In vivo determination of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of the aqueous extract of Syzygium aromaticum (clove) in an asthmatic rat model.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways strongly associated with interleukin-4 (IL-4), a cytokine that mediates and regulates various immune responses, including allergic reactions. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of an Aqueous Extract of Clove (AEC) Syzygium aromaticum on the lungs and erythrocytes of an experimental asthma model in Wistar rats. For this purpose, four groups of male rats were examined: control, sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA), treated with AEC, and treated with a combination of OVA/AEC. After treatment, the antioxidant effect was determined by measuring the malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) levels. The anti-inflammatory effect was determined by measuring IL-4 levels by performing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using serum, lung, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples. A significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the MDA levels and a significant increase (p ≤ 0.05) in the levels of GPx and CAT were observed in the lungs of rats treated with cloves. However, no statistically significant variation was observed in GSH levels. In erythrocytes, no statistically significant differences were observed between the experimental batches. Regarding the anti-inflammatory effect, the administration of S. aromaticum extract to sensitized rats resulted in a recovery in the levels of total proteins and IL-4 and a decrease in the three compartments studied (lungs, serum, and bronchoalveolar liquid). These results were confirmed by microscopic examination of lung histological sections. Overall, these findings confirmed that the AEC has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.

Prevalence of papillomaviruses, polyomaviruses, and herpesviruses in triple-negative and inflammatory breast tumors from algeria compared with other types of breast cancer tumors.

BACKGROUND: The possible role of viruses in breast cancer etiology remains an unresolved question. We hypothesized that if some viruses are involved, it may be in a subgroup of breast cancers only. Epidemiological arguments drove our interest in breast cancer subgroups that are more frequent in Africa, namely inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) and triple-negative breast cancer. We tested whether viral prevalence was significantly higher in these subgroups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred fifty-five paraffin-embedded malignant breast tumors were randomly selected at the pathology laboratory of the University Hospital of Annaba (Algeria) to include one third of IBC and two thirds of non-IBC. They were tested for the presence of DNA from 61 viral agents (46 human papillomaviruses, 10 polyomaviruses, and 5 herpesviruses) using type-specific multiplex genotyping assays, which combine multiplex PCR and bead-based Luminex technology. RESULTS: Viral DNA was found in 22 (17.9%) of 123 tumors. The most prevalent viruses were EBV1 and HPV16. IBC tumors carried significantly more viruses (any type) than non-IBC tumors (30% vs. 13%, p<0.04). Similarly, triple-negative tumors displayed higher virus-positivity than non-triple-negative tumors (44% vs. 14%, p<0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest an association between the presence of viral DNA and aggressive breast cancer phenotypes (IBC, triple-negative). While preliminary, they underline the importance of focusing on subgroups when studying viral etiology in breast cancer. Further studies on viruses in breast cancer should be conducted in much larger samples to confirm these initial findings.