CARDIOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF DATE PALM AGAINST DOXORUBICIN-INDUCED CARDIOTOXICITY

Objective: Doxorubicin (Dox), an anthracycline antibiotic, has been widely used to treat cancer, principally hematological malignancies, and solid tumors. The administration of Dox is a topic of concern in the medical community, as it frequently related to dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the protective potential of date palm fruit extract on Dox-induced cardiotoxicity.Methods: A total of 40 female albino rats were used in this study and classified into four groups including control, date palm fruit extract, Dox, and treated date palm fruit extract groups.Results: Dox produced a significant increase in creatine kinase-MB and lactate dehydrogenase activities. It also decreased the activities of cardiac glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase but increase levels of cardiac malondialdehyde and also of urinary 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine. Myocardial toxicity of Dox also appeared in the elevation of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, while level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased. Histopathological studies revealed alteration of cardiac tissue structure by Dox. Treatment with date palm fruit extract restored the aforementioned parameters.Conclusion: Date palm fruit exhibits a cardioprotective influence on the heart tissue against toxicity induced by Dox

Cannabis-induced impairment of learning and memory

Cannabis sativa preparations are the most commonly used illicit drugs worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Cannabis sativa extract in the working memory version of the Morris water maze (MWM; Morris, 1984) test and determine the effect of standard memory enhancing drugs. Cannabis sativa was given at doses of 5, 10 or 20 mg/kg (expressed as Δ^9-tetrahydrocannabinol) alone or co-administered with donepezil (1 mg/kg), piracetam (150 mg/ kg), vinpocetine (1.5 mg/kg) or ginkgo biloba (25 mg/kg) once daily subcutaneously (s.c.) for one month. Mice were examined three times weekly for their ability to locate a submerged platform. Mice were euthanized 30 days after starting cannabis injection when biochemical assays were carried out. Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide, glucose and brain monoamines were determined. Cannabis resulted in a significant increase in the time taken to locate the platform and enhanced the memory impairment produced by scopolamine. This effect of cannabis decreased by memory enhancing drugs with piracetam resulting in the most-shorter latency compared with the cannabis. Biochemically, cannabis altered the oxidative status of the brain with decreased MDA, increased GSH, but decreased nitric oxide and glucose. In cannabis-treated rats, the level of GSH in brain was increased after vinpocetine and donepezil and was markedly elevated after Ginkgo biloba. Piracetam restored the decrease in glucose and nitric oxide by cannabis. Cannabis caused dose-dependent increases of brain serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. After cannabis treatment, noradrenaline is restored to its normal value by donepezil, vinpocetine or Ginkgo biloba, but increased by piracetam. The level of dopamine was significantly reduced by piracetam, vinpocetine or Ginkgo biloba. These data indicate that cannabis administration is associated with impaired memory performance which is likely to involve decreased brain glucose availability as well as alterations in brain monoamine neurotransmitter levels. Piracetam is more effective in ameliorating the cognitive impairments than other nootropics by alleviating the alterations in glucose, nitric oxide and dopamine in brain