We concluded that nanosome vitamin C is a new, safe and effective, easy and painless method in the treatment of melasma.

The discovery of novel bacterial cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) enzyme could provide advantages in terms of its production and relative activity. In this study, eight bacterial strains isolated from soils of a biodiversity-rich vegetation in Egypt based on their hydrolyzing activity of starch, were screened for CGTase activity, where the most active strain was identified as Bacillus lehensis. Optimization process revealed that the using of rice starch (25%) and a mixture of peptone/yeast extract (1%) at pH 10.5 and 37 °C for 24 h improved the bacterial growth and enzyme activity. The bacterial CGTase was successively purified by acetone precipitation, gel filtration chromatography in a Sephadex G-100 column and ion exchange chromatography in a DEAE-cellulose column. The specific activity of the CGTase was increased approximately 274-fold, from 0.21 U/mg protein in crude broth to 57.7 U/mg protein after applying the DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. SDS-PAGE showed that the purified CGTase was homogeneous with a molecular weight of 74.1 kDa. Characterization of the enzyme exhibited optimum pH and temperature of 7 and 60 °C, respectively. CGTase relative activity was strongly inhibited by Mg(2+), Zn(2+), Al(3+) and K(+), while it was slightly enhanced by 5 and 9% with Cu(2+) and Fe(2+) metal ions, respectively.

Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected over 100 million cases worldwide. Children accounted for 1–5% of all cases with less reported symptoms and better prognosis compared to adults. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of pediatric COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia in addition to identifying risk factors associated with disease severity. Methods This was a multicenter, cross-sectional retrospective study that included confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection among pediatric patients (< 14 years) from the time of initial identification in March 2020 to the end of July 2020 in 6 centers across the country. Patients were classified based on clinical severity. Study outcomes included time to recovery, need for invasive ventilation, and mortality. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore factors associated with increased disease severity. Results The study enrolled 567 children with (51.5%) were males, and (44.6%) aged from 6 to 14 years old. Asymptomatic patients accounted for 38.98% of the cases: while 319 patients (56%) had mild disease, and 27 patients (4.76%) had moderate-to-severe disease. Only 10 patients (1.76%) required Pediatric Intensive Care Unit admission. The calculated case-fatality was 0.7%. After performing multivariate regression analysis, chronic lung conditions [adjusted OR = 12.73, 95% CI (2.05–79.12)] and decreased red blood cells (RBCs) count [adjusted OR = 2.43, 95% CI (1.09–5.41] were found to be significant predictors for moderate-to-severe disease (p = 0.006 and 0.030, respectively). Conclusion Most COVID-19 cases in the current study had a benign course of illness and carried an excellent prognosis. Children with chronic lung conditions or low RBCs count are at higher risk to develop moderate-to-severe COVID-19 disease.

Background and Objective: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is milder with favorable outcomes in children than in adults. However, detailed data regarding COVID-19 in children from Saudi Arabia are scarce. This study aimed to describe COVID-19 among children in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This retrospective observational study included children <14 years old hospitalized with COVID-19 between May 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020. Clinical data, COVID-19 disease severity, and outcomes were collected. The total number of presenting symptoms and signs were computed by counting those recorded upon presentation. The Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test was used to compare the number of symptoms and signs across all levels of COVID-19 severity. Result: Overall, 106 patients met the inclusion criteria; their ages ranged from 2 weeks to 13 years. Most patients were ≤12 months of age (43.4%). Bronchial asthma was the most common comorbidity (9.4%). Among 99 symptomatic patients, fever was the most common symptom (84.8%); seven patients (7%) were diagnosed with febrile seizure. Most COVID-19 cases were mild (84%); one patient (0.94%) was in critical condition and one patient (0.94%) met the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children criteria. The mean number of symptoms and signs in children with severe or critical COVID-19 was significantly higher than that in children with mild cases or non-severe pneumonia (P < .001). One patient died owing to COVID-19 (0.94%). Conclusions: COVID-19 mortality in children is rare; however, while most children exhibit mild disease with favorable outcomes, children with chronic lung disease may be at higher risk for severe disease.

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