Age Affects the Mitigating Efficacy of Riboflavin Against Cisplatin-Induced Toxicity In Vivo

Potential Protective Effect of Riboflavin Against Pathological Changes in the Main Organs of Male Mice Induced by Fluoride Exposure

Long-term exposure to excessive fluorine could cause damage to various tissues and organs in human and animals. However, there is no effective antidote to prevent and cure fluorosis except for avoiding fluoride intake. As an essential nutrient, riboflavin (VB₂) has been identified to relieve oxidative stress and inflammation in animal tissues caused by other toxic substances, whether it can alleviate the damage caused by fluoride is unknown. For this, 32 ICR male mice were allocated to four groups of eight each. They were treated with 0 (distilled water), 100 mg/L sodium fluoride (NaF), 40 mg/L VB₂, and their combination (100 mg/L NaF plus 40 mg/L VB₂) via the drinking water for 90 consecutive days, respectively. The content of bone fluoride and the histomorphology of the main organs including liver, kidney, cerebral cortex, epididymis, small intestine, and colon were evaluated and pathologically scored. The results found that fluoride caused the pathological changes in liver, kidney, cerebral cortex, epididymis, small intestine, and colon at varying degrees, while riboflavin supplementation reduced significantly the accumulation of fluoride in bone, alleviated the morphological damage to cerebral cortex, epididymis, ileum, and colon. This study provides new clues for deeply exploring the mechanism of riboflavin intervention in fluorosis.

Thymoquinone ameliorates Pachycondyla sennaarensis venom-induced acute toxic shock in male rats

BACKGROUND

For many decades, the sting of Samsun ant (Pachycondyla sennaarensis) has been a serious clinical challenge for the people living in some of the major Middle East and Asian countries. In the present study, the therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa derived plant extract component, thymoquinone (TQ) has been tested against the Samsun ant venom (SAV) at the toxic dose in the rats.

METHODS

The adult male rats were divided into four groups (n = 10): control, SAV treated, SAV + TQ treated and TQ alone treated. It was found that the sub-lethal dose of SAV alters not only many of the kidney and liver function markers but also induces oxidative stress in the animals. Moreover, the SAV also disturbs various immunological parameters including expression of PMNs, CD-80, CD-86, interleukins and other cytokines compromising the affected organism towards mild to severe allergic reactions including life-risking anaphylaxis.

RESULTS

The plant extract, TQ, effectively restores many of the biochemical and oxidative stress parameters comparable to the normal concomitant with improving the immunological aspects that might attributive in relieving from SAV-induced toxicity and allergic reactions in the affected organism to a greater extent.

CONCLUSION

Hence, TQ has an excellent antidote property against SAV-induced toxicities in vivo. Although the study is a vivid indication of the potential therapeutic potential of TQ against the SAV induced in vivo toxicity, yet the actual mechanism of interaction translating the toxicity amelioration warrants further investigations.

Samsum Ant Venom Exerts Anticancer Activity Through Immunomodulation In Vitro and In Vivo

Samsum ant venom (SAV) is a rich repertoire of natural compounds with tremendous pharmacological properties. The present work explores its antineoplastic activity in different cell lines followed by its confirmation in vivo. The cell lines, HepG2, MCF-7, and LoVo showed the differential dose-dependent antineoplastic effect with an increased level of significant cytokines, including Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 and transcription factor, Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). However, the venom was more effective on HepG2 and MCF-7 cells than LoVo cells. Furthermore, the extract was administered to four groups (n = 8) of rats. Group I was taken as a control without any treatment, whereas group II received CCl₄ (1 mL/kg) for induction of mild hepatoma. Group III was given 100 μg/kg of SAV twice a week for 1 month. Group IV was pretreated with the CCl₄ (like group II) followed by dosing with SAV (100 μg/kg) for 2 months as per the authors' prestandardized dosing schedule. Intriguingly, the rats of group IV demonstrated significant decrease in key cytokines, IL-1β and IL-6, as well as the transcription factors, including Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α), NF-κB, and Inhibitor-kappa B (I-κB) as compared with group II. Furthermore, increase in IL-10 and First apoptosis signal (FAS) in the same group confirmed that SAV induces apoptosis at the given dose through immunomodulation leading to enhanced tumor killing in vivo. Hence, SAV has an excellent antineoplastic activity that can be directly used to treat certain types of cancer. Moreover, study of its ingredients can pave ways to design novel anticancer drugs. However, further in-depth investigation is required before its clinical trials.

Restrained management of copper level enhances the antineoplastic activity of imatinib in vitro and in vivo

The present study was designed to investigate if elevated copper level can be targeted to enhance the efficacy of a significant anticancer drug, imatinib (ITB). The antineoplastic activity of this drug was assessed in the HepG2, HEK-293, MCF-7 and MDA-MD-231 cells targeting elevated copper level as their common drug target. The cell lines were treated with the different doses of copper chloride (Cu II) and disulfiram (DSF) alone as well as in their combinations with the drug for 24 h in standard culture medium and conditions. The treated cells were subjected to various assays including MTT, PARP, p-53, caspase-7, caspase-3, LDH and single cell electrophoresis. The study shows that DSF and Cu (II) synergizes the anticancer activity of ITB to a significant extent in a dose-specific way as evidenced by the combinations treated groups. Furthermore, the same treatment strategy was employed in cancer-induced rats in which the combinations of ITB-DSF and ITB-Cu II showed enhanced antineoplastic activity as compared to ITB alone. However, DSF was more effective than Cu (II) as an adjuvant to the drug. Hence, restrained manipulation of copper level in tumor cells can orchestrate the redox and molecular dispositions inside the cells favoring the induction of apoptosis.