Ameliorative or corrective effects of Fig "Ficus carica" extract on nickel-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats.

Many heavy metals and metalloids (e.g., Pb, Cd, and Ni) can contaminate the environment and cause severe health problems. Through this study, investigated the possible corrective effects of Ficus carica extract (FCE) against nickel (Ni) induced stress response and damage on the liver of rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups (8 rats per group) and co-treated with FCE (350 mg/kg) and exposed to Nickel chloride (10 mg/kg) for 4 weeks. The volatile compounds of FCE were characterized by solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) coupled with GC-MS, and the biochemical parameters of stress were determined. The SPME-GC/MS analysis of FCE indicated the presence of thirty (30) phyto-bioactive compounds including alcohols, aldehydes, organic acids, ketones, furans, terpenes, ester and others. The best capacity for scavenging DPPH free radicals and metal chelating were found with the IC50 values of 0.49 and 2.91 mg/mL, respectively. Ni induced damage to various macromolecules. Malondialdehyde, protein carbonyls, alanine aminotransferase and gamma glutamyl transferarse levels were significantly increased in Ni exposed group compared to control group and co-treatment with FCE reduced the levels of these parameters. In conclusion, current findings showed that Ni-induced oxidative damage and the administration of FCE can improve correct and restore the alteration in the rat liver.

Effect of IL-1ß and IL-1RN polymorphisms in carcinogenesis of the gastric mucosa in patients infected with Helicobacter pylori in Algeria.

BACKGROUND: Infection with Helicobacter pylori is considered a potential risk of developing gastric cancer in association with contributing host genetic factor. IL-1ß and IL-1RN polymorphisms appear to maintain and promote Helicobacter pylori infection and to stimulate neoplastic growth of the gastric mucosa. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: In order to elucidate the effect of these polymorphisms in combination with gastric cancer in a population from northwestern Algeria, a case-control study was carried out on 79 patients infected with H. pylori with chronic atrophic gastritis and/or gastric carcinoma, and 32 subjects were recruited as case-control. IL-1ß-31 bi-allelic and IL-1ß-511 bi-allelic polymorphisms and IL-1RN penta-allelic were genotyped. RESULTS: IL-1ß-31C was associated with an increased risk of developing gastric carcinoma (OR=4.614 [1.43-14.81], p=0.01). However, IL-1RN2 heterozygous allele type was significantly associated with chronic atrophic gastritis (OR=4.2 [1.23-3.61], p=0.022). IL-1ß-511T was associated with an increased risk of development of chronic atrophic gastritis (OR=4.286 [1.54-11.89], p=0.005). CONCLUSION: IL-1ß and IL-1RN polymorphisms associated with H. pylori infection contribute to the development of chronic atrophic gastritis and gastric carcinomas in an Algerian population. The alleles IL-1ß-31C and IL-1RN were associated with an increased risk of developing gastric carcinoma, and IL-1ß-511T with an increased risk of developing chronic atrophic gastritis with no significant association of developing gastric carcinoma.

Gastrointestinal lymphoma in Western Algeria: pattern of distribution and histological subtypes (retrospective study).

BACKGROUND: Primary gastrointestinal (GI) lymphomas (GIL) are uncommon diseases that can involve the whole GI tract. Considerable variation exists in the literature with respect to incidence of the various histological subtypes and sites of involvement. This study was undertaken to establish the anatomic distribution, histological subtypes and sites of GI lymphomas of patients from Western Algeria. METHODS: The case records of 58 consecutive patients with GIL diagnosed at the Pathologies Departments of Algerian west region (the Military Hospital of Oran city and the Central University Hospital of Sidi Bel Abbes city) from January 2006 to December 2013 were retrospectively evaluated for epidemiology and histopathology report. All lymphomas were reclassified according to the WHO 2008 classification. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients (39 male, 19 female) with mean age of 61 years and a range of 20-89 years were included in this study. Stomach was the most common site involved (70.7%). The commonest histological subtype was mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) B cell lymphoma (46.6%), followed by diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) (43.1%).The frequency of Helicobacter pylori (HP) positivity differ between gastric and intestinal location P=0.003 and correlates with the histological type P=0.01. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study of patients with GI lymphoma from Western Algeria illustrates the pattern of distribution of various common and rare histological subtypes. More studies are necessary to find a potential cause, risk factor or genetic mutation that can explain these specific characteristics of GIL.