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This paper investigates imparting antibacterial properties to cotton fabric via introducing hydantoin groups in/onto the cellulose structure using a new hydantoin derivative followed by chlorination to get the N-halamine biocidal groups. The antibacterial functions of the treated fabric samples are determined by the extent of modification, amount, and availability of the additional active sites, nature of bacteria, as well as number of repeated washing cycles. The biocidal effect is high and follows the descending order: Bacillus subtilis > Escherichia coli microorganisms and can be rechargeable by post-treatment with dilute chlorine solution.

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The ethylacetate fraction of the methanol extract of Duranta repens L. (Verbenaceae) showed radicalscavenging activity in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Three compounds were isolated from this fraction, i.e. the phenylethanoid glycoside acteoside, the iridoid lamiide and the saponin pseudo-ginsenoside-RT1. Acteoside showed an IC50 of 3.05 +/- 0.09 microg/mL in the DPPH assay, while lamiide and pseudo-ginsenoside-RT1 were not active.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered as the most common type of gastrointestinal cancers. Chemotherapy became limited due to the adverse side effects. Therefore, the most effective Croton tiglium extract was selected to be incorporated by silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) then evaluated against colon cancer induced by azoxymethane (AOM) in rats. Methods: Different hematological and biochemical measurements were quantified in addition to markers of oxidative stress. Specific tumor and inflammatory markers were assayed. Colonic tissues were examined histopathologically in addition to immunohistochemistry (IHC). Native proteins and isoenzymes patterns were electrophoretically assayed beside expression of Tumor Protein P 53 (TP 53) and Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) genes in colonic tissues. Results: It was found that AOM caused significant (P≤0.05) elevation in the hematological and biochemical measurements. C. tiglium nano-extract restored these measurements to normalcy. Tumor and inflammatory markers elevated significantly (P≤0.05) in sera of AOM induced colon cancer group in addition to increasing peroxidation products with decline in antioxidant enzymes activities in colon tissues. Nano-extract restored these measurements to normalcy in post-treated group. Histopathological study revealed that nano-extract minimized severity of inflammatory reactions in all nano-extract treated groups and prevented anti-Keratin 20 antibody expression in post-treated group. The lowest similarity index (SI%) values were noticed with electrophoretic protein (SI=71.43%), lipid (SI=0.00%) and calcium (SI=75.00%) moieties of protein patterns, catalase (SI=85.71%), peroxidase (SI=85.71%), α-esterase (SI=50.00%) and β-esterase (SI=50.00%) isoenzymes in colon cancer group. Furthermore, AOM altered the relative quantities of total native bands. The nano-extract prevented the alterations that occurred qualitatively in nano-extract post-treated group and quantitatively in all nano-extract treated groups. Levels of TP 53 and APC gene expression increased in AOM injected group and nano-extract restored their levels to normalcy in the post-treated group. Conclusion: C. tiglium nano-extract exhibited ameliorative effect against the biochemical and molecular alterations induced by AOM in nano-extract post-treated group.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection results in chronic hepatitis in more than 70% of infected patients, while 20-30% of patients recover spontaneously. This strengthens the role of the host genetic factors in either spontaneous or drug-induced viral clearance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between interleukin-1β +3953 gene polymorphism and the response to interferon therapy in chronic HCV patients infected with genotype 4. Methodology: The interleukin-1β (+3953 C/T) (rs1143634) gene was amplified in 115 chronic HCV patients. Interleukin-1β single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) plus several clinical and pathological factors were statistically analyzed in correlation with response to therapy. Results: Genotypes C/T and T/T had a significant association with non-response to treatment compared to genotype C/C, which had a strong association with response to treatment (95% confidence; 6.4884-48.5818, p = 0.0001). Furthermore, analysis of allele frequency in this cohort revealed that the T allele is associated with non-response, higher fibrosis, and higher hepatic activity, while the C allele had a significant association with sustained virologic response lower fibrosis, and lower hepatic activity (p value = 0.0001). Conclusion: This is the first study to examine the correlation between interleukin-1β (+3953 C/T) (rs1143634) gene polymorphism and the response of interferon therapy in genotype 4 HCV-infected patients. The results encourage further assessment of this SNP as a marker to predict response to therapy and disease progression, which can have major implications in saving money, time, and in avoiding unnecessary adverse effects.