Safety and clinical usage of newcastle disease virus in cancer therapy.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is an avian virus that causes deadly infection to over 250 species of birds, including domestic and wild-type, thus resulting in substantial losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Many reports have demonstrated the oncolytic effect of NDV towards human tumor cells. The interesting aspect of NDV is its ability to selectively replicate in cancer cells. Some of the studies have undergone human clinical trials, and favorable results were obtained. Therefore, NDV strains can be the potential therapeutic agent in cancer therapy. However, investigation on the therapeutic perspectives of NDV, especially human immunological effects, is still ongoing. This paper provides an overview of the current studies on the cytotoxic and anticancer effect of NDV via direct oncolysis effects or immune stimulation. Safety of NDV strains applied for cancer immunotherapy is also discussed in this paper.

A nutritious medida (Sudanese cereal thin porridge) prepared by fermenting malted brown rice flour with Bifidobacterium longum BB 536.

The nutritive value of spontaneously fermented brown rice flour medida, a Sudanese cereal thin porridge, is low. This study was carried out to improve the nutritional quality of medida. The flour was soaked and malted at 30◦C to optimise the protein content. Flour malted for two days had the highest protein content. Skim milk was added to the malted brown rice flour medida and fermented using Bifidobacterium longum BB 536. Maximum count of B. longum BB 536 up to 9 log CFU/ ml was attained at 4.6 final fermentation pH. The resultant viscosity was similar to that of the spontaneously fermented brown rice flour medida. There was significant (P< 0.01) increase in both the energy density and the protein content, having increased 12 folds and 24 folds, respectively. The essential amino acids including lysine and methionine were highly augmented. The resultant medida have stable flowing characteristics and meet the whole protein and energy requirements for infants and children aged 1 - 10 years old.