Studies on the Genotoxicity Behavior of Silver Nanoparticles in the Presence of Heavy Metal Cadmium Chloride in Mice

Incredible rapid growth in the nanoparticles applications and development increases the daily human exposure to them but humans are exposed to many other pollutants in addition to nanoparticles that forced us to evaluate the effect of heavy metal cadmium chloride (CdCl2) coinjection on silver nanoparticles induced genotoxic risk in this study. Mice were injected into the abdominal cavity with single dose of Ag nanoparticles (20, 41, and 82 mg/kg) or CdCl2 (1.5 mg/kg) either separately or together simultaneously and sacrificed 24 hours later. CdCl2 cotreatment enhanced the induced dose-dependent sperm abnormality by Ag nanoparticles different doses as shown by the statistical significant decreases in both sperm concentration and motility and increases in the frequency of abnormal sperms and also potentiated the Ag nanoparticles induced chromosomal and DNA damage indicated by the statistical significant elevations in the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs) and DNA damage levels. Moreover, statistical elevations in malondialdehyde level and reductions in catalase activity were observed after CdCl2 coinjection with Ag nanoparticles compared with Ag nanoparticles treated groups’ values. Ag nanoparticles induced sperm abnormality, clastogenicity, and genotoxicity were potentiated by heavy metal cadmium coinjection that threatens the human life and increases silver nanoparticles genotoxic risks

The Induced Oxidative DNA Damage and Presenillin-1 Mutations by the Pharmacologically Used NaCl Saline Solutions Increase the Incidence of Alzheimer Disease in Mice

The addition of sodium chloride (NaCl) to food by the manufacturer or consumer and its medical use particularly as a drug dilution solvent result in elevated concentrations of sodium and chloride ions in human blood and tissues, including the brain. However, all previous studies were concerned on its induced renal toxicity and no attention on its neurotoxicity, thus the current study investigated the saline induced genotoxicity, mutagenicity and oxidative stress in mice brain tissue. Mice were administered 0.9, 3, or 5% saline solution by intraperitoneal injection (10 mL/kg body weight) every two days for a total of 6 injections and euthanized 24 h after the last injection. Multiple injections of NaCl saline solutions induced DNA damage in neurons and elicited a high incidence of presenillin-1 mutations and ?-amyloid accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. These outcomes could be attributed to the observed elevations in serum cholesterol levels and increased generation of reactive oxygen species, indicated by the elevated malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels and reduced glutathione levels and catalase activity in NaCl-treated groups. We conclude that multiple injections of NaCl solution, even at the concentration of normal saline (0.9%), caused cholesterol accumulation and oxidative DNA damage that resulting in mutations in presenillin-1 and also increased ?-amyloid accumulation in the brain therapy increasing the incidence of Alzheimer disease in a dose-dependent manner in mice. Therefore, its recommended to reduce the uses of saline in drug dilutions

Evaluation of DNA Damage and Oxidative Stress Inductions by Excessive Medical Intake of Saline in Mice Bone Marrow Cells

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is widely used in various industrial, medical and food applications that increasing human exposure to it by excessive amount. However, almost all searches focused on its nephrotoxicity and adaptation of kidney cells to high salinity and only few scientific attentions were concerned on its genotoxicity. As the vast majority of drugs especially anticancer drugs diluted by saline injected by i.p. route. Hence, the oxidative DNA damage induction by excessive saline intake in mice bone marrow cells was investigated. Mice were injected i.p. with NaCl saline solution at the fixed dose level (10 ml/kg b.w. /2 days) of both the normal (0.9%) and high (3% & 5%) saline for six times and sacrificed 24 hour after the last injection. Micronucleus and comet assays and gel pulsed field electrophoresis were used to evaluate the possible genotoxicity of excessive saline on both chromosomal and DNA levels. Also, some biochemical markers of oxidative stress were assessed to shed more light on saline mechanism of action. DNA damage induction by excessive intake of both normal and high saline was evidenced by the statistical significant elevations in both micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes level and tail moment in a dose-dependent manner. This was further evidenced by appearance of fragmentized smeared DNA on agarose gel. Moreover, excessive NaCl caused significant elevation in malondialdehyde level and decreases in reduced glutathione level and superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in a dose dependent manner. In the conclusions we can say tha

Hepatitis C Virus in Thalassemia

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is relatively low in children. However, seroprevalence rates of 10–20% have been reported among children who received repeated transfusion. The development and the severity of liver fibrosis are strongly related to the extent of the liver iron overload and to the presence of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). In CHC, liver iron overload has been suggested as a negative prognostic factor exacerbating inflammation with subsequent progression of liver fibrosis and decrease in antiviral therapy effectiveness. CHC may be suspected based on medical history or accidentally discovered abnormal liver functions. Hepatitis C is diagnosed by positive serology for viral antibodies and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect virus RNA. The treatment of HCV infection in children was difficult due to the limitations of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin. In 2017, FDA approved the first direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for children including ledipasvir/sofosbuvir in the adult dose, 90/400 mg, to treat HCV in children and adolescents aged 12 years and older or weighing at least 35 kg. Similarly, giving half the adult fixed-dose of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, 45/200 mg, to children aged 6–11 years is still under clinical trials with promising results

Significance of ERCC1 & HR in Ovarian Cancer

Background & Objectives : Ovarian carcinoma usually has a relatively poor prognosis. A rational approach to identify patients, who are likely to benefit from therapy, is urgently needed. Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 enzyme (ERCC1) has been proposed as a molecular predictor of clinical resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. Steroid hormone receptors are important determinants of prognosis and predictive behavior in tumor tissues of several origins. The present study aimed to investigate the expression profile of ERCC1, ER & AR in patients with Ovarian carcinoma and their association with patient outcome. Methods : This is a prospective study which included 77 patients with ovarian carcinoma who were treated with platinum based chemotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Egypt during the period 7/2016- 7/2018. We evaluated the expression of ER, AR, and Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 enzyme (ERCC1) by immunohistochemistry. Expression profiles were compared to clinical, histologic and prognostic factors, the clinical outcome and survival. All patients received platinum containing chemotherapy regimen. Result : Of the 77 patients with ovarian cancer, 66.2 % (51/77) were ERCC1-positive, 49.4 % (38/77) were AR positive & 75.3 % (58/77) were ER positive. Platinum resistance was found in eight of the tumors with positive ERCC1 protein expression compared with two among the patients with negative tumor staining for ERCC1 (P = 0.643). There was significant association between ER & AR expression and pathological subtypes (p = 0.004, 0.007) respectively. There were no significant association between ER, AR & ERCC1 expression and PFS (P = 0.447,P = 0.162, P = 0.508 respectively) or OS (P = 0.781, P = 0.569, P = 0.381 respectively). Based on Cox proportional hazards regression analysis ERCC1, ER & AR were not independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with ovarian carcinoma. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that positive ERCC1 expression is not associated with clinical resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy, ERCC1, AR & ER expression are not independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with epithelial ovarian tumors and not associated with survival benefits

EFFECT OF ROSEMARY EXTRACTS ON DIABETIC AND LIVER MALFUNCTIONAL RATS

rosemary and its oil were used to investigate their effects on diabetic and liver malfunctional rats by administrating them with STZ or CCl4 for three weeks. The therapeutic effects of rosemary extracts (alcoholic and aqueous) and its oil against acute hyperglycemia induced by STZ in rats showed a decrease in the levels of fasting and postprandial blood glucose of rats treated with alcoholic extract of rosemary. In addition, results showed a restoration of these levels of the rats treated with aqueous extract or oil to their normal ranges after 3 weeks. There is a significant difference in lipid profile between rats treated with alcoholic or aqueous extracts and the negative control, where, the HDL in group administrated rosemary oil is significantly higher than both positive and negative control.                  The protective effects of rosemary extracts (alcoholic and aqueous) and its oil against liver toxicity induced by CCl4 in rats showed a significant difference between both (negative and positive control) and the activity of AST and ALT in the rats treated by alcoholic and aqueous extracts of rosemary. The protective effects of the plant extracts against liver toxicant occurred by decreasing the activities of these enzymes. Oil rosemary had restored effect more than both ethanolic and aqueous extracts, but not significant. This protective effect occurred by decreasing the activities of AST, ALT and Alp enzymes. No significant (p≤0.05) differences were noticed among the levels of serum total protein for all treatments compared to the negative and positive controls. The levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides recorded high values for the positive controls compared to the negative control. The protective effects of rosemary extracts against liver toxicant occurred by restoring the levels of these parameters to their normal values

Brain-derived Neurotropic factor (BDNF) mediates the protective effect of Cucurbita pepo L. on salivary glands of rats exposed to chronic stress evident by structural, biochemical and molecular study

Acute and chronic stresses affect the salivary glands, representing the source of plasma BDNF during stressful conditions. Pumpkin is a medicinal plant with an evident antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and potential antidepressant effects. Objective: To assess the structural and biochemical effects induced by exposure to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) on salivary glands of albino rats, and to evaluate the role of pumpkin extract (Pump) in ameliorating this effect. Methodology: Four groups (n=10 each) of male albino rats were included in this study: the control, CUMS, Fluoxetine-treated and Pump-treated. The corticosterone, the pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the oxidant/antioxidant profile were all assessed in the serum. The level of BDNF mRNA was measured in the salivary glands using qRT-PCR. Histopathological changes of the salivary glands were also assessed. Results: The depressive-like status was confirmed behaviorally and biochemically. Exposure to CUMS significantly up-regulated (p<0.001) the level of serum corticosterone. CUMS induced degenerative changes in the secretory and ductal elements of the salivary glands evident by increased apoptosis. Both Fluoxetine and Pumpkin significantly up-regulated (p<0.001) BDNF expression in the salivary glands and ameliorated the CUMS-induced histopathological and biochemical alterations in the salivary glands. Pumpkin significantly (p<0.001) increased the serum levels of antioxidant enzymes SOD, GPX and CAT, and reduced the serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6. Conclusion: Pumpkin ameliorates the depressive-like status induced in rats following exposure to chronic stress through exerting a promising anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-depressant-like effects. The pumpkin, subsequently, improved stress-induced structural changes in the salivary glands that might be due to up-regulation of BDNF expression in the glands

SCREENING OF SOME EGYPTIAN PLANT EXTRACTS FOR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY AGAINST SOME PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

Plants and plant by-products are now gaining attractiveness in treatment of bacterial infections and food preservation. The objective of this study was to assess antibacterial activity of some Egyptian plant and plant by-products against the locally pathogenic isolates from patients having infectious diseases in our country. Screening of antibacterial activity of ethanol, methanol and hexane extracts of some plants: grape leaves (Vitis vinifera), mulberry leaves (Morus alba), mallow leaves (Corchorus olitorius) and lemon leaves (Citrus limon) toward Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella sp., were investigated. Antibacterial activity was performed by the agar disc diffusion method. The ethanol and methanol extract of tested plant leaves showed promising antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative tested bacterial isolates due to its great ability to extract those polyphenolic and biological active compounds from natural sources which effectively act against broad spectrum bacteria. Ethanol followed by methanol were found to be the best solvents of choice to extract natural products to get maximum health and medicinal benefits. The results revealed that the extraction efficiency increase with polarity increasing of the solvents, hence the highest extraction done with ethanol and methanol and the lowest extraction with nonpolar solvent n-hexanedid not exhibit any activity against all the tested bacteria. Irradiation at 5 and 10 kGy did not significantly affect the antibacterial activity of all tested plant leaves. Results indicate the potential of these plants for further work on isolation and characterization of the active compounds responsible for antibacterial activity and its exploitation as therapeutic agent

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Among Female Students in Princess Nourah University in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In this study, our objective was to explore the knowledge of Irritable Bowel syndrome (IBS) among university female students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A cross-sectional study was conducted where 307 university students were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire to assess their awareness. The questionnaire was based on the socio-demographic and life-style characteristics of the students to evaluate the prevalence of IBS in the community.  About 60% of the population in the age group of 18-20 years are at a high risk of suffering from IBS. However, no significant difference is demonstrated between lifestyle habits such as consumption of fast and spicy foods and physical activities and onset of IBS among the students. Nevertheless, frequent episodes of exercise in a week may reduce the probability of IBS onset. Interestingly, almost half of the student population mentioned that they were taking antibiotics and their sleep was interrupted as they woke up in the middle of the night.  Also, majority of the population indicated that their stool texture was different, either hard or loose associated with a pain and distended abdomen followed with gastritis. Abdominal discomfort, feeling of bloating, altered texture of stool and urgency to defecate could be due to the development of psychological stress associated with academics, which possibly intensifies the disease symptoms. Initial findings from our study justifies the need of future longitudinal surveys to validate the existence of psychological stressors and other risk factors in the development of IBS subtypes

What is known about Ventricular Septal Defect in University Female Students of Saudi Arabia?

This study was performed to estimate the knowledge and awareness of the university students about the presence of ventricular septal defects (VSDs) in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was performed in Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) campus where a total of 350 female students in the age group of 17-25 years were surveyed using a clinically appropriate structurally designed questionnaire. Only a third of the population were familiar with the definition and anatomical location of VSDs. Although, majority of the population believed that VSDs are subject to cure, a negligible population of the students were aware that VSDs are associated with pulmonary hypertension in adults, although, about half of the population were associated with people who were suffering from VSDs. Even though promising, only half of the population were aware of rapid breathing in infants and association of endocarditis with VSDs. Regarding life-style factors, only 18% of the population knew that VSD patients are restrained from different physical activities. This population study is the first of its kind to determine the knowledge of the university students regarding the characteristics, symptoms, risk-factors, management and life-style factors associated with VSD. It identified the imperative need to organize campaigns to raise awareness about the disease process and management among female population who will be future mothers since Awareness about VSDs can help manage the physical, social, cognitive and emotional well-being of the patients with better outcomes to reduce the mortality rate.