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BackgroundThe liver disease is one of the most important traditional public health problems in Egypt. Oxidative stress is attributed to such pathological condition that further contributes to the initiation and progression of liver injury. In the present study, we have investigated if the strong antioxidant power of Nicotinamide (NA), Vitamin B2 (VB2), and Vitamin C (VC) can ameliorate TAA-induced oxidative stress-mediated liver injury in the rats.MethodsThirty-six albino rats were divided into six groups: Control group; TAA group (IP injection with TAA at a dosage of 200 mg/Kg three times a week for two months); TAA + NA group (rats administered with NA at a dosage of 200 mg/kg daily besides TAA as in the control); TAA + VB2 group (rats administered with vitamin B2 at a dosage of 30 mg/kg daily besides injection with TAA); TAA + VC group (rats administered with vitamin C at a dosage of 200 mg/kg daily along with injection of TAA). TAA + NA + VB + VC group (rats administered the with the three vitamins daily in TAA pre-injected at the respective doses described above).ResultsTreatment of rats with TAA led to a significant elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total bilirubin, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the serum samples. Moreover, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydroxyproline and nitic oxide (NO) were also significantly increased in the TAA-treated rats, while reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were significantly compromised in the hepatic samples. Rats administered with NA, VB2, and VC as individually or in combination ameliorated the deleterious effects of TAA that was confirmed by histopathology. However, the combination of the three vitamins was found more effective as compared to each of the vitamins.ConclusionOur work demonstrates that NA, VB2, and VC cross-talk with each other that act as a more potent biochemical chain of antioxidant defense against TAA-induced toxicities in vivo.

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Role of zinc oxide nanoparticles in alleviating hepatic fibrosis and nephrotoxicity induced by thioacetamide in rats. Journal: Canadian Journal of Physiology and PharmacologyManuscript ID cjpp-2017-0247.R1 AbstractThe present research studied the influence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs; 5mg, 7.5mg, 10 mg/Kg IP) on the liver and kidney injuries motivated by thioacetamide (TAA; 100mg/Kg IP).Each treatment was carried out three times weekly for eight weeks .ZnO-NPs relieved the decrease of hepatic or renal reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) induced by TAA. Moreover, ZnO-NPs lowered tissues malondialdehyde (MDA, an indicator for lipid peroxidation). TAA treatment led to a significant increase in plasma inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), liver enzymes (Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and kidney function parameters (Creatinine, urea, uric acid). However, these parameters were reduced after treatment with ZnO-NPs. In addition, the hepatic fibrosis markers, Hydroxyproline level and α -smooth muscle actin immunopositive stain were lowered by ZnO-NPs. The protective effect of ZnO-NPs in respect to biochemical changes was also confirmed by histopatholgoical, and immunohistochemistry studies in the liver and kidney sections. Our results suggested that ZnONPs may attenuate TAA-toxicity via suppression of oxidative stress.Key words: zinc oxide nanoparticles, hepatic fibrosis, kidney injury, oxidative stress, inflammatory markers, histopathology, immunohistochemistry. Materials and methods ChemicalsThioacetamide (TAA) was purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA). Other chemicals and reagents were of high analytical grade and were purchased from standard commercial suppliers. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by the sol gel method using 2 g of zinc acetate dehydrate as precursor dissolved in 14 ml of methanol, under magnetic stirring for 2 h. Then, the resulting solution undergos rapid drying to obtain a white powder. The obtained powder was calcined at 500 °C for 2 h to obtained ZnO nanoparticles. The crystalline phases of the obtained nanopowder were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) using a Bruker D5005 powder X-ray diffractometer.Crystallite size was estimated from the Debye-Sherrer Equation and found to be 38-54 nm.Furthermore, the obtained nanopowder was characterized in terms of morphology, structure, and optics characteristics using a number of analytical techniques reported by Omri et al 2016. Preparation of zinc oxide nanoparticles suspensionThe nanoparticles of zinc oxide were suspended in 1% sodium carboxy methyl cellulose as stabilizer or surfactant, stirred with a magnetic stirrer for 5 minutes and then dispersed by ultrasonic vibration for 15 min (Wang et al. 2008). In order to avoid the aggregation of the particles, fresh suspension was prepared before every use. Animals and experimental groupsForty male albino (Sprague-Dawley) rats weighing 150 ± 10 g. were used in the study. Each 4 rats s...

In this paper, the spectral properties of a conjugated polymer poly [2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) in benzene have been studied. The results showed that the fluorescence spectra of MEH-PPV under low concentrations had two peaks; the dominant one due to monomer was around 560 nm, and the shoulder one attributed to the excimer was around 600 nm. Under higher concentrations, it was found that there was only one band around 600 nm due to the excimeric state. By increasing the concentrations of MEH-PPV, it could be seen that there was a new band around 640nm. This band is being attributed to the double excimer. Under high power pulsed laser excitation, we observed amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) at 570 nm, 605 nm and 650 nm. These ASE peaks could arise from the monomer, excimer and double excimer states of the macromolecule respectively. To the best of our knowledge this is perhaps the first report on ASE from double excimer of the conjugated polymer, MEH-PPV in liquid solution.