Morphological study of the renal corpuscles under the effect of long-term alpha interferon therapy. an experimental study on rates

The alpha interferon has been increasingly used in the treatment of many types of malignancies. Recently, its use in the management of hepatitis B and C virus infections has been emphasized. However, many interrogations about its role in the production of pathological changes in the kidney have been raised. The present study was undertaken to clarify the light microscopic and three-dimensional ultra structural alteration in the kidney of rat after long-term alpha interferon administration. Twenty-four rats were used in this study, they were divided into two groups. The rats of the first group were injected with alpha interferon [150,000 units/kg body weight] subcutaneously for five weeks, while the rats of the other group were used as control. Diversity of morphological changes was observed in the surface features of both glomeruli and Bowman's capsules following alpha interferon administration. Also, changes of the podocyte cell bodies and their foot processes as well as in the parietal epithelial cells of the Bowman capsules were noted. These abnormal changes might account for the altered glomerular function that occurred after alpha interferon treatment. It was concluded that the alpha interferon per se could produce renal damage. Therefore, attention should be paid to the dose and duration of its use in the different conditions

Effect of combined administration of caffeine and nicotione on the liver structure: experimental study in rats [small letters]

This study used sixty-five adult male rats, they were divided into four groups. The first group included twenty rats; fifteen of them were given intraperitoneal injection of caffeine [100 mg/Kg body weight/day], while the other five rats were injected with an equivalent amount of saline only. The second group included also twenty rats; fifteen of them were given nicotine intraperitoneally[2 mg/kg body weight/day], while the other five rats were injected with an equivalent amount of saline only. The third group included also twenty rats; fifteen of them were given both caffeine and nicotine intraperitoneally at the same doses as above, while the other five rats were injected with equivalent amount of saline only. The fourth group included five rats that were served as a negative control. The rats of all groups were sacrificed after four weeks, liver specimens were taken and processed for both light and electron microscopic examination. Variable morphological changes were observed in the livers of caffeine and nicotine-treated rats. These changes were in the form of fatty degeneration, vacuolar appearance and inflammatory cellular infiltration, depletion of glycogen content, hemorrhagic lesions and sometimes pyknotic cells; such effects were more severe than when each drug was given singly

Scanning electron microscopic study of the gastric antral mucosa in patients with duodenogastric reflux [with special reference to the therapeutic effect of cisapride]

This study was carried out on ten volunteer subjects who did not have any gastroduodenal disease versus 30 patients who had increased duodenogastric reflux before and after two months treatment by a prokinetic drug cisapride. This drug was known to stimulate the antral motility and decrease biliary reflux. The results concluded that the increased gastric bile acids content in the patients with duodenogastric reflux was the main factor in the pathogenesis of the antral mucosa damage. In addition, this damage could be markedly eliminated upon the use of drugs that decrease the biliary reflux to the stomach