Protective effect of α-lipoic acid against α-cypermethrin-induced changes in rat cerebellum.

Alfa cypermethrin is a pyrethroids extensively used as ectoparasiticide in domestic animals, insecticidal spray on cotton, vegetables and other crops and to kill cockroaches, fleas and termites in house and other buildings. Previous studies have shown the adverse effect of α -cypermethrin on brain. This study was planned to evaluate the possible role of α-lipoic acid in α -cypermethrin induced toxicity in brain of male albino rats. Rats were divided into four groups. The control, α-cypermethrin, α-lipoic acid and α -cypermethrin plus α-lipoic acid treated groups. The duration of the experiment was four weeks. Our results showed that the administration of α-cypermethrin caused a significant decreased in γ- aminobutyric acid level, acetylcholinesterase, catalase, superoxide dismutase activities and increase in lipid peroxidation in cerebellum. Furthermore, the co-administration of α-lipoic acid mitigates the toxicity of α-cypermethrin by partially normalizing the biochemical parameters. The biochemical observations were supported by histopathological examinations. The findings of this investigation suggest that α-lipoic acid may play a protective role against α-cypermethrin induced toxicity in cerebellum of treated rats.

Removal of heavy metals via adsorption on activated carbon synthesized from solid wastes.

The huge quantity of date pits as solid waste byproduct in Saudi Arabia pose a problem as they are difficult to biodegrade. The potential of using date pits as a cheap precursor to prepare activated carbons was investigated. Steam as well as zinc chloride activated carbons were prepared from dates pit. The textural properties, including surface area, mean pore radius and total pore volume, were determined from the adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K. FT-IR spectroscopy and base neutralization capacity were used to determine the surface groups. The adsorption of Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ was studied in equilibrium method. FT-IR investigation of un-activated carbons identified phenolic, lactonic, -O-H, quinonic and carboxylate groups. For steam and zinc chloride activated carbons, some of the adsorption bands either disappeared or become less predominant, depending on the acidic or basic nature of the surface. The measurements of BNC indicated that steam activated carbons were predominately basic, while zinc chloride activated carbons exhibited acidic nature. Physical and chemical activation increase the porosity and thereby develop a higher surface area. The adsorption of Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ followed the order Pb2+ > Cu2+ > Cd2+. Zinc chloride activated carbons had a higher adsorption power compared with steam activated carbons. The adsorption behavior was affected by the textural and chemistry of the surface.