's disease, or nonclassifiable nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease. Although the mean serum lysozyme concentration of patients with Crohn's disease (10.5 +/- 6.8 microgram/ml) and ulcerative colitis (9.6 +/- 4.1 microgram/ml) performed by a standardized lysoplate method was significantly greater than normal controls (6.0 +/- 1.5 microgram/ml), the results did not correlate with the diagnosis nor with the degree of disease activity. Individually separated protein fractions and serum immunoglobulins also did not correlate with the serum lysozyme levels. This study indicates that measurement of the level of serum lysozyme in individual patients is not helpful in determining the cause or degree of activity of nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease.

This paper uses an artificial neural network (ANN) and resilient back-propagation (Rprop) training algorithm to determine the optical constants of As 30 Se 70−x Sn x (0 ≤ x ≤ 3) thin films. The simulated values of the ANN are in good agreement with the experimental data. The ANN models performance was also examined to predict the simulated values for As 30 Se 67 Sn 3 which was not included in the training and was found to be in accordance with the experimental data. The high precision of the ANN models as well as a great guessing performance have been exhibited. Moreover, the energy gap E g of As 30 Se 70−x Sn x (0 ≤ x ≤ 9) thin films were calculated theoretically.

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Background: Although sensitive screening assays for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) are available, special cases of post-transfusion hepatitis B virus infection still occur. The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of anti-hepatitis B core (anti-HBc) positivity and the presence of HBV-DNA in serum samples of healthy blood donors negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies in Benha, Egypt. Materials and methods: The study included a screening of 450 selected blood donors. The distribution of blood donors was 288 males (64%) and 162 females (36%). The recruited blood donors who met the criteria for blood donation were routinely screened for HBsAg, HIV I/2-Ab, and syphilisantibodies. The blood units for donations were further analyzed for the presence of HBc-IgM and HBV-DNA levels by PCR method. Results: Testing of the accepted units for the donation was about 12 (2.7%) HBc-IgM positive, and 9 (2%) HBV-DNA positive units. The standard screening of blood unit failed to recognize early acute or window HBV infection where HBsAg is missing. Conclusions: Our investigations proposed that sensitive methods for the detection of HBV by PCR might be recommended in the screening of donated blood. Furthermore, anti-HBc antibodies should be tested regularly on all blood donation units.

Modification of starch is a potential basic research aiming to improve its water barrier properties. The general purpose of this study is to manufacture cross-linked iodinated starch citrate (ISC) with a degree of substitution (DS) ≈ 0.1 by modifying native corn starch with citric acid in the presence of iodine as an oxidizing agent. Thermoplastic starch (TPS) was generated with urea as a plasticizer and blended with various concentrations of ISC of (2, 4, 6%) (wt/wt) to obtain (UTPS/ISC2, UTPS/ISC4, and UTPS/ISC6). Nanocomposite film was formed from UTPS/ISC2 in presence of stabilized iodinated cellulose nanocrystals UTPS/ISC2/SICNCs via gelatinization at a temperature of 80ºC. Water solubility and water vapor release were studied amongst the water barrier features. The fabricated starch-based composite films were evaluated utilizing Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electronic Microscope analysis (SEM), surface area, and tensile measurements. The adsorption of crystal violet (CV) dye onto produced samples was examined in an aqueous solution. The findings revealed that the UTPS/ISC2/ISCNCs has 83% crystal violet elimination effectiveness. Moreover, the adsorption isotherms were assessed and figured out to vary in the order of Langmuir > Temkin > Freundlich > Dubinin-Radushkevich.