BackgroundCuphea ignea is one of the herbal resources belonging to Lythraceae family. Some species of this family have been used traditionally in South and Central America’s folk medicine for treating stomach disorders. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the gastropreventive effect of aqueous ethanolic extract of C. ignea aerial parts on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer.MethodsGastric ulcers were induced in Sprague Dawley rats using one oral dose of absolute ethanol (1.5 mL/rat). The C. ignea aerial parts extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight and ranitidine (a reference drug) at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight were orally administrated daily for 7 days before ulcer induction. One hour after ethanol administration blood samples were collected and then stomachs of sacrificed rats were subjected to biochemical, macroscopic and microscopic studies.ResultsOral administration of C. ignea extract significantly attenuated gastric ulcer as revealed by significant reduction in the gastric ulcer index and volume of gastric juice while significantly increased preventive percentage, gastric pH value and pepsin activity. Pre-treatment of C. ignea extract markedly improved the serum level of TNF-α, the gastric MPO activity and NO content. Furthermore, C. ignea pre-treatment significantly increased the gastric levels of enzymatic and non- enzymatic antioxidants namely CAT, SOD, GSH-Px, and GSH with concomitant reduction in MDA level compared with those in the ethanol group. These results were further supported by histopathological findings which revealed the curing effect of C. ignea on the hemorrhagic shock induced by ethanol toxicity.ConclusionsC. ignea extract showed a potential gastroprotective effect on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, and its effect may be mediated through suppression of oxidative stress and gastric inflammation.

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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered as the most common type of gastrointestinal cancers. Chemotherapy became limited due to the adverse side effects. Therefore, the most effective Croton tiglium extract was selected to be incorporated by silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) then evaluated against colon cancer induced by azoxymethane (AOM) in rats. Methods: Different hematological and biochemical measurements were quantified in addition to markers of oxidative stress. Specific tumor and inflammatory markers were assayed. Colonic tissues were examined histopathologically in addition to immunohistochemistry (IHC). Native proteins and isoenzymes patterns were electrophoretically assayed beside expression of Tumor Protein P 53 (TP 53) and Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) genes in colonic tissues. Results: It was found that AOM caused significant (P≤0.05) elevation in the hematological and biochemical measurements. C. tiglium nano-extract restored these measurements to normalcy. Tumor and inflammatory markers elevated significantly (P≤0.05) in sera of AOM induced colon cancer group in addition to increasing peroxidation products with decline in antioxidant enzymes activities in colon tissues. Nano-extract restored these measurements to normalcy in post-treated group. Histopathological study revealed that nano-extract minimized severity of inflammatory reactions in all nano-extract treated groups and prevented anti-Keratin 20 antibody expression in post-treated group. The lowest similarity index (SI%) values were noticed with electrophoretic protein (SI=71.43%), lipid (SI=0.00%) and calcium (SI=75.00%) moieties of protein patterns, catalase (SI=85.71%), peroxidase (SI=85.71%), α-esterase (SI=50.00%) and β-esterase (SI=50.00%) isoenzymes in colon cancer group. Furthermore, AOM altered the relative quantities of total native bands. The nano-extract prevented the alterations that occurred qualitatively in nano-extract post-treated group and quantitatively in all nano-extract treated groups. Levels of TP 53 and APC gene expression increased in AOM injected group and nano-extract restored their levels to normalcy in the post-treated group. Conclusion: C. tiglium nano-extract exhibited ameliorative effect against the biochemical and molecular alterations induced by AOM in nano-extract post-treated group.

The global distribution of breast cancer and the opportunistic nature of the parasite have resulted in many patients with breast cancer becoming infected with toxoplasmosis. However, very limited information is available about the potential effects of tamoxifen on chronic toxoplasmosis and its contribution to the reactivation of the latent infection. The present study investigated the potential effects of tamoxifen on chronic toxoplasmosis in animal models (Swiss albino mice). Following induction of chronic toxoplasmosis and treatment with the drug for 14 and 28 days, the anti-parasitic effects of tamoxifen were evaluated by parasitological assessment and counting of Toxoplasma cysts. In addition, the effects of the drug on the parasite load were evaluated and quantitated using TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR followed by investigation of the major histopathological changes and immunohistochemical findings. Interestingly, tamoxifen increased the parasite burden on animals treated with the drug during 14 and 28 days as compared with the control group. The quantification of the DNA concentrations of Toxoplasma P29 gene after the treatment with the drug revealed a higher parasite load in both treated groups vs. control groups. Furthermore, treatment with tamoxifen induced a series of histopathological and immunohistochemical changes in the kidney, liver, brain, and uterus, revealing the exacerbating effect of tamoxifen against chronic toxoplasmosis. These changes were represented by the presence of multiple T. gondii tissue cysts in the lumen of proximal convoluted tubules associated with complete necrosis in their lining epithelium of the kidney section. Meanwhile, liver tissue revealed multiple T. gondii tissue cysts in hepatic parenchyma which altered the structure of hepatocytes. Moreover, clusters of intracellular tachyzoites were observed in the lining epithelium of endometrium associated with severe endometrial necrosis and appeared as diffuse nuclear pyknosis combined with sever mononuclear cellular infiltration. Brain tissues experienced the presence of hemorrhages in pia mater and multiple T. gondii tissue cysts in brain tissue. The severity of the lesions was maximized by increasing the duration of treatment. Collectively, the study concluded novel findings in relation to the potential role of tamoxifen during chronic toxoplasmosis. These findings are very important for combating the disease, particularly in immunocompromised patients which could be life-threatening.

Aim:Bovine papillomaviruses (BPVs) are the main cause of bovine papillomatosis resulting in cutaneous and/or mucosal benign tumors that could be transformed to malignant ones with marked economic importance, especially in the dairy farms. Molecular, pathological, and immunohistochemical (IHC) diagnosis of bovine papillomatosis cases was conducted to identify and characterize the circulating BPV genotype in some Egyptian governorates.Materials and Methods:Wart-like lesions in skin, udder, and teats were collected from 123 infected cases in Giza, Beni Suef, and El Menoufia Governorates, Egypt, during 2016-2017. Pathological and IHC characterization, molecular identification, genotyping, and phylogenetic analysis based on the conserved late (L1) gene of the all samples were carried out.Results:89 of the 123 collected samples (72.3%) were positively detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The sequence analysis of the obtained PCR amplicons was identical revealing identification and genotyping of only one type (Deltapapillomavirus 4 isolate EGY 2017) with accession number (MG547343) which found to be closely related to the recently detected Deltapapillomavirus 4 isolate 04_asi_UK (accession no. MF384288.1) and isolate Deltapapillomavirus 4 isolate 25_equ_CH (accession no. MF384286.1) with 99% nucleotide sequence identity. Histopathological examination revealed severe hyperkeratosis in stratum corneum and acanthosis in most of the cases. These tissue changes were confirmed by the presence of golden brown stained proliferating cell nuclear antigen which was localized intranuclear and perinuclear in other cells using IHC Technique.Conclusion:It is the first time to detect and genotype the BPVs in these areas with no record of previous genotyping in the whole country. The obtained results will highlight the importance of this disease.