Effect of combinations of aspirin and metformin therapy on liver function tests and inflammatory mediators in experimental diabetic rats

Individuals with diabetes have a higher incidence of liver function tests abnormalities than normal individuals. There is a strong relationship between inflammatory markers and metabolic disturbances in diabetes. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of adding aspirin as an anti-inflammatory drug to oral hypoglycemic agent metformin on blood glucose, liver function, lipid profile and inflammatory mediators in diabetic male albino rats. 120 Adult male albino rats were divided into six equal groups: control health, control diabetic, diabetic rats treated with insulin, diabetic rats treated with metformin, diabetic rats treated with aspirin and diabetic rats treated with metformin and aspirin. Blood was obtained to assess serum glucose level, liver function tests, lipid profiles and the inflammatory mediators interlukin-6 [IL-6]. The group treated with metformin plus aspirin has a higher controlling effect on total cholesterol, triglyceride, low and high density lipoproteins and IL-6 levels than other groups. The group treated with insulin has a better controlling effect on liver function tests than other groups. Combination of aspirin and metformin has better controlling effect on lipid profile and inflammatory mediators than metformin alone

Effects of acute and chronic maternal deprivation on hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis in rat pups with hyperthyroidal mothers

Hyperthyroidism is a common endocrine problem encountered in human pregnancy. It is well known that hyperthyroidism induces an increase in the activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis. Between the age of 4 and 14 days, the HPA axis of the rat displays a relative stress hyporesponsive period [SHRP]. There are no reports about development of the HPA axis in rat pups of hyperthyroid mothers. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effects of acute and chronic maternal deprivation on their pups HPA axis function of hyperthyroid mothers and the influence of treatment administration to hypothyroid mothers from conception to the end of experiment. 30 adult female rats were used after induction of pregnancy and hyperthyroidism. Maternal deprivation for 24 hours was done at two different ages during postnatal development at mid and outside the SHRP. Also, repeated maternal deprivation was done in another group. Now, pups groups are: Control deprived, control non deprived, treated deprived, treated non deprived, nontreated deprived and nontreated nondeprived. The plasma thyroxin [T4] levels of treated deprived groups were significantly lower than non treated groups, while, plasma thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH] levels of treated groups were significantly higher than non treated deprived groups. There is no significant difference in plasma T4 between control and treated nondeprived group. There is no significant difference in plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotropin hormone [ACTH] in treated deprived in comparison to treated nondeprived at postnatal day 9 and with repeated maternal deprivation. With repeated deprivation plasma corticosterone levels were not different in nontreated deprived group in comparison with the nontreated nondeprived group. Maternal deprivation in rats with hyperthyroidal mother depended on the age of pups at which procedure is applied

Renovascular protective effects of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor "Ramipril" and the angiotensin receptor blocker "osartan" on experimentally diabetic rats

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases in the world. It has the potential to cause many complications such as increased blood pressure, disturbance in the kidney functions and elevation of blood lipids.. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the possible renal and vascular protective effects of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor [ACEI], ramipril, as well as the selective angiotensin II receptor blocker [AIIRB], losartan, and the combination of both drugs in diabetic rats. We used 50 rats divided into 5 groups: control, diabetic control and three other diabetic groups each was treated by one of the described drug regimen. Systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, renal function tests, lipid/profile and histopathological examinations were performed to all the groups. Our results revealed that after'6eeks of treatment with rarnipril, losartan, and ramipril plus losartan, there was a significant decrease in the systolic blood pressure [SBP]. When we analyzed the obtained data, we found that the described drug groups had a renoprotective effects in diabetes meilitus. In addition, there were significant decrease in serum triglyceride, and low density lipoprotein [LDL], while serum high density lipoprotein [HDL] was increased as compared with diabetic control group. However, the intensity of changes produced by losartan was of greater extent than that produced by ramipril. The combination of ramipril plus losartan proved to be superior on the two other separate drugs