Effect of Ducrosia flabellifolia and Savignya parviflora Extracts on Inhibition of Human Colon and Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

The goal of this study was to investigate whether Ducrosia flabellifolia and Savignya parviflora methanol extract the have effect on colon and prostate cancer cell lines. Analysis of total content of phenolics and flavonoids of each plant extract was carried out. Cytotoxic effect, cell cycle analysis, induction of apoptosis and gene expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes were studied. Obtained results indicated that, the plant extracts exhibit growth inhibition of used cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis as well as arresting of cell cycle. At the molecular level, changes in gene expression were detected via qPCR and confirmed by western blotting. The exhibited anticancer potentialities of plant extracts against utilized cancer cell lines are due to its containing bioactive compounds. Further detailed isolation, fractionation and characterization of bioactive compounds are needed.

Eustress with H2O2 Facilitates Plant Growth by Improving Tolerance to Salt Stress in Two Wheat Cultivars

In this study, the positive role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) pretreatment in mitigating the adverse impacts of seawater stress has been evaluated in two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, namely Gemmiza 11 as a salt-sensitive and Misr 1 as a salt-tolerant cultivar, with contrasting phenotypes in response to the salinity stress. Under normal conditions, wheat seeds eustress with H2O2 have shown significant effects on the improvement of plant growth parameters, such as dry weight and root and shoot lengths. Under salt stress conditions, seeds eustress with H2O2 have shown a reduction in damage to plant growth and physiological parameters as compared to the seeds kept as un-primed in both wheat cultivars. In addition, eustress of seeds with H2O2 has induced an increment in the pigments content, proline level and mineral uptake (K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+). Moreover, seeds eustress with H2O2 have shown significant decrement in Na+ content uptake in plants and that subsequently reduced lipid peroxidation. Seawater stress has increased the activity of the antioxidant system based on catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in both cultivars, except POD in Gemmiza 11. Similarly, the application of H2O2 has further enhanced the activity of the antioxidant system in stressed plants and this enhancement of the antioxidant system further reduced Na+ content in plants and subsequently increased the growth parameters. Results of inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers have shown clear differentiation among the treatments and have provided strong evidence in support of the hypothesis proposed in this study that H2O2 eustress improves seed tolerance and enhances plant growth parameters under seawater stress.

Frequency of glutathione-S-transferase null-M1 and null-T1 genotypes among the Turabah population in Saudi Arabia

Glutathione-S-transferases (GST) are key phase II detoxifying enzymes that play critical roles in protection against products of oxidative stress and against electrophiles. Glutathione S-transferase mu (GST-M1) and theta (GST-T1) are isoforms of glutathione transferase enzymes that participate in the metabolism of a wide range of chemicals. Deletion variants that are associated with a lack of enzyme function exist at both these loci. The frequencies of homozygous GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletion carriers are very high in most of the populations studied to date. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes among the Turabah population in Saudi Arabia in comparison with the data published for some other Arabic populations. The subjects consisted of 164 unrelated healthy individuals from the Turabah population. GST genotyping was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction-based methods. The GSTM1 deletion homozygosity was 56.1% and GSTT1 deletion homozygosity was 20.7%, while the GSTM1 and GSTT1 double-deletion homozygosity was 11.0%. Comparison with published data from Bahraini, Lebanese, and Tunisian populations demonstrated no significant difference for GSTM1 between these populations. The GSTT1 null-allele frequency was significantly lower than those for the Lebanese and Tunisian populations (P = 0.001) but similar to that for the Bahraini population (P = 0.099). Characterization of GST genetic polymorphisms in the Saudi population may aid in genetic studies on the association of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms with disease risks and the pharmacogenetics of chemotherapy.

Protective effects of camel milk against pathogenicity induced by Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in Wistar rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of camel milk on hepatic pathogenicity induced by experimental infection with Escherichia (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in Wistar rats. The rats were divided into six groups: The control and camel milk groups received water and camel milk, respectively; two groups received camel milk for 2 weeks prior to intraperitoneal injection of either E. coli or S. aureus; and two groups were injected intraperitoneally with E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. All animals were maintained under observation for 7 days prior to biochemical and gene expression analyses. The rats treated with camel milk alone exhibited no changes in expression levels of glutamic‑pyruvate transaminase (GPT) or glutamic‑oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), compared with the water‑treated group. The E. coli‑ and S. aureus‑injected rats exhibited a significant increase in oxidative stress, and prior treatment with camel milk normalized the observed changes in the expression levels of GPT, GOT and malondialdehyde (MDA). Treatment with camel milk decreased the total bacterial count in liver tissue samples obtained from the rats injected with E. coli and S. aureus. Camel milk administration increased the expression levels of glutathione‑S‑transferase and superoxide dismutase, which were downregulated following E. coli and S. aureus injection. In addition, camel milk downregulated the increased expression of interleukin‑6 and apoptosis‑associated genes. Of note, administration of camel milk alone increased the expression levels of the B cell lymphoma 2‑associated X protein and survivin anti‑apoptotic genes, and supplementation prior to the injection of E. coli and S. aureus induced further upregulation, In conclusion, camel milk exerted protective effects against E. coli and S. aureus pathogenicity, by modulating the extent of lipid peroxidation, together with the antioxidant defense system, immune cytokines, apoptosis and the expression of anti-apoptotic genes in the liver of Wistar rats.