mahboobeh ashrafi

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 ) is a toxic compound since it causes acute and chronic toxicity in various tissues due to oxidative stress. On the other hand, Zataria multiflora Boiss (ZM) essential oil as a natural product has different biological effects such as antioxidant activity. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the protective potential of ZM essential oil on possible toxicity induced by chronic administration of CCl4 in kidney tissues of rats.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into five groups including C: control group; CO: vehicle control group; CE: rats that were given the essential oil (500µl/kg/day); F: rats that received CCl4 (1ml/kg) twice a week; and FE: rats that were given CCl4 and essential oil with the mentioned doses. After 11 weeks of study, kidney tissues were collected to measure the activity of AST, ALT, ALP, GGT and LDH enzymes and oxidative stress parameters (TAC, TBARS and GSH).

The results showed a significant increase in the activity of ALT, ALP and LDH enzymes in kidney tissues of group F compared to the control groups, probably due to defects in cell metabolism induced by CCl4 . But in FE group, essential oil due to antioxidant activity could ameliorate the mentioned parameters in comparison to group F. There was not a significant change in the level of lipid peroxidation marker in kidney tissues of group F in comparison to the control groups. Histopathological studies also did not show any significant changes among kidney tissues of groups.

Administration of CCl4 affected on the activity of some biochemical enzymes in kidney tissues but there was no oxidative stress or injury in the tissues. However, prophylactic administration of ZM Boiss essential oil had antioxidant prop-erties in modulating the measured parameters.

Recently, the therapeutic and antioxidant effects of simvastatin on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a] anthracene (DMBA) induced breast cancer have been studied. To gain further understanding of the molecular mechanisms of simvastatin, this study investigated its effects on the expression of c-myc, cyclin D1 and p53 in normal mammary glands and tumors.

Female albino mice were divided into two groups: 1) N group, healthy mice without DMBA and 2) D group, mice with DMBA administration. After the appearance of tumors, D group mice are subdivided into 3 groups, as control (C), simvastatin- treated group (S) which received 80 mg/kg/day, orally and tamoxifen-treated group (T) with 50 mg/kg/day, orally. After 4 weeks, animals were sacrificed. Also, the tumors and normal mammary glands were removed for histopathological evaluations and analysis of gene expression by qRT-PCR.

The results showed the up-regulation of c-myc and cyclin D1 in tumors of the control group compared with mammary glands of the N group. Similar to tamoxifen, the simvastatin treatment could normalize the expression of c-myc and cyclin D1; however, the expression of p53 did not change in the treated groups.

Down-regulation of c-myc and cyclin D1 in treated tumors with simvastatin could be a possible molecular mechanism for its therapeutic effects in DMBA-induced breast cancer in mice.

Nicotinic acid (niacin) is a broad-spectrum lipid-modifying agent that has potent antioxidant properties and reduces the production of lipid peroxidation.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the maturation, embryo development and cryo-tolerance merit, and levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), total oxidant status, and total antioxidant capacity following the supplementation of bovine oocytes maturation medium with different concentrations of niacin.

Immature cumulus-oocyte complexes were cultured in tissue culture medium-199 maturation media supplemented with 0, 100, 200, and 400 µM niacin under a standard in vitro culture condition. After 24 hr of culture, the nuclear maturation rate was assessed. Then, two groups of immature cumulus-oocyte complexes were cultured in TCM-199 either with or without 400 µM niacin and evaluated for embryo development. Also, matured cumulus-oocyte complexes in both groups were frozen using a standard vitrification procedure. After vitrification, oocytes were warmed in two steps and evaluated for embryo development. In addition, the level of total antioxidant capacity, total oxidant status, and MDA were measured.

The results indicated that although the treatment with 400 µM niacin increased in vitro nuclear maturation (87.6±5.3), it did not improved the embryo development to the blastocyst stage. Higher cleavage and blastocyst rates were observed in vitrified oocytes that were cultured with supplemented 400 µM niacin compared to the control group (without niacin) (53.6±2.7 and 10.6±1.6 vs. 46.2±4.1 and 6.3±2.4, respectively). Also, the addition of 400 μM niacin to the maturation media could decrease MDA levels after maturation.

Niacin could improve the quality of in vitro embryo production (IVP) embryos and tolerance of bovine oocytes to vitrification.

Medicinal plants possessing antioxidant activity may reduce oxidative stress and improve the functions of various organs that affected by hyperglycemia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of saffron aqueous extract (SAE) administration to diabetic rats by measuring the oxidative stress parameters and important biochemical enzymes in liver tissue. 72 hours after STZ administration (60 mg/kg body weight), the animals with fasting blood glucose over of 250 mg/dl were considered to be diabetic rats and experimental groups were: control (1), control drug (2), diabetes (3) and diabetes drug (4). The treatment was started on the 7th day after STZ injection with i.p injection of SAE (200mg/kg body weight), five doses and weekly to groups 2 and 4. At the end of the experimental period, biochemical factors were measured after bleeding and harvesting of tissues.
Findings: Results indicated the perturbation in the activity of important liver enzymes in diabetic group (3) and SAE adjusted and normalized their levels activity. In addition, SAE with increases in the activity of antioxidant enzymes alleviated diabetes induced oxidative stress and thus reduced MDA levels in group 4 compared to group 3. SAE is not only useful in the controlling of blood glucose, but also has antioxidant potential to protect the liver tissue of diabetic rats against damage caused by hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress

Sexual dysfunction and infertility are frequently associated with diabetes in men and experimental animals. Oxidative stress and alteration in testis are responsible for complication in diabetes. Saffron has antidiabetic and antioxidant properties that improves the functions of various organs. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of administration of saffron aqueous extract in testis tissues of diabetic rats.
The fasted rats were injected by a single intraperitoneal (ip) injection of a freshly prepared solution of streptozocin (STZ, 65mg/kg) in 0.1 M cold citrate buffer (pH=4.5). Three days after STZ administration, the animals with fasting blood glucose concentrations of over 250mg/dl were considered to be diabetic and were used in the experimental groups as follows: normal control (1), diabetic control (2), saffron control (3) and saffron treated (4). The treatment was started on the 7th day after STZ injection with ip injection of saffron (200mg/kg), five doses and weekly to groups (3 and 4). At the end of the experimental period, fasting blood glucose levels and the activity of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, SOD, CAT, GPx and MDA content were determined in testis tissues.
Results showed saffron administration decreased elevated biochemical enzymes levels in testis of diabetic rats. Also, saffron significantly increased CAT and GPx activities in testis of diabetic rats. MDA levels had no significant changes in all experimental groups.
The results demonstrated that saffron administration improved antioxidant enzymes function against oxidative stress.

N-nitroso-N-methylurea (NMU) induces breast cancer in rodents, particularly in rats. This model of breast cancer is very similar to human breast cancer. As a continuation of our recent work, we investigated the expressions of cyclin D1 and p21 in NMU-induced breast cancer of Wistar Albino rats. In this experimental study, mammary carcinoma was induced in female Wistar Albino rats by a new protocol which included the intraperitoneal injection of NMU (50 mg/kg) at 50, 65, and 80 days of the animal’s age. The animals were weighed weekly and palpated in order to record the numbers, location, and size of tumors. Subsequently tumor incidence (TI), latency period (LP), and tumor multiplicity (TM) were reported. About four weeks after the tumor size reached 1.5 cm3, rats were sacrificed. Cyclin D1 and p21 expressions in tumors and normal mammary glands from normal rats were measured by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) and Western blot analysis. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS software version 16.0. The efficiency of tumor induction was 65%, LP was 150 days, and a TM of 1.43 ± 0.53 per rat was noted. RT-PCR and Western blot data indicated significant (p<0.05) induction of both cyclin D1 and p21 expressions in rat mammary tumors compared with normal tissue from the control group. These results indicate an efficient mammary tumor induction protocol for this type of rat, which is accompanied by an increase in cyclin D1 and p21 expressions.