Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine

272-279

Authors: Omar M.E. Abdel-Salam, Amany A Sleem, Eman R Youness, Fatma A. Morsy

Objective: To investigate the effect of Cannabis sativa extract on the development of neuroand hepato-toxicity caused by malathion injection in rats. Methods: The extract of Cannabis sativa was obtained from the plant resin by chloroform treatment. Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol content of the extract (20%) was quantified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The doses of cannabis extract were expressed as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol content of 10 or 20 mg/kg. Malathion (150 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered followed after 30 min by the cannabis extract (10 or 20 mg/kg, subcutaneously). Rats were euthanized 4 h later. Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide and paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) activity were determined in brain and liver. Brain 5-lipoxygenase and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity were measured as well. Histopathological examination of brain and liver tissue was also performed. Results: Compared to controls, malathion resulted in increased oxidative stress in brain and liver. MDA and nitric oxide concentrations were significantly increased (P<0.05) and GSH significantly decreased with respect to control levels (P<0.05). Malathion also significantly inhibited PON-1 and BChE activities but had no effect on brain 5-lipoxygenase. Brain MDA concentrations were not altered by cannabis treatment. Cannabis at 20 mg/kg, however, caused significant increase in nitric oxide and restored the GSH and PON-1 activity. Brain BChE activity significantly decreased by 26.1% (P<0.05) after treatment with 10 mg/kg cannabis. Cannabis showed no effect on brain 5-lipoxygenase. On the other hand, rats treated with cannabis exhibited significantly higher levels of liver MDA, nitric oxide and PON-1 activity compared with the malathion control group. Rats treated with only malathion exhibited spongiform changes, neuronal damage in the cerebral cortex and degeneration of some Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. There were also hepatic vacuolar degeneration and dilated and congested portal vein. These histopthological changes induced by malathion in brain and liver were reduced to great extent by cannabis administration at 20 mg/kg. Conclusions: Our data suggest that acute treatment with cannabis alleviates the malathion-induced brain and hepatic injury in rats possibly by maintaining the levels of GSH and PON-1 activity.

285-291

Authors: Ahlem Ben Sassi, Sana Amroussi, Malek Besbes, Mahjoub Aouni, Fethia Skhiri

Objective: To investigate the antioxidant and α-glucosidase properties and phytochemical constituents of roots, stems, leaves and flowers extracts and aerial parts oil of Chrysanthoglossum trifurcatum (Desf.) (C. trifurcatum). Methods: For extraction from roots, stems, leaves and flowers of C. trifurcatum, methanol, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether solvents were used. Phenols, flavonoids, flavonols and tannins contents were evaluated. More, C. trifurcatum aerial parts oil composition was determined using chromatography/mass spectrometry. The antioxidant effect was estimated by DPPH, ABTS and reducing power test systems. The α-glucosidase inhibition was determined by colorimetric assay using the enzyme from Aspergillus niger and the p-nitrophenyl glucopyranoside (pNPG) as substrate. Results: The highest amounts of polyphenols, flavonoids, flavonols and tannins were shown by the methanolic extract of leaves. The main components of the aerial parts oil were limonene (29.21%), γ-terpinene (12.96%), 4-terpenyl acetate (12.18%) and α-pinene (5.76%). The activity evaluated by DPPH, ABTS and reducing power tests was important for stems (IC50=0.68 mg/mL) and flowers (IC50=0.67 mg/mL) methanolic extracts and essential oil (IC50=0.72 mg/mL). Findings of α-glucosidase activity revealed that petroleum ether extracts of leaves and roots together with aerial parts oil showed a highest activity with IC50 of 0.044, 0.045 and 0.049 mg/mL, respectively. Conclusions: Observed antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities of oil and extracts are attributed to the presence of the active phytochemicals in C. trifurcatum organs. Thus, the C. trifurcatum can be used as a source of antioxidant compounds and dietary supplement to treat patients with type 2 diabetes.

297-304

Authors: Jing Pan, Xing-Hua Han, Wei Wang, Yue-Yin Pan

Objective: To explore the expression level and prognostic significance of erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) in patients with breast cancer (BRCA) based on estrogen receptor (ER) status and different molecular subtypes. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GTEx data were collected in GEPIA initially to identify the dysregulated genes. Further, bc- GenExMiner 4.1 online bioinformatics tool was used to evaluate EPOR mRNA differential expression level according to different classification of clinicopathologic parameters in patients with breast cancer. Additionally, the prognostic value between EPOR mRNA expression and free survival of metastatic relapse (MR) or any event (AE, namely any relapse or death) in patients with breast cancer was done. Results: EPOR mRNA was significantly downregulated in BRCA (1 085 cases) compared to normal tissues (291 cases) (P<0.05). Univariate Cox analysis revealed that high EPOR mRNA expression was remarkably correlated to a decreased risk of MR (HR: 0.79, P<0.000 1) and AE (HR: 0.87, P=0.000 7) especially in breast cancer patients with ER+. Besides, high EPOR mRNA level also associated with a favorable MRfree survival (HR: 0.81, P=0.007 2) and AE-free survival (HR: 0.88, P =0.029 9) in ER+ breast cancer patients. However, no similar above phenomenon was detected in ER- patients. Moreover, the subsequent prognostic adjusted analyses and univariate Cox analysis of AE based on SSP or SCM molecular subtypes validated the above results. Conclusion: EPOR mRNA level is a valuable prognostic indicator for patients with ER+ breast cancer.

309-312

Authors: Lin Huang, Dan-Xin Wang, Li-Min Zhou, Tao Wang, Hai-Ying Zhang, Yun-Xia Zhang, Yin-Dong Zhang

Objective: To investigate the relationship between polymorphisms of rs1532624 and rs289741 loci in cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) genes and atherosclerotic cerebral infarction (ACI). Methods: The CETP gene rs1532624 and rs289741 in 95 patients with ACI and 177 healthy subjects were genotyped by MassARRAY mass spectrometry. Each locus genotype and allele frequency distributions were compared. Results: The difference of allele frequency distribution between the rs1532624 (χ2=1.723, P=0.189) and rs289741 (χ2=2.466, P=0.116) were not statistically significant. The frequency distribution of rs1532624 genotype between the cerebral infarction group and healthy control group was statistically significant (χ2=7.096, P=0.029), while rs289741 genotype frequency distribution between the two groups was not statistically significant (χ2=2.906, P=0.234). Conclusion: ACI have a positive correlation with rs1532624 polymorphism, and AA genotype may be susceptible factors of ACI.