Effect of curcumin administration against some biochemical alteration induced by acrylamide in adult male albino rats

Acrylamide is a chemical used in many industries, found in carbohydrate rich foods cooked at high temperature. Although it is found to be harmful, human are exposed to varying amounts of it in the diet, especially fried food. Curcumin is a herbal agent used in medicine and proved to be protective against many harmful agents. This study was undertaken to assess the protective effect of curcumin against some biochemical alteration induced by acrylamide in male albino rats. The experimental rats were divided into four groups included a control group, a group treated orally with curcumin by supercritical fluid extractor for 30 days, a group treated orally with acrylamide and a group treated orally with curcumin + acrylamide for 30 days. The results indicated that treatment with ACR alone resulted in a significant decrease in the haematological parameters, triglycerides, insulin, creatine kinase and choline esterase while the concentrations of urea, creatinine, ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase were increased. Treatment with curcumin during ACR treatment reduced the effects induced by ACR, It could be concluded that curcumin exhibited a protective action against ACR-induced biochemical alterations in rats. For this reason, curcumin is recommended to be used in cooked food due to its palatable taste and prophylactic effect

Structural perturbation of proteins in low denaturant concentrations.

The presence of very low concentrations of the widely used chemical denaturants, guanidinium chloride and urea, induce changes in the tertiary structure of proteins. We have presented results on such changes in four structurally unrelated proteins to show that such structural perturbations are common irrespective of their origin. Data representative of such structural changes are shown for the monomeric globular proteins such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP) from a plant, human serum albumin (HSA) and prothrombin from ovine blood serum, and for the membrane-associated, worm-like elongated protein, spectrin, from ovine erythrocytes. Structural alterations in these proteins were reflected in quenching studies of tryptophan fluorescence using the widely used quencher acrylamide. Stern-Volmer quenching constants measured in presence of the denaturants, even at concentrations below 100 mM, were higher than those measured in absence of the denaturants. Both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence emission properties of tryptophan and of the extrinsic probe PRODAN were used for monitoring conformational changes in the proteins in presence of different low concentrations of the denaturants. These results are consistent with earlier studies from our laboratory indicating structural perturbations in proteins at the tertiary level, keeping their native-like secondary structure and their biological activity more or less intact.

Some biological and genetic studies on rats treated with acrylamide with or without nigellla sativa with special reference to their effects on glutathione-s-transferase and reduced glutathione

The present study was conducted to explore the effects of acrylamide [ACR] and Nigellia sativa [N.S] [which was used as a natural protection] on biochemical, hematological and genetic profiles of Albino rats. The obtained data showed that the lowest values of serum enzymatic activities [Asparatate and Alanine amino transferase [AST, ALT]] Gamma glutamyl transferase, [GGT] and Lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] were noticed in sera of rats treated with [ACR] followed by those given [N.S] with [ACR]. Furthermore, the glutathione-S-transferase and reduced glutathione [GSH] values were also significantly reduced in liver and kidneys of both groups treated with [ACR] after one and two weeks. Insignificant increase in activities of all studied enzymes as well as reduced glutathione [GSH] was recorded in rats treated by Nigella sativa only. On the other hand, the lowest values of packed cell volume [PCV], hoemoglobin [Hb], RBCs, WBCs, acidophils and lymphocytes were observed in [ACR] treated group allover the experimental period, these results nearly reversed in rats treated with Nigella sativa only. A slight improvement in biochemical and hematological criteria was observed in rats given [ACR] plus [N.S]. The obtained results revealed a significant decrease in the rate of mitosis in [ACR] treated group during the experimental period. The chromosomal structure and number is significantly altered in both groups treated with Acrylamide. Finally, the microscopic and ultra structural changes were observed only in the 14[th] day of experiment especially in rats treated with [ACR] and [ACR] plus [N.S]. Furtherly encountered lesions were more severe in [ACR] treated group than those given [ACR] plus [NS]