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Triclosan has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities, and a low aqueous solubility but is highly soluble in organic solvents, also it has high lipophilicity. This study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between the presence of triclosan in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients' blood samples and illness exacerbation. This study was conducted on 44 patients who were confirmed as HCV infection positive only and did not receive any treatment for HCV infection at the Cardiac and Gastroenterology Center Hospital in Sohag, Egypt. From each patient plasma and serum samples were collected for quantitation of HCV titers using real-time PCR and HCV antibody titers using ELISA. While the amount of triclosan in representative 12 serum samples was measured in monograms by the GC-MS instrument. The results revealed that there is an inverse proportion between the triclosan and HCV particles, and a direct relationship between triclosan and HCV antibody titers. In conclusion, triclosan can confer antibody stimulation and antiviral action against HCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) play a crucial role in the context of viral infections and their associated diseases. The link between HSCs and HPCs and disease status in COVID -19 patients is largely unknown. This study aimed to monitor the kinetics and contributions of HSCs and HPCs in severe and non-severe COVID -19 patients and to evaluate their diagnostic performance in differentiating between healthy and COVID-19 patients as well as severe and non-severe cases. Peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected from 48 COVID-19 patients, 16 recovered, and 27 healthy controls and subjected to deep flow cytometric analysis to determine HSCs and progenitor cells. Their diagnostic value and correlation with C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and ferritin levels were determined. The percentages of HSCs and common myeloid progenitors (CMPs) declined significantly, while the percentage of multipotent progenitors (MPPs) increased significantly in COVID-19 patients. There were no significant differences in the percentages of megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors (MEPs) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMPs) between all groups. Severe COVID-19 patients had a significantly low percentage of HSCs, CMPs, and GMPs compared to non-severe cases. Contrarily, the levels of CRP, D-dimer, and ferritin increased significantly in severe COVID-19 patients. MPPs and CMPs showed excellent diagnostic performance in distinguishing COVID-19 patients from healthy controls and severe from non-severe COVID-19 patients, respectively. Collectively, our study indicated that hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are significantly altered by COVID-19 and could be used as therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for severe COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]