ABSTRACT
Andrographis paniculata has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb for the treatment of various ailments. The present study was aimed to investigate the possible effect of A. paniculata extract on male sexual behavior parameters and sex hormone levels. Fifty Sprague Dawley male rats received 50% ethanolic extract of A. paniculata by gavaging for 10 weeks at the doses of 0.5, 1, 10, 100, 1000 mg/kg, while another 10 male rats were given distilled water. Sexual behavior study was carried out on day 45thof treatment by pairing with a naturally receptive female (1:1). At the end of treatment period, the male rats were sacrificed by ethyl ether inhalation. The bloods were centrifuged to obtain serum for determination of hormone levels. Results showed that sexual behavior parameters in treatment groups were found to be comparable with that of the control indicating no effect on sexual motivation and performance. Treatment of A. paniculata was significantly increased serum testosterone level, while FSH and LH concentrations remained statistically unchanged at any of the dose levels. Based on these findings, ingestion of A. paniculata did not induce any adverse effect on sexual behavior and improvement of testosterone observed might be contributed for therapeutic use of this plant as sex enhancer.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Clonality detection through amplifying immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) gene rearrangements by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a useful tool in diagnosis of various B-lymphoid malignancies. Immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement can be an optimal target for clonality detection in B-lymphoid malignancies. In the present study, we evaluated the presence of IGH gene rearrangement in non B-cell haemato-oncologypatients including T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL), acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML) and biphenotypic leukaemia. METHODS: We studied 18 cases of haematological malignancies which comprised five patients with TALL, 12 patients with AML and one with biphenotypic leukaemia. RESULTS: We found that the incidence of IGH gene rearrangement in T-ALL and AML were three (60%) and two (16.7%), respectively. The patient with biphenotypic leukaemia was negative for IGH gene rearrangement. CONCLUSION: Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement, which occurs in almost all haematological malignancies of B-cell lineage, also presents in a very small proportion of T-cell or myeloid malignancies.
OBJETIVO: La detección de la clonalidad mediante amplificación de los reordenamientos del gen de la cadena pesada (IGH) de inmunoglobulina por reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (RCP) es una herramienta útil en el diagnóstico de varios tumores malignos linfoides de células B. El reordenamiento del gen de la cadena pesada de inmunoglobulina puede ser un objetivo óptimo de la detección de la clonalidad en tumores malignos linfoides de células B. En el presente estudio, se evaluó la presencia de reordenamiento del gen IGH en pacientes de hemato-oncología de células no B, incluyendo la leucemia linfoblástica aguda de células T (LLA-T), leucemia mieloblástica aguda (LMA), y leucemia bifenotípica. MÉTODOS: Se estudiaron 18 casos de neoplasias malignas hematológicas que abarcaron cinco pacientes con (LLA-T), 12pacientes con AML y uno con leucemia bifenotípica. CONCLUSIÓN: Reordenamiento del gen de la inmunoglobulina que ocurre en casi todas las neoplasias malignas hematológicas del linaje de las células B, también se presenta en una proporción muy pequeña de células T o las neoplasias mieloides.