Hepatoprotective effect of Holothuria leucospilota methanolic extract on dimethyl nitrosamine-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

BACKGROUND: Complementary medicine is an interesting field for extracting bioactive compounds from various plant and animal sources. The hepatoprotective effect of the methanolic extract of a species of sea cucumber called Holothuria leucospilota in an animal model of liver cancer caused by dimethyl nitrosamine (DMN) was studied. METHODS: Wistar female rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 12): control (intact), positive control (received 1% DMN [10 mg/kg/week, intraperitoneally] for 12 weeks), and three treatment groups (received 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day H. leucospilota extract orally for 12 weeks along with intraperitoneal administration of 1% DMN [10 mg/kg/week]). In all groups, ultrasound was performed on the liver every week to check its density. Blood sampling and liver isolation were performed on three occasions, at 4, 8, and 12 weeks, to check liver enzymes and the histopathological condition of the liver tissue (every week, four animals from each group were randomly selected). RESULTS: Liver density changes were evident from the eighth week onward in the positive control group. Histopathological results indicated pathologic changes in the positive control group after 4 weeks. The increase in liver enzymes in the positive control group was significantly different from that in the treatment and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the hepatoprotective effect of H. leucospilota on DMN-induced liver damage in rats using biochemical and histological parameters and ultrasonography. More additional research (in silico or in vitro) is needed to find the exact mechanism and the main biological compound in H. leucospilota.

First Report of Mycobacterium bovis Isolation from a European Fallow Deer (Dama Dama Dama) in Iran.

At present, most of Iran is free of bovine tuberculosis (TB). The strategy of control and eradication in Iran involves a tuberculation test and slaughter of reactors, a procedure transformed the present-day prevalence of TB into a sporadic occurrence. This paper describes the first report of bovine tuberculosis in a European fallow deer (Dama dama dama) in Iran. The deer was emaciated and found dead in the Hoveize Provincial Zoo Park. Post-mortem examinations revealed multifocal granulomatous and suppurative abscesses in the lungs and mesenteric lymph nodes. These post-mortem indicators led the authors to suspect TB, and the PCR test and bacteriology tests confirmed it as an infection by the Mycobacterium bovis. This survey discusses the important implications of such findings for wildlife, especially livestock, as well as for human TB disease control, because deer are often conserved in public zoos and humans often come into contact with them.