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Low-grade inflammation is now known to contribute dyslipidemia, neurodegenerative disorders, dementia, atherosclerosis and stroke. This study focus on the priority of supplementation diet with black raisins as positive health effect generally and clarify its neuro or/and reno-protective role against the diverse harmful effects of hypercholesterolemia.

This study investigates the effects of Nigella sativa seeds and Nigella sativa honeybee on hypercholesterolemic rats, focusing on blood lipid profile, liver and kidney function, and antioxidant status. A total of 30 male rats were divided into five groups: a healthy control, a hypercholesterolemic group (fed a high-fat diet), and three treated groups receiving Nigella sativa seeds, Nigella honey, or a combination of both for six weeks. Biochemical analyses measured total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, liver enzymes (ALT, AST), kidney markers (urea, creatinine), and antioxidant parameters (SOD, CAT, MDA). Results showed that all treated groups exhibited significant reductions in total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL, along with increased HDL levels compared to the untreated hypercholesterolemic group. Liver and kidney function markers improved notably, and antioxidant activity increased. The combined treatment of seeds and honey produced the most pronounced improvements, suggesting a synergistic interaction between the two substances. The study concludes that Nigella sativa seeds and honey possess potent therapeutic and protective effects against hypercholesterolemia and its complications by restoring lipid balance and protecting hepatic and renal tissues from oxidative damage. The researcher recommends utilizing Nigella-based products as natural dietary supplements for lipid regulation and general health, and calls for further clinical studies to confirm these findings in humans. Abstract Written by Dar AlMandumh, 2025, Using AI.

This article presents a numerical investigation focused on how roughness of surface affects the overall performance of a counter-flow microchannel heat exchanger (CFMCHE). The study examines various microchannel shapes, including triangles, squares, circles, and trapezoids, to evaluate their performance within the context of CFMCHE. Water with consistent properties flows through aluminum microchannels used as the working fluid. The analysis employs the roughness-viscosity method to assess how surface roughness influences the CFMCHE’s performance. The study’s findings emphasize that the trapezoidal channel shape exhibits the most favorable performance among the shapes investigated. Additionally, among the operational parameters considered, the hydraulic diameter emerges as the most influential factor in determining the most suitable characteristics for CFMCHE. The presence of surface roughness was found to marginally improve thermal performance while slightly reducing hydraulic efficiency. This research provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay between surface roughness and channel shape. Notably, the impact of roughness is more pronounced in the case of the trapezoidal shape compared to other geometries.

Coffee contains more than 800 compounds known to have an impact on human health. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ground dark or green coffee or extracted coffee bean affects the serum lipid profile and other related parameters. Sixty eight Sprague Dawely rats were divided into 8 groups (n=8) as follows: Group 1: Negative control group (NC) was fed on basal diet during the experimental period. Group 2: Positive control group (PC), rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet solely. Group 3: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet containing 5% ground dark coffee beans. Group 4: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet containing 10% ground dark coffee beans. Group 5: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet with lower oral standard dose of dark coffee extracted beans (50 ml/ kg diet). Group 6: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet with the higher oral standard dose of dark coffee extracted beans (100 ml/ kg diet). Group 7: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet containing 5% ground green coffee beans. Group 8: Rats were fed on hypercholesterolemic diet containing 10% ground green coffee beans. It can be noticed that both dark or green ground coffee and extracts improved lipid profile, where decreased the total cholesterol, LDL-C, VLDL-C and triacylglycerol, however, increased HDL-C when compared to positive control group. Also they lowered the concentration of both uric acid and urea compared to positive control group. These findings indicated to the effect of consumption of coffee to improve lipid profile. To highlight our findings related to other research work we may find that the most research papers reported different doses of dark and green coffee or their extracts, different experimental animals and different sample size. Further studies are needed to include clinical trials.

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the development of diabetic complications. Urtica dioica L. has been traditionally used as an herbal remedy for hypoglycemic. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of stinging Nettle Leaves powder (NLP) and its aqueous extract (NLAE) on oxidative stress status of rats with diabetic nephropathy, The results at the end of biological experiment for diabetic rats fed on basal diet supplemented with NLP or NLAE may be helping to maintain an ideal body weight and feed efficiency ratio This study recommended that Urtica dioica L. is suitable for diabetic patients with nephropathy.

In addition to having various health advantages, watermelons are a good basis of essential nutrients for human consumption. So, the purpose of this research was to examine the impact of watermelon rind powder on the blood lipid profile of male albino rats (Sprague-Dawley strain), weighing about 200-250 g, which were separated arbitrarily into two main groups as follows: The first main group -ve control = 6 rats) was given a basic diet. The second main group (24 rats) was fed a high-fat diet (10% sheep fat) for one month to induce obesity and hypercholesterolemia. Six rats were separated and fed on a high-fat diet only as a control (positive group + ve), then the remaining 18 rats were separated into 3 subgroups (6 rats per group). These subgroups 1, 2, and 3 were fed on a basal diet mixed with watermelon rind powder at 5%, 10%, and 15%, respectively. All rats were killed after 8 weeks of experimentation in order to get their blood. LDL, HDL, VLDL, TG, ALT, AST, TC, and HB were determined. Results: Hypercholesterolemia rats fed on a basal diet mixed with watermelon rind powder showed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreasing liver function enzymes, VLDL, LDL, TC, TG, and VLDL, with significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increasing hemoglobin and HDL levels when contrasted with the control groups. Conclusion: Feeding on a basal diet mixed with watermelon rind powder could be utilized as a suitable therapy for obese and hypercholesterolemic patients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc all around the world. The causative agent of COVID-19 is the novel form of the coronavirus (CoV) named SARS-CoV-2, which results in immune system disruption, increased inflammation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). T cells have been important components of the immune system, which decide the fate of the COVID-19 disease. Recent studies have reported an important subset of T cells known as regulatory T cells (Tregs), which possess immunosuppressive and immunoregulatory properties and play a crucial role in the prognosis of COVID-19 disease. Recent studies have shown that COVID-19 patients have considerably fewer Tregs than the general population. Such a decrement may have an impact on COVID-19 patients in a number of ways, including diminishing the effect of inflammatory inhibition, creating an inequality in the Treg/Th17 percentage, and raising the chance of respiratory failure. Having fewer Tregs may enhance the likelihood of long COVID development in addition to contributing to the disease’s poor prognosis. Additionally, tissue-resident Tregs provide tissue repair in addition to immunosuppressive and immunoregulatory activities, which may aid in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. The severity of the illness is also linked to abnormalities in the Tregs’ phenotype, such as reduced expression of FoxP3 and other immunosuppressive cytokines, including IL-10 and TGF-beta. Hence, in this review, we summarize the immunosuppressive mechanisms and their possible roles in the prognosis of COVID-19 disease. Furthermore, the perturbations in Tregs have been associated with disease severity. The roles of Tregs are also explained in the long COVID. This review also discusses the potential therapeutic roles of Tregs in the management of patients with COVID-19.

So far, few clinical trials are available concerning the role of growth hormone receptor (GHR)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5)/insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) axis in hepatocarcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatic expression of GHR/STAT5/IGF-1 signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and to correlate the results with the clinico-pathological features and disease outcome. The interaction between this signaling pathway and some inducers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), namely Snail-1 and type 2 transforming growth factor-beta receptor (TGFBR2) was studied too. A total of 40 patients with HCV-associated HCC were included in this study. They were compared to 40 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis without HCC, and 20 healthy controls. The hepatic expression of GHR, STAT5, IGF-1, Snail-1 and TGFBR2 proteins were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Compared with cirrhotic patients without HCC and healthy controls, cirrhotic patients with HCC had significantly lower hepatic expression of GHR, STAT5, and IGF-1proteins. They also displayed significantly lower hepatic expression of TGFBR2, but higher expression of Snail-1 versus the non-HCC cirrhotic patients and controls. Serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) showed significant negative correlations with hepatic expression of GHR (r = -0.31; p = 0.029) and STAT5 (r = -0.29; p = 0.04). Hepatic expression of Snail-1 also showed negative correlations with GHR, STAT5, and IGF-1 expression (r = -0.55, p = 0.02; r = -0.472, p = 0.035, and r = -0.51, p = 0.009, respectively), whereas, hepatic expression of TGFBR2 was correlated positively with the expression of all these proteins (r = 0.47, p = 0.034; 0.49, p = 0.023, and r = 0.57, p100 ng/ml (p = 0.048), increased tumor size (p = 0.02), vascular invasion (p = 0.002), and advanced pathological stage (p = 0.01). Similar significant associations were found between down-regulation of STAT5 expression and AFP level > 100 ng/ml (p = 0.006), vascular invasion (p = 0.009), and advanced tumor stage (p = 0.007). Also, attenuated expression of IGF-1 showed a significant association with vascular invasion (p < 0.001). Intriguingly, we detected that lower expression of GHR, STAT5 and IGF-1 were considered independent predictors for worse outcome in HCC. Decreased expression of GHR/STAT5/IGF-1 signaling pathway may have a role in development, aggressiveness, and worse outcome of HCV-associated HCC irrespective of the liver functional status. Snail-1 and TGFBR2 as inducers of EMT may be key players. However, large prospective multicenter studies are needed to validate these results.

Secondary metabolites (SMs) are the primary source of therapeutics and lead chemicals in medicine. They have been especially important in the creation of effective cures for conditions such as cancer, malaria, bacterial and fungal infections, neurological and cardiovascular problems, and autoimmune illnesses. In the present study, Aspergillus pseudodeflectus AUMC 15761 was demonstrated to use wheat bran in solid state fermentation (SSF) at optimum conditions (pH 7.0 at 30 °C after 10 days of incubation and using sodium nitrate as a nitrogen source) to produce methyl ferulate and oleic acid with significant antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of the crude methanol extract revealed eleven peaks that indicated the most common chemical components. Purification of methyl ferulate and oleic acid was carried out by column chromatography, and both compounds were identified by in-depth spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI–MS. DPPH activity increased as the sample concentration increased. IC 50 values of both compounds obtained were 73.213 ± 11.20 and 104.178 ± 9.53 µM, respectively. Also, the MIC value for methyl ferulate against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus was 0.31 mg/mL, while the corresponding MIC values for oleic acid were 1.25 mg/mL and 0.62 mg/mL for both bacterial strains, respectively. Molecular modeling calculations were carried out to reveal the binding mode of methyl ferulate and oleic acid within the binding site of the crucial proteins of Staphylococcus aureus . The docking results were found to be well correlated with the experimental data.