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Background: Chronic hyperglycemia is associated with long-term damage in the structure and functions of female gonads, especially the ovaries and uterus. Inulin is the major component of Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) roots and leaves. Inulin is used to prepare appropriate low caloric foods for diabetic patients to maintain blood sugar levels. Aim: This work was mainly designed to evaluate the ameliorative role of inulin extract on the metabolic and structural changes in the ovaries and uterus of female rats neonatally induced by streptozotocin. Material and Methods: Twenty-four offsprings of female rats were used in the present work and separated into 4 groups (n=6). Group 1: control group, group 2: inulin supplemented group (10mg/kgbw), group 3: the streptozotocin-induced group that subjected to a single intraperitoneal dose of streptozotocin (80 mg/Kgbw), and group 4: Streptozotocin plus inulin extract. Body weight, levels of female sex hormones, antioxidants, and lipid profiles were measured. Also, the ovarian and uterine specimens were also processed for histological and immunohistochemical investigation Results: The obtained results revealed a remarkable significant decrease in the levels of serum antioxidants (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and female sex hormones as well as a significant increase in serum lipid profiles in the diabetic group. Moreover, several histopathological signs appeared in the ovarian and uterine sections of the diabetic group including, atretic follicles, degenerated germinal epithelium, stromal hemorrhage, fragmented endometrial glands, and cellular hypertrophy. Furthermore, the ovarian sections of the diabetic group displayed strong positive expression for NFκB and the uterine sections showed weak expression for B-cell lymphoma-2 if compared with the control. Conclusion: Inulin has a potential role in the amelioration of disrupted ovarian and uterine structure of diabetic rats through exerting hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic effects and modulation of female sex hormones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that diabetes is associated with impairment of ovarian and testicular structure and function. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is identified as one of the oldest herbal plants valued for its nutritional and medicinal properties. This work is mainly designed to evaluate the possible modulatory role of dry coriander fruit extract against gonadal impairments associated with diabetes in female rats and their pups. Twenty-four pregnant rats were divided into four groups (n = 6): group I served as control, group II was administered daily with coriander fruit extract (250 mg/kg b.wt), group III was injected interaperitoneally with a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (80 mg/kg b.wt), and group IV was injected with single dose of STZ and post administered coriander extract. The experiment was conducted from the 4th day of gestation till the end of weaning. At the end of the experiment, the mothers' rats and their offspring were weighed, sacrificed, the ovaries from mothers as well as ovaries and testes from offspring were immediately excised, and processed for histological, immunohistochemical and evaluation of apoptosis and transforming growth factorβ (TGF-β). Also, blood samples were collected and analyzed to estimate the levels of sex hormones as well as antioxidants.In STZ induced diabetes in mother's rats and their offspring, the ovarian sections revealed severe histopathological signs included several atretic follicles, dilated and congested blood capillaries. Additionally, the testicular sections of offspring appeared with destructive seminiferous tubules. Immunohistochemically, the ovarian sections displayed weak to negative expression for calretinin marker however the testicular sections showed strong expression for Bax protein (apoptotic marker) and weak to negative expression for Ki67 protein (proliferative marker). Also, the mean % values of positively expressed cells for TGF-β and annexin-v markers (late and early apoptosis indicator) were significantly elevated in the ovarian and testicular tissues of STZ-induced group of mother's rats and their pups if compared with control. Further results revealed that the levels of insulin, FSH, LH, estrogen, SOD and CAT were significantly decreased if compared with control however the levels of MDA and NO were significantly elevated. Administration of coriander fruit extract to diabetic rats successfully alleviated most of the altered histological, immunohistochemical, biochemical, and apoptotic changes induced by diabetes. Coriandrum sativum fruit extract has a powerful ameliorative role against STZ-induced diabetic gonadal dysfunctions in female rats and their offspring., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests Authors declared that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To evaluate the potential therapeutic role of Annona muricata (graviola) fruit and bee venom (BV) against N -methylnitrosourea (MNU)-induced breast cancer in pregnant female rats and complications in the ovaries., Methods: A total of 24 female rats were induced with a single dose of MNU (50 mg/kg body weight). After confirmation of positive tumor marker, female rats were placed with the males for mating. The pregnant rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=6): MNU-induced only (group 1), MNU-induced rats and supplemented with A. muricata 200 mg/kg diet (group 2), MNU-induced and treated with two doses of BV 75 μg/kg (group 3), and MNU-induced and treated with both A. muricata and BV (group 4)., Results: In group 1, the breast tissue of mothers revealed pronounced cellular hyperplasia and histopathological signs. Also, the ovarian tissue of mothers and their offspring displayed deleterious histological changes. In groups 2 and 4, histopathological signs and cellular hyperplasia markedly disappeared in breast tissue. However, the histopathological signs induced by MNU in the ovarian tissue reversed to normal in groups 2-4. Also in groups 2-4, levels of serum MMP1, NFκB, and TNFα significantly decreased, and serum caspase 3 significantly increased either in mother rats or their offspring compared to the MNU-alone group. Levels of serum MDA significantly decreased; however, levels of serum antioxidants (CAT and SOD) significantly increased in all groups 2-4 compared to MNU-alone group., Conclusion: A. muricata has a more powerful therapeutic role than BV against MNU-induced breast cancer in rats; however, both have a powerful ameliorative role against ovarian histopathological alterations induced by MNU. Such ameliorative effects of A. muricata and BV are mainly attributed to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative constituents., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests in this work., (© 2021 El-Beltagy et al.)

Long-acting nicotine is known to exert pathological effects on almost all tissues including the cerebellar cortex. The present work was designed to elucidate the effect of nicotine on the development of cerebellar cortex of chick embryo during incubation period. The fertilized eggs of hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) were injected into the air space by a single dose of long acting nicotine (1.6 mg/kg/egg) at the 4th day of incubation. The embryos were taken out of the eggs on days 8, 12 and 16 of incubation. The cerebellum of the control and treated embryos at above ages were processed for histopathological examination. The TEM were examined at 16th day of incubation. The results of the present study revealed that, exposure to long-acting nicotine markedly influence the histogenesis of cerebellar cortex of chick embryo during the incubation period. At 8th day of incubation, nicotine delayed the differentiation of the cerebellar analge; especially the external granular layer (EGL) and inner cortical layer (ICL). Furthermore, at 12th day of incubation, the cerebellar foliation was irregular and the Purkinje cells not recognized. By 16th day of incubation, the cerebellar foliations were irregular with interrupted cerebellar cortex and irregular arrangement of Purkinje cells. Immunohistochemical analysis for antibody P53 protein revealed that the cerebellar cortex in all stages of nicotine treated groups possessed a moderate to weak reaction for P53 protein however; this reaction was markedly stronger in the cerebellar cortex of control groups. Moreover, the flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the percentage of apoptosis in control group was significantly higher compared with that of nicotine treated group. At the TEM level, the cerebellar Purkinje cells of 16th day of treated groups showed multiple subcellular alterations in compared with those of the corresponding control group. Such changes represented by appearing of vacuolated mitochondria, cisternal fragmentation of RER, irregular grooves of Golgi tubules. Also, multiple cytoplasmic vacuoles and aggregation of Nissl granules were recorded around pyknotic nucleus., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The current study is essentially carried out to reveal the histological and ultra-structural details of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors cell layers of a common buzzard (Buteo buteo). The recorded results revealed that the neural retina of common buzzard consisted of seven distinct cell layers. The inner nuclear layer was markedly revealed as the thickest one among these layers. A highly melanized RPE was recorded in between the choroid and neural retina. Histologically, the RPE was represented by a single layer of cuboidal epithelial cells with centrally located nucleus. Ultrastructurally, the RPE cells showed numerous melanosomes, mitochondria, phagosomes, myeloid bodies, smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), but very rare rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). The photoreceptor cell layer was represented by three categories of photoreceptor cells: few single rods, numerous single and double cones. Each double cone consisted of a short accessory cone and a long principle cone. The photoreceptor outer segment consisted of bi-membranous discs that are enclosed by outer membrane. Moreover, the inner segment of rods consisted of an ellipsoid and an inner hyperboloid. The hyperboloid was rich with RER, polysomes, Golgi apparatus and autophagic vacuoles. Furthermore, the inner segment of single cone and accessory cone consisted of an ellipsoid, paraboloid and myoid regions, while, the inner segment of principle cone lacked the paraboloid regions. At the proximal end of each inner segment for all types of cones, there was a large heterogeneous oil droplet. The paraboloid region was markedly rich with glycogen granules. The myoid region exhibited the same organelles but with little glycogen granules when compared with hyperboloid., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)