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Manganese, an essential nutrient for male reproductive health, exerts dose-dependent effects, with excessive exposure—particularly to manganese dioxide nanoparticles ( MnO 2 -NPs ) from environmental or industrial sources inducing gonadal damage via oxidative stress, hormonal disruption, and impaired steroidogenesis. This study evaluated rosemary essential oil ( REO ) against MnO 2 -NP -induced reproductive dysfunction in male rats. Seventy-two Sprague–Dawley rats (130 ± 10 g) were divided into six groups ( n  = 12): Group I (deionized water), Group II (saline), Group III ( MnO 2 -NP , 100 mg/kg bw/day), Group IV ( REO , 250 mg/kg/day), Protective Group V ( REO pre-treatment +  MnO 2 -NPs ), and Therapeutic Group VI ( MnO 2 -NPs + REO co-treatment) for 56 days. MnO 2 -NP exposure caused testicular injury, marked by elevated lipid peroxidation (↑malondialdehyde, ↑nitric oxide), suppressed antioxidants (↓total antioxidant capacity, ↓catalase, ↓glutathione), impaired sperm parameters (motility, count, morphology), and altered serum hormone levels (follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone). These effects correlated with downregulated steroidogenesis genes ( StAR , HSD-3β , CYP11A1 ). Both Protective and Therapeutic REO treatment mitigated MnO 2 -NPs oxidative stress, restored hormonal balance, and normalized gene expression. Histopathology revealed reduced seminiferous tubule degeneration and enhanced spermatogenesis in REO groups. Findings demonstrate REO’s efficacy in alleviating MnO 2 -NPs induced reproductive toxicity via antioxidant and steroidogenic modulation, positioning REO as a promising therapeutic against nanomaterial-induced gonadotoxicity.

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) are known to trigger systemic toxicity through the disruption of copper homeostasis and the generation of profound oxidative stress. Given their widespread industrial applications, concerns persist regarding environmental and human exposure. This cascade of molecular injury drives multi-organ damage, immune suppression, and genomic instability. To address this concern, the present study systematically evaluates the potential of engineered curcumin nanoparticles (Cur-NPs) against CuO-NPs-induced toxicity in a rodent model as a proof of principle. Sixty adult male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomized into five experimental groups: control, vehicle (corn oil), CuO-NPs (50 mg/kg), Cur-NPs (50 mg/kg), and CuO-NPs + Cur-NPs co-treatment, administered orally for 30 days. Toxicological endpoints included oxidative stress biomarkers, immune functional assays (total leukocyte count, phagocytic index), regulation of apoptotic pathways (Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 activity), DNA integrity via the alkaline comet assay, and detailed histopathological examination of the liver, kidneys, and spleen. Exposure to CuO-NPs alone triggered severe oxidative damage, marked immunosuppression, a pro-apoptotic imbalance, and significant hepatic DNA fragmentation. Histopathology confirmed systemic injury, including hepatic necrosis, renal tubular degeneration, and splenic lymphoid depletion. Co-treatment with Cur-NPs significantly mitigated these effects, restoring antioxidant defences, immune competence, and apoptotic balance, while reducing DNA damage and tissue pathology. Cur-NPs alone maintained profiles comparable to controls, confirming their safety. Collectively, these findings reveal that Cur-NPs confer potent protection primarily by re-establishing redox homeostasis and modulating critical immune and apoptotic pathways, with copper chelation representing a proposed but unconfirmed contributory mechanism. This study provides a strong rationale for a plant-based, nanomaterial-enabled intervention to systemically protect against engineered nanomaterial toxicity in occupational settings, offering a foundation for developing exposure mitigation strategies. Highlights CuO-NPs provoke systemic toxicity: oxidative stress, immunosuppression, and DNA damage. Cur-NPs attenuate CuO-NPs-induced immunotoxicity, restoring leukocyte counts and phagocytic capacity. Cur-NPs protect against genomic instability, significantly reducing DNA damage. Cur-NPs restore apoptotic signalling equilibrium (Bax/Bcl-2 ratio) and ameliorate histopathological damage in the liver, kidneys, and spleen. Initial validation establishes nano-curcumin as a novel phytochemical for systemic protection in contexts relevant to workplace safety.

The present study was carried out to clarify the effect of different doses of melatonin on some reproductive hormones, serum total antioxidant, histopathological examination, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant parameters in liver, kidney, heart, and testis tissues in induced-hyperthyroidism (HT) male rat model. A total of 75 mature male Wistar rats were equally allocated into five groups; control groups were daily I/P injected with distilled water containing 4 M ammonium hydroxide in methanol and 1% absolute ethanol; on hyperthyroidism model group, rats received daily I/P injection of L-thyroxine (0.2 mg/kg body weight). In melatonin-treated groups, rats were injected with the same dose of L-thyroxine followed by I/P injection of melatonin (1, 5, or 10 mg/kg, respectively) for 21 days. The hyperthyroidism group showed significant increase in serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and testosterone levels and a significant decrease in the levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and serum total antioxidants capacity, with a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione reductase (GSH) content with a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in all examined tissues. While, melatonin co-treatment to HT groups partially counteracted the effect of hyperthyroidism by decreasing serum T4 and T3 levels and increasing serum TSH. In addition, melatonin could decrease serum levels of FSH, LH, and testosterone, as well as it could increase serum total antioxidants capacity, SOD activity, and GSH content and decreased MDA concentration in all examined tissues. Additionally, melatonin could amend the histopathological alterations in the examined tissues of hyperthyroid rats but not the testicular tissue. It is concluded that melatonin has a protective role against the hyperthyroidism-induced oxidative damage but cannot ameliorate the reproductive disorders in male rat model.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11784-y .

Manganese, an essential nutrient for male reproductive health, exerts dose-dependent effects, with excessive exposure-particularly to manganese dioxide nanoparticles (MnO -NPs) from environmental or industrial sources inducing gonadal damage via oxidative stress, hormonal disruption, and impaired steroidogenesis. This study evaluated rosemary essential oil (REO) against MnO -NP-induced reproductive dysfunction in male rats. Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats (130 ± 10 g) were divided into six groups (n = 12): Group I (deionized water), Group II (saline), Group III (MnO -NP, 100 mg/kg bw/day), Group IV (REO, 250 mg/kg/day), Protective Group V (REO pre-treatment + MnO -NPs), and Therapeutic Group VI (MnO -NPs + REO co-treatment) for 56 days. MnO -NP exposure caused testicular injury, marked by elevated lipid peroxidation (↑malondialdehyde, ↑nitric oxide), suppressed antioxidants (↓total antioxidant capacity, ↓catalase, ↓glutathione), impaired sperm parameters (motility, count, morphology), and altered serum hormone levels (follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone). These effects correlated with downregulated steroidogenesis genes (StAR, HSD-3β, CYP11A1). Both Protective and Therapeutic REO treatment mitigated MnO -NPs oxidative stress, restored hormonal balance, and normalized gene expression. Histopathology revealed reduced seminiferous tubule degeneration and enhanced spermatogenesis in REO groups. Findings demonstrate REO's efficacy in alleviating MnO -NPsinduced reproductive toxicity via antioxidant and steroidogenic modulation, positioning REO as a promising therapeutic against nanomaterial-induced gonadotoxicity.

A new series of pyridine-2-one and pyrazole derivatives were designed and synthesized based on cyanoacrylamide derivatives containing 2,4-dichlro aniline and 6-methyl 2-amino pyridine as an aryl group. Condensation of cyanoacrylamide derivatives 3a–d with different active methylene (malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate cyanoacetamide, and ethyl acetoacetate) in the presence of piperidine as basic catalyst afforded the corresponding pyridinone derivatives 4a–c, 5, 9, and 13. Furthermore, the reaction of cyanoacrylamide derivatives 3a–d with bi-nucleophile as hydrazine hydrate and thiosemicarbazide afforded the corresponding pyrazole derivatives 14a,b and 16. The newly designed derivatives were confirmed and established based on the elemental analysis and spectra data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass). The in vitro antibacterial activity was evaluated against four bacterial strains with weak to good antibacterial activity. Moreover, the results indicated that the most active derivatives 3a, 4a, 4b, 9, and 16 might lead to antibacterial agents, especially against B. subtilis and P. vulgaris. The DFT calculations were performed to estimate its geometric structure and electronic properties. In addition, the most active pyridinone and pyrazole derivatives were further evaluated for in silico physicochemical, drug-likeness, and toxicity prediction. These derivatives obeyed all Lipinski’s and Veber’s rules without any violation and displayed non-immunotoxin, non-mutagenic, and non-cytotoxic. Molecular docking simulation was performed inside the active site of Topoisomerase IV (PDB:3FV5). It displayed binding energy ranging from -14.97 kcal/mol to -18.86 kcal/mol with hydrogen bonding and arene–cation interaction. Therefore, these derivatives were suggested to be good antibacterial agents via topoisomerase IV inhibitor.Graphical abstract

Background This study investigates the potential of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for bioelectricity generation from seawater and wastewater sources. It focuses on the isolation, identification, and statistical optimization of electrogenic bacteria from diverse environmental samples, aiming to enhance sustainable production of bioenergy. Results Four bacterial isolates were obtained from Max surface water, oil factory wastewater, Abu-Qir bottom sediment, and fish factory wastewater. 16 S rRNA gene sequencing identified these isolates as Stenotrophomonas sp. strain S2 (El-Max), Bacillus paralicheniformis strain O3 (Oil factory), Bacillus safensis strain QB (Abu-Qir), and Serratia sp.strain GH3 (Fish factory). Initial screening of microbial consortia showed promising bioelectricity generation, with voltage outputs ranging from 0.175 V to 0.542 V crosswise isolates. Statistical method using Plackett–Burman Design (PBD) screened the key factors influencing voltage production, including pH, time, oxygen, inoculum size, mediator, and resistance. Each isolate exhibited a distinct pattern of factor significance, yet the models for the four strains demonstrated excellent predictive power with R² values near 0.98 or higher. Conclusion These results underscore the strong potential of specific electrogenic bacterial strains, isolated from diverse wastewater sources, to enhance bioelectricity production in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). The identification of critical operational parameters provides valuable insights for optimizing MFC performance. Together, these findings demonstrate the viability of MFCs as an effective dual-purpose technology for wastewater treatment and renewable energy production.

Frequent and variant infections are caused by the virtue of opportunistic fungi pathogens. Candidiasis, aspergillosis, and mucormycosis are pathogenic microorganisms that give rise to vast fungal diseases that alternate between moderate to fatal in severity. The use of fluconazole as an antifungal drug was limited due to the acquired resistance in some types of Candida and other fungal species. This study aims to consolidate fluconazole’s biological effectiveness against several pathogenic fungi. Six active monoterpenes (MTs) of carvacrol, linalool, geraniol, α -terpinene, citronellal, and nerolidol were selected and encapsulated in nanostructure lipid carrier (NLC) with (NLC-Flu-MTs) and/without (NLC-MTs) fluconazole in one nanoformulation to determine if they will act synergistically or not? The synthesized nanoformulation NLC-Flu-MTs and NLC-MTs exhibited very good particle size of 144.5 nm and 138.6 nm for size and zeta potential values of (− 23.5 mV) and (− 20.3 mV), respectively. Transmission electron microscope investigation confirmed that the synthesized NLCs have regular and spherical shape. The abundance and concentration of the six released monoterpenes were determined, as a novel approach, using GC–MS with very good results and validity. In-vitro antifungal screening was done before and after nano co-delivery against seven pathogenic, and aggressive fungi of Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei, Candida glabrata, Geotrichum Candidum , Candidaalbicans , Aspergillus Niger, and mucor circinelloides. Inhibition Zone diameter (IZD) and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were measured. Nanoformulations NLC-Flu-MTs and NLC-MTs manifested potential and unique biological susceptibility against all the tested microorganisms with reduced (MIC) values, especially against Candida Tropicalis (MIC = 0.97 µg/ml) which represents 16-fold of the value shown by NLC-MTs (MIC = 15.6 µg/ml) and 64-fold of fluconazole free before nanoformulation (MIC = 62.5 µg/ml). The efficiency of nanomaterials, particularly NLC-Flu-MTs, has become evident in the diminishing value of MIC which affirmed the synergism between fluconazole and the other six monoterpenes.

Understanding environmental information is necessary for functions correlated with human activities to improve healthcare quality and reduce ecological risk. Tapered optical fibers reduce some limitations of such devices and can be considerably more responsive to fluorescence and absorption properties changes. Data have been collected from reliable sources such as Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar. In this narrative review, we have summarized and analyzed eight classes of tapered-fiber forms: fiber Bragg grating (FBG), long-period fiber grating (LPFG), Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), photonic crystals fiber (PCF), surface plasmonic resonance (SPR), multi-taper devices, fiber loop ring-down technology, and optical tweezers. We evaluated many issues to make an informed judgement about the viability of employing the best of these methods in optical sensors. The analysis of performance for tapered optical fibers depends on four mean parameters: taper length, sensitivity, wavelength scale, and waist diameter. Finally, we assess the most potent strategy that has the potential for medical and environmental applications.

Rumex vesicarius (L.) is a folklore medicinal herb that has been used for centuries to cure cardiovascular diseases. The present work was carefully designed to ascertain the pharmacological basis for R. vesicarius’s therapeutic efficacy in cardiovascular diseases, as well as the underlying mechanism. In the ex vivo investigation, the aqueous-methanolic leaf extract of R. vesicarius was shown to have endothelium-dependent vasorelaxant effects in rabbit aorta tissue preparations, and its hypotensive responses were quantified by pressure and force transducers coupled to the Power Lab Data Acquisition System. Furthermore, when rabbits were subjected to adrenaline-induced myocardial infarction, R. vesicarius demonstrated cardioprotective characteristics. In contrast to the intoxicated group, the myocardial infarction model showed lower ALP, CK-MB, CRP, LDH, ALT, troponin, and AST levels (p > 0.005–0.000), as well as edema, necrosis, apoptosis, inflammatory cell enrolment, and necrosis. R. vesicarius exhibited significant antioxidant activity and delayed noradrenaline-induced platelet aggregation. Its cardioprotective, anticoagulant, and vasorelaxant properties in both investigations (in vivo and ex vivo) are mediated through partial endothelium-dependent, NO and calcium channel blockade mediated vasorelaxation. The minimizing of adrenaline, oxidative stress, and tissue damage demonstrate its therapeutic efficacy in cardiovascular diseases.