Vacuolar pathology in the median eminence of the hypothalamus after hyponatremia

Effect of platelet rich plasma versus melatonin on testicular injury induced by Busulfan in adult albino rats: a histological and immunohistochemical study

This study was done to estimate the testicular histological alterations induced by Busulfan (BUS) and compare the possible protective effects of melatonin (MT) and platelet rich plasma (PRP) in a rat model. Sixty-four male rats were dispersed into: control group, BUS group, melatonin group, and PRP group. Blood samples were processed for biochemical analysis. Tissue specimens were managed for light and electron microscopic studies. Immunohistochemical expression of vimentin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was performed. Busulfan induced severe testicular damage in all studied methodologies. It showed a statistically significant decrease in serum testosterone and elevation of MDA when compared to the control group. Abnormal testicular cytostructures suggesting defective spermatogenesis were observed: distorted seminiferous tubules, deformed spermatogenic cells, low germinal epithelium height, few mature spermatozoa, and also deformed barrier. Vimentin and PCNA expressions were reduced. Ultrastructurally, Sertoli cells and the blood testis barrier were deformed, spermatogenic cells were affected, and mature spermatozoa were few and showed abnormal structure. Both melatonin and PRP induced improvement in all the previous parameters and restoration of spermatogenesis as confirmed by improvement of Johnsen's score from 2.6 ± .74 to 7.6 ± .92. In conclusion, melatonin and PRP have equal potential to ameliorate the testicular toxicity of BUS. Melatonin can provide a better noninvasive way to combat BUS induced testicular injury.

Spiropachysine A suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation by inducing methuosis in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND

Spiropachysine A is the extracted compound of traditional Chinese ethnic medicine Pachysandra axillaries Franch. var. styiosa (Dunn) M. Cheng. Spiropachysine A is the primary active steroidal alkaloids (SAs) widely used to facilitate blood circulation and relieve pain and inflammation. Few previous studies have investigated the anti-cancer activity of Spiropachysine A to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its molecular mechanism remains unknown.

PURPOSE

This study aims to investigate the anti-cancer activity of Spiropachysine A and the underlying mechanisms by inducing methuosis in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS

Here, the activity of Spiropachysine A against cancer was evaluated by the experiments with MHCC-97H cells and the xenografted mice model. The cell proliferation was examined using MTT assay, and cell morphological characteristics were observed by microscope cellular imaging. The effects of autophagy, paraptosis, and oncosis on cytoplasmic vacuolisation were detected using immunofluorescence staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and western blotting (WB). The cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were analysed by flow cytometry. Hematoxylin eosin (H & E) staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the tissues.

RESULTS

The in vitro and in vivo results indicated that Spiropachysine A could inhibit HCC cells proliferation (IC₅₀ = 2.39 ± 0.21 μM against MHCC-97H cells) and tumor growth (TGI = 32.81 ± 0.23% at 25 mg/kg and 50.32 ± 0.26% at 50 mg/kg). The morphological changes of the treated cells showed that cell proliferation inhibition caused by Spiropachysine A was associated with numerous cytoplasmic vacuolization. Mechanistically, Spiropachysine A-induced methuosis rather than autophagy or arapaptic because the autophagy flux was blocked, leading to the increased LC3-II/I value and an accumulation of selective autophagy substrate p62. And, there was no activation of the regulatory parapaptic MAPK pathway. Additionally, the TEM and Lucifer yellow (LY) accumulation data confirmed that Spiropachysine A significantly triggered methuosis instead of oncosis. Further, the study indicated that the anti-proliferative activity of Spiropachysine A was independent of PCD since no alterations in apoptosis and cell cycle arrest-related proteins were observed after Spiropachysine A treatment. Impressively, the increased expression of Rac1 was observed in Spiropachysine A-treated MHCC-97H cells and its xenograft tumours, confirming that Spiropachysine A inhibited cell proliferation and induced methuosis through Ras/Rac1 signal pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

Spiropachysine A was collectively identified as a novel methuosis inducer that suppresses HCC in vitro and in vivo. The underlying mechanisms might be involved in the Ras/Rac1 pathway. Such data predict that Spiropachysine A is a promising candidate for developing novel chemotherapeutic agents as a methuosis inducer for cancer therapy.