RESUMO
Objective: to study the effects of some environmental pollutants [lead, nitrate, noise stress and tobacco smoke] as well as a chemical substance [estrogenic oral contraceptive pills] on the incidence of malignant transformation among offspring rats through transplacental transfer from mother to fetus. The protective effect of Nigella sativa and vitamin A against the possible cellular transformation in the offspring rats was also studied
Subjects and Methods: five groups of female Sprague-Dawley rats [30 rats /group] were fed standard commercial diet. The first four groups were exposed to noise [100 decibel] and tobacco smoke for half an hour, three times weekly and received contraceptive pills daily. Group I received low doses of lead and nitrate, group I1 and group I11 were treated as group I but they were protected by adding to the diet crushed N. sativa to group I1 and vitamin A to group 111, while group IV received normal diet mixed with high doses of lead and nitrate. The fifth group served as untreated control. After three months no more contraceptive pills were added to the diet to prepare the female rats for meeting. After labour, mothers and their offspring were no more exposed to noise or tobacco smoke. The rats were sacrificed 45 days after labour, sera and tissues were saved for the biochemical and histopathological investigations
Setting: National Cancer Institute [NCI], Cairo University
Results: results showed an increase in the levels of mutant p53 protein, alpha-fetoprotein [AFP], ferritin and gamma glutamyl transferase [GGT] in the sera of both mothers and their offspring rats in the unprotected groups [I and IV] compared to the control group. On the other hand, the addition of N.sativa and vitamin A to the diet, led to a decrease in the levels of mutant p53, AFP and ferritin. Histopathological changes ranging from mild to severe dysplasia were found in both the mothers and their offspring rats in the two unprotected groups, while mild and moderate dysplasia were found to a less degree in the vitamin A protected group and disappeared from those fed N. sativa
Conclusion: the combined effects of the tested pollutants caused liver cells injury, ranging from mild to severe dysplasia, and raised the levels of serum mutant p53 protein, AFP, ferritin and GGT in both mothers and their offspring rats, which may lead on the long-term exposure to malignant transformation. On the other hand, N. sativa and vitamin A have a good protective effect which decreased both abnormal biochemical and histopathological changes