Freshly crushed black seeds showed good protective effect during tumour induction and radiotherapy in rats

The present study was conducted to evaluate the potency of Nigella sativa freshly crushed seeds [0.42 g/kg body weight] or oil [2.5 ml/kg body weight] for preventing tumor induction through exposure of rats to a common pollutant [1, 4- Dioxane] as a tumor promoter under condition of the presence of an initiator [N-nitrosodiethylamine]. The antitumor effect was evaluated alone or in combination with low doses of irradiation as a route of cancer treatment. Female Swiss albino rats were administered orally twice weekly with Nigella sativa before and during exposure of rats to the carcinogenic compounds. Animals were exposed to 3 doses of radiation [3 Gy/dose] day after day 2 weeks before the end of the experiment. The animals were sacrificed after one week of radiation. Homocysteine, glutathione, lipid peroxide, GammaGT activity, and albumin levels were estimated in blood after 7 and 12 months from the start of the experiment. Rats injected with the carcinogenic compounds showed marked elevation in homocysteine, GammaGT activity, and lipid peroxide levels accompanied by a significant decrease in glutathione, and albumin levels. Pretreatment with Nigella sativa alone or combined with Gamma-irradiation potentially reversed the investigated parameters. Freshly crushed seeds gave more pronounced protection than the oil extract. it is advisable to use freshly crushed seeds of Nigella sativa during irradiation treatment in cancer patients

Nuclear factor KAPPA-B, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and the transforming growth factor-beta as biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma on top of HCV infection

The current study was aimed to investigate the usefulness of nuclear factor kappa- B [NF- kB] expression, tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF- alpha] and the transforming growth factor-beta [TGF-beta1] as markers in prediction and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] on top of HCV. The current study was performed on 30 male Egyptian patients, their age ranged from 43 to 74. Twenty patients with hepatitis C virus'related hepatocellular carcinoma [HCV-related HCC] with no evidence of extrahepatic metastasis or hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and 10 Egyptian patients with chronic active hepatitis C virus, with matched age and sex. All patients were infected with HCV genotype-4a. Fasting blood samples were collected from all subjects [10 ml each]. 1 ml was added onto EDTA for immediate extraction of NF- kB RNA. The serum was used for the qualitative determination of HCV antibodies, quantitative determination of HCV-RNA by PCR, quantitative determination of the bio-markers [AFP-TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1], as well as quantitative determination alanine aminotransferase [ALT] and albumin. Results revealed a non significant change in HCV-RNA and ALT in HCV-related HCC patients compared to HCV infected patients. Whereas, TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, AFP and NF-kB were increased significantly in HCV-related HCC patients compared to HCV infected patients. Stepwise multi-regression analysis showed that NF- kB [more than 1.49 fold change] with TGF-beta [more than 8438 pg/ml] together are the most sensitive predictors for HCC. NF- kB, TGF- beta are the most sensitive predictors for HCC on top of HCV

Sequence analysis of the hepatitis C virus non-structural 5A region [NS5A] in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

The current study was aimed to analyze the sequence of hepatitis C virus non-structural 5A region [NS5A] from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] on top of hepatitis C virus and compare these sequences with those of hepatitis C virus non-structural 5A region [NS5A] from patients with chronic active hepatitis C virus to characterize the similarity and/or differences between the two groups. This study included 20 male Egyptian patients, their age ranged from 43 to 74, with hepatitis C virus _ related hepatocellular carcinoma [HCV-related HCC] and no evidence of extrahepatic metastasis. All were negative for hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg]. All patients were HCV genotype-4a. Ten Egyptian patients with chronic active hepatitis C virus with matched age and sex were also included as reference group. Serum samples were collected for HCVRNA extraction, amplification and sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed that 11 patients out of 20 [55%] of the HCV-related HCC group harbored a wild-type strain sequence of NS5A region [Accession # NP