Detection and health risk assessment of toxic heavy metals in chilled and frozen meat collected from Sharkia province in Egypt.

Background: The consumption of meat is a fundamental aspect of global diets, providing essential nutrients and proteins vital for human nutrition. However, ensuring the safety of meat products has become progressively challenging due to potential contamination by toxic heavy metals (HMs) and pathogenic microorganisms. Aim: This study focuses on assessing the prevalence of Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As), and Cadmium (Cd), in chilled and frozen meat in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Methods: A total of 30 samples, comprising 15 chilled and 15 frozen beef samples, were collected from various marketing stores in Sharkia. Analysis of toxic metals was conducted via atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) following wet digestion. Results: The average levels (mg/kg) in chilled meat samples were found to be 0.64 ± 0.14 for Pb, undetectable for Hg, 0.02 ± 0.14 for Cd, and 4.66 ± 0.57 for As. In frozen samples, the average concentrations were 0.89 ± 0.21 for Pb, 0.08 ± 0.03 for Hg, 0.02 ± 0.004 Cd, and 5.32 ± 0.59 for As. Generally, the levels of HMs in frozen meat samples were observed to be higher than in chilled samples. Importantly, the levels of Pb were higher than maximum residual concentrations [maximum permissible limit (MPL)] in 53.3% of the chilled and 66.6% of the frozen, Cd levels in chilled and frozen were within the permissible concentrations in all samples, Hg was not identified in all the chilled and in 67% of frozen samples, and As levels were higher than the permissible levels in all samples chilled and frozen. The assessment of human health risk for adults revealed an estimated daily intake (EDI) value of beef meat below the threshold of the oral reference dose (RFD) for all analyzed metals except for As, where 46.7% of chilled samples and 60% of frozen samples exceeded the RFD. Furthermore, both the Hazard Quotient (THQ) for As and Hazard index (HI) for all the analyzed metals were above 1 in 33.3% of chilled samples and 46.7% of frozen samples. Conclusion: This indicates the remarkable adverse effects on human health associated with the consumption of meat with elevated levels of HMs, emphasizing the need for stringent quality control measures within the food industry.

In silico screening of potent inhibitors against COVID-19 key targets from a library of FDA-approved drugs.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an emerging pandemic that threatens the world since the early days of 2020. Development of vaccines or new drugs against COVID-19 comprises several stages of investigation including efficacy, safety, and approval studies. A shortcut to this delicate pathway is computational-based analysis of FDA-approved drugs against assigned molecular targets of the coronavirus. In this study, we virtually screened a library of FDA-approved drugs prescribed for different therapeutic purposes against versatile COVID-19 specific proteins which are crucial for the virus life cycle. Three antibiotics in our screening polymyxin B, bafilomycin A, and rifampicin show motivating binding stability with more than one target of the virus. Another category of tested drugs is oral antiseptics of mouth rinsing solutions that unexpectedly exhibited significant affinity to the target proteins employed by the virus for attachment and cell internalization. Other OTC drugs widely used and tested in our study are heartburn drugs and they show no significant binding. We tested also some other drugs falling under the scope of investigation regarding interference with a degree of severity of COVID-19 like angiotensin II blockers used as antihypertensive, and our study suggests a therapeutic rather than predisposing effect of these drugs against COVID-19.

In silico screening of potent bioactive compounds from honeybee products against COVID-19 target enzymes.

After the early advent of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, myriads of FDA-approved drugs have been massively repurposed for COVID-19 treatment based on molecular docking against selected protein targets that play fundamental roles in the replication cycle of the novel coronavirus. Honeybee products are well known of their nutritional values and medicinal effects. Bee products contain bioactive compounds in the form of a collection of phenolic acids, flavonoids, and terpenes of natural origin that display wide spectrum antiviral effects. We revealed by molecular docking the profound binding affinity of 14 selected phenolics and terpenes present in honey and propolis (bees glue) against the main protease (Mpro) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) enzymes of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (the causative agent of COVID-19) using AutoDock Vina software. Of these compounds, p-coumaric acid, ellagic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin have the strongest interaction with the SARS-CoV-2 target enzymes, and it may be considered an effective COVID-19 inhibitor.