Protective effects of ascorbic acid and zinc against cadmium-induced histopathological, histochemical and cytogenetic changes in rats

The present study aimed to investigate the protective role of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and zinc (Zn) against cadmium (Cd) induced histopathological changes in tissues of liver, kidney, lung and testis of rats as well as chromosomal aberrations. For this purpose, 60 male albino rats were divided into six groups; each group contained 10 animals. The first group served as control and was given only distilled water. The second and third groups received distilled water supplemented with 2g ascorbic acid/l and 500mg Zn/l, respectively. The fourth group received daily oral dose containing 3 mg Cd/kg b.w (1/30 LD50). The fifth group received Cd+ascorbic acid (3 mg Cd/kg b.w. + 2g ascorbic acid/l), while the sixth group received Cd+Zn (3 mg Cd/kg b.w. + 500mg Zn /l). The treatment in all groups was lasted for 90 consecutive days. Rats exposed to cadmium showed severe histopathological changes in liver, kidney, lung and testicular tissues as well as chromosomal aberrations such as: break, ring, centromeric separation and polyploidy. Co-treatment with zinc partially improved the histopathological changes and chromosomal aberrations while co-treatment with vitamin C exhibited more protective role and markedly reduced tissues damage induced by Cd. Efeitos protetores de ácido ascórbico e zinco contra alterações histopatológicas,histoquímicas e citogenéticas induzidas por cádmio em ratosO presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar o papel protetor do ácido ascórbico (vitaminaC) e zinco (Zn) contra as alterações histopatológicas induzidas por cádmio (Cd) em tecidos dofígado, pulmão, rim e testículo de ratos, bem como aberrações cromossômicas de medula óssea.Para este fim, 60 ratos albinos machos foram divididos em seis grupos, cada grupo continha 10animais. O primeiro grupo serviu como controle e recebeu apenas água destilada. Os segundo eterceiro grupos receberam 200 mg Vit. C/kg de peso corporal e 50 mg de Zn/kg de peso corporal,respectivamente. O quarto grupo recebeu uma dose oral diária que contém 3 mg de Cd/kg depeso corporal (1/30 LD50). O quinto grupo recebeu Cd + Vit. C (3 mg Cd/kg pc + 200 mg Vit. C/kgde peso corporal), enquanto que o sexto grupo recebeu Cd + Zn (3 mg Cd/kg pc + 50 mg de Zn/kg de peso corporal). O tratamento em todos os grupos durou 90 dias consecutivos. Os resultadosindicaram que os ratos expostos ao cádmio mostraram graves alterações histopatológicas emtecidos do fígado, pulmão, rim e dos testículos, bem como aumento significativo na frequênciade aberrações cromossômicas, tais como: quebra, anel, separação centromérica e poliploidia.Cotratamento com zinco melhorou parcialmente as alterações histopatológicas e diminuiu afrequência de aberrações cromossômicas, enquanto o cotratamento com vitamina C apresentoupapel mais protetor e marcadamente reduzido número de tecidos com danos induzidos por Cd

Distributed intelligent systems for a swarm of robots

Area exploration is a task where a robot tries to gain information about an unknown environment. Exploring an unknown area is a challenging task for a group of robots as no pre-made map exists, leading to setting a suitable swarm formation compatible with the area to be explored. Having a suitable swarm formation allows the swarm to preserve the overall exploration time, by distributing sub-tasks for each robot, and collecting relevant data. Current swarm formations such as biologically inspired formations or Probabilistic RoadMap (PRM) tend to have a fixed shape, where robots are positioned in a fixed location point within the swarm, preventing the swarm from adjusting its formation to adapt to the unknown area, thus, are not suitable to explore unknown areas. One needs a more flexible formation, where each robot can change its position within the swarm. Consequently, this research aims to build a distributed robotic swarm formation using fractals. Fractals have the properties of self-similarity, allowing for an equal distribution of the robots, and recursiveness, allowing for a gradual expansion of a swarm formation. Utilising the properties of fractals allow for a robotic swarm to develop a fractal as a swarm formation. Additionally, changing the parameters of each fractal formation, such as a number of branches, will provide the swarm with the flexibility to adjust the fractal formation and to continue exploring an unknown area. In order to determine both advantages and disadvantages of using fractals as a swarm formation, the first step is to classify each selected fractal into either a line or curve-based formation class to distinguish the similarities and differences in each fractal’s behaviour. The second step is to implement the growth rule of each fractal formation using robots to explore an unknown area. The last step is to study the effect of changing the parameters of the of implemented fractal formations toward exploring unknown areas. The research’s outcome shows that using fractals as a swarm formation achieved near the amount of area covered by a traditional exploration method, such as PRM, with 88% less use of robots. Furthermore, fractal formations balances between the number of robots used, and the amount of area covered as each fractal uses only the robots needed to develop specific iterations. The effect of changing the parameters of a fractal formation increases the chance of covering more areas

Study the effects of radon inhalation on biomechanical properties of blood in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of inhalation radon gas (Rn) on the biomechanical properties of red blood cell of rats. Methods: 20 young healthy adult male albino rats were divided into equally 4 groups. The first group (0) served as control group, while the other three groups (I, II and III) were exposed to Rn gas inside a chamber for 3, 5 and 7 weeks. The biomechanical properties of red blood cell of rats was performed by determine the rheological properties of blood and the osmotic fragility of red blood cells (RBCs). Results: The Rn doses received by every group of rats were found to 34.84, 58.07 and 81.30 mSv for 3, 5 and 7 weeks respectively (based on 12 exposure hours per week). The obtained results indicate that the viscosity, consistency index, yield stress and aggregation index increase with Rn doses. The osmotic fragility curves of irradiated groups shift toward lower values of NaCl concentration. The dispersion of hemolysis (S) increased, at the same time an average osmotic fragility (H50%) decreased. Conclusion: The results indicates that the exposure to radon alters the mechanical properties of red blood cells membrane (permeability and elasticity) reflecting a change in its physiological properties. This mean that low levels of Rn gas are harmful to biological systems and the degree of damage was dose-dependent

Comparative study between the top six heavy metals involved in the EU RASFF notifications over the last 23 years

From the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database, a total of 4728 notifications regarding the six most frequently notified heavy metals (i.e., arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium, and nickel) were tracked from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2022, and analyzed based on year, notification classification, notifying countries, countries of origin, product types, product categories, risk decision, and action taken. Human risk assessment owing to consumption of mercury- and cadmium-contaminated seafood was estimated as well. Results revealed that the highest numbers of notifications were on mercury (36.6%), cadmium (25.1%), and lead (14.1%). Interestingly, the number of total notifications was at its peak between 2011 and 2014; from 2015 onward, it started to decrease considerably. Alert, border rejection, and information notifications represented 29.6%, 21.9%, and 48.5% of the total notifications, respectively. Chromium and nickel resulted in 33.8% and 23.3% of border rejection notifications, respectively. About 52.0% of the alert notifications were on mercury. Serious notifications represented 34.9% of the total notifications. Mercury and cadmium notifications accounted for 54.9% and 25.8% of serious notifications, respectively. Italy was the most notifying country, recording the highest number of notifications on cadmium (29.0%), mercury (52.6%), chromium (81.0%), and nickel (78.7%). China was the most notified origin country with regards to arsenic (18.7%), cadmium (12.8%), lead (27.6%), chromium (71.2%), and nickel (66.9%) notifications. Notifications on food, food contact materials (FCM), and feed represented 71.9%, 23.4%, and 4.7%, respectively, of the total notifications. About 91.5% of mercury notifications were on fish and fish products; 24.3% of arsenic notifications related to fruits and vegetables; and 20.1% of cadmium notifications corresponded to cephalopods and products thereof. Notified products were largely withdrawn from the markets according to arsenic (20.3%), lead (17.9%), and mercury (18.0%) notifications and re-dispatched because of cadmium (20.5%), chromium (42.1%), and nickel (49.5%) notifications. The target hazard quotient (THQ) values for mercury in swordfish, sharks, and tuna and cadmium in squid were all also below the threshold value of 1, implying that there is no significant risk for consumers. Overall, media coverage of RASFF alerts and actions may raise awareness of heavy metal contamination among the general public and industry professionals. The primary dietary advice of our study is to stay away from species with high mercury contents. Also, identifying the most dangerous heavy metals (HMs) and the most polluting products can help researchers prioritize their efforts in finding sustainable solutions for them

Flaxseed oil as a protective agent against bisphenol-A deleterious effects in male mice

Abstract Background Flaxseed oil is one of the most vital oils that contain a high content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) recognized as a high-quality nutrition for health benefits. In addition, a source of vitamin E and β-carotene has a positive health effect in a variety of pathologies. The goal of the present work was to investigate the protecting character of flaxseed oil against bisphenol-A deleterious effects in male mice. Animals were gavaged with BPA for 28 successive days. They were orally administered flaxseed oil either before, with, or after treatment of BPA. DNA damage was evaluated in the liver, testes, and bone marrow cells using comet and micronucleus assays. Liver and testes histopathological examination as well as sperm physical characters were also investigated. Results The results showed that BPA induced a significant raise in DNA damage that obviously appear in the increase of tail length, tail DNA percentage, and tail moment in the liver and testes. In addition, there was an increase in the frequency of micronuclei in bone marrow cells. Liver and testes histopathological alterations and sperm count and motility significant comedown were seen in male mice exposed to BPA as well. Conversely, flaxseed oil oral administration through the three regimens of treatment effectively attenuated the abovementioned effects. Moreover, administration of flaxseed oil before BPA treatment was the best protocol in the attenuation of BPA toxic effects. Conclusions Flaxseed oil successfully attenuated the BPA genotoxicity, sperm defects, and histological alterations in male mice that may be referred to its antioxidant property

Study the effects of radon inhalation on biomechanical properties of blood in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of inhalation radon gas (Rn) on the biomechanical properties of red blood cell of rats. Methods: 20 young healthy adult male albino rats were divided into equally 4 groups. The first group (0) served as control group, while the other three groups (I, II and III) were exposed to Rn gas inside a chamber for 3, 5 and 7 weeks. The biomechanical properties of red blood cell of rats was performed by determine the rheological properties of blood and the osmotic fragility of red blood cells (RBCs). Results: The Rn doses received by every group of rats were found to 34.84, 58.07 and 81.30 mSv for 3, 5 and 7 weeks respectively (based on 12 exposure hours per week). The obtained results indicate that the viscosity, consistency index, yield stress and aggregation index increase with Rn doses. The osmotic fragility curves of irradiated groups shift toward lower values of NaCl concentration. The dispersion of hemolysis (S) increased, at the same time an average osmotic fragility (H50%) decreased. Conclusion: The results indicates that the exposure to radon alters the mechanical properties of red blood cells membrane (permeability and elasticity) reflecting a change in its physiological properties. This mean that low levels of Rn gas are harmful to biological systems and the degree of damage was dose-dependent.</p

Protective effects of ascorbic acid and zinc against cadmium-induced histopathological, histochemical and cytogenetic changes in rats

The present study aimed to investigate the protective role of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and zinc (Zn) against cadmium (Cd) induced histopathological changes in tissues of liver, kidney, lung and testis of rats as well as chromosomal aberrations. For this purpose, 60 male albino rats were divided into six groups; each group contained 10 animals. The first group served as control and was given only distilled water. The second and third groups received distilled water supplemented with 2g ascorbic acid/l and 500mg Zn/l, respectively. The fourth group received daily oral dose containing 3 mg Cd/kg b.w (1/30 LD50). The fifth group received Cd+ascorbic acid (3 mg Cd/kg b.w. + 2g ascorbic acid/l), while the sixth group received Cd+Zn (3 mg Cd/kg b.w. + 500mg Zn /l). The treatment in all groups was lasted for 90 consecutive days. Rats exposed to cadmium showed severe histopathological changes in liver, kidney, lung and testicular tissues as well as chromosomal aberrations such as: break, ring, centromeric separation and polyploidy. Co-treatment with zinc partially improved the histopathological changes and chromosomal aberrations while co-treatment with vitamin C exhibited more protective role and markedly reduced tissues damage induced by Cd. Efeitos protetores de ácido ascórbico e zinco contra alterações histopatológicas,histoquímicas e citogenéticas induzidas por cádmio em ratosO presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar o papel protetor do ácido ascórbico (vitaminaC) e zinco (Zn) contra as alterações histopatológicas induzidas por cádmio (Cd) em tecidos dofígado, pulmão, rim e testículo de ratos, bem como aberrações cromossômicas de medula óssea.Para este fim, 60 ratos albinos machos foram divididos em seis grupos, cada grupo continha 10animais. O primeiro grupo serviu como controle e recebeu apenas água destilada. Os segundo eterceiro grupos receberam 200 mg Vit. C/kg de peso corporal e 50 mg de Zn/kg de peso corporal,respectivamente. O quarto grupo recebeu uma dose oral diária que contém 3 mg de Cd/kg depeso corporal (1/30 LD50). O quinto grupo recebeu Cd + Vit. C (3 mg Cd/kg pc + 200 mg Vit. C/kgde peso corporal), enquanto que o sexto grupo recebeu Cd + Zn (3 mg Cd/kg pc + 50 mg de Zn/kg de peso corporal). O tratamento em todos os grupos durou 90 dias consecutivos. Os resultadosindicaram que os ratos expostos ao cádmio mostraram graves alterações histopatológicas emtecidos do fígado, pulmão, rim e dos testículos, bem como aumento significativo na frequênciade aberrações cromossômicas, tais como: quebra, anel, separação centromérica e poliploidia.Cotratamento com zinco melhorou parcialmente as alterações histopatológicas e diminuiu afrequência de aberrações cromossômicas, enquanto o cotratamento com vitamina C apresentoupapel mais protetor e marcadamente reduzido número de tecidos com danos induzidos por Cd

Improved effect of pumpkin seed oil against the bisphenol-A adverse effects in male mice

The present study was conducted to evaluate the ameliorative role of pumpkin seed oil (PSO) against potential adverse effects of bisphenol-A (BPA) in male mice. BPA was administered to the mice orally at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight once a day for 28 successive days. While, PSO was administered to the mice orally at 1 mL/kg b w either before, with or after treatment of BPA, once a day for 28 successive days. The studied parameters were DNA damage evaluation using comet assay in liver and testes cells and micronucleus test in bone marrow; and histopathological examination of liver and testes tissues. Results revealed that BPA induced DNA damage in tested cells and marked histopathological alterations in liver and testes. In contrast, PSO treatments alleviated DNA damage and improved the histopathological alterations in liver and testes tissues. Furthermore, administration of mice with the PSO before BPA treatment was the best regimen in the alleviation of the adverse effects of BPA, followed by administration of PSO after then with treatment of BPA. It can be concluded that PSO may has a protective role against BPA genotoxicity and histopathological alterations in male mice. Keywords: Pumpkin seed oil, Bisphenol-A, Genotoxicity, Micronucleus test, Comet assay, Histopatholog