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Mohammed S Almuhayawi,1 Mohammed H Alruhaili,1,2 Hattan S Gattan,2,3 Mohanned Talal Alharbi,4 Mohammed Nagshabandi,4 Soad Al Jaouni,5,6 Samy Selim,7 Awadh Alanazi,7 Yasir Alruwaili,7 Osama Ahmed Faried,8 Mohamed E Elnosary9 1Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 2Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, 23218, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Hematology/Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 6Yousef Abdulatif Jameel Scientific Chair of Prophetic Medicine Application, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia; 8Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt; 9Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Mohammed S Almuhayawi; Samy Selim, Email msalmuhayawi@kau.edu.sa; sabdulsalam@ju.edu.saBackground: Wound infection is a prevalent concern in the medical field, being is a multi-step process involving several biological processes. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) infections often occur in areas of damaged skin, such as abrasions and open wounds.Methods: This research aims to light the incidence of MRSA and VRSA in wound swabs, the antimicrobial susceptibility configuration of isolated S. aureus patterns in pus/wound samples collected from Saudi Arabian tertiary hospital. The cross section study, β- lactamase detection, VRSA genotyping, MAR index, D-test and VRSA genotyping are methods, which used for completed this research.Results: Patients of several ages and genders delivered specimens from two hospitals in the Al jouf area, in the northern province of Saudi Arabia. S. aureus was found in 188 (34.7%) of the 542 wounds. The traumatized wounds provided 71 isolates (38.8%), surgical wound provided 49 isolates (26.8%) and abscess were represented 16 by isolates (8.7%). In the study, 123 (65.4%) out of 188 were MRSA, 60 (31.9%) were MSSA, and five (2.7%) were VRSA. Linezolid and rifampin were found to be the most effective antimicrobials with 100% in vitro antibacterial activity against S. aureus isolates. The Multiple antimicrobials resistance (MAR) index revealed 73 isolates (38.9%) with a MAR index greater than 0.2, and 115 (61.1%) less than 0.2. The D-test showed that of MLSb phenotypes among S. aureus, 22 (11.7%) strains were D-test positive (MLSbi phenotype), 53 (28.2%) strains were constitutive MLSc phenotypes, and 17 (9%) strains were shown to have MSb phenotypes. All VRSA isolates (n=5) were found to be positive for vanA, and no vanB positive isolates were detected in the study.Conclusion: Regular monitoring and an antimicrobials stewardship program should be in place to provide critical information that can be utilized for empirical therapy and future prevention strategies.Keywords: methicillin, vancomycin, resistant, Staphylococcus aureus, emergence, virulent, wound infection, MAR index, D-test, tertiary hospital, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed S Almuhayawi,1 Hattan S Gattan,2,3 Mohammed H Alruhaili,1,3 Mohanned Talal Alharbi,4 Mohammed K Nagshabandi,4 Muyassar K Tarabulsi,4 Saad M Almuhayawi,5 Soad K Al Jaouni,6 Samy Selim,7 Awadh Alanazi,7 Yasir Alruwaili,7 Osama Ahmed Faried,8 Islam Amin,9 Mohamed E Elnosary10 1Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 3Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahad Medical Research Center, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, 23218, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Hematology/Oncology, Yousef Abdulatif Jameel Scientific Chair of Prophetic Medicine Application, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, 72341, Saudi Arabia; 8Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 62513, Egypt; 9Central Laboratory, Ismailia General Hospital, Ismailia, Egypt; 10Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, 11884, EgyptCorrespondence: Mohammed S Almuhayawi; Samy Selim, Email msalmuhayawi@kau.edu.sa; sabdulsalam@ju.edu.saBackground: Otitis externa and otitis media are two types of ear infections that affect people of all ages, although they are more common in newborns and young children. Antibiotic usage, healthcare, and advanced age all play a role in the development of this illness.Methods: Fifty-eight patients with various kinds of infections of the ears were voluntary patients attending the outpatient clinics of the Prince Mutaib Bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Sakaka, Al Jouf, Saudi Arabia, examined to evaluate the role of bacteria and the likely significance of plasmids in their antibiotic resistance as ear infectious agents.Results: Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are the most prevalent bacteria found in ear infections. The greatest number of major bacterial isolates were S. aureus (54%), followed by P. aeruginosa (13%), whereas a smaller number of isolates (3%) were from Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, and Proteus vulgaris, respectively. Mixed growth was noted in 3.4% of instances. The isolation rate for Gram-positive organisms was 72%, while the rate for Gram-negative species was 28%. All the isolates had DNA greater than 14 kilobases. Hind III analysis of the plasmid DNA extracted from the resistant strains of ear infection demonstrated that antibiotic-resistance plasmids were extensively dispersed. Exotoxin A PCR amplification indicated 396 pb PCR-positive DNA for all identified samples, with the exception of three strains for which no band was observed. Patients in the epidemiological study ranged in number, but all were linked together for the purposes of the study because of their shared epidemiological characteristics.Conclusion: Vancomycin, linezolid, tigecycline, rifampin, and daptomycin are all antibiotics that have been shown to be effective against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Microbiological pattern evaluation and antibiotic sensitivity patterns of the microorganisms providing empirical antibiotics are becoming increasingly crucial to minimize issues and the development of antibiotic-resistant strains.Keywords: bacterial ear infections, otitis externa, otitis media, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, exotoxin A, plasmid, antibiotic resistance, Saudi Arabia

Background: in the current study, a comparative phytochemical analysis was carried out to explore the phenolic and flavonoid contents in the aerial parts of Vicia sativa L and Vicia monantha Retz growing in cultivated, reclaimed, and desert habitats., Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to detect Vicia methanolic extracts' individual phenolic and flavonoid constituents. The first-time synthesis of cadmium oxide nanoparticles (CdO NPs) using the aqueous extract of V. monantha has been developed using a green approach. Also, the cytotoxicity of V. monantha extract and CdO NPs was examined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay for unveiling them as anti-HAV and anti-AdV., Results: Our results indicated that in the case of desert habitat, the contents of total phenolics (76.37 mg/g) and total flavonoids (65.23 mg/g) of V. monantha were higher than those of V. sativa (67.35 mg/g and 47.34 mg/g, respectively) and the contents of these secondary metabolites were even increased in V. monantha collected from reclaimed land (phenolics: 119.77 mg/g, flavonoids: 88.61 mg/g). Also, V. monantha surpassed V. sativa in the contents of some individual HPLC constituents, and hence, V. monantha was used to synthesize the green CdO NPs and subsequent antiviral tests. The average size of CdO NPs was determined to be 24.28 nm, and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of CdO NPs clearly showed their spherical form and varying particle sizes, with different diameters in the range of 19-29 nm. MTT assay was positive to the exposure of CdO NPs in the normal cell line, proposing that CdO NPs can reduce cell viability. V. monantha extract showed promising antiviral activity against Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Adenovirus (AdV) with SI of 16.40 and 10.54. On the other hand, CdONPs had poor antiviral activity against HAV with an SI of 4.74 and moderate antiviral activity against AdV with an SI of 10.54., Conclusion: V. monantha is now considered a new, valuable natural resource for phenolics and flavonoids, especially when grown in reclaimed soil. The green CdO NPs based on V. monantha extract showed a promising antiviral effect against HAV and AdV., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Active components in medicinal plants provide unlimited useful and traditional medicines. Antimicrobial activities are found in secondary metabolites in plant extracts such as argan oil. This experimental investigation aims to determine argan oil's volatile compounds and examine their in vitro antimicrobial properties. In silico simulations, molecular docking, pharmacokinetics, and drug-likeness prediction revealed the processes underlying the in vitro biological possessions. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to screen argan oil's primary components. In silico molecular docking studies were used to investigate the ability of the selected bioactive constituents of argan oil to act effectively against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) isolated from infections. The goal was to study their ability to interact with both bacteria's essential therapeutic target protein. The 21 chemicals in argan oil were identified by GC/MS. Docking results for all compounds with S. aureus and P. aeruginosa protease proteins ranged from -5 to -9.4 kcal/mol and -5.7 to -9.7 kcal/mol, respectively, compared to reference ligands. Our docking result indicates that the 10-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester was the most significant compound with affinity scores of -9.4 and -9.7 kcal/mol for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa proteins, respectively. The minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of argan oil were 0.7 ± 0.03 and 0.5 ± 0.01 for S. aureus and 0.4 ± 0.01 and 0.3 ± 0.02 for P. aeruginosa , respectively. We confirmed the antimicrobial properties of argan oil that showed significant growth inhibition for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer MS declared a past co-authorship with the author SS to the handling editor., (Copyright © 2024 Almuhayawi, Alruhaili, Gattan, Alharbi, Nagshabandi, Hagagy, Almuhayawi, Al Jaouni, Selim, Mostafa and Elnosary.)

Biosurfactants are surface-active molecules with unique qualities and various uses. Many microorganisms produce secondary metabolites with surface-active characteristics that serve various antiviral functions. The HIV and Zika viruses were chosen for this study because they can spread from mother to child and result in potentially fatal infections in infants. Halophilic bacteria from the Red Sea solar saltern in Egypt were screened using drop collapse, emulsification activity, and oil displacement assays to produce biosurfactants and emulsifiers. Halobacterium jilantaiense strain JBS1 was the most effective strain of the Halobacteriaceae family. It had the best oil displacement test and emulsification activity against kerosene and crude oil, respectively. Among the ten isolates, it produced the most promising biosurfactant, also recognized by the GC-MASS library. This study evaluated biosurfactants from halophilic bacteria as potential antiviral drugs. Some of the computer methods we use are molecular docking, ADMET, and molecular dynamics. We use model organisms like the HIV reverse transcriptase (PDB: 5VZ6) and the Zika virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (ZV-RdRP). Molecular docking and molecular dynamics make the best complexes with 5VZ6 HIV-RT and flavone (C25) and 5wz3 ZV-RdRP and ethyl cholate (C8). Testing for ADMET toxicity on the complex revealed that it is the safest medicine conceivable. The 5VZ6-C25 and 5wz3-C8 complexes also followed the Lipinski rule. They made five hydrogen bond donors and ten hydrogen bond acceptors with 500 Da MW and a 5:1 octanol/water partition coefficient. Finally, extreme settings require particular adaptations for stability, and extremophile biosurfactants may be more stable., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Almuhayawi, Elshafey, Hagagy, Selim, Al Jaouni, Sofy, Samy, Gattan, Alruhaili, Alharbi, Nagshabandi, Tarabulsi and Elnosary.)

Backgrounds: A worldwide coronavirus pandemic has affected many healthcare systems in 2019 (COVID-19). Following viral activation, cytokines and chemokines are released, causing inflammation and tissue death, particularly in the lungs, resulting in severe COVID-19 symptoms such as pneumonia and ARDS. COVID-19 induces the release of several chemokines and cytokines in different organs, such as the cardiovascular system and lungs., Research Idea: COVID-19 and its more severe effects, such as an elevated risk of death, are more common in patients with metabolic syndrome and the elderly. Cytokine storm and COVID-19 severity may be mitigated by immunomodulation targeting NF-κB activation in conjunction with TNF- α -inhibition. In severe cases of COVID-19, inhibiting the NF-κB/TNF- α, the pathway may be employed as a therapeutic option., Material and Methods: The study will elaborate on the Egyptian pattern for COVID-19 patients in the first part of our study. An Egyptian patient with COVID-19 inflammatory profiling will be discussed in the second part of this article using approved marine drugs selected to inhabit the significant inflammatory signals. A biomarker profiling study is currently being performed on Egyptian patients with SARS-COV-2. According to the severity of the infection, participants were divided into four groups. The First Group was non-infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Control, n = 16), the Second Group was non-intensive care patients (non-ICU, n = 16), the Third Group was intensive care patients (ICU, n = 16), and the Fourth Group was ICU with endotracheal intubation (ICU + EI, n = 16). To investigate COVID-19 inflammatory biomarkers for Egyptian patients, several inflammatory, oxidative, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory biomarkers were measured. The following are examples of blood tests: CRP, Ferritin, D-dimer, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-6., IL-Ib, CD8, NF-κB, MDA, and total antioxidants., Results and Discussion: The results of the current study revealed many logical findings, such as the elevation of CRP, Ferritin, D-dimer, TNF- α, CD8, IL-6, IL-, NF-κB, and MDA. Where a significant increase showed in ICU group results (23.05 ± 0.30, 2.35 ± 0.86, 433.4 ± 159.3, 26.67 ± 3.51, 7.52 ± 1.48, 7.49 ± 1.04, 5.76 ± 1.31, 7.41 ± 0.73) respectively, and also ICU group results (54.75 ± 3.44, 0.65 ± 0.13, 460.2 ± 121.42, 27.43 ± 2.52, 8.63 ± 2.68, 10.65 ± 2.75, 5.93 ± 1.4, 10.64 ± 0.86) respectively, as well as ICU + EI group results (117.63 ± 11.89, 1.22 ± 0.65, 918.8 ± 159.27, 26.68 ± 2.00, 6.68 ± 1.08, 11.68 ± 6.16, 6.23 ± 0.07, 22.41 ± 1.39),respectively.The elevation in laboratory biomarkers of cytokines storm in three infected groups with remarkable increases in the ICU + EI group was due to the elevation of oxidative stress and inflammatory storm molecules, which lead to highly inflammatory responses, specifically in severe patients of COVID-19. Another approach to be used in the current study is investigating new computational drug compounds for SARS-COV-2 protective agents from the marine environment. The results revealed that (Imatinib and Indinavir) had the highest affinity toward Inflammatory molecules and COVID-19 proteins (PDB ID: -7CZ4 and 7KJR), which may be used in the future as possible COVID-19 drug candidates., Conclusion: The investigated inflammatory biomarkers in Egyptian COVID-19 patients showed a strong correlation between IL6, TNF-α, NF-κB, CRB, DHL, and ferritin as COVID-19 biomarkers and determined the severity of the infection. Also, the oxidative /antioxidant showed good biomarkers for infection recovery and progression of the patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The El-Rawda solar saltern, located in North Sinai, Egypt, is formed through the process of water evaporation from the Bradawil lagoon. This evaporation leads to the precipitation of gypsum, halite minerals, and salt flats, which subsequently cover the southern and eastern areas of the lagoon. This study employed the shotgun metagenomic approach, the illumine platform, and bioinformatic tools to investigate the taxonomic composition and functional diversity of halophilic microbial communities in solar saltern. The metagenomic reads obtained from the brine sample exhibited a greater count compared to those from the sediment sample. Notably, the brine sample was primarily characterized by an abundance of archaea, while the sediment sample displayed a dominant abundance of bacteria. Both samples exhibited a relatively low abundance of eukaryotes, while viruses were only found in the brine sample. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of functional pathways showed many important processes related to central metabolism and protein processing in brine and sediment samples. In brief, this research makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of very halophilic ecosystems in Egypt, providing insights into their microbial biodiversity and functional processes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.)

The immune response implicated in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathogenesis remains to be fully understood. The present study aimed to clarify the alterations in CD4 + and CD8 + memory T cells' compartments in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, with an emphasis on various comorbidities affecting COVID-19 patients. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 35 COVID-19 patients, 16 recovered individuals, and 25 healthy controls, and analyzed using flow cytometry. Significant alterations were detected in the percentage of CD8 + T cells and effector memory-expressing CD45RA CD8 + T cells (TEMRA) in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. Interestingly, altered percentages of CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, T effector (TEff), T naïve cells (TNs), T central memory (TCM), T effector memory (TEM), T stem cell memory (TSCM), and TEMRA T cells were significantly associated with the disease severity. Male patients had more CD8 + TSCMs and CD4 + TNs cells, while female patients had a significantly higher percentage of effector CD8 + CD45RA + T cells. Moreover, altered percentages of CD8 + TNs and memory CD8 + CD45RO + T cells were detected in diabetic and non-diabetic COVID-19 patients, respectively. In summary, this study identified alterations in memory T cells among COVID-19 patients, revealing a sex bias in the percentage of memory T cells. Moreover, COVID-19 severity and comorbidities have been linked to specific subsets of T memory cells which could be used as therapeutic, diagnostic, and protective targets for severe COVID-19.

Objective: The seeds of garden cress, Lepidium sativum L., are a fantastic source of phytochemicals and proteins. The purpose of the current study was to use solvent extraction techniques to examine the physicochemical characteristics and biological activities of garden cress (L. sativum) seed oil extracts and compounds against Staphylococcus aureus, in vitro, molecular docking and pharmacokinetics., Materials and Methods: Cress seed oil were collected from Sakaka, Saudi Arabia's Al-Jouf market. Seeds were crushed in 80% ethanol for several extraction. The oil extraction was forced through a perforated tube, and the meal was expelled via a calibrated aperture. After that, a centrifuge was used to separate the oil from the plant debris (15 min). Study the anti- Staphylococcus aureus of cress seed oil by Well-Diffusion Assay, while cress oil molecules docked against Staphylococcus aureus target (pdb-id: 2XCS) by MOE 19.0901 Software. The pharmacokinetics (ADMET) and Lipinski's rules were predicted by pKCSM online server (available at: https://biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/pkcsm/prediction)., Results: The outcome showed that the oil yield for seed oil extract, the specific gravity (0.93) and concentration (33%) was substantially greater. Our findings included a maximal zone of inhibition (23 mm), a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 80 µg/mL, and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 170 µg/mL of cress oil against Staphylococcus aureus. The docking results indicated that the affinity score of Quercetin-3-O-glucosylgalactoside docked against pdb-id: 2XCS was 9.48, while RMSD 1.59 Å compared with the co-crystallized ligand showed an affinity score of -7.58 kcal/mol and RMSD 1.32 Å., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Cress seed oil might be utilised to protect food from S. aureus infection that is resistant to antibiotics.

The present study aimed to estimate the antiviral activities of Ginkgo biloba (GB) leaves extract and eco-friendly free silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) against the MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus) and HCoV-229E (human coronavirus 229E), as well as isolation and identification of phytochemicals from GB. Different solvents and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to extract and identify flavonoids and phenolic compounds from GB leaves. The green, silver nanoparticle synthesis was synthesized from GB leaves aqueous extract and investigated for their possible effects as anti-coronaviruses MERS-CoV and HCoV-229E using MTT assay protocol. To verify the synthesis of Ag NPs, several techniques were employed, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan, transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR, and UV-visible spectroscopy. The highest contents of flavonoids and phenolic compounds were recorded for acetone, methanol, and ethanol as mixtures with water, in addition to pure water. HPLC flavonoids were detected as apegenin, luteolin, myricetin, and catechin, while HPLC phenolic compounds were pyrogallol, caffeic acid, gallic acid, and ellagic acid. In addition, our results revealed that Ag NPs were produced through the shift from yellow to dark brown. TEM examination of Ag NPs revealed spherical nanoparticles with mean sizes ranging from 5.46 to 19.40 nm and an average particle diameter of 11.81 nm. A UV-visible spectrophotometric investigation revealed an absorption peak at λ max of 441.56 nm. MTT protocol signified the use of GB leaves extract as an anti-coronavirus to be best from Ag NPs because GB extract had moderate anti-MERS-CoV with SI = 8.94, while had promising anti-HCov-229E, with an SI of 21.71. On the other hand, Ag NPs had a mild anti-MERS-CoV with SI = 4.23, and a moderate anti-HCoV-229E, with an SI of 7.51.

Viruses are the most abundant living things and a source of genetic variation. Despite recent research, we know little about their biodiversity and geographic distribution. We used different bioinformatics tools, MG-RAST, genome detective web tools, and GenomeVx, to describe the first metagenomic examination of haloviruses in Wadi Al-Natrun. The discovered viromes had remarkably different taxonomic compositions. Most sequences were derived from double-stranded DNA viruses, especially from Myoviridae , Podoviridae , Siphoviridae , Herpesviridae , Bicaudaviridae, and Phycodnaviridae families; single-stranded DNA viruses, especially from the family Microviridae ; and positive-strand RNA viruses, especially from the family Potyviridae . Additionally, our results showed that Myohalovirus chaoS9 has eight Contigs and is annotated to 18 proteins as follows: tail sheath protein, tco, nep, five uncharacterized proteins, HCO, major capsid protein, putative pro head protease protein, putative head assembly protein, CxxC motive protein, terl, HTH domain protein, and terS Exon 2. Additionally, Halorubrum phage CGphi46 has 19 proteins in the brine sample as follows: portal protein, 17 hypothetical proteins, major capsid protein, etc. This study reveals viral lineages, suggesting the Virus's global dispersal more than other microorganisms. Our study clarifies how viral communities are connected and how the global environment changes.

This study aims to fully exploit the natural compound; bee venom (BV) as a substance that can kill and inhibit the growth of microbes and viruses. For this target, BV was loaded onto a safe, natural, and economically inexpensive polymer; chitosan (Ch) in its nano-size form prepared using ionic gelation method in the presence of chemical crosslinking agent (sodium tripolyphosphate; TPP). The findings illustrated that chitosan nanoparticles (ChNPs) were prepared thru this method and exhibited spherical shape and average hydrodynamic size of 202 nm with a polydispersity index (PDI = 0.44). However, the size was increased to 221 nm with PDI (0.37) when chitosan nanoparticles were loaded with BV (ChNC). In addition, the particles of BV appeared as a core and chitosan nanoparticles as a shell implying the successful preparation of nanocomposite (ChNC). Encapsulation of BV into ChNPs with significantly small size distribution and good stability that protect these formed nanocomposites from agglomeration. The cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibition assay was used to identify potential antivirals for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The response of the dose study was designed to influence the range of effectiveness for the chosen antiviral, i.e., the 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ), as well as the range of cytotoxicity (CC 50 ). However, our results indicated that crude BV had mild anti-MERS-COV with selective index (SI = 4.6), followed by ChNPs that exhibited moderate anti-MERS-COV with SI = 8.6. Meanwhile. The nanocomposite of ChNC displayed a promising anti-MERS-COV with SI = 12.1. Additionally, the synthesized nanocomposite (ChNC) had greater antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria when compared with ChNPs, BV or the utilized model drug., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) play a crucial role in the context of viral infections and their associated diseases. The link between HSCs and HPCs and disease status in COVID-19 patients is largely unknown. This study aimed to monitor the kinetics and contributions of HSCs and HPCs in severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients and to evaluate their diagnostic performance in differentiating between healthy and COVID-19 patients as well as severe and non-severe cases. Peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected from 48 COVID-19 patients, 16 recovered, and 27 healthy controls and subjected to deep flow cytometric analysis to determine HSCs and progenitor cells. Their diagnostic value and correlation with C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and ferritin levels were determined. The percentages of HSCs and common myeloid progenitors (CMPs) declined significantly, while the percentage of multipotent progenitors (MPPs) increased significantly in COVID-19 patients. There were no significant differences in the percentages of megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors (MEPs) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMPs) between all groups. Severe COVID-19 patients had a significantly low percentage of HSCs, CMPs, and GMPs compared to non-severe cases. Contrarily, the levels of CRP, D-dimer, and ferritin increased significantly in severe COVID-19 patients. MPPs and CMPs showed excellent diagnostic performance in distinguishing COVID-19 patients from healthy controls and severe from non-severe COVID-19 patients, respectively. Collectively, our study indicated that hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are significantly altered by COVID-19 and could be used as therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for severe COVID-19., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Termedia.)