Background: The biosynthesis of iron oxide nanoparticle (NP) formation was carried out using ethyl acetate extract of fungus Chaetomium cupreum as reducing agents. The C. cupreum contains azaphilones pigments which poses various biological activities. Objectives: The synthesis of iron oxide NP and their anticancer potential was investigated. Materials and Methods: The anticancer activities of biosynthesized iron oxide NP were evaluated using tetrazolium bromide assay, measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and inhibition of tumorsphere formation. Results: In the present study, the X-ray diffraction shows the presence of gamma phase iron oxide NP withe the type of Fe₂O₃. The anticancer potential of iron oxide NP was investigated against human breast cancer cell line. The anticancer activity of biosynthesized iron oxide NP against MCF-7 was 20.5, 30.5, 41.1, 55.3 67.5, and 75.25 at 50 μg/ml after 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 24 h of treatment, respectively. The results showed that Fe₂O₃NP induced ROS generation to 68.22% at the concentration of 25 μg/ml and 83.66% at 50 μg/ml as compared to 48.22 in control after 15 h of treatment. The results showed that Fe₂O₃NP treatment increased depolarization MMP to 8.52% at 25 μg/ml and 10.74% at 50 μg/ml as compared to 6.35% in untreated cells after 24 h. Thus, treatment with Fe₂O₃NPs showed significant inhibition of MCF-7 tumorsphere formation at higher concentration. Conclusion: The biosynthesized iron oxide NP using ethyl acetate extract of C. cupreum exhibit significant anticancer activity.

Background: Fungi are microorganisms which produce a wide variety of biologically active secondary metabolites that could be used for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes. The Chaetomium cupreum is a natural source of different types of intracellular and extracellular pigments which exhibit various biological properties. Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the anticancer property of C. cupreum extracts against human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines. Materials and Methods: The anticancer activity of different extracts of C. cupreum on human breast cancer cells was evaluated using MTT tetrazolium bromide assay. The measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using JC-1 fluorescent dye and reactive oxygen species (ROS) by 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate dye. The partial purification and characterization of compound was done by chromatography and spectrometry methods. Results: It was found that ethyl acetate extract of C. cupreum showed significant cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cells with IC_50-40 and against MDA-DB231 cells with IC₅₀-75 μg/ml concentration. In subfractions of ethyl acetate, the highest cytotoxic effect was shown by methanol subfraction (44.79%), followed by ethyl acetate subfraction (39.79%) and chloroform subfraction (37.07%) at the concentration of 25 μg/ml after 24 h. The anticancer activity of seco-chaetomugilin on MCF-7 cancer cells was 51.56% at the concentration of 25 μg/ml. In results, seco-chaetomugilin treatment increased depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential to 16.45% at the concentration of 5 μg/ml and 32.25% at the concentration of 15 μg/ml as compared to 13.47% in untreated cells after 24 h. The results showed that the treatment of seco-chaetomugilin increased ROS generation to 19.6% at the concentration of 5 μg/ml and 26.2% at the concentration of 15 μg/ml as compared to 14% in untreated cells. Conclusion: These results showed that ethyl acetate extract and seco-chaetomugilin pigment induces mitochondria depolarization and ROS production, which leads to cell death. Thus, these results suggested that that pigment seco-chaetomugilin isolated from C. cupreum should further be studied for its anticancer activity on molecular level.

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble vitamins responsible for intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has reached an epidemic in both developed and developing countries. Literature review showed that population knowledge, attitude, and practice concerning Vitamin D were poor. Prescribing doctors and pharmacist are an important source of health information. Hence, their knowledge and practices about Vitamin D is essential for their roles and needs to be highlighted. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding Vitamin D among community pharmacists and prescribing doctors in Khartoum City, Sudan, 2020. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out from February to April 2020 among 94 community pharmacists and 106 prescribing doctors using a validated electronic delivery self-administered questionnaire in Khartoum locality. Results: About 32.7% and 41.9% from prescribing doctors and pharmacists had poor general knowledge, respectively, regarding VDD, while the significant trend was found regarding the level of knowledge and year of experience (P = 0.022) of all health professionals (pharmacists and doctors). About 39.3% and 44.1% from prescribing doctors and pharmacists, respectively, had poor nutrition knowledge score toward Vitamin D with a significant trend regarding nutrition knowledge score and different gender groups (P = 0.02) of all health professionals in the study. About 49.5% and 47.5% from prescribing doctors and pharmacists, respectively, had poor attitude scores toward Vitamin D with a significant trend regarding nutrition knowledge score and attitude score (P = 0.037) of all health professionals. Conclusion and Recommendations: This survey identified a gap in the general knowledge, nutritional knowledge, and attitude among health-care professionals (prescribing doctors and pharmacists).

Introduction: Health promotion enables people to gain better control and improve their health and overall well-being. An important aspect of health promotion is community action and participation through health education which encourages socioeconomic and cultural activities and improves environmental determinants of health. Justifications: Sudan national guidelines for good pharmacy practice in community pharmacy 2016 state that community pharmacists should have a role in health promotion in community, so researches must be done to assess achievement in this issue. Objectives: The objective was to assess the extent of the pharmacists' involvement in counseling patients about health promotion and education topics, their preparation to counsel patients in health promotion and education topics, and their perceived success in changing the patients' health behavior. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out from March to April 2020 among community pharmacists in Khartoum locality. Results: A total of 150 community pharmacists who participated in the study showed that the most important purpose of consumers' visits to community pharmacy was related to seeking pharmaceutical advice about drug dosage, indication, availability, and side effects which were ranked first, second, third, and fourth, respectively. In the area of the pharmacists' perceptions on their preparedness to counsel patients on health-related behaviors, the perceived preparedness was highest for counseling on taking drugs as prescribed/directed (mean [standard deviation (SD)]; 4.5 [0.9]) and knowledge about drug contents and side effects (mean [SD]; 4.2 [1.1]). The community pharmacists perceived success in helping patients to change their health-related behaviors. Conclusion: The majority of participants have a positive attitude toward counseling the population on health behaviors and indicated their willingness to learn more about health promotion.

Objective: The main objective of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant activities of Chaetomium cupreum extracts. Materials and Methods: The total flavonoid content was determined by using aluminum chloride method, whereas antioxidant activity (AA) was evaluated by ferric reducing antioxidant power assay, potassium ferricyanide reducing power assay, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picyl-hydrazyl method, β-carotene bleaching assay, cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity assay, lipid peroxidation inhibition assay by thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive substance method, and inhibition of hydrogen peroxide-induced erythrocyte hemolysis assay. Results: The ferric reducing AA of C. cupreum extracts at the concentration of 50 μg/mL was higher in ethyl acetate extract (6.11%) followed by chloroform extract (3.96%), n-butanol extract (2.44%), and methanol extract (2.02%) mg RE/g dry weight. The potassium ferricyanide reducing activity of C. cupreum extracts at the concentration of 50 μg/mL was higher in ethyl acetate extract (15.90%) followed by chloroform (9.50%), n-butanol (4.93%), and methanol extract (2.92%). The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl activity of C. cupreum extracts at 50 μg/mL was higher in ethyl acetate extract (36.13%) followed by n-butanol extract (24.17%), chloroform extract (15.04%), and methanol extract (4.71%). The β-carotene bleaching activity of C. cupreum extracts at 50 μg/mL after 1 h of incubation was higher in ethyl acetate extract at 12.88%, followed by chloroform extract (9.82%), n-butanol extract (5.63%), and methanol extract (3.76%). The cupric ion reducing AA (CUPRAC) of C. cupreum extracts at 50 μg/mL was highest in the methanol extract (18.62%) followed by ethyl acetate extract (9.72%), n-butanol extract (7.18%), and chloroform extract (2.46%) mg ACE/g dry weight. With regard to TBA reactive substance activity of C. cupreum extracts at 50 μg/mL, n-butanol extract showed the highest lipid peroxidation inhibition (55.39%) followed by chloroform extract (50.51%), ethyl acetate extract (46.27%), and methanol extract (43.60%). With regard to the hydrogen peroxide-induced hemolysis inhibition activity of C. cupreum extracts at the concentration of 500 μg/mL, ethyl acetate extract showed the highest inhibition (30.53%) followed by chloroform extract (26.42%) and n-butanol extract (9.16%). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that C. cupreum extracts poses significant antioxidant potential.

This article intends to illustrate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) model if strict restriction is not enforced. Early COVID-19 cases from Spain have been considered an example. Thus, this article is for the estimation of specific parameter particularly to one of the most hit countries in April 2020. Our essence is the possibility to spot a natural model of COVID-19. The cases between March 1 and 15, 2020 have been taken to validate and estimate the parameter of the model. Parameters were estimated by a nlinfit function from MATLAB developed by Levenberg–Marquardt, and thus, so is the reproduction number (R₀). R₀was found greater than the unit, which is catastrophic. Cases of COVID-19 between March 1 and 15 have been chosen to validate the model because in this earlier stage of the pandemic, Spain restrictions against the spread were assumed not enough to impede the pace of natural spread to the pandemic. Had it not been the lockdown that followed after the mentioned dates, by April 15, 2020, Spain would have been in a more catastrophic situation by >3,400,000 COVID-19 infection cases far worse from 180,695 cases that happened.