The association between vitamin D levels and oxidative stress markers in Egyptian Behcet's disease patients.

BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress is postulated to have a major role in the pathophysiology of Bechet's Disease (BD). Growing evidence suggests that vitamin D has important roles in enhancing the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as certain antioxidants. However, there is little evidence currently about the antioxidant properties of vitamin D in BD. OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between vitamin D levels and the oxidative stress markers in patients with BD in addition to its association with disease activity and severity. METHODS: Sixty BD patients (45 males, 15 females; mean age: 34.2 ± 9.6 years) were enrolled in this study and compared to a sex and age matched control group. Plasma 25-Hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH-D) was measured using Human (25-OH-D) ELISA assay. Plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, catalase (CAT) activity and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were determined by spectrophotometric methods in both groups. Plasma calcium (Ca) was measured by ELISA assay. RESULTS: When compared to controls vitamin D, GSH, CAT activity, TAC and Ca were significantly lower in BD patients, while MDA and NO levels were significantly increased in BD patients. Our Results Found that vitamin D was inversely correlated to BD current Activity form (BDCAF), disease severity score, ESR, CRP, MDA and NO, while vitamin D was significantly positively correlated to GSH, SOD, TAC and Ca. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that a lower level of vitamin D is associated with the oxidative stress state in BD patients as detected by MDA and NO elevation as well as decreased GSH, SOD activity, CAT activity and TAC. Hence, Vitamin D fortified foods and beverages or supplementation may improve disease severity and oxidative stress in BD patients.

Physicochemical properties of and volatile compounds in riboflavin fortified cloudy apple juice; study of its effect on job fatigue among Egyptian construction workers.

Fatigue and rapid exhaustion are common complaints among construction workers, as a result of high-effort levels, physical overexertion, weather and long physically demanding work hours. This study aimed to fortify cloudy apple juice with riboflavin (vitamin B2) to evaluate changes in chemical composition, antioxidant activity and volatile compounds in the fortified juice and to study its effect on the volunteer construction workers complaining of fatigue resulting from demanding physical duties. Analysis of volatile compounds in the fortified cloudy apple juice using Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry identified thirty-four volatile compounds including esters, alcohols, aldehydes and acids. The most predominant volatile compounds were alcohols followed by esters in both the control and fortified samples. We studied the effect of the supplementation of riboflavin-fortified cloudy apple juice versus conventional cloudy apple juice on the anthropometric parameters, the scores of two fatigue questionnaires (Checklist Individual Strength and Fatigue Severity Scale) and antioxidants biomarkers among young Egyptian male construction workers. This study revealed that consumption of 1.3 mg of riboflavin-fortified cloudy apple juice per day for twenty-eight days significantly improved their metabolism, with a decrease in mean body fat percentage and an increase in body muscle mass without statistically significant differences, the fortified juice significantly improved the fatigue questionnaires' scores. Moreover, the fortified supplement had a substantial change in antioxidant activity; there was significant increase in the plasma total antioxidant capacity (+74.19 %change) and catalase enzyme (+54.65 %change) with a significant decrease in the serum malondialdehyde level (-53.78 %change). When compared to the administration of conventional cloudy apple juice, although there was a significant decrease in serum malondialdehyde level (-4.63 %change) at the end of the study, only the subjective fatigue subscale of the CIS fatigue score significantly decreased among the construction workers (-24.61 %change). It could be concluded that vitamin B2 fortified-cloudy apple juice was effective in the reduction of fatigue and exhaustion in the study's subjects.

Effectiveness of low-power laser therapy in improvement of the peripheral neuropathy induced by xenobiotics in rats.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is the damage and dysfunction of neurons of the peripheral nervous system. The present study was conducted to estimate the effectiveness of low-power laser therapy (LPLT) in the management of PN in a rats' model. METHODS: PN was induced by giving dichloroacetate (DCA) (250 mg/kg/day) for up to 12 weeks. Four groups of rats were used: control group, PN group, PN group treated with gabapentin and PN group treated with LPLT. The study was conducted for 8 weeks. The management of PN was estimated by behavioral tests which included hot plate and Morris water maze tests. Blood biochemical analysis were carried out. RESULTS: Using of hot plate test indicated thermal hypoalgesia and using Morris water maze test showed cognitive decline in PN rats. Treatment with LPLT or gabapentin improved both the pain sensations and deteriorated memory that occurred in the PN rats. Biochemical analysis showed that LPLT significantly decreased the elevated beta-endorphin level in PN rats, while gabapentin could not reduce it. Treatment PN rats with LPLT or gabapentin shifted the high levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-10 cytokines back to their normal values. Serum nitric oxide and MDA significantly increased in the PN group together with significant reduction in the rGSH level, these values were significantly improved by LPLT application while this was not the case with gabapentin treatment. Furthermore, treatment with gabapentin or LPLT significantly reduced serum ALAT and ASAT activities which are otherwise increased in the PN group. S100B, PGE2, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, urea and creatinine showed insignificant changes among all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that treatment with LPLT is more efficient than gabapentin in ameliorating the peripheral neuropathy induced by xenobiotics.

Efficiencies of Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and Gabapentin in the Management of Peripheral Neuropathy: Diabetic Neuropathy.

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is the highly occurred complication of diabetes mellitus; it has been defined as an event of peripheral nerve dysfunction characterized by pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia, and paraesthesia. The current study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in the management of neuropathy in diabetic rats. The used animals were divided into the following groups: negative control, streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, and diabetic rats with peripheral neuropathy (DNP) and DNP treated with gabapentin or with LLLT. Behavioral tests were carried out through hotplate test for the determination of pain sensations and the Morris water maze test for spatial reference memory evaluation. Blood samples were collected at the end of treatment for biochemical determinations. In the current study, the latency of hind-paw lick decreased significantly when DNP are treated with gabapentin or LLLT. The Morris water maze test showed that LLLT treatment improved memory that deteriorated in DNP more than gabapentin do. The results of the biochemical study revealed that LLLT could not affect the level of beta-endorphin that decreased in DNP but significantly decreased S100B that rose in DNP. PGE2 and cytokines IL-1ß, IL-10, and TNF-α showed significant increase in DNP compared with control group. The gabapentin administration or LLLT application significantly reversed the levels of the mentioned markers towards the normal values of the controls. Levels of serum MDA and nitric oxide increased significantly in the DNP but rGSH showed significant decrease. These markers were improved significantly when the DNP were treated with gabapentin or LLLT. The treatment with gabapentin or LLLT significantly decreased the raised level in total cholesterol in DNP but could not decrease the elevated level of triglycerides, while LDL cholesterol decreased significantly in DNP treated with gabapentin but not affected by LLLT. Values of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), urea, and creatinine increased significantly in the DPN and diabetic rats without peripheral neuropathy (PN) compared with control group. The treatment of DNP with gabapentin induced significant increases in ALAT and ASAT activities but LLLT treatment induced significant decreases in ALAT and ASAT activities as compared with DNP group. Neither gabapentin nor LLLT could improve the elevated levels of serum urea and creatinine in the DNP. It could be concluded that LLLT is more safe and effective than gabapentin in the management of neuropathy in diabetic rats.