Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global health challenge, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) triggers a plethora of respiratory disturbances and even multiple organs failure that can be fatal. Nutritional intervention is one of the key components toward to a proper management of COVID-19 patients, especially in those requiring medication, and should thus be considered the first-line treatment. Immuno-modulation and -stimulation are currently being explored in COVID-19 management and are gaining interest by food and pharmaceutical industries. Various dietary combinations, bioactive components, nutrients and fortified foods have been reported to modulate inflammation during disease progression. Dietary combinations of dairy-derived products and eggs are gaining an increasing attention given the huge immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties attributed to some of their chemical constituents. Eggs are complex dietary components containing many essential nutrients and bioactive compounds as well as a high-quality proteins. Similarly, yogurts can replenish beneficial bacteria and contains macronutrients capable of stimulating immunity by enhancing cell immunity, reducing oxidative stress, neutralizing inflammation and regulating the intestinal barriers and gut microbiome. Thus, this review highlights the impact of nutritional intervention on COVID-19 management, focusing on the immunomodulatory and inflammatory effects of immune-enhancing nutrients.

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Background and Aim: The majority of animal-derived food safety studies have focused on foodborne zoonotic agents; however, members of the opportunistic Enterobacteriaceae (Ops) family are increasingly implicated in foodborne and public health crises due to their robust evolution of acquiring antimicrobial resistance and biofilms, consequently require thorough characterization, particularly in the Egyptian food sector. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the distribution and prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae family members in animal-derived foods, as well as their resistance to important antimicrobials and biofilm-forming potential. Materials and Methods: A total of 274 beef, rabbit meat, chicken meat, egg, butter, and milk samples were investigated for the presence of Enterobacteriaceae. All isolated strains were first recognized using traditional microbiological techniques. Following that, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry was used to validate the Enterobacteriaceae's identity. The isolated enterobacteria strains were tested on disk diffusion and crystal violet quantitative microtiter plates to determine their antibiotic resistance and capacity to form biofilms. Results: There have been thirty isolates of Enterobacteriaceae from seven different species and four genera. Out of the three food types, Pseudomonas aeruginosa had the highest prevalence rate (4.1%). With three species, Enterobacter genera had the second-highest prevalence (3.28%) across five different food categories. In four different food types, the Klebsiella genera had the second-highest distribution and third-highest incidence (2.55%). Almost all isolates, except three Proteus mirabilis, showed prominent levels of resistance, particularly to beta-lactam antibiotics. Except for two Enterobacter cloacae and three P. mirabilis isolates, all isolates were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively multidrug-resistant (XDR). The multiple antibiotic resistance index (MARI) of the majority of isolates dropped between 0.273 and 0.727. The highest MARI was conferred by Klebsiella pneumoniae, at 0.727. Overall, 83.33% of the isolates had strong biofilm capacity, while only 16.67% exhibited moderate capacity. Conclusion: The MDR, XDR, and strong biofilm indicators confirmed in 83.33% of the currently tested Enterobacteriaceae from animal-derived foods suggest that, if not addressed, there may be rising risks to Egypt's economy and public health.

Food-borne illnesses and microbial food contamination are crucial concerns and still issues of major worldwide concern. Lysozyme (Lz) is an active protein against Gram-positive bacteria through its muramidase lytic activity, however, several authors could identify some antimicrobial peptides derived from native Lz that have an exaggerated and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Therefore, a lysozyme peptides preparation (LzP) is developed in order to broaden the Lz spectrum. In this work, we investigated the potential efficacy of LzP as a novel Nutra-preservative (food origin) agent against some pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Our results showed that LzP demonstrated only 11% of the lysozyme lytic activity. However, LzP exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Pseudomonas species, while Salmonella typhi and Aeromonas hydrophila exhibited slight resistance. Despite the lowest LzP concentration (0.1%) employed, it performs stronger antibacterial activity than weak organic acids (0.3%). Interestingly, the synergistic multi-component formulation (LzP, glycine, and citric acid) could inhibit 6 log10 cfu/ml of E. coli survival growth. The effect of heat treatment on LzP showed a decrease in its antibacterial activity at 5 and 67% by boiling at 100ºC/30 min, and autoclaving at 121 ºC/15 min; respectively. On the other hand, LzP acquired stable antibacterial activity at different pH values (4–7). In conclusion, LzP would be an innovative, natural, and food-origin preservative to control the growth of food poisoning and spoilage bacteria in food.

The primary goals of this cross-sectional study were to screen various food/water, and human samples for the presence of Salmonella species, and to assess the phenotypic and genetic relationship between resistances found in food and human Salmonella isolates to critically important antibiotics. Between November 2019 and May 2021, 501 samples were randomly collected for Salmonella isolation and identification using standard culturing methods, biochemical, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and PCR techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on confirmed Salmonella species, and PCR was used to investigate the genetic components that confer these resistance traits. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica was confirmed in 35 (6.99%) of the samples (raw food = 23, ready-to-eat food/drink [REF/D] = 5, human = 7). Seventeen of them were antibioticresistant to at least one class, and eight were multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates (raw food = 7, human = 1). All Salmonella isolates were susceptible to carbapenems, thirdand fourth-generation cephalosporins and monobactam antibiotics. Resistance phenotypes to aminoglycosides (48.57%), β-lactams (20%) and tetracycline (17.14%), as well as associated genes such as aadA, bla TEM , bla Z and tetA, as well as dfrA and sul1, were prevalent in Salmonella isolates. Colistin resistance genotype (mcr1) was detected in three (8.57%) isolates recovered from egg, cattle mince and rabbit meat, and the total incidence was 14.29% when two isolates exhibited resistance phenotypes were considered. Furthermore, four (11.43%) MDR isolates shared the bla TEM and bla Z genes, and one (2.86%) isolate contained three extended spectrum β-lactams producing genes (ESBL), namely bla CTX , bla TEM and bla Z . The gyrA gene was expressed by one of three foodborne Salmonella isolates (8.57%) with ciprofloxacin resistance phenotypes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from Egypt identifying colistin resistance in Salmonella enterica recovered from cattle minced meat and rabbit meat. Overall, the highest incidence rate of Salmonella enterica was found in cattle-derived products, and it was slightly more prevalent in RTE/D foods than in raw foods. Resistance to critical and clinically important antibiotics, particularly in Salmonella from RTE/D food,