Hyssopus officinalis exerts hypoglycemic effects on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats via modulating GSK-3ß, C-fos, NF-κB, ABCA1 and ABGA1 gene expression.

OBJECTIVES: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DMT2) is contributed to dual interactions between environmental factors and certain genetic factors. This impressed a great need for novel treatment strategy. Nevertheless, Hyssopus officinalis (H. officinalis) as a terrestrial herb is considered to be an important source of natural antioxidants, it could be assessed as an anti-hyperglycemic agent. METHODS: In the current study, HPLC identified the active constitutes of H. officinalis, including total polyphenols, and flavonoids. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced in male Wistar albino rats via a single ip dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (35 mg/kg BW). One week post diabetes induction, rats were administrated H. officinalis (500 mg/ kg BW) orally for one month. Molecular analysis was assessed to investigate the efficiency of H. officinalis on modulating ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and G1 (ABCG1) genes, in addition to apoptotic biomarkers, glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and cellular oncogene-fos (C-fos) genes. Furthermore, inflammatory biomarkers, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene expression were also assessed. RESULTS: H. officinalis alcoholic extract declared the presence of polyphenols as gallic acid and flavonoids as quercetin in addition to many active constituents. Apigenin-7-glucoside and Chlorgenic acid were the most common constituents in the extract. RT-PCR results declared a significant up-regulation in mRNA gene expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1 upon H. officinalis treatment. Meanwhile, C-fos gene expression recorded a slight down-regulation. Gene expression of apoptotic biomarker GSK-3ß demonstrated a significant down regulation as well as inflammatory biomarkers NF-κB and TNF-α. CONCLUSION: From the data recorded, it could be concluded that H. officinalis exerts a great hypoglycemic potential via modulating C-fos, GSK-3ß, NF-κB, TNF-α, ABCA1 and ABCG1 gene expression and signaling pathways and could be considered as an effective candidate for DMT2 treatment.

The epidemiological and molecular aspects of influenza H5N1 viruses at the human-animal interface in Egypt.

With 119 confirmed cases between March 2006 and December 2010, Egypt ranks second among countries reporting human H5N1 influenza virus infections. In 2009-2010, Egypt reported 68 new human cases and became the new epicenter for H5N1 infections. We conducted an epidemiological and molecular analysis in order to better understand the situation in Egypt. The onset of new cases peaked annually during the winter and spring months, with majority of cases reported in the Nile Delta region. Most cases were less than 18 years old (62%) and females (60%). The overall case-fatality rate was 34% and significantly increased by age. There was a significant difference between the case-fatality rates among females and males. We observed a significant drop (p = 0.004) in case fatality rate in 2009 (10%) as compared to higher rates (36%-56%) in other years. Hospitalization within 2 or 3 days after onset of symptoms significantly decreased mortality. Molecular analysis showed that variations do occur among viruses isolated from birds as well as from humans in Egypt, and these mutations were especially noted in 2009 viruses. As the epidemiological profile of Egyptian cases differs from other countries, there is an urgent need to conduct prospective studies to enhance our understanding of incidence, prevalence, and determinants of virulence of human infections with avian H5N1 influenza viruses.