Chemical Evaluation of Rapeseed

Phytochemical Compositions of Some Red Sea Halophyte Plants with Antioxidant and Anticancer Potentials

The aim of this study was to determine the compositions of carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, fatty acids (FAs), and amino acids (AAs) of four Rea Sea halophytes: Anabasis ehrenbergii, Suaeda aegyptiaca, Suaeda monoica, and Zygophyllum album. The results showed that S. aegyptiaca and S. monoica were rich in gallic acid with 41.72 and 47.48 mg/g, respectively, while A. ehrenbergii was rich in naringenin with 11.88 mg/g. The polysaccharides of the four species were mainly composed of galactose (54.74%) in A. ehrenbergii, mannose (44.15%) in S. aegyptiaca, glucose and ribose (33 and 26%, respectively) in S. monoica, and arabinose and glucose (36.67 and 31.52%, respectively) in Z. album. Glutamic acid and aspartic acid were the major AAs in all halophyte species with 50–63% and 10–22% of the total AAs, respectively. The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) of the four species was 42.18–55.33%, comprised mainly of linolenic acid (15.54–28.63%) and oleic acid (5.68–22.05%), while palmitic acid (23.94–49.49%) was the most abundant saturated fatty acid (SFA). Phytol and 9,19-cyclolanost-24-en-3β–ol represented the major unsaponifiable matter (USM) constituents of S. monoica and A. ehrenbergii with proportions 42.44 and 44.11%, respectively. The phenolic fraction of S. aegyptiaca and S. monoica demonstrated noteworthy antioxidant activity with IC₅₀ values of 9.0 and 8.0 μg/mL, respectively, while the FAs fraction of Z. album exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against Huh-7, A-549, and Caco-2 cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 7.4, 10.8, and 11.8 μg/mL, respectively. Our results indicate that these plants may be considered a source of naturally occurring compounds with antioxidant and anticancer effects that could be suitable for future applications.

Linseed ameliorates renal apoptosis in rat fetuses induced by single or combined exposure to diesel nanoparticles or fenitrothion by inhibiting transcriptional activation of p21/p53 and caspase-3/9 through pro-oxidant stimulus

Gestational exposure to environmental pollutants can induce oxidative injury and apoptosis since the fetal organs are sensitively vulnerable to these chemicals. In this work, we have investigated the renal anti-apoptotic efficiency of linseed (LS) against the oxidative stress-mediated upregulation of the fetal apoptosis-related genes following the prenatal intoxication with diesel nanoparticles (DNPs) and/or fenitrothion (FNT). A fifty-six timed-pregnant rats were equally divided to eight groups; control, LS (20% in diet), DNPs (0.5 mg/kg by intratracheal inoculation), FNT (3.76 mg/kg by gavage), DNPs+FNT, LS + DNPs, LS + FNT, and LS + DNPs+FNT. The transmission electron microscope analysis revealed the spherical shape of diesel particles with a homogeneous nanosized range (20-92.3 nm) and the crystallinity was confirmed by electron diffraction microscopy. Administration of DNPs and/or FNT significantly increased fetal renal malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, and glutathione reductase as compared with the control group. However, they declined the level of glutathione together with the activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. Furthermore, DNPs and/or FNT elicited many histopathological changes in fetal renal cells, markedly up-regulated apoptosis-related gene expressions (p53, p21 caspase-3, and caspase-9), and evoked DNA breaks as detected by comet assay. Interestingly, LS supplementation significantly ameliorated the disturbances in oxidant/antioxidant biomarkers, downregulated the apoptosis gene expressions, and alleviated DNA damage alongside renal cell architecture. These findings reveal that the antioxidant and anti-apoptotic characteristics of LS are acceptable defender pointers for the renal injury especially during gestational exposure to DNPs and/or FNT.

Modulation of Paraoxonase-1 and Apoptotic Gene Expression Involves in the Cardioprotective Role of Flaxseed Following Gestational Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Particles and/or Fenitrothion Insecticide

The developmental exposure to a single chemical may elicit apoptosis in the different fetal organs, while the combined effects are restricted. We have examined the protective role of flaxseed (FS) against diesel exhaust particles (DEPs)- and/or fenitrothion (FNT)-induced fetal cardiac oxidative stress and apoptosis. A total of 48 timed pregnant rats were divided into eight groups (n = 6). The first group was saved as the control and the second fed on 20% FS diet. Animals in the third, fourth, and fifth groups were administered with DEPs (2.0 mg/kg), FNT (3.76 mg/kg), and their combination, respectively, while the sixth, seventh, and eighth groups were supplemented with 20% FS through intoxication with DEPs, FNT, and their combination, respectively. Our results revealed that DEPs and/or FNT significantly elevated the level of protein carbonyl and superoxide dismutase activity in the fetal cardiac tissues. However, the catalase activity and total thiol level were decreased; besides the histopathological alterations were remarked. Moreover, DEPs and/or FNT exhibited significant down-regulation in the anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) and paraoxonase-1 gene expression, and up-regulation in the apoptotic (Bax and caspase-3) gene expression along with DNA fragmentation. Remarkably, FS supplementation significantly ameliorated the fetal cardiac oxidative injury, down-regulated the expression of the apoptotic genes, up-regulated the anti-apoptotic and paraoxonase-1 gene expression, reduced DNA fragmentation, and alleviated the myocardial cell architectures. These findings revealed that FS attenuates DEPs- and/or FNT-induced apoptotic cell death by repairing the disturbance in the anti-apoptotic/pro-apoptotic gene balance toward cell survival in the fetal myocardial cells.

Inhibitory activity of flaxseed oil against CdCl2 induced liver and kidney damage: Histopathology, genotoxicity, and gene expression study

The present work evaluated the effect of flaxseed oil (FO) against toxicity induced by cadmium chloride (CdCl2) in the mouse liver and kidney. Male Swiss albino mice were treated with CdCl2 (4.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) with or without FO at three concentrations (4, 8, 12 mL/kg, orally) for two consecutive weeks. To analyze the effects of FO, we used the following techniques: (1) histopathological examination; (2) comet assay; (3) RT-PCR gene expression analysis of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and tumor suppressor protein (p53); and (4) immunohistochemical analysis of caspase-9 protein expression. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry results showed that FO had a high content of unsaturated fatty acids including, oleic acid, linolenic acid, and linoleic acid. Oral supplementation with FO (12 mL/kg) resulted in a normal histological appearance without alteration in the DNA integrity and gene expression of TNF-α, p53, and caspase-9 in liver and kidney tissues. As expected, CdCl2 remarkably induced loss of histological integrity, increased DNA comet formation, increased TNF-α and p53 mRNA expression levels and increased the immunoreactivity of caspase-9 expression. When FO was given before administration of CdCl2, these histopathological defects were reversed; necrosis, degeneration, inflammatory cell infiltration, hemorrhage, Kupffer cells, and pyknotic cells were all reduced. These histological improvements induced by FO were accompanied by reduced DNA breakage, downregulated mRNA expression of TNF-α and p53, and downregulated immunohistochemical expression of caspase-9 protein. In conclusion, FO and its constituents may act as signaling molecules and modify the expression of genes involved in proinflammatory cytokine production (TNF-α), cell cycle arrest (p53), and apoptosis (caspase-9), thereby improving biological activities and health.