Utilization of natural products in medical textiles toward multifunctional applications without side effects is an extremely motivating goal. Herein, a novel, eco-friendly procedure was developed to introduce multifunctional cotton gauze fabrics using guava leaf powder extract. Biocompatible microcapsules composed of guava leaf powder extract and starch core and calcium-alginate (Ca-alginate) outer membrane were developed. The current strategy involved the identification and assessment of the bioactive compounds extracted from guava leaf via ultrasonic technique. Then, the guava leaf extract was loaded within a matrix of sodium alginate/starch and coated onto the cotton gauze fabrics. The morphological properties of both blank and treated cotton gauze fabrics were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT−IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antibacterial activity of the developed cotton gauze was evaluated against E. coli as Gram negative pathogenic bacteria and S. aureus as Gram positive pathogenic bacteria using the agar diffusion and bacterial counting methods. Furthermore, the treated cotton gauze fabrics were also used to conduct further studies toward the production of wound healing dress. The treated cotton gauze demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial, antioxidant, UV shielding, and wound healing properties. As a result, the current study presents a new simple approach to design smart cotton gauze for multifunctional medical and healthcare applications employing bioactive extract from sustainable plant waste.

The Atlantic little tunny, Euthynnus alletteratus, is widely distributed in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Black and Mediterranean Seas. In this study, wild-caught little tunny from Egypt, were found to be naturally infected with trypanorhyncha metacestodes, and the overall prevalence rate of infection was 38.7%. The blastocysts were either loosely attached to the mesentery of infected fish, or firmly attached and deeply embedded within the hepatic parenchyma. These encysted plerocerci are identified as Callitetrarhynchus gracilis (Trypanorhyncha, Lacistorhynchidae) based on its morphological and molecular characterization. The morphological characteristics of C. gracilis including scolex shape; the bothridia groove; the presence of frontal glands; the length of post-larval (appendix); metabasal armature; the existence of ‘Chainette’ and satellite hooks of different size were studied and described by Light and Scanning electron microscope. The phylogenetic analysis of lsrDNA gene of plerocerci confirmed the identification of the species to be deeply embedded in genus Callitetrarhynchus. The histopathological examination revealed severe pathological changes in the affected organs, including necrosis, inflammatory reactions, fibrosis and migratory tracts of the parasitic larvae together with marked visceral organs adhesions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the detection of C. gracilis in little tunny collected from the Abu Qir landing site in Alexandria, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a major fungal metabolite found in milk coming from aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contaminated rations and is subsequently present in milk-based products demonstrating a serious public health hazard. This study aimed to investigate the levels of AFM1 and AFB1 in milk and some dairy products consumed widely by infants and children. Materials and Methods: This study investigated the incidence of AFM1 in 105 samples of processed cheese, Ras cheese, and raw milk (35 of each) retailed in the Egyptian markets. The degree of sensitivity and accuracy was evaluated using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method followed by the estimation of the positive samples using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Mold count was determined in the examined samples by investigating AFB1 content using HPLC. Results: AFM1 was found in all investigated Ras cheese, raw milk, and 82.86% of the processed cheese samples with mean values of 51.05±6.19, 40.27±3.996, and 10.77±1.39 ng/kg, respectively. Moreover, there was statistically no significant difference between AFM1 levels in the core and crust parts of the tested Ras cheese. AFM1 contaminated Ras cheese and raw milk samples were 48.57% and 25.71%, which exceeded the European and Egyptian tolerance levels. Results showed an acceptable correlation between ELISA and HPLC methods with no significant difference (p>0.05). Alternatively, none of the examined samples proved to be contaminated with AFB1 despite the presence of mold with mean counts of 3.79±3.29, 4.39±4.34, and 4.84±4.29 log CFU/g in the examined processed cheese, Ras cheese, and raw milk samples, respectively. Conclusion: Therefore, it is urgent to regularly inspect the contamination of animal feeds with AFB1 and apply special measures and novel techniques to protect the feed and food from public health hazards.

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