Toxic effects of acrylamide on the prostate of adult male albino rats and the role of pretreatment with vitamin C: immunohistochemical and DNA electrophoresis study

Acrylamide [AA] is a widely studied industrial chemical that is neurotoxic and mutagenic to somatic and germ cells. A considerable public concern about cancer risk from acrylamide-rich foods followed the announcement that high concentrations of acrylamide are found in starch-containing foods cooked at high temperatures. Data concerning the toxic effect and DNA damage of acrylamide in the prostate are still scarce, so the aim of this work tries to prove the toxic effect of acrylamide on the prostate by using histological and immunohistochemical studies, and to determine its potential mutagenic effect on DNA of the prostatic cells. The possible antimutagenic effect of ascorbic acid is also evaluated in this study. The experimental study was conducted on sixty adult male albino rats. Twenty adult control male albino rats [group I] subdivided into two subgroups, a and b, received distilled water and vitamin C orally. The experimental group [group II] is divided equally into four subgroups: a, b, c, and d. Each group consists of ten rats, receiving acrylamide in a dose of 30 mg/Kg/day and 60 mg/Kg/day in subgroup II [a] and subgroup II [b] respectively. Subgroup II [c] and Subgroup II [d] received vitamin C in dose of 100 mg/kg /day one hour prior to acrylamide ingestion in a dose of 30 mg/Kg/day and 60 mg/Kg/day respectively for four weeks The histological picture of the prostate in experimental subgroup II a revealed signs of dysplasia in the form of nuclear pleomorphism, loss of nuclear polarity, enlarged nucleus with evident nucleolus and discontinuity of the basal cell layer. Some acini showed hyperplasia of its epithelial lining with apparent increase in stromal thickness. Rats in subgroup II b were presented with post atrophic hyperplasia in the form of atrophy and thinning of the epithelial lining of some acini. Focal areas of acinar hyperplasia with discontinuity of the basal cell layer were present. On pretreatment with vitamin C, the prostate showed apparent improvement of the epithelial cells height in subgroups II c and d. Immunohistochemical stained sections of acrylamide treated groups revealed estrogen receptor alpha [ER alpha] expressed as heavily brown dots in the prostatic stroma and in many nuclei of the acinar epithelial cells .The groups treated with vitamin C prior to acrylamide showed a slight decreased in ER alpha expression than groups treated with acrylamide alone. A significant increase in DNA damage was present in rats treated with 30 mg/kg/day acrylamide. Increasing the dose of acrylamide to 60 mg/kg/day led to significant increase in DNA damage of prostatic cells. Administration of vitamin C prior to acrylamide resulted in a significant decrease in DNA damage. It is concluded that acrylamide toxicity in adult male albino rat prostate [which was clarified by histological, immunohistochemical studies and DNA electrophoresis] had a direct dose response relationship and its association with acinar dysplasia serves as a warning that concurrent malignancy may exist. Vitamin C proved to have a protective role when received before exposure to acrylamide

Identification of lipstick smear by energydispersive X-ray analysis and spectrophotometer

Lipstick smear is one of the most frequently encountered trace evidence at the crime scene. It is one of the variable samples to prove the relationship between the suspect and victim or the crime scene. So, the present study was done on 100 different types of lipstick. In this study a combination between visual comparison, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and spectrophotometer have been shown to be suitable for analysis, characterization and discrimination of small quantities of lipsticks, which may be encountered in forensic field. Visual comparison of lipstick smears in the present study classified them into six groups; light red, 22 samples; dark red, 20; pink, 18; orange, 4; light brown, 15 and dark brown, 21. By energy dispersive X-ray analysis, the present study revealed 10 elements such as Aluminum, Silicon, Sulphur, Chloride, Potassium, Calcium; Titanium, Iron, Cupper and Zinc. The level of each element differed in different types of lipstick smears. Spectrophotometeric analysis of lipsticks revealed an absorption spectrum ranging between [200-800nm], providing a fingerprint for qualitatively identifying the lipsticks. Also this method was used for quantitative analysis purposes. The amount of visible light or other radiant energy absorbed by a lipstick solution was measured; it depended on the concentration [50 ug/ml, 100 ug/ml, 150 ug/ml], which gave different absorbance levels in the same wavelength. The present study concluded that spectrophotometric method could be applied to traces from lipstick smears. Simultaneous measurement of transmittance profiles in visible and ultra violet regions enabled us not only to evaluate their colours in visible region but also to clarify the chemicals by the transmittance profiles in ultra violet region, because the latter region reflects the characteristics of dyestuffs. On the other hand, the non-destructive method [energy dispersive X-ray analysis] was more suitable for identification of trace amount of lipsticks for forensic investigation because X-rays analysis was performed directly on materials bearing the stain