Protective effect of kombucha on rats fed a hypercholesterolemic diet is mediated by its antioxidant activity

CONTEXT: Kombucha (KT) is claimed to have various beneficial effects on human health, but there is very little scientific evidence available in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the effects of Camellia sinensis (GT) Linn. (Theaceae) and KT, two natural drinks, on cholesterol and antioxidant status using a hypercholesterolemia rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study compared the free-radical scavenging abilities and polyphenol levels of GT and KT. Wistar rats fed cholesterol-rich diets were given KT or GT (5 mL/kg body weight per day, po) for 16 weeks, then fasted overnight and sacrificed. The plasma lipid levels, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) serum levels, antioxidant activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and creatinine and urea rats were examined. RESULTS: KT had a phenolic compound of 955 ± 0.75 mg GAE/g) followed, by GT (788.92 ± 0.02 mg GAE/g). The free radical scavenging activity of KT was higher than GT. Compared with GT, KT induced lowered serum levels of TC, TG, VLDL-C, and LDL-C by 26, 27, 28, and 36%, respectively, and increased the serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). KT induced a 55% decrease of TBARS level in liver and 44% in kidney, compared with those of rats fed a cholesterol-rich diet alone. Moreover, CAT and SOD activities were reduced by 29 and 33%, respectively, in liver and 31 and 35%, respectively, in kidney, after oral administration of KT, compared with those of HCD-fed rats. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that KT administration induced attractive curative effects on hypercholesterolemic, particularly in terms of liver-kidney functions in rats. Its effect on humans needs to be studied further.status: publishe

The performance of a scaffold bioglass-chitosan in the treatment of bone defect

International audienceThe present research work is an in vivo study that aimed to evaluate the potential role of bioglass-chitosan (BG-CS) and bioglass-chitosan-20%ciprofloxacin (BG-CS-20Cip) in antioxidant profile and osteointegration. These scaffolds were implanted in the defect bone of femoral condyles in ovariectomized rats. The treatment with BG-CS-20Cip has shown a significantly higher stress proteins concentration in comparison with that implanted with BG-CS group. The thiol and vitamin C in BG-CS-20Cip group were significantly enhanced when compared with those in BG-CS group. The histological and physicochemical analyses highlight the BG-CS implications in the bone construction. This property was found to decrease with the presence of ciprofloxacin that caused the delay of this phenomenon. ICP-OES has revealed that the introduction of this antibiotic to the composite led to decrease bone mineralization by evaluating Ca/P ratio. The SEM results have confirmed a progressive degradation of BG-CS and BG-CS-20Cip. However, such bioresorbability and bioactivity of BG-CS was proven to be faster than those of BG-CS-20Cip. Therefore, the incorporation of ciprofloxacin in BG-CS was characterized by a delaying effect of composite dissolution and the formation of apatitic phase. The development of BG-CS as a therapeutic biomaterial protector against oxidative stress is likely to make an effective choice for the application in tissue engineering

Protective effect of Cinnamomum zeylanicum L. bark essential oil, on hepatic and renal toxicity induced by CCl4 in rats

The inner bark of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum L.) is widely used as a spice. Cinnamomum plants are also a valuable sources of essential oil used for medicinal purposes. The present study aimed to investigate: the composition, the in vitro antioxidant activity of C. zeylanicum bark essential oil (CzEO) and its protective effects in vivo on CCl4-induced hepatic and renal toxicity in rats. Groups of animals were pretreated for seven days with different concentrations of CzEO or controls and on day 7 a single dose of CCl4 was used to induce oxidative stress in rats. Twenty-four hours after CCl4 administration, the animals were sampled. In the controls, CCl4 induced an increase of serum biochemical parameters and triggered oxidative stress in both liver and kidneys. CzEO (100 mg/kg) caused significant reductions in CCl4-elevated levels of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, ÎłGT,total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL urea and creatinine and increased the level of HDL compared to the CCl4 group. Moreover, pre-treatment with the CzEO at doses of 70 and 100 mg/kg BW to the rats treated with CCl4 produced significant reductions in TBARS and PCO levels in liver and kidney tissues as compared to CCl4 group. The formation of pathological hepatic and kidney lesions induced by the administration of CCl4 was strongly prevented by CzEO at a dose of 100 mg/kg BW. Overall, this study suggests that administration of CzEO displayed high potential to quench free radicals and alleviate CCl4-induced hepatorenal toxicity in rats.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author