Amany Hegab

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening syndrome that causes high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aerial parts of Euphorbia grantii Oliv. were extracted with methanol to give a total methanolic extract (TME), which was further fractionated into dichloromethane (DCMF) and the remaining mother liquor (MLF) fractions. Biological guided anti-inflammatory assays in vitro revealed that the DCMF showed the highest activity (IC50 6.9 ± 0.2 μg/mL and 0.29 ± 0.01 μg/mL) compared to. celecoxib (IC50 of 88.0 ± 1 μg/mL and 0.30 ± 0.01 μg/mL) on COX-1 and COX-2, respectively. Additionally, anti-LOX activity was IC50 = 24.0 ± 2.5 μg/mL vs. zileuton with IC50 of 40.0 ± 0.5 μg/mL. LC-DAD-QToF analysis of TME and the active DCMF resulted in the tentative identification and characterization of 56 phytochemical compounds, where the diterpenes were the dominated metabolites. An LPS-induced inflammatory model of ALI (10 mg/kg i.p) was used to assess the anti-inflammatory potential of DCMF in...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) alone or combined with praziquantel (PZQ) against Schistosoma (S) mansoni infection in a murine model. METHODS Five groups, 8 mice each, were studied; GI served as normal controls; GII: S. mansoni-infected control group and the other three S. mansoni-infected groups received drug regimens for 5 consecutive days as follows GIII: Infected-PZQ treated group (200 mg/kg/day); GIV: Infected-GABA treated group (300 mg/kg/day) and GV: Infected-PZQ-GABA treated group (100 mg/kg/day for each drug). All animal groups were sacrificed two weeks later and different parasitological, histopathological and biochemical parameters were assessed. RESULTS Combined GABA-PZQ treated group recorded the highest significant reduction in all parasitological, histopathological and biochemical parameters followed by PZQ and finally GABA groups. Combined GABA-PZQ treatment led to the complete disappearance of immature eggs and marked reduction of deposited eggs in liver tissues and improved liver pathology. Significant improvement in hepatic oxidative stress levels, serum albumin and total protein in response to GABA treatment alone or combined with PZQ. CONCLUSION GABA had schistosomicidal, hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities against S. mansoni infection, GABA disrupted parasite pairing and activity, reduced the total number of worms recovered and the number of ova in the tissues. GABA may be considered an adjuvant therapy to potentiate PZQ antiparasitic activity and eradicate infection-induced liver damage and oxidative stress.

Vaccination is an important measure to control infectious diseases, but absent or weak responses to vaccines represent a problem. It has been proved that chronic helminth infection is one of contributing causes for absent or weak response to some vaccines. The aim of the present work to study the effect of Schistosoma mansoni infection on the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine in experimental mice and to study if the vaccine has any protective effect on experimental S. mansoni infection. In the present study HBV vaccine 0.1 μg/g body weight was injected via dorsal subcutaneous injection, three times/week for two weeks before and after S. mansoni infection. Parasitological, immunological, histopathological and biochemical parameters were studied. Infection considerably lowering the HBsAb (Hepatitis B antibody) levels in groups of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni receiving hepatitis B vaccine, while tendency to normalization in anti-HBs levels was observed due to treatment of infec...

AIM: The present study was intended to assess the impact of the Blastocystis infection in mice on oxidative stress markers, in particular, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) and the serum concentrations of vital trace elements; zinc, iron, and copper. Methods: At a dose of 104 cysts/mouse, Blastocystis were inoculated orally. Feces from all mice were microscopically examined after infection and after metronidazole (MTZ) treatment for assessment of the intensity of Blastocystis infection. Measurement of antioxidant enzymes activities in the liver and determination of serum zinc, iron, and copper were established. Results: The greatest infection intensity was reported in the third week of Blastocystosis reaching 48.6 vegetative forms/field and 186.2×103 cysts/gm. Treatment with metronidazole after three weeks of infection disclosed a decrease of about 60 percent and 83 percent in the amount of Blastocystis. Blastocystis infection si...

The individual hepatoprotective effects of herbs such as sliymarin (Sily), Morus alba L leaves (MLE) and Olea europaea L leaves (OLE) extracts have been investigated in hepatotoxic damage rats. However, few studies on the hepatoprotective role of these herbs when administered in combination against liver damage were conducted. The present investigation examined the capacity of MLE and OLE either alone or in combination with silymarin (Sily), as reference drug, to protect rats hepatocytes against toxicity induced by CCl4.Adult male Sprague Dawely rats were randomly divided into seven groups of ten rats each, including normal control and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) groups. The remaining five groups were divided according to the received treatment into: Sily (100 mg/kg, P.O), MLE (600 mg/kg, P.O), OLE (200 mg/kg, P.O), Sily+ MLE and Sily + OLE treated groups. The oral administration of different extracts was started two weeks prior CCl4 administration and continued till the end of the ...

S Background: The present study was designed to investigate whether the combination of glycyrrhizin (GL) and pentoxifylline (PTX) could offer better hepatoprotective and antifibrotic effects against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity, as compared to their separate effects. Methods: Adult male albino rats were randomly assigned into 10 groups (10 rats each) namely, non-treated control, saline control, olive oil control, CCl4 group (1 ml CCl4 in olive oil (1:3, v/v)/kg twice weekly/6 weeks), the remaining other 6 groups were administered PTX (100mg/kg/daily/6 weeks), GL (50 mg/kg/daily/6 weeks) and their combination with and without CCl4. The following parameters: serum ALT and AST, hepatic tissue SOD, MDA and total nitrate/ nitrite content, serum and tissue IL-6 were assessed, along with the histopathology of the liver. Results: The results revealed that CCl4 caused significant elevation in all biochemical parameters and significant reduction in SOD. Liver histopathology revealed fibrosis (...

Aspirin is a potent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases as well as the prevention of cardiovascular thrombotic diseases. The aim of the present study is to explore how Chitosan alleviates gastric inflammation induced by Aspirin in rats and investigate whether Chitosan singly or in-conjugated with Ranitidine could be more effective. Fifty four healthy female rat,were divided into nine groups. Aspirin by two doses (7 or 27 mg/ kg) combined administration with Ranitidine (27 mg/kg) as reference drug or Chitosan 2% or conjugate of Chitosan with Ranitidine by the same concentration via oral rout for ten days. Chitosan singly produced significant effects on gastric acidity, ulcer index, Mucosal IL-1β, TNF-α, NO, MPO, PSH (P>0.05) and some serum parameters against Aspirin treatments. As well as, conjugated treatments showed the highest degrees of normalization against Aspirin or Ranitidine treatments in ...

Background Apicomplexa is a phylum of single-celled, obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that are among the most common morbidity-causing diseases worldwide. This phylum contains a variety of intestinal protozoa of medicinal and veterinary interest, such as Cryptosporidium and Toxoplasma. These parasites can be acquired orally, before infecting or infiltrating the intestinal epithelium. Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is the only FDA-approved medicinal therapy currently in use. The conventional pharmacological therapies for toxoplasmosis include pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine; nevertheless, they have major limitations. The use of medicinal plants for treatment and to reduce dependence on chemical drugs has become an important goal for therapeutic research. Objective Intending to develop alternative therapeutic options to address these health problems, we examined the efficacy of an ethanol extract of Cyperus rotundus, which has been demonstrated to have antiparasitic and hepatoprotective effects against Cryptosporidium and Toxoplasma in mice, with the goal of developing alternative therapeutic options to treat these health problems. Materials and methods A total sample of 72 male mice was used for the experiment, the animals were separated into two groups of 36 mice each: the first group was used to examine the activity of ethanol extract of C. rotundus against Cryptosporidium, and the second group was used to examine its activity against Toxoplasma. Each experimental model was divided into six subgroups of six mice each: the first group was noninfected nontreated, the second infected nontreated, third infected and treated with the standard drug, fourth and fifth infected and treated with C. rotundus at 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight, respectively, and the sixth infected and received a combination of half doses of both drugs [C. rotundus (250 mg/kg/day) and half dose of the standard drug (NTZ or Spiramycin)]. The parasitological parameters and reduced glutathione, super oxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde levels in the liver homogenates were used to determine the infections and medication impacts. Results and conclusion The results showed a promising finding that ethanol Egyptian herbal extract of C. rotundus and its combination with the standard drugs NTZ and Spiramycin have a promising antiparasitic and hepatoprotective activity against murine cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis, respectively. The combined therapies resulted in the highest effectiveness of standard medications.