Background and purpose: Russelioside B (RB) is a pregnane glycoside obtained from Caralluma quadrangula; a herb with antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antihyperlipidemic activities. The present experiment tested the possible role of RB in controlling weight gain in rats fed on high fat (HF) diet.Methods: RB was separated from the n-butanol fraction of the crude methanolic extract by chromatographic separation on a Si gel column according to the procedures described previously. The experiment of the biological assessment of RB used 32 male Wistar rats (4 groups, n = 8). Group 1 rats were fed with a palatable normal diet. Group 2, 3, and 4 were fed on HF diet for 16 weeks. Group 2 served as the HF diet control group while Group 3 and 4 received daily oral doses of RB (25 and 50 mg/kg) during the last four weeks. Animals’ parameters like weight gain, fasting level of blood sugar, serum lipids, and serum liver enzyme activities were measured. Liver or adipose tissue weight was divided by the rat’s body weight and multiplied by 100 to obtain the liver or adipose tissue index, respectively. Adipose tissues were processed for histopathological examination, measurement of mRNA expression of visfatin, leptin, adiponectin, uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1), and carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1). Furthermore, serum levels of insulin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), leptin, resistin, and adiponectin were assessed using ELISA kits.Results: Rats fed with the HF diet exhibited significant body weight gain, abnormal liver function, disturbed lipid profile, and greater serum level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in addition to greater insulin resistance, adipose tissue and liver indices. Further, rats fed with the HF diet displayed upregulations in the expression of visfatin and leptin with downregulations in the expression of adiponectin, UCP-1, and CPT-1 compared to normal rats. Interestingly, RB (25 or 50 mg/kg) favorably modulated the measured parameters.Conclusion: Data from this study documented the beneficial role of RB in diminishing weight gain, improving the inflammatory perturbations and energy expenditure in HF diet fed rats. Therefore, RB might be a promising candidate for obesity.

The lung is one of the most sensitive organs that are vulnerable to injuries induced by lower limb ischemia-reperfusion. Scutellarin is a flavonoid glycoside extracted from the Chinese herb Erigeron breviscapus. This study aimed to investigate the role of scutellarin in ameliorating lung injury in a rat model of bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion. Twenty-four adult male albino rats were equally divided into four groups; control, scutellarin, bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion, and bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion followed by scutellarin (at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day for 14 days). Lung specimens were processed for different biochemical and histological techniques. The bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion group showed a significant increase in lung malondialdehyde and myeloperoxidase levels as well as a significant decrease in lung glutathione and superoxide dismutase. Histological examination revealed collapsed alveoli, polymorphic mononuclear cell infiltration, thickened dilated congested blood vessels, and excessive collagen fiber deposition in thickened interalveolar septa. A significant increase in iNOS and Bax immunohistochemical expression was associated with a significant decrease in Bcl2 and COX2 expression. Scutellarin administration following bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion significantly ameliorated all studied parameters. It can be concluded that scutellarin could be beneficial in improving bilateral hind limb ischemia-reperfusion-induced lung damage most probably through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects.

Abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) by athletes has been increased rapidly in many countries to improve their physical fitness and appearance. The abuses of AASs have been associated with impacts on different systems of the body. The present study was conducted to evaluate the histological changes that occurred in skeletal and cardiac muscles during nandrolone (one of AASs) treatment histologically and immunohistochmically. Forty adult male albino rats were divided into four groups. Group 1; control group, group 2; was treated with nandrolone 5 mg/kg intramuscularly weekly, group 3 was treated with nandrolone10 mg/kg intramuscularly weekly and group 4; was treated with nandrolone 20 mg/kg intramuscularly weekly. All groups were treated for 8 weeks. The specimens from the cardiac and skeletal muscles were processed for histological study using light and electron microscopes and immunohistochemical stain for detection of activated caspase-3 as an indicator for apoptotic changes. The skeletal and cardiac muscles appeared hypertrophied after nandrolone treatment. Lesions ranged from mild to severe muscular changes were also detected depending on the dose. The changes were in the form of variations of fibers size and splitting of some fibers in skeletal muscle as well as myofiber lysis, cellular infiltration, vacuolation, swelling and mitochondrial damage in both skeletal and cardiac muscles. The nuclei appeared hyperchromatic with peripherally clumped chromatin. Expression of caspase-3 was significantly increased in skeletal and cardiac tissues treated with higher doses of nandrolone. It is concluded that nandrolone injection in male albino rats induced hypertrophy and degenerative changes in the skeletal and cardiac muscles which may lead to loss of their functions.