Search

Cadmium (Cd), an element categorized as a non-essential transitional metal, has potential hazards to the health of both human beings and animals. Spirulina platensis (SP), a type of blue-green algae, possesses a high concentration of essential antioxidants. The present study aimed to explore the possible defensive role of SP against Cd-induced submandibular gland injury in rats by assessment of biomarkers related to both oxidative stress and inflammatory processes, which were further explored through histopathological examination of submandibular gland tissue. Consequently, the study included 32 mature rats, subdivided into four different groups as follows: control, SP, Cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ), and CdCl 2 /SP. The duration of the study was 24days. The results revealed that CdCl 2 induced submandibular gland injury as shown by the oxidant/antioxidant imbalance and increased inflammatory reactions, in addition to, histopathological changes and overexpression of BAX immunostaining. Concurrent SP administration to CdCl2-treated rats significantly improved all these effects. We concluded that concurrent SP supplement improved the submandibular gland injury provoked by CdCl 2 ., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The current study was conducted to determine the precise mechanisms of Sirtuin-1 (Sirt-1), TGF- β (Transforming Growth Factor-β), and long non-coding RNA Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1 (LncRNA MALAT-1) in signaling pathways in doxorubicin (DOX)-induced nephrotoxicity. The potential therapeutic effect of Resveratrol and Pirfenidone in DOX toxicity was also assessed. Thirty-six male adult rats were evenly distributed into four groups: Group 1: control rats. Group 2: DOX exposed rats' group, each animal received 7.5 mg/kg DOX as a single intravenous dose, Group 3: DOX exposed group subjected to oral resveratrol (20 mg/kg/daily for two weeks), Group 4: DOX exposed group subjected to oral Pirfenidone (200 mg/kg once daily for 10 days). At the planned time, animals were sacrificed. Renal tissue was collected to assess matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), inflammatory and apoptotic markers: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- β, caspase-3, cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2), and oxidative stress markers: nitric oxide (NO), Glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Sirtuin-1 (Sirt-1), TGF-β, and LncRNA MALAT-1 were quantitatively assessed by real-time RT-PCR in the whole blood. Results showed that the DOX group exhibited a significant increase in oxidative stress markers, and inflammatory, and apoptotic markers in the renal tissue. Histologically, the renal tubule lining cells exhibited vacuolar alterations in the cytoplasm, glomerular atrophy, and vascular congestion. Furthermore, renal degeneration was evident, as confirmed by the heightened immuno-expression of MMP9. Exposure to DOX resulted in a significant decrease in Sirtuin-1 (Sirt-1) with a significant increase in the TGFβ, and LncRNA MALAT-1 gene expression. However, pre-treatment with either resveratrol/or Pirefenidone ameliorated the histological renal alterations, regulated the pathways of Sirt-1, TGFβ, and LncRNA MALAT-1, and decreased all oxidative stress, inflammatory and apoptotic markers. In conclusion, DOX exposure leads to renal toxicity by inducing renal degeneration, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Administration of either resveratrol or Pirfenidone counteracted these changes and protected the kidney against DOX-induced renal damage., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Inflammatory processes are increasingly attributed to macrophage polarization. Proinflammatory macrophages promote T helper (Th) 1 response, tissue repair, and Th2 responses. Detection of macrophages in tissue sections is facilitated by CD68. Our study is focused on the expression of CD68 and the estimation of proinflammatory cytokines in children's patients with chronic tonsillitis secondary to vitamin D supplementation. This hospital-based Randomized prospective case-control study was conducted on 80 children with chronic tonsillitis associated with vitamin D deficiency where (40 received vitamin D 50,000 IU weekly for 3-6 months and 40 received 5 ml distilled water as placebo). The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was measured using an Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on all included children. Different histological and immunohistochemical studies for the detection of CD68 were done. There was a significantly lower serum level of 25(OH)D in the placebo group versus the vitamin D group (P < 0.001). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNFα, and IL-2 significantly increased in the placebo group as compared to the vitamin D group (P < 0.001). The increased level of IL-4 and IL-10 in the placebo group as compared to the vitamin D group was insignificant (P = 0.32, 0.82) respectively. Vitamin D supplementation alleviated the deleterious effect of chronic tonsillitis on the histological structure of the tonsil. Tonsillar tissues of the children in the control and vitamin D groups demonstrated a highly statistically significantly lower number of CD68 immunoexpressing cells compared with those in the placebo group (P < 0.001). Low vitamin D may play a role in chronic tonsillitis. Vitamin D supplementation could help reduce the occurrence of chronic tonsillitis in susceptible children., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Zinc oxide nanomaterial is a potential material in the field of cancer therapy. In this study, zinc oxide nanospheres (ZnO-NS) were synthesized by Sol-gel method using yeast extract as a non-toxic bio-template and investigated their physicochemical properties through various techniques such as FTIR, XR, DLS, and TEM. Furthermore, free zinc ions released from the zinc oxide nanosphere suspended medium were evaluated by using the ICP-AS technique. Therefore, the cytotoxicity of ZnO nanospheres and released Zn ions on both HuH7 and Vero cells was studied using the MTT assay. The data demonstrated that the effectiveness of ZnO nanospheres on HuH7 was better than free Zn ions. Similarly, ZnO-Ns were significantly more toxic to HuH7 cell lines than Vero cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The cell cycle of ZnO-Ns against Huh7 and Vero cell lines was arrested at G 2 /M. Also, the apoptosis assay using Annexin-V/PI showed that apoptosis of HuH7 and Vero cell lines by ZnO nanospheres was concentration and time-dependent. Caspase 3 assay results showed that the apoptosis mechanism may be intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. The mechanism of apoptosis was determined by applying the RT-PCR technique. The results revealed significantly up-regulated Bax, P53, and Cytochrome C, while the Bcl 2 results displayed significant down-regulation and the western blot data confirmed the RT-PCR data. There is oxidative stress of the ZnO nanospheres and free Zn +2 ions. Results indicated that the ZnO nanospheres and free Zn +2 ions induced oxidative stress through increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation. The morphology of the HuH7 cell line after exposure to ZnO nanospheres at different time intervals revealed the presence of the chromatin condensation of the nuclear periphery fragmentation. Interestingly, the appearance of canonical ultrastructure features of apoptotic morphology of Huh7, Furthermore, many vacuoles existed in the cytoplasm, the majority of which were lipid droplets, which were like foamy cells. Also, there are vesicles intact with membranes that are recognized as swollen mitochondria., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hassan, Al-Salmi, Abuamara, Matar, Amer, Fayed, Hablas, Mohammed, Ali, Abd EL-fattah, Abd Elhay, Zoair, Mohamed, Sharaf, Dessoky, Alharthi, Althagafi and Abd El Maksoud.)