Role of GSDMD and VEGF in differentiating between malignant and non-malignant pleural effusionsBeni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Tập 12 Số 1
Mai M. El-Kalashy, Hanaa A. Eid, Samah Awad, Esraa Tawfik Allam, Reham Ahmed Abdelaziz Hassan, Amal A. El-Koa
Abstract
Background
It is crucial to differentiate between benign and malignant pleural effusions while making a diagnosis. The purpose of this research was to investigate the diagnostic significance of GSDMD and VEGF in discriminating between different kinds of pleural effusion and their correlation with both progression-free and overall survivals in the malignant type.
Methods
Ninety-one pleural fluid samples, which were classified as transudates or exudates (tuberculous, para-infectious, or malignant) by pleural fluid classifications, were tested for GSDMD using sandwich ELIZA kits, and 41 of the exudative samples were randomly selected for VEGF testing. Both markers' diagnostic accuracy was assessed.
Results
The lowest level of GSDMD was associated with the transudate group (mean and SD of 2.35 ± 0.44 ng/mL) and the highest in the malignant effusion group (mean and SD of 4.38 ± 1.67 ng/mL). The specificity and sensitivity of GSDMD in the diagnosis of exudative PE were 97% and 98%, respectively (p = 0.001) with the cutoff point = 2.89). Regarding VEGF, its level was 222.3 ± 53.4 pg/ml for all studied samples where MPE (n = 21) was 261.2 ± 48.2 pg/ ml (mean ± SD), TBPE (n = 7) was 185.4 ± 6.96 pg/ml (mean ± SD), and PIPE (n = 13) was 179.3 ± 13.9 pg/ml (mean ± SD). The diagnostic accuracy of VEGF for the detection of MPE was 90% with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 80% and the cutoff point was 191.5 pg/ml. There were highly significant inverse correlations between progression-free survival and both GSDMD (r =− 0.531, p = 0.009) and VEGF (r = − 0.582, p = 0.006) in MPE.
Conclusion
Pleural effusion GSDMD can be an effective marker for differentiating the different kinds of PE, and VEGF levels can be a useful adjuvant marker in screening out MPE as a possible diagnosis, leading to the proper selection of patients who may benefit from more invasive procedures.
100 years of sickle cell disease research: etiology, pathophysiology and rational drug design (part 1)Beni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Tập 8 - Trang 1-6 - 2019
Mona A. Mahran, Mohamed Teleb Ismail, Elwy H. Abdelkader
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic hemolytic disease caused by an altered hemoglobin molecule (HbS) and was first termed as a molecular disease. Glutamic acid in the normal hemoglobin molecule (HbA), was replaced by valine in HbS at the sixth position of both β-chains. This alteration was proved to be due to a single point mutation GTG instead of GAG in the genetic code. Since the discovery of sickle cell disease in 1910, great efforts have been done to study this disease on a molecular level. These efforts aimed to identify the disease etiology, pathophysiology, and finally to discover efficient treatment. Despite the tremendous work of many research groups all over the world, the only approved drug up to this moment, for the treatment of SCD is the hydroxyurea. In this review, the antisickling pharmaco-therapeutics will be classified into two major groups: hemoglobin site directed modifiers and ex-hemoglobin effectors. The first class will be discussed in details, here in, focusing on the most important figures in the way of the rational drug design for SCD treatment aiming to help scientists solve the mystery of this problem and to get clear vision toward possible required therapy for SCD. Despite the large number of the antisickling candidates that have been reached clinical studies yet, none of them has been introduced to the market. This may be due to the fact that hemoglobin is a large molecule with different target sites, which requires highly potent therapeutic agent. With this potency, these drugs should be safe, with acceptable oral pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Such ideal drug candidate needs more efforts to be developed.
Tailoring enhanced production and identification of isoflavones in the callus cultures of Pueraria thomsonii Benth and its model verification using response surface methodology (RSM): a combined in vitro and statistical optimizationBeni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Tập 11 - Trang 1-13 - 2022
Yu Li, Pachaiyappan Saravana Kumar, Yu Liu, Jiao Qiu, Yalan Ran, Mingyuan Yuan, Xinyue Fang, Xuhui Tan, Renjun Zhao, Ji zhu, Meijun He
Scientifically, isoflavones from Pueraria thomsonii Benth possess diverse pharmacological activities and have been used to treat various diseases. In vitro propagation of callus has contributed to the reliability for large-scale production of target compounds. However, the factors affecting the biosynthesis of major isoflavones daidzin, puerarin and daidzein in the callus culture of P. thomsonii are still not known. Therefore, we aimed to enhance the in vitro production of daidzin, puerarin and daidzein by optimizing three independent factors such as temperature, NAA and 6-BA concentrations. Our findings showed that the optimal concentrations for in vitro biomass production and efficient synthesis of puerarin, daidzin and daidzein were found to be 0.158%, 0.463% and 0.057%, respectively. In addition, the HPLC fingerprint with chemo-metrics analysis was constructed by linear regression of the puerarin, daidzin and daidzein which was found to be in the range of 1.0–36.0, 5.0–72.0 and 1.0–15.0 mg/mL and the LODs and LOQs were found to be 0.15, 0.52, 0.35 and 0.28, 1.50, 0.50 mg/mL for puerarin, daidzin and daidzein, respectively. Surprisingly, our results were also in agreement with the concentration obtained from the model verification for optimal and efficient production of puerarin, daidzin and daidzein which was found to be 0.162%, 0.458% and 0.049%, respectively. In summary, our present investigation provides new insights that could facilitate the enhanced production of valuable isoflavones in P. thomsonii using plant cell cultures treated with appropriate elicitor combinations and temperature. As far as the authors are concerned, this is the first report on production of daidzin, puerarin and daidzein at higher yield at laboratory level for a wide range of applications in future food, medicinal and pharmaceutical companies.
Relationship of horse temperament with breed, age, sex, and body characteristics: a questionnaire-based studyBeni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Tập 10 - Trang 1-6 - 2021
Naglaa M. Abdel-Azeem, H. H. Emeash
Temperament is an important issue that must be taken into consideration when purchasing horses for leisure, racing, or even work in the fields. Those who work with horses have various opinions about the relationship between a horse’s body characteristics and its temperament, but few scientific papers on this issue have been published. The objective of this study was to clarify the relationships of horse temperament with sex, breed, age, and body characteristics to help purchasers when selecting a horse with the desired temperament. A web-based survey consisting of a 32-item questionnaire was used to clarify the associations of sex, breed, age, and body characteristics with a horse’s temperament. The owners of a total of 112 horses from different countries (Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq) were recruited to fill in the questionnaire about their horses. The results showed statistically significant associations of sex and breed with temperament with 89.7% and 108.3%, respectively (p values < 0.001), while there was no significant association between age and temperament (chi-square p value 0.58). The results also clarified significant associations between body characteristics (color, head and body marks, leg marks, and whorls) and temperament (all chi-square p-values < 0.001). Purchasers can predict a horse’s temperament from its sex, breed, and body characteristics, including coat color, body and leg marks, and whorls
In silico detection of Cucurbitacin-E on antioxidant enzymes of model organism Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and variation of antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in treated larvaeBeni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - - 2022
Fahriye Sümer Ercan, Hatice Baş, Serap Yalçın Azarkan
In silico studies further provided predictive binding properties of selected ligands for inhibition of target protein. In the study, molecular binding poses of Cucurbitacin-E and antioxidant enzymes (glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of Galleria mellonella were determined in silico. Cucurbitacins are the most important components of Ecballium elaterium. The first cucurbitacin isolated from the plant was Cucurbitacin-E. In this study, the toxic effect of E. elaterium (L.) A. Rich. (Cucurbitaceae) fruit juice on G. mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae, which is known as a good model insect, was also detected, and its effect on antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation was revealed. The plant fruit juice was tested on the target larvae of G. mellonella with different doses for 24 h. After the application, mortality rate, LC50, LC90 and LC99 values, the malondialdehyde (MDA) level and the activity changes of antioxidant enzymes were determined. Mortality increased with the increasing concentration of fruit juice. Also, increasing doses of essential oil caused decreasing in SOD, CAT, GST GPx, GR and AChE activities and increasing in MDA levels. As a result of in silico studies, maximum binding energy was obtained from G. mellonella CAT enzyme with Cucurbitacin E as a ligand. This is the first study to demonstrate the in silico binding potential of Cucurbitacin E on G. mellonella enzymes. The results indicate that E. elaterium can be used against G. mellonella in a pest control program.
Assessment of the protective and ameliorative impact of quercetin nanoparticles against neuronal damage induced in the hippocampus by acroleinBeni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences - Tập 13 Số 1
Samia M. Sanad, Safaa E. Nassar, R. M. Farouk
Abstract
Background
The most frequent kind of dementia in the senior population is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Antioxidant quercetin has a low bioavailability. The bioavailability of quercetin nanoparticles was demonstrated to be higher. Acrolein is thought to be the strongest unsaturated aldehyde. Acrolein contributes to the propagation of oxidative damage and thus the aetiology of AD. This study aimed to investigate histopathological and ultrastructural changes that may arise in the hippocampus following acrolein treatment. Quercetin nanoparticles' ameliorative and protective effects on acrolein-induced neurotoxicity and oxidative stress were assessed.
Results
We successfully synthesised quercetin nanoparticles with uniform size distributions and particle diameters in the range of 3.63–4.57 nm using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and 3.7 nm using dynamic light scattering (DLS). Administration of acrolein was associated with histopathological alterations in the hippocampal structure, such as increased apoptotic neurones, dystrophic changes, neuronophagia, and atrophic ischaemia in cells, as well as marked damage to the ultrastructure of the hippocampus, which was obvious in shrunken pyramidal neurones with pyknotic nuclei and completely degenerated chromatin material, as well as in damaged astrocytes and microglial cells. Treatment with quercetin nanoparticles has been found to protect against and ameliorate the toxic effects and oxidative stress induced by acrolein in the hippocampus.
Conclusions
This could pave the way for additional research in nanomedicine and a new line of therapeutic intervention in AD using nanoparticles such as quercetin nanoparticles.
