Background: Investigating and evaluating possible alternative therapeutic strategies to control hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a critical need because of its high prevalence and being one of the most lethal cancers. Curcumin and taurine showed potent anti-tumor activities in pre-clinical and clinical studies by targeting multiple pathways. Thus, this study was designed to assess the effect of a combined treatment consisted of curcumin, piperine, and taurine on circulating levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10), and microRNAs miR-141 and miR-21. Methods: Twenty eligible HCC patients administrated an oral dose of 4 g curcumin, 40 mg piperine, and 500 mg taurine daily for three successive treatment cycles, each was a 30-day. The level of IL-10 along with the expression levels of miR-141, and miR-21 were monitored in serum before starting the treatment and after each cycle. Patients were followed-up for a period of 24 months. Results: The combined treatment was able to produce a significant decrease in the levels of serum IL-10, and miR-21 while it resulted in a non-significant up-regulation of serum miR-141 expression level. At the end of the follow-up period, the median overall survival (OS) rate was found to be 17.00 months with a worse OS in patients with high baseline levels of circulating IL-10 and miR-21 compared to those with low levels. In contrast, a low baseline level of circulating miR-141 was associated with poor prognosis. Conclusions: The combined treatment may be able to increase the OS rate by altering the circulating level of IL-10 and miR-21.

Furin may be useful, either alone or in combination with other biomarkers, for cardiovascular risk stratification assessment in T2DM patients.

Aim: The clinical application of cisplatin is limited by severe side effects associated with high applied doses. The synergistic effect of a combination treatment of a low dose of cisplatin with the natural alkaloid α-solanine on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells was evaluated. Methods: HepG2 cells were exposed to low doses of α-solanine and cisplatin, either independently or in combination. The efficiency of this treatment modality was evaluated by investigating cell growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis enhancement. Results: α-solanine synergistically potentiated the effect of cisplatin on cell growth inhibition and significantly induced apoptosis. This synergistic effect was mediated by inducing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, enhancing DNA fragmentation and increasing apoptosis through the activation of caspase 3/7 and/or elevating the expression of the death receptors DR4 and DR5. The induced apoptosis from this combination treatment was also mediated by reducing the expression of the anti-apoptotic mediators Bcl-2 and survivin, as well as by modulating the miR-21 expression. Conclusion: Our study provides strong evidence that a combination treatment of low doses of α-solanine and cisplatin exerts a synergistic anticancer effect and provides an effective treatment strategy against hepatocellular carcinoma.

Multiwall carbon nanotube-polyethylene glycol and poly vinyl alcohol (MWCNTs-PEG-PVA) nanocomposite hydrogel was fabricated and used for the Cu (II) ions removal from water with high efficiency. The prepared nanocomposite hydrogel was characterized using Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analyzer TGA and mechanical properties. A series of systematic batch adsorption experiments were conducted to study the adsorption property of MWCNTs-PEG-PVA hydrogels prepared with different concentrations of MWCNTs. Studying the effects of adsorption parameters such as pH, contact time, and initial concentration were evaluated in a batch system. The high adsorption capacity, easy regeneration and effective adsorptiondesorption results proved that the prepared MWCNTs-PEG-PVA composite hydrogel could be an effective adsorbent in removing Cu (II) ion from its aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacities were found to be 645.1, 334.4, 238.09 and 185.09 mg g-1 for MWCNTs-PEG-PVA hydrogel with 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.2 % MWCNTs, respectively at pH 6. Isotherm studies revealed that Langmuir model well described the equilibrium data of Cu (II) compared with Freundlich isotherm model. Kinetics studies of Cu (II) adsorption followed pseudo-second order model. The removal efficiency of the recycled MWCNTs-PEG-PVA hydrogel was 79.3, 76.4, 73.8, 70.1 and 65.5 % for five cycles, which demonstrated efficient reusability.

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