Selenium (Se) is an important microelement with numerous positive effects on human health and diseases. It is important to specify that the status and consumption of Se are for a specific community as the levels of Se are extremely unpredictable between different populations and regions. Our existing paper was based on the impacts of Se on human health and disease along with data on the Se levels in Middle Eastern countries. Overall, the findings of this comprehensive review show that the consumption and levels of Se are inadequate in Middle Eastern nations. Such findings, together with the growing awareness of the importance of Se to general health, require further work primarily on creating an acceptable range of blood Se concentration or other measures to determine optimal Se consumption and, consequently, to guarantee adequate Se supplementation in populations at high risk of low Se intake.

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Ingestion of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) results in botulism, a severe and frequent fatal disease known in the world. Current treatments rely on antitoxins, such as equine antitoxin and human botulism immunoglobulin. In some cases, side effects have been reported, including early anaphylactic shock and late serum sickness. Thus, diagnosis and treatment measure of BoNT are necessary and crucial. In the present study, a single-domain variable heavy-chain (VHH) antibody fragment was obtained from an immune dromedary phage display library against the putative binding domain of botulinum neurotoxin E (BoNT/E), a non-toxic 50-kDa fragment. The characteristics of nanobody VHH include excellent production, superior heat stability and specific binding capacity to soluble antigen without cross-reaction to other relevant or irrelevant antigens. A total of 150 ng/Kg of nanobody entirely neutralized 3LD50 of the BoNT/E in an in vivo challenge of the mice. This phenomenon indicates BoNT/E toxin neutralizing capacity of the produced nanobody. These results also suggest possession of unique properties by the nanobody applicable in diagnostics or therapeutic purposes.

Vibrio cholerae is considered one of the major health threats in developing countries. Lack of efficient vaccine, short incubating time of the disease, and bacterium ability to survive in aquatic environment have made cholera one of the most epidemic diseases yet known. The lipopolysaccharide is one of the bacterium key antigens used to classify V. cholerae into 206 serogroups. V. cholerae serogroup O1 is a causative agent of all cholera pandemics. Research has shown that anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies could provide protective immunity in cholera cases. In this research, we used N-terminal fragments of the camel's heavy-chain antibodies called VHH or nanobodies and produced a phagemid library. The obtained library was panned against V. cholerae O1 LPS, and four monoclonal nanobodies were isolated. Isolated nanobodies were tested in LPS ELISA and bacterial ELISA. The nanobody with the highest affinity toward the bacterium was used in an in vivo challenge and successfully neutralized the bacterium infection. The isolated nanobody showed high thermostability and proteolytic resistance in characterization tests.

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