Production of environmentally amenable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has garnered the interest of the scientific community owing to their broad application primarily in the field of optronics, sensing and extensively in pharmaceuticals as promising antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer agents. The current study emphases on production of ecofriendly silver nanoparticles from Brassica oleracea (BO) and investigated their antibacterial, anticancer and antioxidant activity. The characteristics of synthesized BO-AgNPs were studied by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, particle size analysis, electro kinetic/zeta potential analysis, and Transmission electron microscope (TEM). A distinctive absorption maximum at 400 nm confirmed the formation of BO-AgNPs and data on TEM analysis have shown that the synthesized nanoparticles were predominantly spherical in shape. The BO-AgNPs obtained were assessed for antibacterial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic ability in MCF-7 cells. The antibacterial activity expressed was maximum against Staphylococcus epidermidis (Gram positive) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram negative) with DIZ of 14.33 ± 0.57 and 12.0 ± 0.20 mm respectively. Furthermore, the ability of the synthesized green nanoparticles to scavenge free radicals revealed a strong antioxidant activity. The cytotoxicity increased proportionately with increasing concentration of the green synthesized BO-AgNPs with maximum effect at 100 μg/ml and IC50 of 55 μg/ml. In conclusion, the data obtained in the study is reflective of the role of BO-AgNPs as potential and promising antimicrobial agent against bacterial infections and potential anticancer agent in cancer therapy.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is the most widely known type of disorder of the endocrine system marked by hyperglycemia resulting either due to deficiency of insulin and or resistance. Persistent hyperglycemia induces oxidative stress and is suggested to play a prominent role in the pathophysiology underlying T2DM. Besides, oxidative stress can result in DNA damage leading to high cancer risk. Current study aimed to evaluate status of oxidative damage, damage to DNA and cancer biomarkers in regard to increased glucose in T2DM patients and to correlate the glycemic state with cancer. A total of 150 subjects consisting of control (50) and T2DM patients (1 0 0) were enrolled. Additionally, three tertiles were created among the two groups based on levels of HbA1c (Tertile I = 5.37 ± 0.34, n = 50; Tertile II = 6.74 ± 0.20, n = 50; Tertile III = 9.21 ± 1.47, n = 50). Oxidative stress parameters including malondialedehyde (MDA) and antioxidant enzymes were measured. Damage to DNA was analyzed by measuring the levels of DNA damage adduct-8 hydroxy deoxy Guanosine (8-OHdG). To detect cancer resulting from oxidative stress, cancer biomarkers CEA, AFP, CA125, CA-15, CA19-9, prolactin were measured in these subjects. All measurements were analysed by SPSS software. Levels of MDA and antioxidant enzymes altered significantly in T2DM group at p < 0.001 and p < 0.05 level of significance. Significant DNA damage accompanied with elevated levels of CEA, CA19-9 and decreased CA125, AFP and prolactin were noted in T2DM group. CA 19-9 and CEA levels increased at p < 0.05, whereas levels of prolactin decreased significantly (p < 0.001) in T2DM group compared to control. Additionally the mean values of DNA damage adduct 8-OHdG differ significantly at P < 0.01 between the two groups. However, no significant correlation in oxidative stress parameter, antioxidant enzymes, DNA damage and neither with the highest tertile of HbA1c (>7.5%) was noted. Based on the results obtained in the present study, we conclude that there is considerable change in oxidative stress and DNA damage in T2DM patients. Hence, assumption that the oxidative stress could cause cancer in T2DM as a result of hyperglycemic state was not speculated in this study.

Recent evidence has suggested that the gut microbiota is a possible risk factor for obesity. However, limited evidence is available on the association between the gut microbiota composition and obesity markers in the Middle-Eastern region. We aimed to investigate the association between gut microbiota and obesity markers in a case-control study including 92 Saudi women aged 18–25 years, including participants with obesity (case, n = 44) and with normal weight (control, n = 48). Anthropometric, body composition, and biochemical data were collected. The whole-genome shotgun technique was used to analyze the gut microbiota. The Shannon alpha and Bray–Curtis beta diversity were determined. The microbial alpha diversity was significantly associated with only the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (p-value = 0.04), while the microbial beta diversity was significantly associated with body mass index (p-value = 0.048), %body fat (p-value = 0.018), and WHR (p-value = 0.050). Specific bacteria at different taxonomic levels, such as Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes, were positively associated with different obesity markers. Alistipes was higher in the control group compared with the case group. The results highlight the association of the gut microbiota with obesity and suggest that the gut microbiota of Saudi women is associated with specific obesity markers. Future studies are needed to determine the role of the identified strains in the metabolism of individuals with obesity.

Background: Microorganisms along with host response play a key role in the development of periodontal and peri-implant infections. Advanced periodontal and peri-implant diseases are most likely associated with bacterial plaques that trigger host immune response and eventually lead to the destruction of the attachment apparatus and bone loss around a tooth or a dental implant. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans had the highest association with peri-implantitis. Resolvin E1 (RvE1) is part of the specialized pro-resolving lipid mediator family biosynthesized from omega-3, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Although RvE1 is an established anti-inflammatory agent, it was found that its application as a treatment or as a preventive drug had an indirect effect on the subgingival microbiota of both rats and rabbits with experimental periodontitis.Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the direct antimicrobial effect of RvE1 on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans bacteria.Materials and Methods: The study comprised three groups that underwent minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. The first group was tested with the RvE1 working concentration of 5 ug/ml, the second group was tested with ethanol (EtOH), 10% as the working concentration, and the final group was diluted in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) as the positive control. Optical density (OD₆₀₀) was used for the comparison of bacterial growth among the tested groups. The experiment was conducted in three biological replicates. Data were analyzed using SPSS, and results were analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc Bonferroni using a minimum level of significance (P-value) of 0.05.Results: Minimum inhibitory concentration was 1.25 μg/ml and 5% for RvE1 and EtOH, respectively. RvE1's mean optical density (OD₆₀₀) was 0.156 ± 0.021 and was significantly lower compared with all the other groups (P-value < 0.01). The EtOH group (mean OD₆₀₀ 0.178 ± 0.013) and the PBS group (mean OD₆₀₀ 0.1855 ± 0.022) did not reveal a significant difference (P-value = 0.185).Conclusion: RvE1 demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against A. actinomycetemcomitans with an MIC of 1.25 μg/ml. The RvE1 group showed significantly lower bacterial growth compared to the EtOH and PBS groups.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is an acute phase protein produced in hepatocytes. Its deficiency affects the lungs and liver. A case–control study was carried out to determine the prevalence of 2 common deficiency alleles, PI*S and PI*Z, for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) in both healthy and chronic obstructive pulmmonary disease (COPD)-affected Saudi populations and to clarify the importance of genetic tests in the screening of people at risk for COPD. One thousand blood samples from healthy individuals and 1000 from COPD-affected Saudi individuals were genotyped for the above-mentioned alleles, using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with the exclusion of any other nationalities. Data were analyzed by determining the allele and genotype frequencies through gene counting and its confidence intervals. The allele frequencies, derived by the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium method, were analyzed by Pearson Chi-squared tests. The confidence intervals for genotype frequencies were calculated using exploratory software for confidence intervals. Of the 1000 COPD patients included in our study, the prevalence of PI*S and PI*Z was 21.8% and 7.7%, respectively, while within the 1000 normal samples, these alleles occurred in 8.9% of patients for PI*S and 1.6% for PI*Z. The AAT deficiency genotype frequencies (PI*ZZ, PI*SS, and PI*SZ) were 6.5 per 1000 and 87 per 1000 for normal and COPD-affected Saudi individuals. Our results indicated a high prevalence of AATD alleles in the normal Saudi population and an association between AAT deficiency and pulmonary disease development. Additionally, our research confirms the importance of genetic screening to achieve early and accurate diagnosis of AATD.

The acute phase protein alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is mainly produced in liver cells. AAT deficiency affects the lungs and liver. We conducted a case-control study to define a valuable method for the proper diagnosis of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), as well as the association of liver cirrhosis with AATD in Saudi adults. Blood samples from 300 liver cirrhosis patients and 400 controls were analyzed according to serum AAT concentration, phenotyping, and genotyping. Nephelometry was used for AAT quantification, isoelectric focusing electrophoresis was used for phenotyping detection, and real-time PCR was used for genotyping to determine the Z and S deficiency alleles. This study highlights the accuracy of using genotyping in addition to AAT quantification, since this technique has proven to be successful in the diagnosis of AATD for 100% of our cases. A significant deviation in AAT genotypes frequencies from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in the adult cirrhosis group occurred due to a higher observed frequency than expected for the Pi ZZ homozygous genotype. Pi ZZ in adults may be considered as the risk factor for liver cirrhosis. However, we could not establish this relationship for heterozygous AATD genotypes (such as Pi MZ and Pi SZ).