The pharmacological effect of apricot seeds extracts and amygdalin in experimentally induced liver damage and hepatocellular carcinoma

Introduction: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) has been widely used for the treatment of several disorders such as liver diseases, but the hepatoprotective and anticancer activities of its seeds were not studied before. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacological effects of apricot seeds extracts and amygdalin on prevention of liver damage and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Amygdalin contents of apricot seeds in ethanolic extracts were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) then, the ethanolic apricot seeds extract and amygdalin were evaluated for its hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity and anticancer activity against N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Results: The amount of amygdalin was 5.72 g and 10.22 g/100 g extract for 70% and 99.9% ethanolic apricot seeds extracts, respectively. Pretreatment of the rats with 70% and 99.9% ethanolic apricot seeds extracts (100 mg/kg), amygdalin and silymarin (50 mg/kg) prevented elevation in liver function parameters such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) caused by carbon tetrachloride injection with significant increase in albumin, total proteins, and no effect on total direct bilirubin when compared to those in hepatotoxic group. Both extracts also showed anticancer activity against hepatocellular carcinoma via diminishing the elevated serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP, total, direct bilirubin, albumin, total proteins, alpha-fetoprotein, malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) and elevating the decreased hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) level when compared with NDEA- intoxicated group. Conclusion: Apricot seeds possess hepatoprotective and anticancer activities that justify its traditional use, and its potential for the treatment of liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma

Kinetic evaluation study on the bioactivity of silver doped hydroxyapatite-polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposites

International audienceThis work investigates the effect of adding silver nanoparticles (NPs) in ppm on the bioactivity of hydroxyapatite/polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposites (HAV). HAV prepared by an in situ biomimetic approach was doped with different concentrations of silver NPs (HAV-Ag), and the formed powder samples were characterized by different techniques such as Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-EOS), X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Bioactivity was evaluated in simulated body fluid through studying the kinetics of Ca and P uptake onto the different HAV-Ag nanocomposites. Uptake profiles of Ca and P were well described by a pseudo-second order kinetic model, and the obtained kinetic parameters confirmed that the highest uptake capacities were achieved by adding less than 0.001 ppm of silver NPs which is an amount not detectable by ICP. Furthermore, HAV-Ag nanocomposites were shown to be non-toxic as well as have a strong antibacterial effect. Silver NPs significantly enhanced the bioactivity of HAV nanocomposites and thus the developed nanocomposites promise to be excellent biomaterials for bone and reconstructive surgery applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 4609–4615, 2014