Ameliorative effects of Spirulina maxima and Allium sativum on lead acetate-induced testicular injury in male albino rats with respect to caspase-3 gene expression.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the ameliorative effects of Allium sativum (garlic) as well as Spirulina maxima on lead acetate toxicity in rat testes. Forty adult, male, albino rats were divided into four groups (10 rats/each): group I served as the control; group II contained rats that received lead acetate (100 mg/kg); group III contained rats that received both lead acetate (100 mg/kg) and garlic (600 mg/kg); and group IV contained rats that received both lead acetate (100 mg/kg) and spirulina (500 mg/kg). All treatments were performed daily for one month. Serum testosterone levels, oxidative stress parameters, expression of the caspase-3 gene and histological, histo-morphometric and ultrastructure alterations in the testes were investigated. The results revealed that the Pb-treated group exhibited a significant increase in MDA concentration concomitantly with a decrease in serum testosterone levels, antioxidative marker levels and caspase-3 gene expression. Several histological and histo-morphometric alterations were observed in this group. Co-administration with spirulina or garlic caused a significant increase in testosterone levels, testicular SOD and CAT activities, and caspase-3 gene expression and a decrease in MDA levels, with improvement in histological and histo-morphometric alterations. These results suggested that spirulina was more effective at providing protection against Pb-induced reproductive damage in rats than garlic, indicating the beneficial role of spirulina in improvement of spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis after lead exposure.

Modulation of caspase-3 gene expression and protective effects of garlic and spirulina against CNS neurotoxicity induced by lead exposure in male rats.

Lead (Pb) is a ubiquitous environmental and industrial pollutant with worldwide health problems. The present study was designed to investigate the neurotoxic effects of Pb in albino rats and to evaluate the ameliorative role of garlic as well as Spirulina maxima against such toxic effects. Forty adult male rats were used in this investigation (10 rats/group). Group I: served as control, Group II: rats received lead acetate (100 mg/kg), Group III: rats received both lead acetate (100 mg/kg) and garlic (600 mg/kg) and Group IV: rats received both lead acetate (100 mg/kg) and spirulina (500 mg/kg) daily by oral gavage for one month. Exposure to Pb acetate adversely affected the measured acetyl cholinesterase enzyme activity, oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation parameters as well as caspase-3 gene expression in brain tissue (cerebrum and cerebellum). Light and electron microscopical examination of the cerebrum and cerebellum showed various lesions after exposure to Pb which were confirmed by immunohistochemistry. On the other hand, administration of garlic and spirulina concomitantly with lead acetate ameliorated most of the undesirable effects. It could be concluded that, the adverse effects induced by lead acetate, were markedly ameliorated by co-treatment with S. maxima more than garlic.

Recent approaches for control of E. coli and respiratory complex in Middle East.

This study was conducted on 100 one-day-old broiler chicks to evaluate the effect of Poulvac E. coli vaccine in reduction of clinical signs and complications after concurrent infectious bronchitis virus (variant 02) and virulent E. coli O78 challenges. The birds were evaluated for clinical signs, mortality for 7 days post-infection, PM lesion score, average body weight and serological evaluation. Re-isolation and RT-PCR for the challenging infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) variant 02 were conducted thereafter. The results showed that the Poulvac E. coli at one-day old chicks in the presence of co-infection with virulent E. coli and IBV variant 02 provides better body weight gain at 35 days than the other groups. The challenge with IBV variant 02 alone in non-vaccinated birds doesn't give any mortality; this indicated that the severity of IBV variant 02 increased by the presence of co-infection with Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEc). The mortality percentage associated with both E. coli and IBV variant 02 infections in the none vaccinated group by Poulvac E. coli was 25% while this percentage was 10% of the vaccinated group. The Poulvac E. coli is not negatively affecting the immune response against different concurrent viral vaccines like Infectious bursal disease (IBD), and moreover, it improves the immune response against some others like Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Avian Influenza (AI) H5 and IBV.