Ahmed Sabry El-Tahlawy

Emerging illicit drugs constitute one of the most rapidly evolving challenges in contemporary forensic and clinical toxicology.[1,2] Many are classified operationally as new psychoactive substances...

Infant milk formula (IMF) is commonly regarded as a precisely formulated source of infant nutrition; however, from an analytical perspective, it is a highly complex food matrix that extends beyond ...

Creatinine is a cornerstone biomarker for evaluating renal function and guiding clinical decisions in chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, transplantation, and drug administration. However, its routine determination remains constrained by the specificity, cost, and practicality of conventional analytical methods, limiting accurate and decentralized testing, particularly at the point-of-care. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as a robust synthetic recognition technology capable of addressing these challenges by combining molecular selectivity with high chemical stability, reusability, and design flexibility. This mini-review is the first to highlight the exclusive use of MIPs for creatinine detection. State-of-the-art MIP-based creatinine detection platforms are critically summarized, highlighting recent progress and general performance trends rather than technical details. Key challenges that currently limit clinical translation are briefly discussed, along with future opportunities for advancing MIP-enabled creatinine sensing toward reliable, low-cost, and portable diagnostic solutions. Overall, this review underscores the growing potential of molecular imprinting to support next-generation creatinine diagnostics, beyond traditional laboratory-based assays.

Epitope-imprinted polymers (EIPs) represent an advanced evolution of molecular imprinting technology for selective bacterial recognition. By using short, surface-exposed peptide fragments derived from bacterial proteins rather than whole cells or full-length proteins, EIPs enable the formation of structurally defined and chemically robust recognition cavities with improved accessibility, stability, and reproducibility. To the best of our knowledge, this review provides the first dedicated and focused overview of EIPs in bacterial detection. The fundamental principles of epitope imprinting are discussed, including rational epitope selection, computational modeling, monomer optimization, imprinting strategies (bulk, surface, nanoMIP, and electropolymerization), and template removal approaches. Representative applications targeting clinically significant pathogens such as Mycobacterium leprae, Salmonella Typhi, and Neisseria meningitidis are critically examined, highlighting analytical performance parameters including detection limits, imprinting factors, selectivity in complex biological matrices, and integration with electrochemical and piezoelectric transducers. In addition to summarizing current achievements, this review evaluates practical limitations related to epitope accessibility, matrix interference, fabrication reproducibility, scalability, and hospital-based implementation. Emerging strategies, including AI-assisted epitope design, multiepitope imprinting, nanomaterial-enhanced architectures, and portable point-of-care systems, are discussed as potential solutions to improve robustness and translational applicability. By consolidating current progress and identifying key scientific and technological gaps, this work clarifies the position of EIPs as promising synthetic recognition elements for next-generation bacterial diagnostics in clinical, food safety, and environmental monitoring.

Products made from chicken meat have gained popularity in recent years in both developed and developing countries, and they can help with the scarcity of the red meat. They provide abundant, easily digestible protein and offer essential vitamins and minerals like niacin, thiamine, and riboflavin, crucial for maintaining life, promoting development, and providing various health benefits. Despite having a high biological value, chicken meat products can nevertheless contain various food spoilage and poisoning organisms such as E. coli. This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of E. coli in the retailed chicken meat products in Egypt including chicken luncheon, nuggets, and pane. Besides, the anti-E. coli activities of natural products including papaya and moringa extracts were examined. The obtained results revealed coliform contamination of the examined chicken meat products. In addition, E. coli was isolated from the examined chicken luncheon, nuggets and pane at 35%, 65%, and 50%. E. coli O2:H6, O26:H11, O78, O91:H21, O121:H7, O128:H2, and O146:H21 were the recovered serotypes with E. coli O128:H2 the most predominant serotype. The recovered serotypes harbored Shiga toxin coding genes. Both papaya and moringa extracts could significantly reduce E. coli load in an experimental trial.