Experimental Study: The Effect Of 20% Intralipid Emulsion Therapy In Cerebral Ischemic Reperfusion.

BACKGROUND: This experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of 20% Intralipid Emulsion (ILE) treatment on Cerebral Ischemia Reperfusion Injury (CIRI) after reperfusion in acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: In this experimental study, seven rats without any intervention (control group), seven rats (sham group) for which CIRI was created after the common carotid artery was ligated for 2 hours, and seven rats who were treated with 20% ILE after CIRI (CIRI + ILE group) were sacrificed after 24 hours, and histopathological findings were investigated. RESULTS: In rats that were not treated after CIRI, 52.7% had level-1, 32.7% had level-2. and 14.5% had level-3. histopathological findings. While 72.2% of the rats treated with ILE had level-1 and 27.8% had level-2 findings, no level-3 histopathological findings were detected in any of the rats. While no signs of coagulative necrosis, spongiosis of surrounding tissue and polymorphonuclear leukocytes were observed histopathological in any of the rats given ILE, there was no macrophages finding in 85.6% of the rats. ILE treatment also reduced the histopathological findings of eosinophilic neurons, astrogliosis, neovascularization, vascular thrombosis and mononuclear inflammatory cells. CONCLUSION: This study showed that 20% ILE treatment reduces the histopathological damage seen in cerebral ischemia and CIRI.

Safety assessment of European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus L.) fruit juice: Acute and subacute oral toxicity.

European cranberrybush (ECB) (Viburnum opulus L.) fruits are abundant in phenolic compounds associated with various health benefits. However, the toxicity and safety of ECB juice have not been systematically studied. In the present study, acute and subacute oral toxicities of ECB fruit juice were evaluated on Sprague-Dawley rats and BALB/c mice to establish a toxicity profile. In acute tests, a single administration of 2000 mg/kg body weight of extract to rats exhibited no clinical signs of toxicity or mortality, indicating that the lethal dose (LD50) was over 2000 mg/kg. In subacute tests, repeated administration for 28 days at 0 (control), 500, and 2000 mg/kg doses of extract in mice did not display adverse clinical signs or deaths. However, in the 2000 mg/kg subacute group, platelet counts were significantly high, which correlated with histopathological analyses revealing that ECB extract at 2000 mg/kg was toxic to the kidney, liver, and adipose tissue. The NOAEL value of ECB extract was found as 500 mg/kg/day, but further sub-chronic and chronic toxicity studies are warranted to comprehensively evaluate the long-term safety implications. The study's results emphasize the importance of considering the dosage of dietary supplements containing high levels of phenolic compounds over an extended period to avoid potential cumulative effects from prolonged consumption of high doses.

Comparative biochemical and histopathological evaluations proved that receptacle is the most effective part of Cynara scolymus against liver and kidney damages.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The liver and kidney are among the most important organs in the body, where metabolic and elimination functions take place. During this process, liver and kidneys may suffer damage due to ingestion or formation of toxic metabolites leading to organ loss and even death. Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) leaf has long been recognized as a popular herbal remedy in traditional medicines with beneficial effects on liver. AIM OF THE STUDY: In phytotherapy leaves are the part used to support the liver functions and for treatment of damage induced by various toxins, while fleshy receptacle is cooked as meal to support liver homeostasis. However, effects of other plant parts on liver such as stems, bracts have not much attracted the attention of scientific community so far. In this study we investigated comparatively the hepatoprotective and nephroprotective effects of different plant parts of artichoke, i.e. receptacles, outer bracts, inner bracts, and stems with that of leaves upon paracetamol-induction in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aqueous ethanol (80%) extracts obtained from the different parts of artichoke were administered for five consecutive days after paracetamol induction to rats. At the end of experimental period blood samples from the experimental animals were taken for biochemical tests, while livers and kidneys were removed for further histopathological evaluation. RESULTS: The histopathological examinations of liver and kidney tissues revealed that the receptacle and stem extracts of the artichoke were the most effective parts by improving the experimentally induced pathology in both liver and kidney. Biochemical tests also supported the histopathological data; receptacle, stem and bract extracts reduced serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels, but not alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathological and biochemical studies have shown that receptacle and stem extracts of artichoke were found to exert higher protective activity on liver and kidney damage induced by paracetamol comparing to its bract and leaf extracts, the latest is officially recognized as herbal remedy.

The Role of Intralipid Emulsion in the Rat Model of Digoxin Intoxication.

Although the mechanism of action is not well known, intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of lipophilic drug intoxications. It is thought that, ILE probably separates the lipophilic drugs from target tissue by creating a lipid-rich compartment in the plasma. The second theory is that ILE provides energy to myocardium with high-dose free fatty acids activating the voltage-gated calcium channels in the myocytes. In this study, effects of ILE treatment on digoxin overdose were searched in an animal model in terms of cardiac side effects and survival. Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. As the pre-treatment, the groups were administered saline, ILE, DigiFab and DigiFab and ILE. Following that, digoxin was infused to all groups until death except the control group. First arrhythmia and cardiac arrest observation times were recorded. According to the results, there was no statistically significant difference among the group in terms of first arrhythmia time and cardiac arrest times. However, when the saline group compared with ILE-treated group separately, significant difference was observed. DigiFab, ILE or ILE-DigiFab treatment make no significant difference in terms of the first arrhythmia and cardiac arrest duration in digoxin-intoxicated rats. However, it is not possible to say that at the given doses, ILE treatment might be successful at least as a known antidote. The fact that the statistical significance between the two groups is not observed in the subgroup analysis, the study should be repeated with larger groups.