| 1. |
- Abouzid, Mohamed, et al.
(författare)
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Investigating the current environmental situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic : urban vs. rural context
- 2022
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Nature. - 1471-2458. ; 22:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundCoronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a massive global socio-economic tragedy that has impacted the ecosystem. This paper aims to contextualize urban and rural environmental situations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.ResultsAn online survey was conducted, 6770 participants were included in the final analysis, and 64% were females. The majority of the participants were urban citizens (74%). Over 50% of the urban residents significantly (p < 0.001) reported a reduction in noise, gathering in tourist areas, and gathering in malls and restaurants. Concerning the pollutants, most urban and rural areas have reported an increase in masks thrown in streets (69.49% vs. 73.22%, resp.; p = 0.003). Plastic bags and hospital waste also increased significantly with the same p-value of < 0.001 in urban areas compared with rural ones. The multifactorial logistic model for urban resident predictors achieved acceptable discrimination (AUROC = 0.633) according to age, crowdedness, noise and few pollutants.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic had a beneficial impact on the environment and at the same time, various challenges regarding plastic and medical wastes are rising which requires environmental interventions.
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| 2. |
- Al Naggar, Yahya, et al.
(författare)
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Are Honey Bees at Risk from Microplastics?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Toxics. - : MDPI AG. - 2305-6304. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous and persistent pollutants, and have been detected in a wide variety of media, from soils to aquatic systems. MPs, consisting primarily of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyacrylamide polymers, have recently been found in 12% of samples of honey collected in Ecuador. Recently, MPs have also been identified in honey bees collected from apiaries in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as nearby semiurban and rural areas. Given these documented exposures, assessment of their effects is critical for understanding the risks of MP exposure to honey bees. Exposure to polystyrene (PS)-MPs decreased diversity of the honey bee gut microbiota, followed by changes in gene expression related to oxidative damage, detoxification, and immunity. As a result, the aim of this perspective was to investigate whether wide-spread prevalence of MPs might have unintended negative effects on health and fitness of honey bees, as well as to draw the scientific community's attention to the possible risks of MPs to the fitness of honey bees. Several research questions must be answered before MPs can be considered a potential threat to bees.
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| 3. |
- Abd El-Wahed, Aida A., et al.
(författare)
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Cosmetic Applications of Bee Venom
- 2021
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Ingår i: Toxins. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6651 .- 2072-6651. ; 13:11
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bee venom (BV) is a typical toxin secreted by stingers of honeybee workers. BV and BV therapy have long been attractive to different cultures, with extensive studies during recent decades. Nowadays, BV is applied to combat several skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, alopecia, vitiligo, and psoriasis. BV is used extensively in topical preparations as cosmetics and used as dressing for wound healing, as well as in facemasks. Nevertheless, the safety of BV as a therapeutic choice has always been a concern due to the immune system reaction in some people due to BV use. The documented unfavorable impact is explained by the fact that the skin reactions to BV might expand to excessive immunological responses, including anaphylaxis, that typically resolve over numerous days. This review aims to address bee venom therapeutic uses in skin cosmetics.
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| 4. |
- Abd El-Wahed, Aida, et al.
(författare)
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Wasp Venom Biochemical Components and Their Potential in Biological Applications and Nanotechnological Interventions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Toxins. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6651 .- 2072-6651. ; 13:3
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wasps, members of the order Hymenoptera, are distributed in different parts of the world, including Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Argentina. The lifestyles of the wasps are solitary and social. Social wasps use venom as a defensive measure to protect their colonies, whereas solitary wasps use their venom to capture prey. Chemically, wasp venom possesses a wide variety of enzymes, proteins, peptides, volatile compounds, and bioactive constituents, which include phospholipase A2, antigen 5, mastoparan, and decoralin. The bioactive constituents have anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the limited quantities of wasp venom and the scarcity of advanced strategies for the synthesis of wasp venom’s bioactive compounds remain a challenge facing the effective usage of wasp venom. Solid-phase peptide synthesis is currently used to prepare wasp venom peptides and their analogs such as mastoparan, anoplin, decoralin, polybia-CP, and polydim-I. The goal of the current review is to highlight the medicinal value of the wasp venom compounds, as well as limitations and possibilities. Wasp venom could be a potential and novel natural source to develop innovative pharmaceuticals and new agents for drug discovery.
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| 5. |
- Al Naggar, Yahya, et al.
(författare)
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Chronic Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastic Fragments Has No Effect on Honey Bee Survival, but Reduces Feeding Rate and Body Weight
- 2023
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Ingår i: Toxics. - : MDPI. - 2305-6304. ; 11:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microplastics (MPs), in the form of fragments and fibers, were recently found in honey samples collected in Ecuador as well as in honey bees collected from Denmark and China. However, little is known about how MPs impact bee health. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the potential toxicity of irregularly shaped polystyrene (PS)-MP fragments on honey bee health. In the first experiment of its kind with honey bees, we chronically exposed bees with a well-established gut microbiome to small (27 ± 17 µm) or large (93 ± 25 µm) PS-MP fragments at varying concentrations (1, 10, 100 µg mL−1) for 14 days. Bee mortality, food consumption, and body weight were all studied. We found that chronic exposure to PS-MP fragments has no effect on honey bee survival, but reduced the feeding rate and body weight, particularly at 10 µg PS-MP fragments per mL, which may have long-term consequences for honey bee health. The findings of this study could assist in the risk assessment of MPs on pollinator health.
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| 6. |
- Algethami, Jari S., et al.
(författare)
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Bee Pollen : Clinical Trials and Patent Applications
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nutrients. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-6643. ; 14:14
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bee pollen is a natural cocktail of floral nectar, flower pollen, enzymes, and salivary secretions produced by honeybees. Bee pollen is one of the bee products most enriched in proteins, polysaccharides, polyphenols, lipids, minerals, and vitamins. It has a significant health and medicinal impact and provides protection against many diseases, including diabetes, cancer, infectious, and cardiovascular. Bee pollen is commonly promoted as a cost-effective functional food. In particular, bee pollen has been applied in clinical trials for allergies and prostate illnesses, with a few investigations on cancer and skin problems. However, it is involved in several patents and health recipes to combat chronic health problems. This review aimed to highlight the clinical trials and patents involving bee pollen for different cases and to present the role of bee pollen as a supplementary food and a potential product in cosmetic applications.
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| 7. |
- El Kholy, Samar, et al.
(författare)
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Dopamine Modulates Drosophila Gut Physiology, Providing New Insights for Future Gastrointestinal Pharmacotherapy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biology. - : MDPI. - 2079-7737. ; 10:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Simple Summary: Dopamine is involved in a variety of physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract (GI). Using a Drosophila model, we investigated the effects of dopamine administration on intestinal physiology and gut motility to gain new insights into what could be a potential future promise candidate for GI pharmacology. We investigated whether giving a dopamine-supplemented food medium to adult flies modified the gut contents, defecation rate, and excreta nature. The effects of dopamine on adult gut spontaneous contraction and motility were also studied. We discovered significant gender differences in the effect of dopamine. Drosophila dopamine D1-like receptors (Dop1R1 and Dop1R2) were also displayed by immunohistochemistry to be expressed in all smooth muscles in both larval and adult flies. Furthermore, we showed for the first time that dopamine drives phospholipase C Beta (PLC-beta) translocation from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane in enterocytes. Overall, the data provided new insights into the epidemiology and clinical aspects of neurodegenerative diseases associated with dopamine deficiency, as well as what may be a potential future prospect for GI pharmacotherapy. Dopamine has a variety of physiological roles in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) through binding to Drosophila dopamine D1-like receptors (DARs) and/or adrenergic receptors and has been confirmed as one of the enteric neurotransmitters. To gain new insights into what could be a potential future promise for GI pharmacology, we used Drosophila as a model organism to investigate the effects of dopamine on intestinal physiology and gut motility. GAL4/UAS system was utilized to knock down specific dopamine receptors using specialized GAL4 driver lines targeting neurons or enterocytes cells to identify which dopamine receptor controls stomach contractions. DARs (Dop1R1 and Dop1R2) were shown by immunohistochemistry to be strongly expressed in all smooth muscles in both larval and adult flies, which could explain the inhibitory effect of dopamine on GI motility. Adult males' gut peristalsis was significantly inhibited by knocking down dopamine receptors Dop1R1, Dop1R2, and Dop2R, but female flies' gut peristalsis was significantly repressed by knocking down only Dop1R1 and Dop1R2. Our findings also showed that dopamine drives PLC-beta translocation from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane in enterocytes for the first time. Overall, these data revealed the role of dopamine in modulating Drosophila gut physiology, offering us new insights for the future gastrointestinal pharmacotherapy of neurodegenerative diseases associated with dopamine deficiency.
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| 8. |
- El-Seedi, Hesham, et al.
(författare)
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A Spotlight on the Egyptian Honeybee (Apis mellifera lamarckii)
- 2022
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Ingår i: Animals. - : MDPI AG. - 2076-2615. ; 12:20
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Egypt has an ongoing long history with beekeeping, which started with the ancient Egyptians making various reliefs and inscriptions of beekeeping on their tombs and temples. The Egyptian honeybee (Apis mellifera lamarckii) is an authentic Egyptian honeybee subspecies utilized in apiculture. A. m. lamarckii is a distinct honeybee subspecies that has a particular body color, size, and high levels of hygienic behavior. Additionally, it has distinctive characteristics; including the presence of the half-queens, an excessive number of swarm cells, high adaptability to climatic conditions, good resistance to specific bee diseases, including the Varro disorder, and continuous breeding during the whole year despite low productivity, using very little propolis, and tending to abscond readily. This review discusses the history of beekeeping in Egypt and its current situation in addition to its morphology, genetic analysis, and distinctive characters, and the defensive behaviors of native A. m. lamarckii subspecies.
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| 9. |
- El-Seedi, Hesham, et al.
(författare)
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Bee Stressors from an Immunological Perspective and Strategies to Improve Bee Health
- 2022
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Ingår i: Veterinary Sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 2306-7381. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Honeybees are the most prevalent insect pollinator species; they pollinate a wide range of crops. Colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is caused by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors, incurs high economic/ecological loss. Despite extensive research to identify and study the various ecological stressors such as microbial infections, exposure to pesticides, loss of habitat, and improper beekeeping practices that are claimed to cause these declines, the deep understanding of the observed losses of these important insects is still missing. Honeybees have an innate immune system, which includes physical barriers and cellular and humeral responses to defend against pathogens and parasites. Exposure to various stressors may affect this system and the health of individual bees and colonies. This review summarizes and discusses the composition of the honeybee immune system and the consequences of exposure to stressors, individually or in combinations, on honeybee immune competence. In addition, we discuss the relationship between bee nutrition and immunity. Nutrition and phytochemicals were highlighted as the factors with a high impact on honeybee immunity.
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| 10. |
- El-Seedi, Hesham, et al.
(författare)
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Honey Bee Products : Preclinical and Clinical Studies of Their Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Nutrition. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-861X. ; 8
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inflammation is a defense process triggered when the body faces assaults from pathogens, toxic substances, microbial infections, or when tissue is damaged. Immune and inflammatory disorders are common pathogenic pathways that lead to the progress of various chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. The overproduction of cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, is an essential parameter in the clinical diagnosis of auto-inflammatory diseases. In this review, the effects of bee products have on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases are discussed with respect to the current literature. The databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Sci-Finder and clinical trials were screened using different combinations of the following terms: immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, bee products, honey, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, bee pollen, bee bread, preclinical trials, clinical trials, and safety. Honey bee products, including propolis, royal jelly, honey, bee venom, and bee pollen, or their bioactive chemical constituents like polyphenols, demonstrate interesting therapeutic potential in the regulation of inflammatory mediator production as per the increase of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, Il-2, and Il-7, and the decrease of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Additionally, improvement in the immune response via activation of B and T lymphocyte cells, both in in vitro, in vivo and in clinical studies was reported. Thus, the biological properties of bee products as anti-inflammatory, immune protective, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and antimicrobial agents have prompted further clinical investigation.
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