The current study was carried out to elucidate the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Cichorium endivia L.leaves (HCE) against acetaminophen-induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity in male rats. Oral administration of acetaminophen produced liver damage in rats as manifested by the significant increase in liver MDA and serum total lipids, total cholesterol, creatinine, total bilirubin and enzyme activities (AST, ALT and ALP). While a significant decrease in the levels of liver GSH, GST, SOD, CAT, serum total protein and albumin was recorded. Pre-treatment of rats with C.endivia leaves extract or silymarin for 21 days succeeded to modulate these observed abnormalities resulting from acetaminophen as indicated by the pronounced improvement of the investigated biochemical and antioxidant parameters. These results substantiate the potential hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of C.endivia leaves extract. In addition, the hepatoprotective activity of HCE was found to be compatible with silymarin as a known hepatoprotective drug.

Fractionation of the ethanolic extract of the flowers of Delonix regia led to the isolation of three sterols, namely, stigmasterol (1.54 %), ?-sitosterol and its 3-O-glucoside (6.93 %), a triterpene, namely, ursolic acid (3.61 %) and four flavonoids: quercetin (2.92 %), quercitrin (0.59 %), isoquercitrin (3.87 %) and rutin (5.12 %) in addition to the amino acid L- azeditine-2-carboxylic acid. The structures of the isolated compounds were established on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectral analysis (IR, UV, EI/MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR). The concentration of the isolated compounds was determined by HPLC technique. The ethanolic extract and its non-polar and flavonoid rich fraction as well as the isolated compounds evidenced cytotoxic activities against human liver cancer cell line (HEPG2) which were potent for ursolic acid (IC50 0.55 ?g/ml) and L-azeditine-2-carboxylic acid (IC50 2.51 ?g/ml). Meanwhile, rutin and isoquercitrin were inactive. Moreover, the ethanolic extract and its two fractions were tested for hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced hepatic cell damage in rats at two dose levels (50 and 100 mg/kg), and the flavonoid rich fraction showed statistically significant hepatoprotection at 100 mg/kg. The presence of the aforementioned flavonoids with their efficient free radical scavenging properties may explain this liver protection ability. This could suggest the use of the ethanolic extract of the flowers of D. regia as a chemopreventive agent against the two main causes of liver damage; liver toxicity by chlorinated agents and liver cancer.

The present study is undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of vitamin E(?-tocopherol) and selenium (Se) against malathion (MTN)-induced oxidative stress and hepatic injuriesin experimental rats. Male rats were randomly divided into eight groups comprised of 10 rats each. The1st group served as a negative control (CN), whereas the 2nd was supplemented with a combination of?-tocopherol (100 mg kg-1 body weight, b.w.)/Se (0.1 mg kg-1 bw). The 3rd, 4th and 5th groups were respectivelyadministered with increasing doses of MTN equivalent to 1/50 LD50 (M1/50), 1/25 LD50 (M1/25) and 1/10LD50 (M1/10), respectively. The 6th, 7th and 8th groups were administered the same doses of MTN as in the3rd, 4th and 5th groups with a concomitant supplementation with ?-tocopherol/Se. Subchronic exposure ofrats to MTN for 45 days resulted in statistical dose-dependent decrease in acetylcholinestrase (AChE)activity, increase in oxidative stress marker lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduction in reduced glutathione(GSH) level. Moreover, the levels of glutathione persoxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) andcatalase (CAT) were significantly decline in response to MTN exposure in a dose-dependent fashion. Furthermore,histopathological studies of liver in the rats which received MTN exhibited, moderate to severedegenerative and necrotic changes in the hepatocytes. Notably, the administration of ?-tocopherol/Se protectedthe liver of rats exposed to MTN as evidenced by the appearance of normal histological structures,significant attenuation of the decline in all antioxidant enzymes tested (i.e. GPx, SOD and CAT), significantrecovery in the GSH level and statistical reduction in LPO, as compared to the experimental rat.

Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out to document herbal remedies used in the management of nanobacterial opportunistic infections. The kidney is the main part of the urinary tract. Drinking too much or too little water, administration of antibiotics as well as excess consumption of calcium or oxalic acid causes awakening of the kidneys resulting in renal disorders. When the kidneys are not filtering the blood properly, toxins accumulate causing lower sciatic pain, kidney stones, bladder stones, painful or difficult urination, and urinary tract infection. These types of disorders in the renal system can be treated with Ayurveda, an indigenous system of medicine in India. In Ayurveda, single plant or combinations of different plants are used in the treatment (Rajurkar and Damame 1998). Nanobacteria appear as self-propagating calcifying macromolecular complexes found in bovine and human blood and blood products. Nanobacteria were found to be present in fetal bovine serum and cultured cell lines, to arouse immune response and to infect humans, and were published as an infectious cause for pathological calcification (Kajander and Ciftcioglu 1998). These are very small, Gram negative bacteria. They belong to the Proteobacteria group and are about 1/20 the size of most of their larger cousins in this group. They may play a pathogenic role in kidney stones and atherosclerosis. These bacteria are unique by developing a needle-shaped calcium apatite cell wall, forming an enclosure around the organism. This review of literature elucidates previous and current status of herbal remedies in treating nanobacteria.

Background:The herpes virus enters into latency after symptomatic or asymptomatic herpetic infection. During latency, the virus has no impact on infected cells. However, internal or external stimuli, including certain lasers, can induce virus reactivation.

2-Amino-4-benzoyl-1-arylpyrrole-3-carbonitriles react with arylidene malonodinitriles, ?-ketoesters and ?-diketones to afford pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives.

Background And Purpose: Holmium enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) has been established as an effective therapy for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), with less bleeding, shorter catheterization time, and shorter hospital stay. The evolution of the bipolar transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) raised a question: Would it be able to provide all the advantages of HoLEP and compensate for all its drawbacks, including the higher costs and the steep learning curve?

This study was intended to verify the likelihood of homing of intra-articularily (I.A.) injected mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and its involvement in the healing process of experimentally induced, acute and chronic, partial chondral defects in dogs.

This work aimed to study the homing evidence and the reparative effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the healing process of induced osteoarthritis in experimental animal model (donkeys). Twenty-seven donkeys were equally divided into 3 groups based on the observation period after induction of arthritis (3, 6 and 9 weeks) to achieve different degrees of osteoarthritis. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups of three animals each based on the follow-up period (1, 2 and 6 months) after treatment. The induction was done through intra-articular (IA) injection of 2ml of Amphotericin-B in both carpal joints. MSCs were harvested in a separate procedure, labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) using monster GFP vector and suspended in hyaluronic acid for IA injection. Treatment approaches consisted of cell-treatment using MSCs suspended in 3 ml of hyaluronic acid (HA) for the right carpal joint; and using the same amount of (HA) but without MSCs for the left contralateral carpal joint to serve as a control. Animals were assessed clinically and radiologically before and after treatment. Synovial fluid was also evaluated. Histopathologically; articular cartilage structural changes, reduction of articular cartilage matrix staining, osteophyte formation, and subchondral bone plate thickening were graded. Data was summarized using median and percentile for scores of histopathologic grading. Comparison between groups was done using non-parametric Mann Whitney test. The reparative effect of MSCs was significant both clinically and radiologically in all treated groups (P < 0.05) compared to the control groups. Fluorescence microscopy of sections of the cell-treated joints of all animals indicated that the GFP-transduced injected cells have participated effectively in the reparative process of the damaged articular surface and have integrated within the existing articular cartilage. The cells were associated with the surface of the cartilage and, were also detected in the interior. Homing was confirmed by the incorporation of injected GFP-labeled MSCs within the repaired newly formed cartilage. Significant recovery proves that the use of IA injection of autologous MSCs is a viable and a practical option for treating different degrees of osteoarthritis.