Hepatoprotective activity of Lactéol® forte and quercetin dihydrate against thioacetamide-induced hepatic cirrhosis in male albino rats.

Liver cirrhosis is a silent disease in humans and is experimentally induced by many drugs and toxins as thioacetamide (TAA) in particular, which is the typical model for experimental induction of hepatic fibrosis. Thus, the objective of the present study was to elucidate the possible protective effects of lactéol® forte (LF) and quercetin dihydrate (QD) against TAA-induced hepatic damage in male albino rats. Induction of hepatotoxicity was performed by TAA injection (200 mg/kg I/P, twice/ week) in rats. LF (1 × 109 CFU/rat 5 times/week) and QD (50 mg/kg 5 times/week) treated groups were administered concurrently with TAA injection (200 mg/kg I/P, twice/ week). The experimental treatments were conducted for 12 weeks. Hepatotoxicity was evaluated biochemically by measuring alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in the serum and histopathologically with the scoring of histopathological changes besides histochemical assessment of collagen by Masson's trichrome and immunohistochemical analysis for α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), Ki67 and caspase-3 expression in liver sections. Our results indicated that LF and QD attenuated some biochemical changes and histochemical markers in TAA-mediated hepatotoxicity in rats by amelioration of biochemical markers and collagen, α-SMA, Ki67 and caspase3 Immunoexpression. Additionally, LF and QD supplementation downregulated the proliferative, necrotic, fibroblastic changes, eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions, hyaline globules and Mallory-like bodies that were detected histopathologically in the TAA group. In conclusion, LF showed better hepatic protection than QD against TAA-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by inhibiting inflammatory reactions with the improvement of some serum hepatic transaminases, histopathological picture and immunohistochemical markers.

The influence of Omega3 fatty acids supplementation against aluminum-induced toxicity in male albino rats.

This study evaluated the protective and antioxidant potential of Omega3 fatty acids (FAs) against aluminum intoxicated male albino rats. Twenty-four male albino rats were divided into four equal groups: group I served as control; group II (Omega3-treated) received Omega3 FAs 1000 mg/kg bwt/day orally; group III (aluminum-treated) received aluminum chloride 100 mg/kg bwt/day orally and group IV (aluminum + Omega3-treated) received aluminum chloride 100 mg/kg bwt/day and Omega3 FAs 1000 mg/kg bwt/day orally. Treatments lasted for 4 weeks. Results indicate that administration of aluminum chloride showed non-significant changes in serum alanine aminotransferase, urea, and creatinine levels, a significant increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase and malondialdehyde as well as a significant reduction in serum-reduced glutathione levels. Aluminum treatment induced histopathological alterations in the liver, kidney, brain, testes, and epididymis. Omega3 FAs supplementation improved the serum parameters, enhanced endogenous antioxidant status, reduced lipid peroxidation, and ameliorated the intensity of the histopathological lesions. These findings reveal that Omega3 FAs supplementation can lighten the toxic effects of aluminum through their antioxidant and free radical-scavenging effects.

Protective effect of vitamin E and selenium combination on deltamethrin-induced reproductive toxicity in male rats.

The current study was performed to assess the adverse effect of deltamethrin (DLM) on reproductive organs and fertility in male rats and to evaluate the protective role of vitamin E (VE) and selenium (Se) combination in alleviating the detrimental effect of DLM on male fertility. The lethal dose 50 (LD(50)) of DLM for male rats was estimated at 6 mg/kg bwt. Thirty male albino rats (10-weeks-old) were divided into three groups (10 rats each): Control group was injected subcutaneously with 2 ml/kg bwt saline twice weekly and was daily administered 2 ml distilled water intra-gastrically; DLM-treated group received 0.6 mg/kg bwt (1/10 LD(50)) DLM intra-gastrically once daily; DLM+VE/Se-treated group was injected subcutaneously with 1.2 mg/kg bwt Viteselen(®)15 (VE/Se) twice weekly with concurrent daily administration of 0.6 mg/kg bwt (1/10 LD(50)) DLM intra-gastrically. The experiment was conducted for 60 consecutive days. DLM caused a significant reduction in reproductive organs weights, sperm count, sperm motility percent, alive sperm percent, serum testosterone level and testicular reduced glutathione concentration (GSH). DLM-treated group showed a significant increase in sperm abnormalities and testicular malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations. Histopathologically, DLM caused impairments in testes, epididymes and accessory sex glands. Conversely, treatment with VE/Se combination improved the reduction in the reproductive organs weights, sperm characteristics, DLM-induced oxidative damage of testes and the histopathological alterations of reproductive organs. Results indicate that DLM exerts significant harmful effects on male reproductive system and that the concurrent administration of VE/Se partly reduced the detrimental effects of DLM on male fertility.

Garlic and hepatic coccidiosis: prophylaxis or treatment?

A study was conducted to investigate the protective and therapeutic effects of crude garlic (Allium sativum) against experimental infection with Eimeria stiedae in rabbits. Forty rabbits were divided into four groups of ten rabbits each: a healthy control group (HC); a challenged-garlic-protected group (CGP) which received a daily dose of 0.5 g/kg body weight (bwt) crude garlic for five successive days before challenge with E. stiedae; a challenged-garlic-treated group (CGT) which was treated with a daily dose of 0.5 g/kg bwt crude garlic for five successive days post-challenge; and an infected control group (IC). The challenge dose was 5 x 10(4) sporulated E. stiedae oocysts per rabbit. Mortality rate, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and faecal oocyst count were evaluated throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, all rabbits were killed and histopathological examination was performed. No mortalities were recorded in the HC and CGP groups, whilst mortality was found to be 20% and 40% in the CGT and IC groups, respectively. CGP rabbits had better body weight gain and lower numbers of oocysts than those in the CGT and IC groups. Hepatic lesions were less severe in the CGP group than in the CGT and IC groups. These results showed that oral administration of crude garlic ameliorated the adverse impacts of hepatic coccidiosis on rabbits when used as a prophylactic, but garlic was less effective as a therapeutic.