Egyptian Propolis Alleviates Gentamicin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of oral administration of ethanol extract of propolis against gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Oral administration of ethanol extract of propolis (EEP) at doses 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg.b.wt. orally/daily for 7 days) against gentamicin- (GM) at dose 100 mg/kg b.wt., i.p./daily for 7days) induced nephrotoxicity in six equal groups of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Blood was collected 24 h after the last injection for determination of serum creatinine, urea, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity. Rats were euthanized and kidney tissue specimens were collected for determination of oxidative/antioxidative biomarkers, gene expression for antioxidative enzymes and DNA fragmentation. Significant increase in serum creatinine, urea and AST activity at the same time, and a depletion of aspartate aminotransferase activity was recorded in renal homogenate of GM only–treated rats compared to control group. Lipid peroxidation in renal tissue showed significant elevation in GM-only treated group, however, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase and its gene expression were markedly decreased. DNA fragmentation was significantly increased in renal tissue of GM- only treated rats. Oral administration of EEP exhibited curative effects by reversing GM-induced alterations in serum biochemical and renal tissue oxidative stress biomarkers. In conclusion, propolis is effective in preventing or ameliorating oxidative stress of gentamicin

Zinc loaded whey protein nanoparticles mitigate the oxidative stress and modulate antioxidative gene expression in testicular tissues in rats

This study aimed to utilize whey protein nanoparticles (WPNPs) and zinc (Zn) loaded WPNPs to protect against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced testicular damage in rats. Zn was loaded on WPNPs at three levels and Zn release was determined at different time intervals. Seventy male Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups and treated orally for 4 weeks as follows: the control group, CCl4-treated group (0.5 ml/100 g b.w) twice a week, CCl4 plus WPNPs-treated group (300 mg/kg b.w), CCl4 plus Zn citrate-treated group (50 mg/kg b.w), and the groups treated with CCl4 plus the three Zn-WPNPs formulations. Blood and testicular tissue samples were collected for different assays. Animals treated with CCl4 showed a significant decrease in body weight and relative weight of the testis, testosterone level, antioxidant enzymes activity and mRNA expression of Nrf2, HO-1 and NQO1 and increased Malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and mRNA expression of Keep1 and induced histological changes in the testis. WPNPs alone, Zn alone or Zn loaded WPNPs at the three levels protect against CCl4-induced testicular damage. These effects were more pronounced in the group received the fabrication with low Zn level. This study concluded that Zn-WPNPs could reduce the oxidative stress in the testicular tissue via different mechanisms mainly via the regulation of Nrf2-Keap1 antioxidative signaling pathway

Assessment of the Immune Status and DNA Damage in Goats with Experimentally-Induced Hypocuprosis

Abstract This study was carried out on 16 adult castrated male Baladi goats with age ranged from 1-1.5 years old and weight range of 19±0.82 kg to investigate the biological role of copper deficiency on the modification of immune status and induction of DNA damage. They were randomized into two groups. The first group (six goats) were apparently healthy and kept as control group, whereas the second group (ten goats) were subjected to experimental induction of secondary copper deficiency by dietary addition of Molybdenum ( MO; 10-40 mg/kg DM) and Sulpher (S; 1.5-3 g / Kg dry matter) daily for 24 weeks. Blood samples were collected without anti-coagulant every six weeks for determination of serum copper and ceruloplasmin activity. Heparinized blood samples were used for assessment of immune status, DNA damage and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in serum copper, ceruloplasmin and erythrocyte SOD activity starting from 6 weeks to 24 weeks after addition of Mo and S. Goats with experimentally-induced copper deficiency have low serum neutralization antibody index (0.5±0.1) against inactivated rift valley fever vaccine which did not reach the protective antibody level (1.7) compared to that of the apparently healthy control group (1.81 ±0.05) which exceeded the protective value. Lymphocyte blastogenesis response of copper deficient goats was decreased although non significantly in comparison with the apparently healthy control group. The results also showed that copper deficiency caused marked increase in the % of DNA fragmentation of blood cells in goats with experimentally-induced copper deficiency compared to the apparently healthy control group. Goats with experimentally-induced copper deficiency have DNA fragmentation as detected by gel electrophoresis and the DNA ladder represented a series of fragments that is multiples of 180-200 bp. Our findings suggest a significant role of copper deficiency in modulation of immune status and induction of DNA damage and cell apoptosis in goats. Hence, copper level should be strictly considered during formulation of rations in farm animal production practice

Single nucleotide polymorphism in Egyptian cattle insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 gene

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) gene is a structural gene responsible for the multiple influences of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) system. It is considered as a candidate gene for growth and production traits. In the present study, we aimed to determine the genetic polymorphism of Egyptian cattle IGFBP-3 gene. The amplified fragment of cattle IGFBP-3 gene at 651-bp was digested with three different endonucleases; HaeIII, MspI and TaqI. The digestion of the PCR products with MspI and TaqI endonucleases revealed similar restriction patterns in all tested animals. Digestion of the PCR product with HaeIII restriction enzyme revealed three different genotypes in Egyptian cattle due to the presence of two alleles; allele A with 7 digested fragments resulting from the presence of 6 restriction sites and allele C with 8 digested fragments resulting from the presence of 7 restriction sites; six sites as allele A in the addition of another restriction site at position 298^299 as a result of SNP (A → C) in C allele at position 299. The restriction patterns of IGFBP-3/HaeIII showed that forty-six examined animals are genotyped as AA, CC and AC with frequencies of 21.74%, 21.74% and 56.52%, respectively. It is concluded that the IGFBP-3/HaeIII polymorphism may be utilized as a good marker for genetic differentiation between cattle animals for different body functions such as growth, metabolism, reproduction, immunity and energy balance. The nucleotide sequences of Egyptian cattle IGFBP-3 A and C alleles were submitted to GenBank with the accession numbers KF899893 and KF899894, respectively

Genetic variability of myostatin and prolactin genes in popular goat breeds in Egypt

The genetic polymorphisms of two functional genes named: myostatin (MSTN) and prolactin (PRL) were investigated in three goat breeds (Barki, Damascus and Zaraibi) using Sanger nucleotide sequence and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods, in order to differentiate between these breeds. Nucleotide sequencing of 337 bp MSTN gene detected five SNPs in Barki breed, two SNPs in Damascus breed, while the Zaraibi breed did not show any SNPs. Moreover, MSTN-HaeIII/PCR-RFLP gave a single Genotype BB was found in all the studied breeds. Meanwhile, Nucleotide sequencing of 196 bp PRL gene showed two SNPs in Damascus breed, one SNPs in Zaraibi breed, while the Barki breed did not show any SNPs. Moreover, PRL-Eco24I/PCR-RFLP showed three genotypes (AA, AB and BB). The genotype AB showed the maximum frequency in all the studied breeds (0.75, 0.85, and 0.90 for Damascus, Barki and Zaraibi breeds, respectively). Observed heterozygosity (Ho) value was higher than expected heterozygosity (He) value all studied breeds. In addition, the values of both Ho and He were the highest in Zaraibi breed (0.90 and 0.51 respectively). Chi-square (χ2) value revealed a significant variation Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < .05) in the three studied breeds. It is the highest in Zaraibi goats and lowest in Damascus breed. The results demonstrated that the PRL-Eco24I/PCR-RFLP polymorphism may be utilized as effective marker for genetic differentiation between goat breeds, but MSTN-HaeIII/PCR-RFLP revealed no polymorphism or variation, thus it is not recommended in the selection program. Moreover, these results open up interesting prospects for future selection programs, especially marker assisted selection. In addition, the results established that PCR-RFLP method is a suitable tool for calculating genetic variability. Keywords: Genetic polymorphism, Goat, PCR-RFLP, Myostatin, Prolactin, SNP

Cytochrome b conservation between six camel breeds reared in Egypt

This study was aimed to assess cytochrome b conservation in six breeds of camels reared in Egypt and to compare its sequence with those of other livestock species. The 208-bp fragments from camel mtDNA cyto b were amplified using PCR for 54 camels belonging to 6 camel breeds reared in Egypt. The alignment of camel cyto b sequences showed the presence of two polymorphic sites resulting in four haplotypes and their nucleotide sequences were submitted to GenBank under the accession numbers: KX909894–KX909897. The genetic distances between tested camel breeds were zero between Baladi, Fallahi and Maghrabi breeds whereas they were at low value between the other three breeds: Mowaled, Sodany and Somali. Neighbor-joining showed 4 branches; one of them include most of the tested animals and another one contains 2 Somali animals which is considered a specific haplotype for this breed. The other two branches are mixed between Sodani and Mowaled breeds. Neighbor-joining tree was constructed between cyto b sequences of our tested camels and their sequences from livestock species include Camelus dromedaries, Camelus bactrianus, Ovis aries, Capra hircus, Bubalus bubalis, Bos Taurus and Sus scrofa. The result confirmed that our camel breeds belong to Camelus dromedaries and are clearly separated from other species. It is concluded that cyto b sequence is highly conserved among all camel breeds reared in Egypt which belong to Camelus dromedaries in addition to the advantage of cyto b in differentiation between different livestock sources which enables it to widely use for the adulteration detection in mixed meat

Chitosan nanoparticles plus quercetin suppress the oxidative stress, modulate DNA fragmentation and gene expression in the kidney of rats fed ochratoxin A-contaminated diet.

IF 3.778International audienceThis study aimed to evaluate the protective role of chitosan nanoparticles (COS-NPs) singly or plus quercetin (Q) against OTA-induced oxidative stress and renal genotoxicity. Twelve groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated orally for 3 weeks included the control group, animals fed OTA-contaminated diet (3 mg/kg diet); COS-NPs-treated groups at low (140 mg/kg b.w.) or high (280 mg/kg b.w.) dose, Q-treated group (50 mg/kg b.w.), Q plus low or high dose of COS-NPs-treated groups and OTA plus Q and/or COS-NPs at the two tested doses-treated groups. The results indicated that COS-NPs were roughly rod in shape with average particle size of 200 nm and zeta potential 31.4 ± 2.8 mV. Animals fed OTA-contaminated diet showed significant changes in serum biochemical parameters, increase kidney MDA and DNA fragmentation and decreased GPx and SOD gene expression accompanied with severe histological changes. Q and/or COS-NPs at the two tested doses induced significant improvements in all tested parameters and succeeded to overcome these effects especially in the animals treated with Q plus the high dose of COS-NPs. It could be concluded that COS-NPs are promise candidate to enhance the antioxidant effect of Q and protect against the nephrotoxicity of OTA in high endemic areas

Chitosan nanoparticles and quercetin modulate gene expression and prevent the genotoxicity of aflatoxin B1 in rat liver

The aims of the current study were to prepare chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) and to evaluate its protective role alone or in combination with quercetin (Q) against AFB1-induce cytotoxicity in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 12 groups and treated orally for 4 weeks as follow: the control group, the group treated with AFB1 (80 μg/kg b.w.) in corn oil, the groups treated with low (140 mg/kg b.w.) or high (280 mg/kg b.w.) dose of CNPs, the group treated with Q (50 mg/kg b.w.), the groups treated with Q plus the low or the high dose of CNPs and the groups treated with AFB1 plus Q and/or CNPs at the two tested doses. The results also revealed that administration of AFB1 resulted in a significant increase in serum cytokines, Procollagen III, Nitric Oxide, lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation accompanied with a significant decrease in GPx I and Cu–Zn SOD-mRNA gene expression. Q and/or CNPs at the two tested doses overcome these effects especially in the group treated with the high dose of CNPs plus Q. It could be concluded that CNPs is a promise candidate as drug delivery enhances the protective effect of Q against the cytogenetic effects of AFB1 in high endemic areas

Quercetin inhibits the cytotoxicity and oxidative stress in liver of rats fed aflatoxin-contaminated diet

This study was conducted to evaluate the protective role of quercetin (Q) against the cytotoxicity, DNA damage and oxidative stress in rats fed aflatoxin (AFs)-contaminated diet. Female Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into six groups and treated for 21 days as follows: the control group; the group fed AFs-contaminated diet (1.4 mg/kg diet); the groups treated orally with Q at low or high dose (50 and 100 mg/kg b.w.) and the groups AFs-contaminated diet plus low or high dose of Q. At the end of experiment, blood and liver samples were collected for biochemical, histological, histochemical and genetic analyses. The results indicated that animal fed AFs-contaminated diet showed significant increase in serum biochemical parameters, oxidative stress markers and DNA fragmentation accompanied with significant decrease in total proteins, GPX, SOD, DNA and RNA content and fatty acid synthase (Fas) and TNFα gene expression in the liver tissue. Q at the two tested doses succeeded to normalize the biochemical parameters, improved the content of nucleic acids in hepatic tissues, the gene expression, the histopathological and histochemical picture of the liver. It could be concluded that Q has a potential antioxidant activity, a protective action and regulated the alteration of genes expression induced by AFs