Hepatoprotective effect of some drugs in experimental model of acute liver injury

Acute liver injury is a clinical condition that results from severe extensive damage of liver tissue associated with Jaundice and it is experimentally induced by hepatotoxic agents like ccl[4]. Thirty five healthy rabbits were involved in the present study. They were allocated to five groups. Each group was given one of the following agents: vitamin E, zinc sulfate, amlodipine besylate, distilled water two hours before administration of ccl[4]. The same doses of the tested agents were continued for two days after ccl[4] administration. The effect of drugs was evaluated at two occasions 24 and 72 hours after ALI induction on the basis of biochemical analysis of liver function tests as well as histopathological examination to the liver of treated animals. All the tested agents produced significant reduction in ALT, AST, ALP, and TSB with a significant elevation of TSP levels as compared with treated control group. The histopathological examination showed clear improvements in the sections of liver tissue that support the effect of these agents on the liver. The study showed that 30% of women were anemic; the effect of anemia on thyroid function was not clear as 98% of the studied women have normal thyroxin and only 1% has low thyroxin level while 1% showed high concentration of thyroxin level. All the tested agents proved to have hepatoprotective effect of varying degree on ALI model

Comparison of the effects of sodium metavanadate and zinc sulfate supplementation on lipid and glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness causing considerable morbidity and mortality. Enormous advances have been made in medical care but more people are still having tendency to use herbal or alternative remedies. This study is a randomized, controlled trial on type 2 diabetic patients. The subject consisted of 60 patients divided randomly into three groups and supplemented daily with 100 mg sodium metavanadate and 660 mg zinc sulfate or placebo for six weeks. The following were checked at baseline of the study and after six weeks: Body Mass Index [BMI], Blood Pressure [BP], Fasting Blood Sugar [FBS], 2-h postprandial glucose [2hpp], Glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c], Triglyceride [TG], Total Cholesterol [TC], Low-Density Lipoproteins, and High-Density Lipoproteins. Also HbA1c, BMI and BP were measured after 12 weeks to evaluate the long-term effects of drugs. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 11.5. Data of continuous variables are expressed as means +/- standard deviation. Differences between groups were assessed by the paired T-test. Comparison between three groups was done by Post Hoc Tests. Mean age of patients was 51.39 +/- 8.60 years. The results of this study show a significant decrease in TG [P=0.01] and BMI [P=0.03]. After 12 weeks, there was a significant decrease in BMI [P=0.01] in Sodium metavanadate group. Due to zinc sulfate administration, significant decrease was seen in TG [P=0.005], TC [P=0.02], LDL [P=0.01] and systolic blood pressure [P=0.02]. After 12 weeks, there was a significant decrease in HbA1c [P=0.04] with zinc sulfate consumption. Consumption of zinc sulfate in type 2 diabetic patients could be effective in lipid profile. It is recommended to use another vanadium compound to achieve better results

Effect of zinc and benzene on respiration and excretion of mussel larvae (Perna perna) (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mollusca; Bivalvia)

The presence of pollutants in the ocean may affect different physiological parameters of animals. Oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion were evaluated in D-shaped larvae of mussels (Perna perna) exposed to zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) and benzene (C6H6). When compared to the control group, both pollutants presented a significant reduction in oxygen consumption. A reduction in the ammonia excretion was also observed, both for ZnSO4 and C6H6 and also in the oxygen consumption. The results indicate that anaerobic metabolism may occur at the beginning of P. perna mussels development, as observed in veliger larvae. The O:N ratio under experimental conditions showed low values indicating that catabolism in veliger larvae was predominantly proteic.

A presença de poluentes no oceano pode afetar diferentes parâmetros fisiológicos. O consumo de oxigênio e a excreção de amônia foram avaliados nas larvas D de mexilhão (Perna perna) expostas ao sulfato de zinco (ZnSO4) e ao benzeno (C6H6). Quando comparados ao grupo controle, ambos os poluentes apresentaram uma significativa redução no consumo de oxigênio. A redução na excreção de amônia também foi observada para o ZnSO4 e para o C6H6, assim como para o consumo de oxigênio. Os resultados indicam que o metabolismo anaeróbico pode ocorrer no início do desenvolvimento do mexilhão P. perna, como foi observado na larva véliger. A razão O:N apresentou baixos valores, indicando que o catabolismo nas larvas véliger foi predominantemente protéico.

Effects of metallothionein on isolated rat heart / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

To investigate the effects of metallothionein (MT) on isolated rat heart, 16 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 2 groups. In control group (group C), distilled water was injected intraperitoneally and 24 h later isolated hearts were perfused with Langendorff and stored at 4 degrees C for 3 h with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solutions, and then isolated hearts were perfused for 2 h by Langendorff. In experimental group (group E), 3.6% ZnSO(4) was injected intraperitoneally, 24 h later isolated hearts were perfused by Langendorff and stored at 4 degrees C for 3 h with HTK solutions, and then the isolated hearts were perfused for 2 h with Langendorff. MT content, the recovery of hemodynamics, myocardial water content (MWC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) leakage, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, myocardial cell Ca(2+) content, Ca(2+)-ATPase activity of mitochondria ([Ca(2+)-ATPase](m)) and its Ca(2+) content ([Ca(2+)](m)), synthesizing ATP activity of mitochondria ([ATP](m)), and the ultrastructure of cells were examined. There were a significant increase in group E in hemodynamic recovery, ATP content, SOD activity, [Ca(2+)-ATPase](m) activity, [ATP](m) activity, and substantial reduction in MWC, LDH and CK leakage, MDA content, myocardial cell Ca(2+) content, [Ca(2+)](m) content, and the ultrastructural injury were obviously milder than that of group C. This study demonstrated that MT has protective effects on isolated rat heart.

Influences of DTC and zinc supplementation on the cellular response restoration in restrained mice

The studies were conducted on Balb/c mice exposed to restraint stress twice for 12 h at 24 h intervals. Prior to restraint stress the mice were treated with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DTC) i.p. at a dose of 20 mg/kg five times at 48 h intervals. DTC was used per se or with zinc ions interaction, by adding zinc sulfate to drinking water at a dose of 72 microgram/mouse daily. The results obtained in the study show that restraint stress causes involution of lymphatic organs, decreased the percentage of immature (CD4+CD8+) and, mature (CD4+) thymocytes and CD4+, CD8+and CD19 + splenocytes and proliferative response of thymocytes stimulated in vitro with concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The restraint stress decreased also interleukin-1 (IL-1) production by murine intraperitoneal macrophages stimulated in vitro with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli. Pretreatment with DTC counteracted restraint stress-induced immunosuppression, which is expressed as partial normalisation of the total number of thymocytes, splenocytes and IL-1 production, accelerated regeneration of thymus and spleen, shorter suppressive action of restraint stress on the percentage of CD4+CD8+thymocytes and in total normalisation of the CD4+thymocytes and splenocytes. DTC administered prior to restraint stress augmented the proliferative response of thymocytes to two mitogens. The immunocorrecting action of DTC is enhanced by zinc supplementation, expressed in the increased percentage of CD4+thymocytes and splenocytes, CD19 + splenocytes, proliferative activity of thymocytes stimulated with PHA and IL-1 production. The obtained results show that DTC administration can be supplemented with zinc in order to restore the immune system impaired by stress.

El cinc inhibe la conversion de tiroxina en triidotironina en grasa parda in vitro / Zinc inhibits the in vitro conversion of thyroxine to triidothyronine in brown adipose tissue

Se estudió el efecto del cinc sobre la conversión de tiroxina (T4) a triodotironina (T3) en homogenatos de grasa parda de ratas expuestas a temperaturas de 4 grados Celsius o 22 grados Celsius durante 24 h. Luego de sacrificar a los animales por dislocación cervical, se extrajo la grasa parda interescapular y se homogeneizó en buffer sacarosa (320 mM) y HEPES (10 mH) pH 7.4. Se centrifugó el preparado a 4 grados Celsius y se separó la capa que contiene la actividad 5'-deiodinasa. Se separaron alícuotas a las que se agregaron 50, 100 muM, 1 o 5 mM sulfato de cinc, más 0.5, 10 o 25 mM ditiotreitol (DTT) y 1 muCi (125)I-T4. El preparo se incubó a 37 grados Celsius durante 60 min luego de lo cual se hizo cromatografía en papel para separar los diferentes compuestos radioactivos del homogenato. En ratas mantenidas a 22 grados Celsius, la deiodinación de T4 produjo 13.3 por ciento de T3, equivalente a 79 + 30 pg/mg proteina/h. Las dosis de 1 y 5 mM cinc inhibieron significativamente la producción de T3, En ratas expuestas a 4 grados Celsius, la producción basal de T3 se incrementó a 248 + 37 pg/mg proteina/h. Al agregar cinc en dosis de 100 muM, 1 o 5 mM, se redujo significativamente la deiodinación de T4. La acción inhibidora del sinc sobre la producción de T3 en la grasa parda tendría efectos deletéreos sobre la termogénesis en ese tejido.