To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of nootropic drugs, piracetam and vincamine, on Parkinsonʹs disease (PD) in rats, forty adult male Wistar albino rats were randomized into five equal groups: control, haloperidol-induced PD group, and PD groups orally given piracetam (300 mg/kg/day), vincamine (20 mg/kg/day) or both. Four weeks later, motor performance was assessed by stepping test. Y-maze, forced swimming and olfactory preference tests were done for cognitive and behavioral evaluation. Blood samples were collected for measuring serum glucose, calcium, creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Thereafter, rats were sacrificed and brains were dissected. Striatal tissue of left hemisphere was isolated and homogenized for assay of dopamine, malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite/nitrate, reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1ß). Right hemisphere was used for histopathological examination of substantia nigra. Results: Rats of PD group showed bradykinesia, cognitive impairment, depressive-like behavior and hyposmia, reductions in serum calcium and GDNF, and in striatal dopamine, GSH, GPx and SOD, while serum glucose and CPK, and striatal MDA, nitrite/nitrate, IL-1ß and TNF-α were increased, as compared to control.Both drugs improved neurological dysfunction and biochemical parameters, as compared to PD group. The histopathological findings revealed neuro-degeneration and neuro-inflammation in PD group, that improved in treated groups. The piracetam effect was mainly anti-inflammatory, while vincamine was mainly antioxidant. Combined treatment resulted in a more potent amelioration of haloperidol-induced changes. Conclusion: Piracetam and vincamine exhibit neuroprotective activity in haloperidol-induced PD, that is more potent with their combination.
Background: Indian Costus extract used as traditional herbal therapy for various diseases. Ingestion of thermally oxidized palm oil causes oxidative stress leading to multiple health problems such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, as well as kidneys and liver abnormality. Aim: To investigate the toxic effects of thermally oxidized palm oil on the liver, kidneys, heart and lung of Albino rats and to evaluate the role of Indian costus in improving these effects. Methods: Forty adult healthy male albino rats equally assigned into four groups and gavaged by a single daily dose for 45 days as follows group I (control group) gavaged by distilled water, group II gavaged by 80 mg/kg of Indian costus extract, group III gavaged by one-tenth LD50 of thermally oxidized palm oil (LD50 equal 18 gm/kg) and group IV gavaged as group III in addition to 80 mg/kg of Indian costus extract. Serum was collected for biochemical analyses for liver, kidney function tests, lipid profile, malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity. Also, histological examination for livers, kidneys, heart, and lung from sacrificed rats of all groups were performed. Results: A significant increase in total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density lipoprotein, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in group III compared to group I but group IV had significantly lower levels of theses parameters than group III. The highest levels of MDA were in group III followed by group IV and the lowest levels were in group II. There was significant lower mean level of MDA in group IV than group III (7.31±0.60 vs 8.25±1.01; respectively). There were significant higher prevalence of steatosis, congestion, and hepatitis in the liver of group III than group IV (p=0.004, 0.014 and 0.012; respectively). Also, there was a significant higher prevalence of atheroma in the heart, moderate and severe interstitial inflammation, and granuloma around cholesterol crystal in the lung, cloudy swelling, and congestion in the kidneys of group III than group IV. Conclusion: Thermally oxidized palm oil had a deleterious effect on liver, kidney, lung and heart ultrastructure, induces hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress. The extract of Indian costus had a potential protective effect against these effects.
Results: Alpha diversity was higher in non-metastasis cohort than that in metastasis cohort, but no significance (observed species P ¼ 0.08, and Shannon index P ¼ 0.03). Beta diversity was higher in non-metastasis cohort than that in metastasis cohort significantly (weighted unifrac p<0.01). Compared to non-metastasis cohort, the relative abundance rate of familie verrucomicrobia (metastasis cohort 0.056 and nonmetastasis cohort 0.022, p<0.05) was greater in metastasis cohort, of which Akkermansia muciniphila (metastasis cohort 0.057 and non-metastasis cohort 0.023, p<0.05) was significantly different between the two cohorts. Conclusions:We demonstrated, for the first time, a potential relationship between the microbe Akkermansia muciniphila in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and lymph node metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma, which needs to be confirmed in a larger study.
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