Effects of snake venom from Saudi cobrras and vipers on hormonal levels in peripheral blood

Knowledge about the effects of snake venoms on endocrine glands in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA] is meager. The aim of the present study is to investigate the acute and chronic envenomation from 4 snakes out of 8 species of Saudi Cobras and Vipers on the tissues of endocrine glands and peripheral hormonal levels in male rats. The peripheral blood levels of 4 hormones mainly testosterone, cortisol, insulin and thyroxin were investigated in male Wistar rats following acute and chronic treatment of the rats with poisonous snake venoms at the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between September 2000 to May 2001. Using radio immunoassay for hormonal analysis, a rise in testosterone levels in peripheral blood was obtained following acute treatment, which is due to the effect of the venoms on vascular permeability and increased blood flow. In contrast, the chronic treatment with venoms resulted in a delayed effect on vascular permeability and testicular degeneration resulting in a decreased blood flow and a significant drop in testosterone concentration. Cortisol levels were no different from the controls during acute treatment but it demonstrates gradual rise following chronic treatment to withstand the stress imposed on the animals. Similar results were obtained for insulin, which showed normal values with acute treatment but decreased levels of chronic treatment suggesting insulin insufficiently. Likewise, the thyroxin levels were decreased with chronic treatment suggesting a toxic effect of the poison on the rich blood supply of the thyroid follicles with a subsequent decrease in blood flow to the tissues and therefore, decreased thyroid hormone levels. The effects of venom toxicity on testosterone levels were either normal or stimulatory with acute treatment or inhibitory with chronic treatment depending on the vascular blood flow and testicular degeneration. Cortisol levels were normal at acute treatment but showed a gradual rise reflecting the stress imposed on the animals. The rise in cortisol levels was visualized to potentiate the cardiovascular and metabolic changes. The effects on insulin and thyroxin were similar to those of testosterone level showing normal or stimulatory effect with acute treatment followed by decreased levels of hormones with chronic treatment

Effects of chronic nicotine administration on male fertility in albino rats [an experimental study]

This work was designed to investigate the effects of intraperitoneal administration of nicotine in different doses over a period of 60 days on the fertility of adult male albino rats. Ninety-four adult male albino rats were used in this study and divided into four groups: A control group of ten rats received saline only and three test groups each containing 28 rats. Each of the test groups received a different dose of nicotine [0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 mg/kg b. w., respectively, every other day for 60 days]. Each group was further subdivided into three subgroups; the first [14 rats] was sacrificed immediately after 60 days, while the second and third subgroups [seven rats each] were sacrificed one and two weeks after stopping nicotine therapy. By the end of the experiment, blood samples were obtained from sacrificed rats and used for hormonal assay [testosterone and leutinizing hormone levels]. Then, the rats were subjected to epididymal spermatozoal examination and histopathological study of their testes. The results were presented and discussed

Some clinical and endocrinological studies in insulin dependent diabetics during pubertal development

Seventy five diabetic children 50 males and 25 females were selected from the out-patient clinics of the pupils hospital, the University Children's Hospital in Mounira and the Institute for Diabetes in Kasr El-Aini. These children were classified according to a modification of Tanner [1] for pubertal staging. An equal number of healthy school children in the same pubertal stages were included in this study. Blood samples were examined for the levels of the gonadotropic as well as the gonadal hormones. The important finding in this study was the much older chronological age at which the diabetic children reached the corresponding pubertal stages when compared with their healthy playmates. The ultimate adult height was noted to be less in the diabetic patient by 5 cm. Almost all diabetic children have a retarded bone age. The level of the gonadotropic and gonadal hormone did not differ markedly in diabetic and healthy children. The cause of the delay in growth and maturation is not due to hormonal failure, but is most probably due to the chronic under-nutrition of the cells of the body and failure to utilize the amino acids for protein anabolism related to the relative insulin deficiency of these patients