Aim: To determine the potential hepatoprotective effect of Agmatine (AGM) on NAFLD-induced by Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in rats. Study design:  Forty male Wistar rats weighing from (200 -250 g) were distributed at random into five groups (8 rats per group): group 1 as control; group 2 as untreated-T2DM; groups 3 & 4 as T2DM cotreated with AGM (40 & 80 mg/kg/d), while group 5 T2DM cotreated with Silymarin (100 mg/kg/d). Place and duration of study: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, king Abdul-Aziz University; between October 2020 and January 2021. Methodology: A rat model of T2DM with NAFLD complication was established by feeding rats with 10% fructose in drinking water and intraperitoneally injecting them with a single low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (45mg/kg). The fasting blood glucose was detected, serum levels of hepatic biomarkers were all assessed. Moreover, histopathological examination was performed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Results: STZ induced T2DM in rats causes a significant (p<0.05, n=8) rise in serum levels of FBG, ALT, AST, TB, TC, TG, and LDL in comparison with the corresponding control group. Co-treatment with AGM (40 & 80 mg/kg) and silymarin significantly alleviated hyperglycemia and amended hepatic biomarkers that was reflected on improved histopathological changes. Conclusion: The current data suggest that oral AGM co-treatment could have a hepatoprotective effect against T2DM associated with NAFLD in rats. Further investigations are recommended to elucidate molecular mechanisms accountable for the useful effects of AGM on hepatocytes.

Background: HLA-DRB1 is the most polymorphic gene in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II, and exon 2 is critical because it encodes antigen-binding sites. This study aimed to detect functional or marker genetic variants of HLA-DRB1 exon 2 in renal transplant recipients (acceptance and rejection) using Sanger sequencing. Methods: This hospital-based case-control study collected samples from two hospitals over seven months. The 60 participants were equally divided into three groups: rejection, acceptance, and control. The target regions were amplified and sequenced by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Several bioinformatics tools have been used to assess the impact of non-synonymous single-nucleotide variants (nsSNVs) on protein function and structure. The sequences data that support the findings of this study with accession numbers (OQ747803-OQ747862) are available in National Center for Biotechnology Information (GenBank database). Results: Seven SNVs were identified, two of which were novel (chr6(GRCh38.p12): 32584356C>A (K41N) and 32584113C>A (R122R)). Three of the seven SNVs were non-synonymous and found in the rejection group (chr6(GRCh38.p12): 32584356C>A (K41N), 32584304A>G (Y59H), and 32584152T>A (R109S)). The nsSNVs had varying effects on protein function, structure, and physicochemical parameters and could play a role in renal transplant rejection. The chr6(GRCh38.p12):32584152T>A variant showed the greatest impact. This is because of its conserved nature, main domain location, and pathogenic effects on protein structure, function, and stability. Finally, no significant markers were identified in the acceptance samples. Conclusion: Pathogenic variants can affect intramolecular/intermolecular interactions of amino acid residues, protein function/structure, and disease risk. HLA typing based on functional SNVs could be a comprehensive, accurate, and low-cost method for covering all HLA genes while shedding light on previously unknown causes in many graft rejection cases.

The coronavirus has become the most interesting virus for scientists because of the recently emerging deadly SARS-CoV-2. This study aimed to understand the behavior of SARS-CoV-2 through the comparative genomic analysis with the closest one among the seven species of coronavirus that infect humans. The genomes of coronavirus species that infect humans were retrieved from NCBI, and then subjected to comparative genomic analysis using different bioinformatics tools. The study revealed that SARS-CoV-2 is the most similar to SARS-CoV among the coronavirus species. The core genes were shared by the two genomes, but there were some genes, found in one of them but not in both, such as ORF8, which is found in SARS-CoV-2. The ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 could be considered as a good therapeutic target for stopping viral transmission, as it was predicted to be a transmembrane protein, which is responsible for interspecies transmission. This is supported by the molecular interaction of ORF8 with both the ORF7 protein, which contains a transmembrane domain that is essential to retaining the protein in the Golgi compartment, and the S protein, which facilitates the entry of the coronavirus into host cells. ORF1ab, ORF1a, ORF8, and S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 could be immunogenic and capable of evoking an immune response, which means that these four proteins could be considered a potential vaccine source. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 is most related to SARS-CoV. ORF8 could be considered a potential therapeutic target for stopping viral transmission, and ORF1ab, ORF1a, ORF8, and the S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 could be utilized as a potential vaccine source.

Marine sponges are multicellular and primitive animals that potentially represent a wealthy source of novel drugs. The genus Acanthella (family Axinellidae) is renowned to produce various metabolites with various structural characteristics and bioactivities, including nitrogen-containing terpenoids, alkaloids, and sterols. The current work provides an up-to-date literature survey and comprehensive insight into the reported metabolites from the members of this genus, as well as their sources, biosynthesis, syntheses, and biological activities whenever available. In the current work, 226 metabolites have been discussed based on published data from the period from 1974 to the beginning of 2023 with 90 references.