Zinc oxide nanopartciles (ZnONPs) involved in advanced technologies, and their wide-scale use in consumer market makes human beings more prone to the exposure to ZnONPs. The present study was undertaken to evaluate amelioration of ZnONP-induced toxicities with querectin in male albino rats. ZnONPs-treated rats showed a significant decrease in sperm cell count, sperm motility, live and normal sperms, as well as serum testosterone level. Severe histopathological damage with a significant increase in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in antioxidant enzymes activity and the GSH level were observed in the affected testis. Relative quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed a significant decrease in antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and a significant decrease in 3β-HSD, 17β-HSD, and Nr5A1 transcripts. Rats-administered querectin along with ZnONPs showed less toxic effects on all studied reproductive traits and mRNA transcripts. Our results suggest that querectin is beneficial for preventing or ameliorating ZnONP reproductive toxicities in males.

Grape seed extracts (GSE) contain several beneficial bioactive constituents; therefore, can be utilized as a potential feed additive in broiler chickens. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementation of broiler chicken diets with GSE as a natural antioxidant at levels of 125, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm on the growth performance, serum lipid profile, liver glutathione-reduced, thigh muscle malondialdehyde and humoral immune response against Newcastle disease virus vaccines. This experiment was performed during the life-span of chickens from 0 to 42 days of age. The results of broilers fed on diet supplemented by GSE were compared with those fed on the basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented by butylated hydroxytoluene as a synthetic antioxidant (BHT, 125 ppm). No significant differences were observed in the growth performance, percent livability, total lipid, high and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterols when the use of GSE or BHT were compared with the control. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased after intake of GSE compared with BHT in the feed diet. The glutathione-reduced level in liver tissues was significantly increased by inclusion of GSE, but not by BHT. Inclusion of GSE or BHT decreased significantly the malondialdehyde level found in meat tissue. The antibody titer against Newcastle disease virus vaccines was significantly elevated in 28 and 35-day-old broiler chickens fed with a diet supplemented with GSE or BHT, the former providing a higher response. It can be concluded that GSE can be used as an effective natural antioxidant and immunostimulant agent in broiler chicken diets, and that 125 to 250 ppm can be considered as the optimum dosage.

Different sources of Zinc (Zn) were compared to assess their possible effects on performance, nutrients retention, mineral distribution and some serum parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 200 one-day old Ross 308 chicks were divided into in equal four dietary treatments groups with five replicates each of ten chicks. The experimental groups were given the basal diet (inorganic ZnO), basal diet supplemented with organic Zn (Zn methionine), nano-ZnO and Znmix (organic Zn and nano-ZnO) at a concentration of 50 mg/kg of diet. After 42 days of feeding trial, the group supplemented with nano-ZnO exhibited the best final body weight and feed conversion ratio (2380 g/bird and 1.69, respectively). Nano-ZnO and Zn-mix supplementation significantly increased crude fat retention (86.70 and 86.75%, respectively). All sources of supplemented Zn other than inorganic ZnO significantly increased (P<0.05) Zn retention especially in the group supplemented with nano-ZnO (41.8%). Organic Zn and/or nano-ZnO sources supplemented to broiler diets significantly increased (P<0.05) iron and copper contents in the hepatic tissue and Zn content in the tibia. The mean of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and very low density lipoprotien were significantly reduced (P<0.05) by dietary supplementation of organic Zn and/or nano-ZnO. The activity of malondialdehyde was significantly decreased (P<0.05), while Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase activity was significantly increased (P<0.05) by addition nano-ZnO or Zn-mix. Dietary Zn-mix and nano-ZnO positively affected mRNA expression of insulin like growth factor-1 and growth hormone genes in broilers when compared to the inorganic ZnO source. The present findings prospected that replacing traditional inorganic ZnO source with nano-ZnO or combining nano-ZnO and Zn methionine at applied concentration, promoted the growth of broilers, enhanced Zn up take and antioxidant status without negative effect on selected minerals distribution in tissues.

Chemokines are important in the development and progression of tumors. We investigated the expression of CXCL14 and CXCL16 in colon cancer. Expression of mRNA was assessed in primary tumors and lymph nodes and CXCL16 mRNA levels were correlated to patient’s survival. Protein expression was investigated by two-color immunofluorescence and immunomorphometry. CXCL14 and CXCL16 mRNA levels and protein expression were significantly higher in colon cancer primary tumors compared to apparently normal colon tissue. Positive cells were tumor cells, as revealed by anti-CEA and anti-EpCAM staining. CXCL16, but not CXCL14, mRNA levels were significantly higher in hematoxylin and eosin positive (H&E(+)) compared to H&E(−) colon cancer lymph nodes or control nodes (P < 0.0001). CXCL16 mRNA was expressed in 5/5 colon cancer cell lines while CXCL14 was expressed significantly in only one. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that colon cancer patients with lymph nodes expressing high or very high levels (7.2 and 11.4 copies/18S rRNA unit, respectively) of CXCL16 mRNA had a decreased mean survival time of 30 and 46 months at the 12-year follow-up (P = 0.04, P = 0.005, respectively). In conclusion, high expression of CXCL16 mRNA in regional lymph nodes of colon cancer patients is a sign of a poor prognosis.