Effect of glycyrrhizin on lipopolysaccharide/D-galactosamine induced acute hepatitis in albino rats: a histological and immunohistochemical study

Acute liver diseases constitute a global concern. Medical treatments for these diseases have limited efficacy. Lipopolysaccharide [LPS] and D-galactosamine [D-GaIN] cause hepatic failure in rodents. Glycyrrhizin [GL] was reported to treat increased serum aminotransferase activity in chronic hepatitis. However, its role in acute hepatitis remains unclear. To investigate the protective and curative effect of GL in an animal model of acute hepatitis. Thirty adult male albino rats were divided into five groups: group I = control group, group II = LPS/D-GaIN-induced hepatitis model, group III = treated with GL 1/2 h before LPS/o-GaIN injection, groups IV = treated 1/2 h after LPS/D-GaIN, and group V = treated 4 h after LPS/D-GaIN. Serum ALT and AST levels were assayed. Animals were killed by decapitation. Livers were processed for histological and immunohistochemical studies. The results were statistically analyzed. This study revealed hepatocellular degeneration, and many hepatocytes exhibited apoptosis-like features after LPS/D-GaIN administration. Pretreatment with GL significantly improved this microscopic picture, whereas posttreatment with GL also reduced the effects of LPS/D-GaIN, but this reduction decreased with the time of administration. There was a significant increase in caspase-3-immunolabeled hepatocytes and in tumor necrosis factor alpha-immunolabeled Kupffer cells in group II compared with the control, whereas a significant decrease was observed in groups III and IV, and to a lesser extent in group V compared with group II [all P<0.05]. Serum levels of ALT and AST showed a significant increase in group II compared with the control, whereas a significant decrease was observed in groups III and IV, and to a lesser extent in group V [all P<0.05], which was in harmony with the histological results. This study. provides evidence for the protective and curative effect of GL against LPS/D-GaIN-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects of GL evidently provide a new insight in treating acute hepatitis

Upregulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase in rat hippocampus in a model of Alzheimer's disease: a possible mechanism of aluminium induced Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease attacks the brain causing gradual memory loss. Alzheimer's brain showed excess beta amyloid protein and neurofibrillary tangles, containing deposition of aluminium. Increasing evidence suggests that many neurons may die through apoptosis in Alzheimer's. Inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS] derived nitric oxide [NO] has been implicated in this process of neuronal cell death and apoptosis. Aluminium is considered a potential etiological factor in Alzheimer's disease and was used to produce an animal model of Alzheimer's. However, the exact mechanisms of aluminium induced Alzheimer's and neurotoxicity remain largely unknown. The present study was carried out to investigate the profile of the expression of iNOS in the hippocampus in an animal model of Alzheimer's produced by aluminium administration. Twenty four adult male albino rats were divided equally into four groups. Group I was the untreated control, groups II, III and IV were given aluminium chloride [300 mg/kg body weight] orally daily for one week, two and four weeks, respectively. At the end of the experiment, rats were killed by decapitation under brief anaesthesia. The brains were removed and processed for immunohistochemistry using antibody raised against iNOS. Results: By comparison to the untreated control, aluminium treated rats showed significant [P<0.05] increase in the expression of iNOS in the hippocampus. The expression was mainly neuronal and was seen in all areas. Additionally. administration of aluminium for four weeks caused marked histological changes with significant [P <0.05] reduction in hippocampus neuronal number and distortion of neuronal morphology. These data provide further evidence that exposure to aluminium may contribute to pathogenesis of Alzheimer 's and neurotoxicity by induction ofiNOS with subsequent increase in NO production that potentiate neuronal cell death in hippocampus

Effect of experimentaly induced diabetes on the rat's heart: influence of tocopherol as antioxidant [a morphological and a morphometric study]

The present work aimed to study the effect of vitamin E supplementation on diabetic cardiomyopathy. This was achieved by comparing the normal control group [group I], alloxan induced diabetic group [group II] versus vitamin E-treated diabetic group III. This was clarified by studying these groups as regards cardiomyocytes, connective tissue matrix and blood vessels [coronary arteries and capillaries] in an attempt to find out if this vitamin could protect against diabetic cardiomyopathy. The following parameters were measured for all groups: non fasting blood glucose levels; plasma tocopherol concentrations, body and heart weight. For histological study of the myocardium, all animals were subjected to the following techniques: morphometric study for the myofiber diameters and the numerical densities of blood capillaries/ mm[2] of the examined tissues, paraffin sections stained with HX and E, Masson's trichrome and PAS, cryostate sections stained with succinic dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase, and ultrastructural study. There was a significant increase in non fasting blood glucose levels [370 +/- 55mg/dL] in group II animals if compared with that [100 +/- 20 mg/dL] of group 1 healthy animals. While in alloxan diabetic /vitamin E treated group III the non fasting blood glucose levels were [180 +/- 30 mg/dl] not too higher than that in group I. Plasma tocopherol concentrations for group III animals [12.7 +/- 0.5 mg/dl] were significantly increased of about 66 +/- 0.14 percent more than that [8.4 +/- 0.4 mg/dl] in the control group I. This means that the concentration of Eocopherol in the plasma was significantly influenced by feeding the animals a vitamin E-enriched diet for 16 weeks starting soon after inducing diabetes. This vitamin E- enriched diet used for group III animals nearly preserved both body and heart weights, which were significantly reduced in diabetic animals fed on the standard diet. Morphometric study showed a significant decrease in myofiber diameter observed in focal areas of the myocardium of alloxan diabetic rats. The cause of this result could be attributed to focal structural alterations affecting the cardiomyocytes. These structural changes included disorganization of the myofibrils at the Z lines, transverse tearing and distortion of intercalated discs and presence of contraction bands. There were also deterioration and fragmentation of myofilaments leading to loss of cross and longitudinal striations, crestolysis of mitochondria and cytoplasmic vacuolation. The intramural coronary arteries had thickened basement membranes and thickened walls due to deposition of more collagen fibers in their adventitia, and these changes might impair their elasticity and elastic recoil. These stressed blood vessels often lead to myocardial ischemia due to impairment of blood flow. The interstitial blood capillaries in the myocardium of diabetic group II showed an increase in their numerical densities /mm[2][CD[s]]. This increase was about 5 +/- 0.06 percent more than that in the control group I. This increase in CDs could be owed to the need to maintain good microvascularity, even in diabetic state, to protect the myocardium from ischemic damage. Many, not all of these capillaries appeared partially collapsed with thickened basement membranes. This was due to increase in the amount of connective tissue fibers especially collagen in the precapillary locations. These collapsed capillaries were observed to retain blood in their lumena, and this indicated that these capillaries impeded the influx of blood. The endothelial cells lining these capillaries appeared swollen and rich in biosynthetic organelles e.g. rER, ribosomes, mitochondria and Golgi bodies with the associated vesicles. This explains the effort exerted by these cells to synthesize new fibers added to their basement membranes in an attempt to compensate the degenerative changes associated with diabetes. Tocopherol acetate-enriched diet used instead of the standard diet to feed diabetic animals of group III was cardio protective and largely prevented severe alterations of myocardial structure typically observed after an alloxan diabetes duration of 16 weeks [group II]. Deterioration and fragmentation of myofilaments were seen less, the areas of degeneration and of contraction bands were clearly reduced, the abundant collagen fiber deposits especially at precapillary locations and in the wall of coronaries were significantly reduced. It could be concluded that the oxidative stress plays a significant role in the disturbances of cardiac structure in diabetes. Antioxidants such as alpha tocopherol are able to prevent these adverse effects despite the elevated blood glucose levels. It seems likely that adjuvant treatment with antioxidants is needed to maintain a healthy balance in diabetic patients with multiple complications. Therefore it would seem wise to supplement all diabetics with vitamin E either from natural or medicinal sources to retard or even prevent the occurrence of complications especially cardiomyopathy

Effect of hemicircumferential periosteal release on growth of long bone [clinical, experimental and histopathological study]

Clinical, experimental and histopathological studies were done on fifteen patients and four rabbits to illustrate the effect of hemicircumferential periosteal release on the growth of long bones. The clinical material included fifteen patients with bow legs deformity, their ages ranged between 2-5 years [with an average of 3.5 years] and the experimental material included four rabbits, each was five weeks of age. The procedure was done on ten patients [five were considered as control cases] and four rabbits [one leg operated and the other leg is considered as the control case]. The results were encouraging, correction of Bow legs occurred within 6-8 months after operation. Also, growth changes occurred in tibia of experimental animals and histopathological changes were observed in the growth plate adjacent to the divided periosteum

Histological variations in the somatic lymph nodes of young dog and rabbit

The somatic lymph nodes [cervical, brachial, axillary, inguinal, popliteal and gluteal] from two animal species; dog and rabbit of one month old were examined microscopically seeking to verify eventual structural variations. The results revealed that the main differences between the somatic nodes of the dog and rabbit were the more compact appearance of the nodes of the latter than those of the former. This was in part due to the predominance of the cortex over the medulla in most of the nodes. The nodes of the dog also showed more thicker capsule and thicker trabeculee. Another prominent variation between the nodes of the two species was the dense reticular stroma in the nodes of the dog. Whereas, in the rabbit the reticular fibers restricted in fine and few amount in the thin trabeculae. There were also variations among the different types of the somatic lymph nodes in the dog and in the rabbit. However, none of these deviations affected the fundamental structure of the lymph nodes. The cervical and gluteal lymph nodes were not observed in the examined dogs