Heba Muhammed Ali Khalil

Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seeds (PDL) have recently evoked significant attention for their therapeutic potential against numerous diseases. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an inevitable environmental hazard that pollutes foods and may harm the heart. This study investigated the beneficial effect of PDL against cardiac toxicity induced by AFB1 in male offspring. Female albino rats received PDL (200 mg/kg) orally for 14 days before mating till weaning and AFB1 (50 μg/kg) intramuscularly throughout gestation and lactation. At postnatal day 60, male offspring hearts were collected. Compared to AFB1 intoxicated group, PDL-treated offspring displayed improved cardiac biomarkers, an increase in their antioxidant defense, and a decrease in the cardiac proinflammatory cytokines. Additionally, a reduction in the expression levels of Bcl2 and Nrf2 was observed, with genes linked to increased cardiac caspase-3, Bax, ACE1, P53, and cytochrome C levels. In conclusion, PDL acts as a potential adjuvant agent for ameliorating cardiac toxicity and apoptosis resulting from exposure to AFB1. This is attributed to its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as its capacity to sequester free radicals within cardiac tissue.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) issued a code of ethics for the museums in 2004, several parts of which addressed to how to deal with human remains. This code covers all ethical considerations concerning dealing with human remains. The most interesting part is the one that dealt with need to remove the human remains from public display upon request from the originating communities. Recently, museum professionals have started to investigate this issue from another perspective, raising the dilemma of ethical practice when displaying human remains to the public. They started to think about what the deceased would say if they were asked for their approval for their remains to be displayed to the public after death. Individual museums varied in their opinions, with some approving and others opposing the idea. Some museums have started to set their own ethical codes no how to display remains. Others reached the conclusion that all humans remains should be removed from display. Since this topic has started to be discussed in museums worldwide, I wanted to investigate the opinions of Egyptian museums regarding displaying human remains by means of interviews with museum specialists. Are they concerned about this dilemma? Do they follow ethical procedures in displaying human remains? What are the ethical challenges for museums in relation to the display of human remains, and what changes have there been? A survey was also conducted among members of the Egyptian public to learn how they feel about the display of human remains.

Background/Objectives: Flavonoids, including quercetin, have attracted much attention due to their potential health-promoting effects. Methods: The current experiment aims to see whether quercetin (QUE) in nanoparticle form could mitigate testicular and renal toxicity caused by cisplatin (CIS) more effectively than normally formulated QUE. Rats were randomly treated with CIS alone or in combination with QUE or QUE.NPs (Quercetin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles) for 4 weeks. QUE and QUE.NPs were given orally (10 mg/kg, three times a week), while CIS was given intraperitoneally (2 mg/kg, twice a week). Results: Compared to QUE- and CIS + QUE.NP-treated rats, CIS exposure induced anxiety and emotional stress as well as promoted oxidative stress in both testicular and renal tissues. Moreover, CIS reduced serum testosterone levels and diminished testicular IL-10, as well as CIS-induced renal failure, as indicated by hypokalemia, and increased levels of creatinine, urea, sodium, IL-18, and KIM-1. Further, severe histological changes were observed in the testis and kidney of CIS-intoxicated rats. Regarding immunohistochemical staining, CIS significantly upregulated Bax, downregulated Bcl-2, and moderately enhanced PCNA expression. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both QUE and QUE.NPs modulated emotional disturbance and improved testicular and renal functions via modulation of oxidation, inflammation, and apoptosis. However, QUE.NPs performed better than QUE-treated rats.

Introduction: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that accounts for 60% of dementia cases worldwide. Despite the lack of concrete information about the prevalence of dysphagia among AD patients, it still significantly impairs their quality of life (QoL). That outcome necessitates more investigations to understand the pathophysiology of this ...

Asthma is a chronic disease affecting people of all ages. Asthma medications are associated with adverse effects restricting their long-term usage, demanding newer alternative therapies. This study aimed to investigate the anti-asthmatic properties of Ruta graveolens extract and its prepared nano-cubosomal dispersion (Ruta-ND). Firstly, the R. graveolens methanolic extract exhibited higher anti-inflammatory activity on Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated BEAS-2B cells. To ensure best bioavailability and hence best cellular uptake, R. graveolens extract was loaded in nano-cubosomal dispersion (ND). Then, the anti-asthmatic effects of Ruta extract and ND were simultaneously evaluated in rats' model with ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma. R. graveolens extract and Ruta-ND subsided asthma score and improved lung function by restoring FEV1/FVC ratio to the expected values in control rats. Also, it showed strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities manifested by lowering levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), IL-4, IL-7, TGF-β, and Ig-E, and increasing levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and INF-γ in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Our research findings also indicate autophagy induction and apoptosis inhibition by Ruta extract and Ruta-ND. Finally, the HPLC MS/MS phytochemical profiling of R. graveolens extract evident production of various alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, and other phenolics with reported pharmacological properties corresponding to/emphasize our study findings. In conclusion, R. graveolens exhibited promise in managing Ova-induced allergic asthma and could be developed as an alternative anti-allergic asthma drug.

Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is the most abundant phthalate threatening public health-induced neurotoxicity. This neurotoxicity is associated with behavioral and biochemical deficits in male rats. Our study investigated the neuroprotective effect of ferulic acid (FA) on male rats exposed to DEHP. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were assigned to four groups. Group I control rats received corn oil, group II intoxicated rats received 300 mg/kg of DEHP, group III received 300 mg/kg of DEHP + 50 mg/kg of FA, and group IV received 50 mg/kg of FA, all agents administrated daily per os for 30 days. Anxiety-like behavior, spatial working memory, and recognition memory were assessed. Also, brain oxidative stress biomarkers, including brain malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as well as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were measured. Moreover, brain histopathology examinations associated with immunohistochemistry determination of brain caspase-3 were also evaluated. Furthermore, docking simulation was adapted to understand the inhibitory role of FA on caspase-3 and NO synthase. Compared to DEHP-intoxicated rats, FA-treated rats displayed improved cognitive memory associated with a reduced anxious state. Also, the redox state was maintained with increased BNDF levels. These changes were confirmed by restoring the normal architecture of brain tissue and a decrement in the immunohistochemistry caspase-3. In conclusion, FA has potent antioxidant and antiapoptotic properties that confirm the neuroprotective activity of FA, with a possible prospect for its therapeutic capabilities and nutritional supplement value.