The protective effect of medicinal herbs extracts including Cynara scolymus L., Cichorium intybus L. Taraxacum officinal L. and Berberis vulgaris L. in single and in combination form in CCl4 induced rat liver toxicity

Background: Several herbal remedies are used in traditional medicine for treatment of liver disorders, but their efficacy, safety, and dosage have not been investigated so far. Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the liver protective effects of medicinal herbs extracts such as Cynara scolymus leave (artichok), Cichorium intybus roots (chichory), Taraxacum officinale root (dandelium), Berberis vulgaris (barberry) root and stems extract in single and in combination form against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver toxicity. Methods: Total 70 wistar male rat, aged 5 months were divided in 7 groups of 10 rats each. One group kept as normal and out of six CCl4 intoxicated groups one served as control, one received mixture of four extract and four groups received artichok, chichory, dandelium, and barberry in the dosage of 150, 300, 300 and 250 mg/kg/day respectively. The plant extracts were injected intra peritoneal simultaneously with intoxication for three days. Three days after intoxication and extract treatments the serum liver enzymes levels such as ALT, AST and ALP as well as serum gluthathion and catalase were determined. Results: In group receiving mixture of 4 herbal extract the blood level of ALT, AST and ALP were reduced significantly as compared to control group. In all the groups receiving herbal extracts the serum glutathione and catalase levels did not differ as compared to control groups. Conclusion: In the present study administration of chichory, artichoke, dandelium and barberry in combination form prevent liver intoxication withought influence on serum antioxidant properties

Ventricular-arterial uncoupling in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction after myocardial infarction in dogs - invasive versus echocardiographic evaluation

Heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction and abnormal diastolic function is commonly observed after recovery from an acute myocardial infarction. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiopathology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in a model of healed myocardial infarction in dogs.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Activin signaling as an emerging target for therapeutic interventions

After the initial discovery of activins as important regulators of reproduction, novel and diverse roles have been unraveled for them. Activins are expressed in various tissues and have a broad range of activities including the regulation of gonadal function, hormonal homeostasis, growth and differentiation of musculoskeletal tissues, regulation of growth and metastasis of cancer cells, proliferation and differentiation of embryonic stem cells, and even higher brain functions. Activins signal through a combination of type I and II transmembrane serine/threonine kinase receptors. Activin receptors are shared by multiple transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) ligands such as myostatin, growth and differentiation factor-11 and nodal. Thus, although the activity of each ligand is distinct, they are also redundant, both physiologically and pathologically in vivo. Activin receptors activated by ligands phosphorylate the receptor-regulated Smads for TGF-β, Smad2 and 3. The Smad proteins then undergo multimerization with the co-mediator Smad4, and translocate into the nucleus to regulate the transcription of target genes in cooperation with nuclear cofactors. Signaling through receptors and Smads is controlled by multiple mechanisms including phosphorylation and other posttranslational modifications such as sumoylation, which affect potein localization, stability and transcriptional activity. Non-Smad signaling also plays an important role in activin signaling. Extracellularly, follistatin and related proteins bind to activins and related TGF-β ligands, and control the signaling and availability of ligands

Cardioprotective effects of Achillea wilhelmsii on the isolated rat heart in ischemia–reperfusion

Context: There are some reports about protective effects of Achillea on the heart. Objective: We investigated the effect of Achillea wilhelmsii extract on cardiac function during ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury in the isolated rat heart. Materials and methods: 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups; 1: Control group, 2: Control-ischemia (CI) 3: vitamin C (10 mg/kg), 4–6: Extract groups (E 100, E 200 and E 400 mg/kg). The animals received normal saline, vitamin C or A. wilhelmsii extract orally for 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment, the hearts were subjected to in vitro I/R Injury (20 min of global ischemia, followed by 40 min of reperfusion, Langendorff's mode). Heart rate (HR) and left ventricular pressure (LVP) were measured using a pressure transducer connected to a data acquisition system. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) activities in the effluent were measured to determine the myocardial injury degree. The malondialdehyde (MDA), total thiol groups (-SH), superoxide anion dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in myocardial tissue were detected to determine the oxidative stress degree. Results: Pretreatment with Achillea wilhlemsii significantly decreased the LDH, CK activities, and MDA level, while it increased the LVDP, ±dp/dtmax, rate-pressure product (RPP), SH groups, SOD and CAT activities, and also the coronary artery flow. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings indicated that Achillea wilhelmsii could provide protection for heart against the I/R injury which may be related to the improvement of myocardial oxidative stress states

Investigation of apoptosis in a canine model of chronic heart failure induced by tachycardia

Participation of apoptosis during the development of pacing-induced dilated cardiomyopathy is not fully understood. After 7 weeks rapid right ventricular pacing, gene expressions of Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 were measured by RTQ-PCR from interventricular septum biopsies that were taken weekly in 21 beagle dogs during the development of heart failure. We evaluated protein levels of these genes by Western blot and DNA fragmentation by TUNEL method from autopsy samples. Gene expression of Bax remained unchanged during the pacing period; Bcl-2 mRNA expression transiently decreased in moderate heart failure and their ratio (Bcl-2/Bax) was not significantly altered. Caspase-3 gene expression increased in heart failure. Compared to the control group, expression of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins and their ratio were increased in dogs only after 4 weeks of pacing. No band of activated Caspase was found in the normal nor in the paced myocardium. In the TUNEL assay there was no significant difference between numbers of apoptotic cells in any of the groups, although a few TUNEL-positive cells were detected in the paced groups. Our results are not in favour of apoptosis in the pathogenesis of heart failure in this model and may be it could be attributed to activation of other systems

The effects of Cynara scolymus L. leaf and Cichorium intybus L. root extracts on carbon tetrachloride induced liver toxicity in rats

Background: Cynara scolymus and Cichorium intybus are popular herbal remedy in folk medicine for liver disorders. Although many experimental studies carried out, scientifically reliable data needed to verify minimum effective dosage and efficacy of these medicinal plants. Objective: In present investigation, the effects of C. scolymus leaf and C. intybus root extracts at different doses were tested against CCl 4 induced rats liver toxicity. Methods: The C. scolymus leaf and C. intybus root extracts at the doses of 300, 600 and 900 and 150, 300 and 450 mg/kg/day were prepared respectively. Liver intoxication was induced in 7 groups of rats by intraperitoneal injection of 1 ml/kg of 1:1 CCl 4 in olive oil for two successive days. One group kept as control and six different doses of plant extracts were administered to six groups simultaneously with CCl 4 administration. The serum levels of ALT, AST and ALP, liver tissue glutathione and catalase activity as well as liver tissue microvesicular steatosis (MVS) and pericentral coagulation necrosis (PCN) were determined after three days. Results: The serum ALT, AST and ALP and liver tissue MVS were significantly reduced in both the C. scolymus and C. intybus groups at the doses of 900 and 450 mg/kg/day respectively while liver tissue PCN significantly reduced in C. scolymus 900 mg/kg/day group only as compared to control group. Conclusion: In present study administration of the C. scolymus leaf (900 mg/kg/day) and C. intybus root (450 mg/kg/day) extracts ameliorated CCl 4 induced rat serum liver enzyme changes and liver tissue histopathological damage

Activin-A signalling in experimental dilated cardiomyopathy

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Modulation of angiogenic factors after stem cell therapy in a model of chronic myocardial infarction

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