Effect of silymarin in the prevention of Cisplatin nephrotoxicity, a clinical trial study.

BACKGROUND Reno-protective effect of Silymarin was studied in some studies mainly on rats. In some of these studies, Silymarin was shown to have positive effects on preventing or decreasing severity of Cisplatin nephrotoxicity. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of Silymarin on Cisplatin nephrotoxicity in adult patients with malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this clinical trial study, 60 patients with malignancy, candidate of Cisplatin treatment were randomly enrolled in two equal groups. In patients of case group, Silymarin tablet 140 mg/bid was administrated seven days before Cisplatin administration together with Cisplatin, and in control group, Cisplatin was prescribed. Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and serum Creatinine (Cr) were checked at the same day and 3 and 7 days after administration of Cisplatin. RESULTS Mean age of the patients in case and control groups were 51.1±14.3 y and 51.1±13.7 y respectively (p=0.99). There was no significant difference based on BUN and serum Cr in the beginning of study and three days after administration of Cisplatin in two groups of patients; however, after two weeks, BUN and serum Cr were significantly lower in the case group compared to the control group. Also, in the case group, BUN and serum Cr decreased and in the control group, they increased after two weeks after Cisplatin administration. CONCLUSION This study showed that Silymarin can decrease Cisplatin nephrotoxicity, so because of safety profile and minor adverse effect of Silymarin, we can use it as prophylaxis against Cisplatin nephrotoxicity in various Cisplatin-contained chemotherapy regimens

Genomic Designing for Climate-Smart Tomato

Tomato is the first vegetable consumed in the world. It is grown in very different conditions and areas, mainly in field for processing tomatoes while fresh-market tomatoes are often produced in greenhouses. Tomato faces many environmental stresses, both biotic and abiotic. Today many new genomic resources are available allowing an acceleration of the genetic progress. In this chapter, we will first present the main challenges to breed climate-smart tomatoes. The breeding objectives relative to productivity, fruit quality, and adaptation to environmental stresses will be presented with a special focus on how climate change is impacting these objectives. In the second part, the genetic and genomic resources available will be presented. Then, traditional and molecular breeding techniques will be discussed. A special focus will then be presented on ecophysiological modeling, which could constitute an important strategy to define new ideotypes adapted to breeding objectives. Finally, we will illustrate how new biotechnological tools are implemented and could be used to breed climate-smart tomatoes