Doxorubicin-induced alterations in kidney functioning, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and renal tissue morphology; Improvement by Acacia hydaspica tannin-rich ethyl acetate fraction

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline drug used for cancer treatment. However, its treatment is contiguous with toxic effects. We examined the nephroprotective potential of A. hydaspica polyphenol-rich ethyl acetate extract (AHE) against DOX persuaded nephrotoxicity. 36 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assorted into 6 groups. Control group received saline; DOX group: 3 mg/kg b.w. dosage of DOX intraperitoneally for 6 weeks (single dose/week). In co-treatment groups, 200 and 400 mg/kg b.w AHE was given orally for 6 weeks in concomitant with DOX (3 mg/kg b.w, i.p. injection per week) respectively. Standard group received silymarin 400 mg/kg b.w daily + DOX (single dose/week). Biochemical kidney function tests, oxidative stress markers, genotoxicity, antioxidant enzyme status, and histopathological changes were examined. DOX caused significant body weight loss and decrease kidney weight. DOX-induced marked deterioration in renal function indicators in both urine and serum, i.e., PH, specific gravity, total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine, uric acid, globulin, blood urea nitrogen, etc. Also, DOX treatment increases renal tissue oxidative stress markers, while lower antioxidant enzymes in tissue along with degenerative alterations in the renal tissue compared to control rats. AHE co-treatment ameliorates DOX-prompted changes in serum and urine chemistry. Likewise, AHE treatment decreases sensitive markers of oxidative stress and prevented DNA damages by enhancing antioxidant enzyme levels. DOX induction in rats also caused DNA fragmentation which was restored by AHE co-treatment. Moreover, the histological observations evidenced that AHE effectively rescued the kidney tissue from DOX interceded oxidative damage. Our results suggest that co-treatment of AHE markedly improve DOX-induced deleterious effects in a dose-dependent manner. The potency of AHE co-treatment at 400 mg/kg dose is similar to silymarin. These outcomes revealed that A. hydaspica AHE extract might serve as a potential adjuvant that avoids DOX-induced nephrotoxicity.

High prevalence of fasciolosis and evaluation of the efficacy of anthelmintics against Fasciola hepatica in buffaloes in Guangxi, China

Fasciola hepatica is a common parasite of grazing livestock in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, but its prevalence has not been studied. While triclabendazole is commonly used to treat F. hepatica infection in China, oxyclozanide has never been used. This study investigated the prevalence of F. hepatica infections in buffaloes in the Guangxi and evaluated the efficacy of oxyclozanide and triclabendazole as treatments. In the prevalence study, a total of 767 individual faecal samples were obtained from 58 farms in Guangxi to detect the prevalence of F. hepatica, and the total rate of infection was 87.35%. A subset of 277 infected buffaloes from these farms were randomly divided into 3 groups. Group 1 (n = 101) was treated with oxyclozanide at 10 mg/kg.bw; group 2 (n = 94) was treated with triclabendazole (12 mg/kg.bw); and group 3 (n = 82) was untreated. Faecal samples were taken on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Whole blood and serum were collected on days 0 and 14. Anthelmintic efficacy was assessed using faecal egg count reduction (FECR), buffaloes positive by coprology reduction (BPCR) as well as post-treatment improvement in biochemical and haematological indicators. After 28 days treatment, group 1 and 2 showed FECR% values above 98%, and BPCR% values of 97.03% and 77.66%, respectively. In addition, the biochemical indicators and haematological parameters were improved at 14 days post-treatment compared with those before treatment. These results indicate a high prevalence of F. hepatica in Guangxi, demonstrate that oxyclozanide and triclabendazole are effective against F. hepatica infection in buffaloes, and indicate that oxyclozanide could be used in China as an alternative drug.

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The prevalence of F. hepatica infections in 767 buffaloes was 87.35% on 58 farms from 8 districts in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.

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Oxyclozanide and triclabendazole effectively restored the health of infected buffaloes and reduced the EPG of F. hepatica.

Haematological evaluation of sodium fluoride toxicity in oryctolagus cunniculus

Blood is promptly affected by environmental pollutants and toxicants that can cause many metabolic disorders. The high level of fluoride acts as a potential pollutant, insecticide and rodenticide with very high toxicity, associated with the hematological damage. This study aimed to determine the toxicity of Sodium Fluoride on hematological parameters in Oryctolagus cunniculus. Twenty rabbits were acclimatized and divided in to control group and three experimental groups.Experimental group-I, II and III were treated with 10, 30 and 50 mg/kg body weight doses of Sodium Fluoride orally. Various blood parameters such as TEC, Hb, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, TLC and PLT count were investigated. Result findings showed that values of blood indices in experimental groups were significantly lower than the control group. Oneway ANOVA was applied for statistical analysis. The outcomes of the current studies indicated the reduction in RBC counts (anemia), leukocyte count (leukocytopenia), monocytosis, eosinopenia, neutrophilia and thrombocytosis on fluoride intoxication. Hematological disruptions like microcytic hypochromic anemia and decreased leukocyte count may be linked to the inflammatory effects of Sodium Fluoride on lymphatic organs.

Investigation of morphological changes for the discrimination of nucleated red blood cells and other leukocytes in Sysmex XN hematology analyzer scattergrams using transmission electron microscopy

Background

The WNR channel of the XN-Series automated hematology analyzer (Sysmex) counts white blood cells (WBCs) and simultaneously performs a differential counting of basophils and nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs). The detection process involves exposing the cells to WNR-specific reagents containing an acidic detergent and a fluorescent dye and measuring the intensity of the forward scattered light (FSC) and side fluorescence light (SFL).

Method

We treated isolated peripheral WBCs and NRBCs with specific reagents and assessed the morphological changes in NRBCs and each leukocyte type using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Results

The results from a flow cytometer (FCM) showed that, after exposure to the reagents, basophils appeared on the highest FSC and SFL areas compared to other leukocytes on the WNR scattergram. Owing to the hemolysis of reticulocytes and erythrocytes, NRBCs that survived the reagent treatment could be distinguished by their lower intensity than those of the other leukocytes on the WNR scattergram. We investigated the significance of the relationship between the TEM and FCM results after the reagent treatment.

Conclusion

We confirmed that the WNR channel differentiates the blood cells on the WNR scattergram based on differences in the amount of residual cytoplasm and nucleic acids.

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The WNR channel of the XN-Series counts WBCs and simultaneously performs a differential count of basophils and NRBCs.

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Basophils had the highest scattered light and fluorescent intensities after WNR treatment on a flow cytometer scattergram.

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NRBCs survived treatment with the WNR reagents had a lower intensity on the FCM scattergram than those of other leukocytes.

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TEM revealed that the WNR channel can differentiate blood cells based on the amount of residual cytoplasm and nucleic acids.

Pyoderma Gangrenosum-A New Manifestation of Wilson Disease?

Seventeen year old girl, a known case of Wilson disease presented to us with a non-healing skin ulcer followed by appearance of jaundice, ascites and progressive fatigue of 1 month duration. She was diagnosed to have Wilson disease 5 years back and had been well controlled on d-penicillamine. On enquiry, she was found to be noncompliant with her medication in the preceding 6 months. On examination, she had severe pallor, icterus with moderate ascites and oedema feet. Investigations revealed severe haemolytic anemia and deranged liver function. The lesion was diagnosed to be pyoderma gangrenosum on skin biopsy. The appearance of a cutaneous lesion followed by deterioration in the liver disease and hemolysis suggested uncontrolled Wilson disease as the triggering factor. Chelation therapy improved her haemoglobin and liver function as well as led to healing of the ulcer. We describe pyoderma gangrenosum as a new manifestation of Wilson disease.

AU4S: a novel synthetic peptide to measure the activity of ATG4 in living cells

ATG4 plays a key role in autophagy induction, but the methods for monitoring ATG4 activity in living cells are limited. Here we designed a novel fluorescent peptide named AU4S for noninvasive detection of ATG4 activity in living cells, which consists of the cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), ATG4-recognized sequence "GTFG," and the fluorophore FITC. Additionally, an ATG4-resistant peptide AG4R was used as a control. CPP can help AU4S or AG4R to penetrate cell membrane efficiently. AU4S but not AG4R can be recognized and cleaved by ATG4, leading to the change of fluorescence intensity. Therefore, the difference between AU4S- and AG4R-measured fluorescence values in the same sample, defined as "F-D value," can reflect ATG4 activity. By detecting the F-D values, we found that ATG4 activity paralleled LC3B-II levels in rapamycin-treated cells, but neither paralleled LC3B-II levels in starved cells nor presented a correlation with LC3B-II accumulation in WBCs from healthy donors or leukemia patients. However, when DTT was added to the system, ATG4 activity not only paralleled LC3B-II levels in starved cells in the presence or absence of autophagy inhibitors, but also presented a positive correlation with LC3B-II accumulation in WBCs from leukemia patients (R(2) = 0.5288). In conclusion, this study provides a convenient, rapid, and quantitative method to monitor ATG4 activity in living cells, which may be beneficial to basic and clinical research on autophagy.