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In the recent past, the production of wastewater from domestic and industrial sources steadily increased through population growth, urbanization, the Industrial Revolution, and economic development. In the world, 80% of wastewater consists of several harmful substances and hazardous chemicals that cause many deadly effects on human beings as well as ecosystems. So, the elimination of this toxic substance before discarding it into landfills is utilized as an alternative source of water which is an emerging need. Using treated wastewater for agricultural purposes is an excellent approach to rendering wastewater beneficial. As the quantity of wastewater grows, it becomes necessity to redistribute the water in a beneficial way. The rapidly increasing world population will undoubtedly increase the food demand, which directly requires more water for irrigation purposes. The rapidly increasing world population rate will undoubtedly demand an increased food production rate, which directly impacts agricultural water usage. In order to achieve sustainability in terms of agricultural water usage, alternative water resources should be explored. In this review, we tried to focus on summarizing all the leading studies in the field of wastewater utilization, the most prominent treatment methods, and a benchmarking of their technical efficiency in agriculture with special emphasis on agriculture in the marginal lands, with special emphasis on the United Arab Emirates.

Doxorubicin (DOXO) is an effective drug that is used in the treatment of a large number of cancers. Regardless of its important chemotherapeutic characteristics, its usage is restricted because of its serious side effects; the most obvious is cardiotoxicity, which can manifest acutely or years after completion of treatment, leading to left ventricular dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. Galectin 3 (Gal-3) is a beta galactoside binding lectin that has different roles in normal and pathophysiological conditions. Gal-3 was found to be upregulated in animal models, correlating with heart failure, atherosclerosis, and myocardial infarction. Male C57B6/J and B6.Cg-Lgals3 /J Gal-3 knockout (KO) mice were used for a mouse model of acute DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity. Mice were given DOXO or vehicle (normal saline), after which the mice again had free access to food and water. Heart and plasma samples were collected 5 days after DOXO administration and were used for tissue processing, staining, electron microscopy, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). There was a significant increase in the heart concentration of Gal-3 in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice when compared with the sham control. There were significantly higher concentrations of heart cleaved caspase-3, plasma troponin I, plasma lactate dehydrogenase, and plasma creatine kinase in Gal-3 KO DOXO-treated mice than in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice. Moreover, there were significantly higher heart antioxidant proteins and lower oxidative stress in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice than in Gal-3 KO DOXO-treated mice. In conclusion, Gal-3 can affect the redox pathways and regulate cell survival and death of the myocardium following acute DOXO injury.

Doxorubicin (DOXO) is an effective drug that is used in the treatment of a large number of cancers. Regardless of its important chemotherapeutic characteristics, its usage is restricted because of its serious side effects; the most obvious is cardiotoxicity, which can manifest acutely or years after completion of treatment, leading to left ventricular dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. Galectin 3 (Gal-3) is a beta galactoside binding lectin that has different roles in normal and pathophysiological conditions. Gal-3 was found to be upregulated in animal models, correlating with heart failure, atherosclerosis, and myocardial infarction. Male C57B6/J and B6.Cg-Lgals3 /J Gal-3 knockout (KO) mice were used for a mouse model of acute DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity. Mice were given DOXO or vehicle (normal saline), after which the mice again had free access to food and water. Heart and plasma samples were collected 5 days after DOXO administration and were used for tissue processing, staining, electron microscopy, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). There was a significant increase in the heart concentration of Gal-3 in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice when compared with the sham control. There were significantly higher concentrations of heart cleaved caspase-3, plasma troponin I, plasma lactate dehydrogenase, and plasma creatine kinase in Gal-3 KO DOXO-treated mice than in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice. Moreover, there were significantly higher heart antioxidant proteins and lower oxidative stress in Gal-3 wild type DOXO-treated mice than in Gal-3 KO DOXO-treated mice. In conclusion, Gal-3 can affect the redox pathways and regulate cell survival and death of the myocardium following acute DOXO injury.

Background/aims: Doxorubicin (DOXO) is a potent chemotherapeutic drug that is used in the treatment of a large number of cancers. Despite its important chemotherapeutic characteristics, its usage is limited because of the serious side effects; the most noticeable is cardiotoxicity which can manifest acutely or years after completion of treatment leading to left ventricular dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Nootkatone (NK) is a recognized bioactive compound isolated from the heartwood of Cupressus nootkatensis and has been reported to have antiseptic, antioxidant, and anti-allergic activities., Methods: Male C57B6/J mice were used for mice model of DOXO-cardiac toxicity. Mice were given either DOXO or NK or DOXO+NK or vehicle (normal saline) after which the mice again had free access to food and water. Heart and plasma samples were collected 5 days after DOXO administration and were used for immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)., Results: There were significant reduction in inflammatory markers in hearts of DOXO-NK- treated mice when compared with DOXO-treated mice. Moreover, there were significant increase in antioxidant proteins and reduction of oxidative stress in hearts of DOXO-NK-treated mice when compared with DOXO-treated mice. There was a significant reduction in myocardial damage as shown by significant reduction of troponin I in DOXO-NK- treated mice when compared with DOXO-treated mice., Conclusion: Nootkatone improves DOXO-induced myocardial injury through modulation of NF-κB signals and reduction of oxidative stress., Competing Interests: The authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist., (© Copyright by the Author(s). Published by Cell Physiol Biochem Press.)

Malignant cells commonly use aerobic glycolysis for ATP production; this is known as the Warburg effect, where pyruvate is converted to lactate, by enzyme lactate dehydrogenase A (LDH-A). In this study, we have investigated the effect of inhibition of LDH-A on cells viability and identifying the mechanism of cell death in HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cells. Human cervical cancer HeLa cell line and breast cancer MCF-7 cell line were used to investigate the effect of inhibition of LDH-A by sodium oxamate on cell survival and proliferation using western blot, spectrophotometry, and immunofluorescent study. There was significant reduction in LDH-A ( P < 0.001) and cell viability ( P < 0.001) in a dose-dependent mode in both HeLa and MCF-7 SO-treated cancer cells. The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) protein was significantly increased ( P < 0.001) in association with decreased LDH-A. The proapoptotic proteins; cytochrome C ( P < 0.001), BAX ( P < 0.001), cleaved caspase-3 ( P < 0.001), cleaved caspase-8 ( P < 0.001), and cleaved caspase-9 ( P < 0.001) were significantly increased in association with decreased LDH-A. While, the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 was significantly decreased ( P < 0.001) in association with decreased LDH-A. We conclude that Inhibition of LDH-A can decrease cells viability through activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway via increased VDAC protein and inhibition of Bcl2 as well as activation of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway through activation of caspase-8., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Al-Salam et al.)

Background: Tephrosia apollinea is a leguminous plant and is native to southwest Asia, Arabia, northwestern India and northeast Africa. In traditional system, it is used for medicinal and coloring purpose. The present study aims to explore the phytochemical, proximate analysis, element contents and antioxidant potential of T. apollinea extract., Methods: The phytochemical screening was done with qualitative methods. Proximate analysis and elemental composition were performed from powdered sample. In vitro antioxidant assays such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals and reducing power-scavenging assays were used for evaluating the antioxidant properties., Results: Qualitative screening of methanolic extract of T. apollinea showed the presence of alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, glycosides and saponins. The methanolic extract of T. apollinea exhibited a significant dose dependent inhibition of DPPH activity, with a 50% inhibition (IC 50 ) at a concentration found to be 29.41 µg/ml, which was compared with standard GAE (IC 50  = 31.09 μg/ml). The reducing power shows good linear relationship in both standard gallic acid (R 2  = 0.956) and T. apollinea extract (0.984)., Conclusions: The results of our study clearly suggested that the methanolic extract of T. apollinea may serve as potential source of natural antioxidant for nutraceutical application.

The possible protective effect of Solanum nigrum fruit extract (SNFEt) was investigated for its antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activity against ethanol-induced toxicity in rats. The experimental animals were intoxicated with 20% ethanol (7.9 g/kg/day) for 30 days via gastric intubation. SNFEt was administered at the dose of 250 mg/kg body weight along with the daily dose of ethanol for 30 days. From the result it was observed that ethanol-induced rats showed a significant elevation in the levels of Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), which lowered the antioxidant defense systems, such as, reduced glutathione (GSH) and vitamins C and E, when compared to the controls. In the lipid profiles, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), free fatty acids (FFA), and phospholipids were significantly elevated in the ethanol-induced group, whereas, the high density lipoproteins (HDL) were found to be reduced in the plasma, and the phospholipid levels were significantly decreased in the tissues. Supplementation of SNFEt improved the antioxidant status by decreasing the levels of TBARS and altering the lipid profiles to near normal. These activities were also compared to the standard drug silymarin (25 mg/kg body weight). Thus the findings of the present study indicated a significant antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activity of Solanum nigrum fruits, which offered protection against ethanol-induced toxicity.