Chitosan, bio-polyaminosacharide, is derived from chitin. Two sources (shrimp wastes and fungus biomass) were used to produce chitosan. And then the chitosan was produced in the nano-form followed by characterization by transmission electron microscopy. The images obtained clearly showed that the size of nano-chitosan ranged between 7 and 13 and 3-6 nm with spherical shape for shrimp and fungal sources, respectively. The antimicrobial activities of the tested concentrations of chitosan and nano-chitosan were examined and found to have high activity against the tested pathogens. The evaluation of the toxicity of the tested concentrations of the produced chitosan and its nano-size were performed using brine shrimp and rat bioassay. Toxicity examination of chitosan and their nano derivatives is an essential procedure to assess the possibility of using these concentrations as food ingredient. Nine groups of rats were treated with either chitosan or nano-chitosan of both sources at 100 and 200 mg kg-1 bw. Adding chitosan in the diet of all groups showed no significant changes in both the blood biochemical and oxidative stress parameters when compared with control group. The histopathology of liver, kidney and stomach confirmed the results of the previous parameters. No signs of inflammation, fibrosis or cirrhosis were found in examined organs. It is concluded that chitosan and nano-chitosan of shrimp and Rhizopus stolonifer had high antimicrobial activity and are not toxic in the same time and it can be used as food ingredients.

The study was designed to clarify the hapato-nephroprotective effects of purslane ethanolic extract (PEE) against cadmium toxicity. Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal. Cd occurs as environmental and food/ feed contamination causing public and animals health hazards. Liver and kidney are the main target organs for acute and chronic cadmium toxicity. Portulaca oleracea is rich in several vitamins, minerals, antioxidant components, and omega-3 fatty acids mainly α-linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. Results showed significant elevation of the liver and kidney functions, lipid profile and lipid peroxidation. In contrast to the antioxidants enzymatic were greatly decreased. The hepatic and renal tissues showed severe degeneration and necrosis accompanied by severe congestion and multifocal hemorrhages in Cd intoxicated rats. All parameters and tissues showed no changes in rates-treated with both Cd and purslane extract as compared with the control rats. The administration of PEE provided a significantly protection against Cd-induced hepato-nephrotoxicity.

The liver is a crucial organ among body organs due to its wide functions, in particular, detoxification and metabolism. Exposure to detrimental chemicals or viral infections may provoke liver dysfunction and ultimately induce liver tissue damage. Finding natural substances for liver disease treatment to overcome the conventional treatments’ side effects has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. Our current work was conducted to investigate the hepato-therapeutic activities of essential oil (EO) isolated from Tagetes patula flowers. EO was extracted using the hydro-distillation (HD) technique and its chemical composition was identified by GC/MS. Then, the hepatic treatment potential of extracted EO was evaluated in vivo against CCL₄ in rats. HD of T. patula flowers yielded highly chemical constituents of EO along with significant antioxidant potential. A coherent molecular network was fashioned via the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) to visualize the essential components and revealed that the sesquiterpene (E)-β-caryophyllene was the most predominant volatile constituent which accounted for 24.1%. The treatment of CCL₄ led to significant induced oxidative stress markers malonaldehyde, total protein, and non-protein sulfhydryl, as well as elevated serum aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin. In addition, it disrupted the level of lipid profile. The post-treatment using T. patula EO succeeded in relieving all toxic effects of CCl₄ and recuperating the histopathological signs induced by CCL₄. Silymarin was used as a standard hepatoprotective agent. The obtained results demonstrated that the extracted EO exerted high protective activities against the toxicity of CCL₄. Moreover, the T. patula flowers EO can be used as a natural remedy to relieve many contemporary liver diseases related to oxidative stress.