Current Science International

Role of Lentils and Olive Oil in Lowering Side Effects of Immunosuppressant Drug in Experimental Rats

M. A. Abd El-Ghany, R. M. Nagib and S. B. Sadik — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present study was aimed to examine the advantages of lentils and olive oil potential to stimulate immunity and reduce side effects of immunosuppressive drugs in rats. The study involved twenty-five Sprague-Dawley male albino rats, weight (180 ± 10g). The experiment persisted for 60 days (30 days for injured and 30 days for treatment). The rats were randomly allocated into five groups (5 each). The first group served as a negative control group received only a basic standard diet. While twenty rats were orally gavaged with a Cyclosporin A (CsA) (5 mg/kg b.w) for 30 days to induce immunodeficiency and they were reassigned to a positive control group that received the basal diet and three treated groups with 10% lentils, 5% olive oil and other mixture for (10% lentils with 5% olive oil) from basal diet. The treatment duration was 30 days. The results of food analysis demonstrated that the lentils and olive oil rich of many nutrients and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity. The biological results on all immunosuppressed rat groups treated by lentils and olive oil showed a significant improvement in nutritional indicators (weight gain, food intake and feed efficiency ratio).while the biochemical results in serum showed a significant decrease in the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein and total Bilirubin (T.BiL), creatinine, urea, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDLc), anti-inflammatory Interleukin-6 (IL-6),Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α): and CReactive protein (CRP) and a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) , antioxidant enzymes Catalase (CAT), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reduced (GSH) , glutathione peroxides (GPx) and glutathione -s- transferees (GST) and levels of IgE and IgG were compared to the positive control group. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of foods in enhancing immunity and reducing side effects of cyclosporine A (CsA). It can be recommended that patients treating immunodeficiency drug, should consume lentils and olive oil, to improving liver and kidney function, reducing inflammation, enhancing immunity and health.

Assessment of the Biochemical Efficacy of Gold Saussurea costus Nano-extract against Diabetes-Induced Neurochemical Alterations in the Brain of Rats

Amal G. Hussien, Wael M. Aboulthana — Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this research was to demonstrate the biological effectiveness of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) biosynthesized using Saussurea costus extract in mitigating adverse effects in the brain of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The levels of glucose and insulin hormones were measured, along with hematological indices, as well as conventional biochemical assays for liver, heart, and kidney functions. The brain tissue homogenates were analyzed for lipid peroxidation products (LPO) and total protein carbonyl content (TPC), as well as antioxidant system indicators including reduced glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Additionally,
measurements were taken for β-amyloid (Aβ) content, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme activity, and inflammatory markers interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The study found that diabetic rats treated with native S. costus extract and gold nano-extract showed a significant (p≤0.05) increase in hematological measurements but a decrease in conventional biochemical assays. Insulin hormone levels decreased, leading to a significant reduction in glucose levels with both extracts. Furthermore, both the native extract and gold nano-extract significantly increased enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants while decreasing peroxidation reaction products (LPO and TPC) and inflammatory markers (TNF-α and IL-1β). In conclusion, both native S. costus extract and gold nanoextract showed improvements in elevated measurements caused by STZ-induced diabetes. However, only the gold nano-extract was able to bring all measurements back to normal levels.

Management of Tomato Root Rot Disease Using Chaetomium globosum Formulations under Greenhouse and Field conditions

Nehal Mohamed Saied — Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The effects of three formulations of Chaetomium globosum applied as seed bet treatments on root rot disease of tomato plants were studied under greenhouse and field conditions. Using bi-culture techniques, three isolates of Chaetomium globosum (CG) (1,2,3) were investigated in vitro for their inhibitory efficacy against RS and FORL. The results showed that the most sever isolate is CG1 which reduced the growth area by 81.1 and 78.0% for RS and FORL respectively. Other isolates showed moderate effect. The results revealed that all formulations of Chaetomium globosum (CG) i.e. spore suspension (CGSS), pellets(CGP) and spore suspension + pellets (CGSS+CGP) controlled tomato root rot under greenhouse and field conditions. Data showed that all formulations reduced disease incidence and severity. The most effective formulation is CGSS+CGP which inhibited the disease incidence by 80.2 and 71.2 % for
RS and FORL respectively. The same trend was observed with disease severity. All of the formulations increased in enzyme activities. As for RS the formulations CGP and CGSS+CGP produced the greatest increase in enzyme activity which increased PO and CH more than 127.3 and 129.4% respectively. As for FORL the same formulation increased PO and CH more than 152.2 and 122.2 % respectively.
Furthermore, during two growing seasons in the field, the most effective formulation is CGSS+CGP which inhibited disease incidence and severity. Followed by CGP treatments, meanwhile, CGSS has satisfactory impact. As for tomato yield, the most effective formulation is CGSS+CGP which significantly increased tomato yield. Followed by CGP treatment.

Skin Disease Classification using CNN Deep Learning Technique

Hany S. Khalifa, Shrouk F. Abdullah — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Skin diseases rank among the most prevalent health conditions globally, yet their diagnosis remains challenging, primarily due to the intricate interplay of factors such as skin tone, color variations, and hair presence. The diverse manifestations, initial symptom similarities, and uneven distribution of lesion samples further compound the complexity of accurately classifying these disorders. Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have exhibited remarkable potential in improving the precision of skin disease classification. This paper presents a novel approach that involves developing a custom-built CNN architecture from scratch to classify skin diseases with high accuracy. Unlike existing models that rely on pre-trained architectures, our model is designed and trained from the ground up, tailored specifically to the unique characteristics of dermatological image data. The architecture comprises multiple convolutional and pooling layers, followed by dense layers with Batch Normalization and ReLU activation to ensure effective learning and generalization. Comprehensive experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed CNN model. Results demonstrate that the model achieves a notable accuracy rate of 84.9%, along with a competitive F1-score, confirming its reliability
in practical applications. Despite the absence of transfer learning or pre-trained weights, the proposed model effectively captures discriminative features necessary for skin disease classification. General Terms Image processing, Custom-built CNN model, ReLU and SELU activation functions, Eczema, Melanocytic Nevi, Melanoma Basal Cell Carcinoma, Benign Keratosis Lesions, Atopic Dermatitis Deep Learning techniques, state-of-the-art model, Dermatological image classification, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Batch Normalization.

Application of Geographic Information Systems in Reducing the Risk of Flash Floods. Case Study Wadi Ghareb, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Nemaat A. Youssef — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Egypt has deficit in water resources, so the optimal use from rainfall water is necessary. Egypt is exposed sometimes to accidentally flash flood hazards. In spite of flash floods led to damage to infrastructures, properties and loss of life but it can be used to harvest runoff flood. This study is based on integrated geologic, topographic and geophorphologic studies to prepare the required input data for different GIS layers such as: Digital Elevations Model (DEM), land forms, geologic setting, watershed characteristics, drainage lines, morphometric parameters, slope, flow direction and flow accumulation. Ras Ghareb city is one of the places which is subjected recently to heavy rainfall storms such as those occurred on December 2010, October 2016, February 2018, April 2019, March 2020, January 2022
with rainfall depth of 38.9 mm, 25.1mm, 17.01mm, 28.5mm, 39.8 mm and 60.48mm, respectively. Storm of December 2010, which caused a great damage in the study area, is selected to be analyzed. The HEC-HMS software is applied to estimate the peak discharge and runoff volume. The results show that the runoff volume of Wadi Ghareb is about 7.0357 million m3 year. Return period is expected to occur each 72 years with a probability of 1.35%, while a rain of 1.0 mm can occur every year with a probability of 94.59%. So, suggested tools of harvesting techniques for mitigation of flash flood hazard is recommended such as culverts under the asphaltic roads to protect it, detention dams to reduce velocity of flash flood and giving chance for replenishment of shallow aquifers. Also, earth dams can be used to allow the water to flow. Rain station is recommended to measure collected rainfalls.