Recent research demonstrates that the number of virulent phytopathogenic fungi continually grows, which leads to significant economic losses worldwide. Various procedures are currently available for the rapid detection and control of phytopathogenic fungi. Since 1940, chemical and synthetic fungicides were typically used to control phytopathogenic fungi. However, the substantial increase in development of fungal resistance to these fungicides in addition to negative effects caused by synthetic fungicides on the health of animals, human beings, and the environment results in the exploration of various new approaches and green strategies of fungal control by scientists from all over the world. In this review, the development of new approaches for controlling fungal diseases in plants is discussed. We argue that an effort should be made to bring these recent technologies to the farmer level.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents a world health problem and no protective vaccine or effective drug currently exists. For economic reasons, many patients use traditional medicines to control the infection. In Egypt, camel milk is one of the traditional medicines widely consumed by patients infected with HCV. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of camel milk in the treatment of patients infected with HCV. Whole camel milk from a local farm was administered to patients for 4 months (250 ml/day/patient). Patient sera were collected prior to and following camel milk drinking, and three markers were set-up for sera-evaluation. The three markers indicating the effect of camel milk on HCV infection were: Liver function assays [alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)]; a viral load assay; and anti-HCV antibodies profile and isotyping against synthetic HCV epitopes. Camel milk demonstrated the ability to improve general fatigue, health and liver function (ALT and AST levels); ALT was reduced in ~88% of patients and AST was reduced in all patients subsequent to drinking camel milk for four months. The majority of patients responded positively to camel milk treatment; RNA viral load decreased in 13 out of the 17 patients (76.47%) and one patient exhibited undetected viremia following camel milk treatment. The anti-HCV antibodies profile and isotyping were significantly decreased (P<0.05) in immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 following treatment in 70–76% of patients. However, the treatment was ineffective in 23.53% of patients who experienced no reduction in RNA viral load following treatment with camel milk. In conclusion, whole camel milk treatment demonstrated efficacy in vivo; the viral load in the majority of patient sera was reduced and the IgG isotype profile was converted to Th1 immunity.
Recombinant human consensus interferon-alpha (cIFN-α) was obtained by synthesizing a codon-optimized gene composed of the consensus nucleotides at each position in the human alpha interferon family and expressing it in Escherichia coli. The full cIFN-α gene was synthesized in two steps of assembly and amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using long (45-50 nucleotides) overlapped primers. The two-step PCR resulted in a DNA band of 504 base pairs (bp) corresponding to the calculated size of the cIFN-α gene. The synthetic gene was cloned into temperature-regulated Power3 expression vector. The ligated Power3-cIFN-α (Power3-cIFNα) plasmid carried the cIFN-α gene under transcriptional regulation of the heat-inducible λP(L) promoter. This expression system was optimized with respect to heat-shock temperature and time of induction in shake flask cultures. The produced cIFN-α protein was characterized by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoassays. The majority of the expressed cIFN-α protein of about 19 kD in size accumulated in the form of inclusion bodies. After refolding and purification utilizing single-step ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose, the yield was 70 mg/L. cIFN-α anti-cancer activity was assayed and compared with the commercially available IFN-α 2a.
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