Antitumor and biochemical effects of Echis coloratus crude venom on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells in vivo

The search for snake venom antitumor efficacy has attracted the interest of scientists since the beginning of last century. Snake venom possesses a wide spectrum of biological activities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Echis coloratus crude venom on the evolution of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EAC). Normal and EAC-bearing mice were treated with 0.2 mg/kg body weight of crude venom. Crude venom was seen to suppress tumor growth by significantly decreasing EAC cell count and cell viability (p<0.01). There was also a significant increase in survival time of the venom-treated tumor-bearing mice (52.3 percent, p<0.05) in comparison to the non-treated tumor-bearing counterparts. The study of venom effect and/or tumor inoculation on some important biochemical parameters and enzyme activities showed that the expected venom toxic effect disappeared due to the low (sublethal) dose; treatment of the tumor-bearing mice with this low dose could correct and restore biochemical parameters to normal levels which had been altered due to tumor growth. It can be concluded that Echis coloratus crude venom antitumor efficiency exceeded or camouflaged its toxic effect.

Effect of tetrodotoxin (TTX) on some brain neurotransmitters in rats.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent marine neurotoxin named after the order of fish from which it is most commonly associated, the Tetraodontiforms, or the tetraodon pufferfish. In the present study the crude TTX was extracted from pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus collected from the Red Sea in Egypt. The LD100 and LD50 of crude TTX were found to be 8.33 and 6.26 mg/kg for the gonad extract and 41.8 and 27.9 mg/kg for the skin extract, respectively. This indicates that the gonad TTX is more lethal than the skin. The effects of both gonad and skin TTX extracts on the levels of brain serotonine, acetylcholine, histamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine were studied in rats. Brain serotonine level was significantly increased and reached its peak level after 4 hours (P<0.001) of TTX administration. Brain acetylcholine, histamine, and norepinephrine levels were also significantly increased but reached peak level after 6 hours (P<0.001). The effect of the gonad extract was more significantly profound and of longer duration than the skin extract. On the other hand, brain epinephrine did not show any significant change during the experimental period.

Cytokeratins as serum markers in egyptian bladder cancer. A comparison of CYFRA 21-1, TPA and TPS.

Cytokeratins (CKs) have been shown to be overexpressed in bladder cancer and to be valuable as tumor markers. The present study was designed to evaluate the single and combined use of three cytokeratin fragments, CYFRA 21-1, TPA, and TPS, in serum of Egyptian bladder cancer patients. The study subjects comprised 40 healthy controls, 30 patients with benign bladder diseases, and 60 patients with histologically confirmed primary bladder cancer. The cutoff was set at 95% specificity versus benign bladder diseases, resulting in cutoff values of 2.93 ng/mL for CYFRA 21-1, 158 U/L for TPA and 143.7 ng/mL for TPS. With 41% true positive results CYFRA 21-1 had a higher sensitivity than TPA (32%) and TPS (27%). Evaluation by histological findings revealed a highest sensitivity of CYFRA 21-1 (46%) in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) followed by TPA (27%) and TPS (21%). Also in adenocarcinoma CYFRA 21-1 showed the highest sensitivity (38%) followed by TPA (32%) and TPS (28%). A high percentage (41.6%) of Egyptian bladder cancers is represented by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In this population TPS showed the highest sensitivity (69%), followed by CYFRA 21-1 (54%) and TPA (41 %). The sensitivity of each of the three markers increased with advancing tumor stage and increasing tumor grade. Combined use of two of the three markers did not raise the sensitivities obtained by single determination of CYFRA 21-1. The present study suggests that serum CYFRA 21-1 could be a marker of choice in bladder cancer.

Association between estradiol, estrogen receptors, total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol in patients with benign and malignant breast tumors.

This study addresses the correlation between the levels of estradiol (E2), total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol in serum and tissue samples of age-matched patients with benign (40 cases; 16 were premenopausal and 24 were postmenopausal) and malignant (50 cases; 17 were premenopausal and 33 were postmenopausal) breast tumors. Estradiol levels were determined in serum and cytosol, estrogen receptors (ER) were assayed in cytosol, and total lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol were determined in serum and membrane fractions of all benign and malignant breast disease patients. Serum E2 was significantly higher in malignant cases than benign ones (P<0.05) with a significant reduction (40%) in postmenopausal than premenopausal women. ER-positive tumors were significantly higher in postmenopausal women with malignant breast tumors than benign cases (P<0.05). Tissue levels of total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol were highly significantly increased in breast cancer women than women with benign breast diseases (P<0.05, P<0.005 and P<0.05 respectively) and they were also significantly correlated with estradiol levels. It could be concluded that the uptake of lipids from plasma by the tumor tissue is greatly correlated to estradiol and it may confirm the possible role of lipids as risk factor in breast cancer.

Sex steroid hormones in serum and tissue of benign and malignant breast tumor patients.

The ability of breast tumors to synthesize sex steroid hormones is well recognized and their local production is thought to play a role in breast cancer development and growth. The aim of this study was to estimate local intra-tumoral and circulating levels of Estrone (E1), Estrone Sulfate (E1S), Estradiol (E2), Estriol (E3), and Testosterone (T) in 33 pre- and postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer in comparison to 12 pre- and postmenopausal women with benign breast tumors. The mean levels of the studied sex hormones were higher in serum and tumor tissue of breast cancer women than those with benign breast tumors apart from Testosterone which showed a significant decrease in pre- and postmenopausal women with breast cancer (P<0.001for follicular phase, P<0.05 for luteal phase, and P<0.005 for postmenopausal). The levels of the five hormones were significantly higher intra-tumoral than in serum of both benign and malignant breast tumor women with E1S as the predominant estrogen. There was only a positive significant correlation between serum and tumor tissue levels of E1 (rs=0.52, P<0.05 for follicular; rs=0.63, P<0.05 for luteal and rs=0.58, P<0.05 for postmenopausal) and a significant correlation between serum and tumor tissue of T (rs=0.64, P<0.05 for follicular; rs=-0.51, P<0.05 for luteal and rs=-0.81, P<0.04 for postmenopausal).

Differential tumor markers and hepatitis markers profile in liver tumors.

The differential diagnostic utility of AFP, CEA, CA19.9 and TPA was evaluated in liver tumors. They were determined in the sera of 61 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 18 with secondary liver metastasis, 61 of benign liver cirrhosis in comparison to 20 normal healthy control subjects. The association of either HBV or HCV infection and HCC was also studied through the assay of HbSAg, HbSAb, and HCV-Ab. The optimal cut-off values were determined using the diagnostic accuracy measurements and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. AFP at an optimal cut-off value of 100 ng/ml and TPA at 160 U/L showed the highest sensitivity and specificity in detecting liver metastasis (100% and 87% for AFP; 100% and 54% for TPA respectively). The obtained data indicated that the combined assay of AFP and TPA resulted in a better discrimination of HCC among patients with hepatic focal lesions. HCV-Ab was detected in a higher ratio of HCC patients (83.6%) compared to HbsAg (68.9%), and both were detected in (34%) of HCC patients. This high incidence of HCV-Ab may suggest the implication of HCV in the molecular events leading to hepatic carcinogenesis.

Serum LDH and ALP isozyme activities in mice bearing solid Ehrlich carcinoma and/or treated with the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of aloin.

Determination of total LDH and ALP activities and their isozyme patterns in the sera of normal and tumour-bearing animals treated with aloin, a natural anthraquinone with potential antitumour activity, was carried out at 3, 6 and 9 weeks of treatment. Treatment of normal mice with the MTD of aloin (50 mg/Kg b.w.) showed non-significant changes in serum total LDH and ALP activities along with their isozymes throughout the experimental periods. In untreated tumour-bearing animals, serum LDH activity and its isozymes: LDH1-LDH5 showed highly significant increases (192, 32.4, 25.2, 24.7, 29.2 and 30.6%, respectively) after 3 weeks. Highly significant inhibition was recorded in serum total ALP activity and its intestinal and bone isozymes (64, 100 and 56%, respectively), while liver ALP isozyme was increased by 82.3%. Treatment of tumour-bearing mice with the MTD of aloin manifested a significant gradual improvement in both enzyme activities and their isozymes, which were normalized at the end of the experiment (9 weeks), with the exception of intestinal ALP isozyme. All results were reported in comparison to the normal control group.