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This study examines the potential of natural biostimulants to mitigate environmental stress and enhance growth, yield, and quality in eggplant (Solanum melongena L., cv. Black Beauty) grown in loamy sand soil. Eggplants were treated with foliar applications of ascorbic acid (AA) at 300 mg/L, chitosan (Ch) at 200 mg/L, and moringa oil (MO) at 1000 mg/L as natural biostimulants. Results indicated significant increases in plant height, branch number, leaf chlorophyll content, fruit count, and total yield per feddan (0.42 ha) with the AA, Ch, and MO treatments compared to untreated controls. Treated plants also displayed enhanced fruit characteristics, including increased weight, diameter, length, and size. Biochemical analyses revealed elevated levels of fruit dry matter, ascorbic acid content, total phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity. Untreated plants, in contrast, showed significantly lower values across all measured parameters, indicating higher susceptibility to environmental stressors and reduced growth and fruit quality. These findings underscore the effectiveness of AA, Ch, and MO as biostimulants in enhancing eggplant growth, yield, and fruit quality under loamy sand conditions. Furthermore, the use of biostimulants could be extended to other crops, offering a sustainable approach to improving food security and sustainability in agricultural practices.

Raghda Abdellatif Hafez,1 Manar E Hassan,2 Maha G Haggag,2 Nora Atef,3 Alshimaa L Abdallah,1 Marian A Gerges1 1Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt; 2Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Giza, Egypt; 3Cancer Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Marian A Gerges, Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt, Tel +2 01003819530, Email MAGerges@zu.edu.egBackground: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin 13 (IL13) gene are associated with vulnerability to allergic diseases, such as asthma and allergic conjunctivitis (AC). Periostin, as an IL13-induced protein, has emerged as a novel biomarker in several allergic diseases. Data among Egyptian patients are still scarce.Aim: To find out the association of IL13 rs20541 gene polymorphism and serum levels of periostin with asthma and AC among Egyptian patients.Patients and Methods: Eighty-one Egyptian allergic patients with asthma, AC, and both asthma and AC (27 each), were enrolled in this case–control study. Twenty-seven age and gender-matched healthy volunteers served as controls. All participants were tested for IL13 rs20541 SNP by real-time polymerase chain reaction, TaqMan method. Serum levels of periostin and IL13 were assessed by ELISA.Results: Compared to healthy subjects, asthmatic patients had a higher frequency of the homozygous adenine/adenine (AA) genotype at IL13 rs20541 SNP (14.8% vs 3.7%) and a lower frequency of the guanosine/guanosine (GG) genotype (51.9% vs 55.6%), while AC patients had higher GG genotype (70.4% vs 55.6%) with no AA genotype detected, yet no significant difference was noticed (p = 7.053). A significantly higher serum periostin in asthmatic patients compared to controls was found (p = 0.005). Higher levels of serum periostin, although nonsignificant, were recorded in AC patients compared to controls (22.88 ± 10.01ng/mL and 17.51 ± 3.17ng/mL, respectively). Periostin was significantly higher in patients with IL13 AA and GA genotypes compared to those with GG genotype (p = 0.016). A significant positive correlation between serum periostin and serum IL13 among allergic patients was recorded (r = 0.352, p < 0.001).Conclusion: Among Egyptian patients, serum level of periostin is significantly associated with asthma and positively correlates with IL13 level supporting its utility as a diagnostic biomarker. IL13 rs20541 gene polymorphism does not seem to play an obvious role in asthma and AC, which requires further evaluation.Keywords: allergic asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, IL13 rs2054, periostin

This study examines the potential of natural biostimulants to mitigate environmental stress and enhance growth, yield, and quality in eggplant (Solanum melongena L., cv. Black Beauty) grown in loamy sand soil. Eggplants were treated with foliar applications of ascorbic acid (AA) at 300 mg/L, chitosan (Ch) at 200 mg/L, and moringa oil (MO) at 1000 mg/L as natural biostimulants. Results indicated significant increases in plant height, branch number, leaf chlorophyll content, fruit count, and total yield per feddan (0.42 ha) with the AA, Ch, and MO treatments compared to untreated controls. Treated plants also displayed enhanced fruit characteristics, including increased weight, diameter, length, and size. Biochemical analyses revealed elevated levels of fruit dry matter, ascorbic acid content, total phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity. Untreated plants, in contrast, showed significantly lower values across all measured parameters, indicating higher susceptibility to environmental stressors and reduced growth and fruit quality. These findings underscore the effectiveness of AA, Ch, and MO as biostimulants in enhancing eggplant growth, yield, and fruit quality under loamy sand conditions. Furthermore, the use of biostimulants could be extended to other crops, offering a sustainable approach to improving food security and sustainability in agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Convolvulus genus is distributed all over the world and has a long history in traditional medicine. As nanotechnology expands its reach into areas like drug delivery and biomedicine, this study intends to assess the potential of Convolvulus arvensis L. extracts as anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents, along with chemical profiling of the methanolic (MeOH) extract active ingredients., Methods: The chemical composition of an 85% MeOH extract was investigated by liquid chromatography with an electrospray source connected to mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS). Both the 85% MeOH extract and n-butanol fraction of C. arvensis were loaded for the first time on alginate/chitosan nanoparticles. The 85% MeOH extract, n-butanol fraction and their loaded nanoparticles were tested for their cytotoxicity, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity (against pathogenic bacteria, E. coli and S. aureus)., Results: The chemical investigation of 85% MeOH extract of C. arvensis underwent LC-ESI-MS analysis, revealing twenty-six phenolic substances, of which 16 were phenolic acids, 6 were flavonoids, 1 glycolipid, 1 sesquiterpene and 2 unknown compounds. The FT-IR spectra confirmed the encapsulation of the 85% MeOH extract and n-butanol fraction onto alginate/chitosan nanoparticles and small size obtained by TEM maintained them nontoxic and enhanced their anti-inflammatory activity (the IC 50 was decreased from 1050 to 175 µg/ml). The anti-cancer activity against HepG2 was increased and the cell viability was decreased from 28.59 ± 0.52 to 20.80 ± 0.27 at a maximum concentration of 1000 µg/ml. In addition, the MIC of encapsulated extracts was decreased from 31.25 to7.78 µg/ml in E. coli (Gm-ve) and from 15.56 to 7.78 µg/ml in S. aureus (Gm + ve) bacteria., Conclusion: Both alginate and chitosan are excellent natural polymers for the encapsulation process, which affects positively on the bioactive constituents of C. arvensis extracts and improves their biological properties., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: In Egypt, bladder cancer (BC) represents about 8.7% of cancers in both sexes. In Egyptian men, it accounts for over 30% of all cancers, which makes it the second most frequent cancer. The standard curative treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) has been radical cystectomy (RC) with urinary diversion and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Concomitant chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) in MIBC appears to produce results that are comparable to those of RC., Material and Methods: Between January 2018 and March 2021, 34 BC- diagnosed patients, who refused RC, were enrolled. They received transurethral resection of the bladder tumour (TURBT) followed by 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) with gemcitabine, cisplatin, and CCRT. Concomitant chemoradiation therapy with cisplatin, as a chemosensitizer, was administered to patients who experienced a complete response (CR) and a partial response (PR) ≥ 50%., Results: Following NACT, CCRT was given to 27 patients (79.45%) who had either a PR > 50% or CR. Seven patients (20.5%) showed PR below 50%, stable disease, or progressive disease; 4 of them underwent RC followed by postoperative radiation. The average follow-up period was 46 months (range: 6-52 months). Twenty-three patients (67.6%) were still alive at the last check-up. Disease-free survival and 3-year overall survival were 70.8% and 65.1%, respectively., Conclusions: Bladder preservation provides survival rates comparable to those of MIBC patients, but with a higher quality of life. The findings show good survival rates without metastasis; nevertheless, more multicentre trials with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are required to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Termedia.)

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) in Egypt is a relatively high young onset disease. As a form of heterogeneous cancer, there is interplay between genetic and environmental factors. We aimed at probing the association of life style factors and Microsatellite Instability (MSI) status that could provide more insights on carcinogenic process of CRC., Methods: One hundred incident sporadic CRC patients were involved. Information on risk factors of CRC was obtained and microsatellite instability status was predicted through evaluation of MMR protein expression via immunohistochemistry (IHC)., Results: Median age was 47.50 years, females represented 54.0% and 36% of patients were Microsatellite Instability High (MSI-H). Most patients with right sided colon cancer (78.3%) were MSI-H while mostly stable or low MSS/MSI-L for left-sided colon and rectum (78.6%, 74.3% respectively, p<0.001). Patients with low physical activity had higher risk of MSS/MSI-L than those with moderate or high activity p =0.026. Patients with BMI greater than 30 Kg/m2 had higher MSS/MSI-L (75.5%) than those with BMI between 25-30 Kg/m2 (60.6%) and those with normal BMI.

The pancreatic islet blood flow of rats 24 h after a prolonged (48-h) glucose infusion was investigated using a nonradioactive microsphere technique. In the basal state, islet blood flow was significantly increased in previously hyperglycemic rats (HG) compared to that in controls (C). During an i.v. glucose challenge, both plasma insulin and islet blood flow were increased in the two groups, but these increases were significantly higher in HG than in C rats. Although less pronounced, the results were similar when glucose was injected into the carotid artery toward the brain at a dose that did not modify the peripheral glucose level. The effect of this intracarotid injection was abolished after bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy in both C and HG rats. Furthermore, in the latter group, both plasma insulin concentration and islet blood flow returned to values similar to those observed in the basal state in C rats. After pretreatment with the alpha2-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine, the insulin response to the intracarotid glucose load was totally blunted in the two groups of rats. By contrast, whereas such a pretreatment lowered the glucose-induced increase in islet blood flow in C rats, it was without effect in HG rats. These data suggest that a period of hyperglycemia and/or hyperinsulinemia is sufficient to induce a perturbation of pancreatic islet blood flow, which appears to be mainly due to an increased parasympathetic activity, whereas the decrease in sympathetic tone does not play a role. These modifications in autonomic nervous system activity could be due to alterations in some brain areas involved in "glucose sensing."