Guava flavonoid glycosides prevent influenza A virus infection via rescue of P53 activity

Influenza is a highly infectious disease caused by three types of viruses, including influenza A virus (IAV), influenza B virus, and, rarely, influenza C virus. IAV is a major, global public health threat, causing approximately 500 000 deaths per year worldwide. The new strains of IAV have emerged due to a mutation called antigenic shift, which results in a new subtype of the virus that shows resistance to common antiviral drugs. Here, guava and lemon extracts, including green leaves and flowers, were investigated for their activity against IAV replication in human A549 cells. Concomitantly, the cytotoxicity of a potent extract on host-cell multiplication was assessed. Our results reveal that guava extracts inhibit IAV replication, indicated by viral nucleoprotein expression profile and traditional plaque assay. Interestingly, treatment with guava extract inactivates Akt protein kinase and stimulates the pro-apoptotic protein P53, at early stages of infection. Furthermore, purified guava flavonoid glycosides (GFGs) show competitive inhibition of IAV-virus replication via early regulation of IL-1β and IL-8 in association with P53 gene expression. The docking analysis of GFGs and the protein structure of upstream targets for the Akt signaling pathway indicates a sufficient interaction and stabilization with Gbr2 protein. These data indicate that treatment with GFGs disturbs IAV replication via activation of P53 and its apoptotic related factors after infection. Collectively, these data show that targeting of essential host kinases that are involved in the replication cycle of IAV and rescue of P53 activity by GFGs could represent a new strategy to eradicate IAV.     

The effectiveness of vitamin "E" in the treatment of oral mucositis in children receiving chemotherapy

The aim of this study was to study the effect of vitamin "E" in the treatment of oral mucositis. 80 patients with oral mucositis were randomly distributed into 2 groups: group A, topically applied vitamin "E" and group B, vitamin "E" was given systemically. The 2 groups were evaluated for 5 days. Results showed that in group A grades of oral mucositis improved significantly, while in group B no significant improvement was noticed. It is concluded that topical application of 100 mg vitamin "E" twice daily is an effective measure for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis.     

Bioactive compounds,antioxidant potential,and hepatoprotective activity of sea cucumber (Holothuria atra) against thioacetamide intoxication in rats

ObjectiveThe identification of the active phenolic compounds in the mixed extract of sea cucumber (Holothuria atra) body wall by high-performance liquid chromatography and an assessment of its hepatoprotective activity against thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis in rats.MethodsFemale Swiss albino rats were divided into four groups: normal controls; oral administration of a sea cucumber mixed extract (14.4 mg/kg of body weight) on days 2, 4, and 6 weekly for 8 consecutive weeks; intoxication with thioacetamide (200 mg/kg of body weight, intraperitoneally) on days 2 and 6 weekly for 8 wk; and oral administration of a sea cucumber extract and then intoxication with thioacetamide 2 h later for 8 wk.ResultsHigh-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of the sea cucumber mixed extract revealed the presence of some phenolic components, such as chlorogenic acid, pyrogallol, rutin, coumaric acid, catechin, and ascorbic acid. In vitro studies have shown that the extract has a high scavenging activity for the nitric oxide radical, a moderate iron-chelating activity, and a weak inhibitory effect of lipid peroxidation. The subchronic oral administration of sea cucumber extract to the rats did not show any toxic side effects but increased hepatic superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities. The coadministration of sea cucumber extract and thioacetamide (protection modality) normalized serum direct bilirubin, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, hepatic malondialdehyde, and hydroxyproline concentrations and antioxidant enzyme activities. In addition, the histologic examination of liver sections from the protection group that were stained with hematoxylin and eosin showed substantial attenuation of the degenerative cellular changes and regressions in liver fibrosis and necrosis induced by the thioacetamide intoxication.ConclusionSea cucumber mixed extract contains physiologically active phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity, which afforded a potential hepatoprotective activity against thioacetamide-induced liver injury in a rat model.     

Infants of diabetic mothers: echocardiographic measurements and cord blood IGF-I and IGFBP-1

El‐Ganzoury MM, El‐Masry SA, El‐Farrash RA, Anwar M, Abd Ellatife RZ. Infants of diabetic mothers: echocardiographic measurements and cord blood IGF‐I and IGFBP‐1. Background: Cardiac malformations in infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) are five times higher than in normal pregnancies. Insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) is the most important growth factor in utero and is predominantly bound by IGF binding protein‐1 (IGFBP‐1). Objective: To examine the echocardiographic findings of neonates of diabetic mothers and the relationship with cord blood IGF‐I and IGBP‐1. Subjects and methods: This study was conducted on 69 neonates born to diabetic mothers who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, Ain Shams University Hospitals between August 2007 and February 2008. They were classified into three groups: 20 small for gestational age, 25 appropriate for gestational age, and 24 large for gestational age. Neonates were subjected to thorough clinical examination and echocardiographic evaluation. Maternal hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and cord blood IGF‐I and IGBP‐1 were assessed. Results: Thirty neonates (43.5%) had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM); all of them were infants of suboptimally controlled diabetic mothers (HbA1c ≥ 7) with positive correlation between HbA1c and interventricular septal (IVS) thickness. Impaired left ventricular contractility was recorded in 52 IDMs (75.4%). The echocardiographic and laboratory measurements showed significant difference between the three studied groups. Cardiac morphological data were negatively correlated to IGFBP‐1 and positively correlated to IGF‐I and birth weight. Conclusions: The opposing relationships between cord blood IGF‐I and IGFBP‐1 on the cardiac morphological measurements supporting their putative opposing roles in HCM seen in IDMs. Birth weight is the best predictor of hypertrophied IVS especially in infants born to suboptimally controlled diabetic mothers.     

Mother-daughter genetic relationship in central obesity

Central obesity is an important predictor of all-cause mortality. Children of obese parents bear a greater risk to develop obesity themselves.

Diagnosis of pancreatic tumors by endoscopic ultrasonography

Pancreatic tumors are highly diverse, as they can be solid or cystic, and benign or malignant. Since their imaging features overlap considerably, it is often difficult to characterize these tumors. In addition, small pancreatic tumors, especially those less than 2 cm in diameter, are difficult to detect and diagnose. For characterizing pancreatic tumors and detecting small pancreatic tumors, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is the most sensitive of the imaging procedures currently available. This technique also provides good results in terms of the preoperative staging of pancreatic tumors. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has also proved to be a safe and useful method for tissue sampling of pancreatic tumors. Despite these advantages, however, it is still difficult to differentiate between benign and malignant, solid or cystic pancreatic tumors, malignant neoplasms, and chronic pancreatitis using EUS, even when EUS-FNA is performed. Recently, contrast-enhanced EUS with Doppler mode (CE-EUS) employing ultrasound contrast agents, which indicate vascularization in pancreatic lesions, has been found to be useful in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic tumors, especially small pancreatic tumors. However, Doppler ultrasonography with contrast-enhancement has several limitations, including blooming artifacts, poor spatial resolution, and low sensitivity to slow flow. Consequently, an echoendoscope was developed recently that has a broad-band transducer and an imaging mode that was designed specifically for contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CEH-EUS) with a second-generation ultrasound contrast agent. The CEH-EUS technique is expected to improve the differential diagnosis of pancreatic disease in the future. This review describes the EUS appearances of common solid and cystic pancreatic masses, the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA, and the relative efficacies and advantages of CE-EUS and CEH-EUS along with their relative advantages and their complementary roles in clinical practice.     

Immunization against severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2: an overview

In the past years, numerous new fatal infections have emerged, including Ebola, Nipah, and Zika viruses, as well as coronaviruses. Recently, infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have emerged in China, and were then transmitted all over the world, causing the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is transmitted at a higher rate than other diseases caused by coronaviruses. At the time of writing this review, COVID-19 is not contained in most countries in spite of quarantine, physical distancing, and enhanced hygiene measures. In this review, I address different methods for passive and active immunization against this virus, which is known to cause fatal respiratory disease, including natural passive immunization by breast milk, natural active immunization by herd immunization, artificial passive immunization by convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibodies, and artificial active immunization by vaccination. I hope this review will help design a prophylactic approach against outbreaks and pandemics of related coronaviruses in the future.     

Chronic Salmonella bacteriuria with intermittent bacteremia treated with low doses of amoxicillin or ampicillin.

Amoxicillin and ampicillin were compared at a dose of 250 mg twice daily for 4 weeks to treat Salmonella typhi or Salmonella paratyphi A chronic bacteriuria with intermittent bacteremia. Eleven patients received amoxicillin, and 15 received ampicillin. Concentrations of the two drugs were measured in the urine and serum on treatment days 1, 2, and 7. The urine levels of both antibiotics were maximal 2 h after administration, and minimal levels were 80-fold higher than the S. typhi minimal inhibitory concentration and 20-fold higher than the S. paratyphi A minimal inhibitory concentration. The serum level of amoxicillin was below the minimal inhibitory concentration of S. paratyphi A 6 h after administration on each of the testing days. The serum antibiotic levels of the two drugs showed no cumulative effect at day 2 or day 7. Of the 11 patients treated with amoxicillin, 1 had positive urine cultures during treatment, and 1 treated with ampicillin continued to be symptomatic.. Recurrence of bacteriuria occurred in three of seven patients with persistent bladder calcification. None of the 26 patients in this study had positive blood culture during or after treatment. Amoxicillin and ampicillin at a dose of 250 mg twice daily were equally successful in treating chronic salmonelluria.