Objective:To determine the impact of walnut oil on nitrite-induced testicular toxicity in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Available evidence suggests that walnut oil contains high levels of important unsaturated fatty acids including alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and omega-3; nitrite is a reproductive toxicant that causes the loss of germ cells in the seminiferous tubules and generates oxidative stress in the testes, thus reducing sperm counts and affecting sperm morphology.Methods:This study included 24 male and 24 female adult SD rats. The male rats randomly assigned to Group A (controls) were given normal saline 2 ml/kg. The rats in Groups B, C, and D were given 50mg/kg body weight (bwt) of walnut oil, 0.08 mg/kg bwt of nitrite, and 0.08 mg/kg bwt of nitrite + 50 mg/kg of walnut oil respectively for 28 days via gastric gavage. Tested parameters included: testicular histology, sperm parameters, reproductive hormones, fertility, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione, and catalase (CAT).Results:A severe decrease in spermatogenic cell series, hypocellularity, tubular atrophy, decreased sperm quality, and increased MDA levels were observed in the rats given nitrite only when compared to controls. Rats given 50 mg/kg of walnut oil had significant growth of seminiferous epithelium compared to controls. The rats given walnut oil and nitrite had significant growth of seminiferous epithelium, improved sperm quality, and had decreased MDA levels.Conclusion:Walnut oil attenuated the deleterious effects of nitrite to the testes, reduced oxidative stress, and promoted spermatogenesis.

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Alcohol (ethanol) is presently reputed to the most cause of disease development in humans. The liver is the human organ that is most frequently challenged in alcohol abuse by oral route in a process that involves generation of reactive oxygen species. In this study we evaluated the liver histology, liver oxidative stress and the activities of liver biomarker enzymes to investigate the capabilities of polyphenolic antioxidant-rich Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract to ameliorate liver derangement caused by alcohol. Three groups of Wistar rats were constructed for the study; A control group that received peanut oil (the vehicle) 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally, for 56 days, after saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight daily, orally for 56 days. The Moringa oleifera--alone group that received physiological saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by Moringa oleifera leaf extract 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally for another 56 days. The alcohol-alone group was given alcohol 5 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily per oral for another 56 days. Finally, the alcohol plus Moringa oleifera group which were similarly given alcohol, but had Moringa oleifera 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral after alcohol for another 56 days.Our results demonstrated that post-treatment with Moringa oleifera leaf extract attenuated the liver morphological, functional and oxidative status changes mediated by alcohol ingestion.

Colloidal single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) offer a promising platform for the nanoscale engineering of molecular recognition. Optical sensors have been recently designed through the modification of noncovalent corona phases (CPs) of SWCNTs through a phenomenon known as corona phase molecular recognition (CoPhMoRe). In CoPhMoRe constructs, DNA CPs are of great interest due to the breadth of the design space and our ability to control these molecules with sequence specificity at scale. Utilizing these constructs for metal ion sensing is a natural extension of this technology due to DNA's well-known coordination chemistry. Additionally, understanding metal ion interactions of these constructs allows for improved sensor design for use in complex aqueous environments. In this work, we study the interactions between a panel of 9 dilute divalent metal cations and 35 DNA CPs under the most controlled experimental conditions for SWCNT optical sensing to date. We found that best practices for the study of colloidal SWCNT analyte responses involve mitigating the effects of ionic strength, dilution kinetics, laser power, and analyte response kinetics. We also discover that SWCNT with DNA CPs generally offers two unique sensing states at pH 6 and 8. The combined set of sensors in this work allowed for the differentiation of Hg 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cr 2+ , and Mn 2+ . Finally, we implemented Hg 2+ sensing in the context of portable detection within fish tissue extract, demonstrating nanomolar level detection.

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