Surgery is the treatment of choice for treatment of human cystic echinococcosis/ hydatidosis which is one of the most important parasitic zoonoses worldwide. Due to the risk of cyst rupture during surgery a protoscolicidal agent is usually injected into the cyst before surgery to prevent secondary cyst formation in case of cyst rupture. Due to the side effects of chemical protoscolicidals agents attempts has been focused on herbal medicine.In this regard, Allium sativum has already been used; however, the protoscolicidal effect of Allium hirtifolium from Allium family has not been investigated, so far.

The present study was conducted in order to assess the protoscolicidal effect of methanolic extract of Allium hirtifolium in different concentrations, temperature and exposure times. Cetrimide as positive control, and DMSO as negative control, were also used in this study. The viability of protoscoleces was determined by 0.1% eosin staining method.

The protoscolicidal effect of Allium hirtifolium on protoscoleces was as follows: The mean percent and standard deviation (SD) of protoscolecidal activity of 50 mg/ml concentration of Allium hirtifolium extract in room temperature at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes of exposure was 5.88.

Background: Cisplatin is a cytotoxic agent in cancer therapy. Nephrotoxicity is considered as a side effect of cisplatin usage. Using rate models, we studied the possible protective impact of corn-silk (CS) extract against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.Materials and Methods: Thirty-five experimental rats were divided into five groups (n=7 per each group) as follow: C1: Control received distilled water only; C2: received one dose of cisplatin, and CS: received 300 mg/kg/day of CS. Both CS1 and CS2 received 200 and 300 mg/kg/day of the CS extract orally, individually, for eight consecutive days. CS1 and CS2 received a single dose of cisplatin on the first day only. The specific biochemical markers and histopathological alterations were evaluated.Result: According to our results, cisplatin administration could have induced severe degeneration in all parts of the nephron tubules and liver. Pre-treatment with CS exhibited a significant decrease in the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels as compared to the values obtained after treatment with cisplatin alone (P<0.01). Moreover, the CS extract with 200 mg dose showed significant (P<0.01) protection against the cisplatin-induced elevation of blood urea nitrogen. Further, the serum levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase were higher in the cisplatin-treated groups, when compared to the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, the hepatic function was also improved in cisplatin-treated animals, which were pre-treated with CS.Conclusion: CS has the potential to attenuate nephrotoxicity and lipid peroxidation induced by cisplatin in rats.[GMJ.2018;7:e1258]

Introduction: There are limited studies on the anti-cancer and immunomodulatory effects of the fig fruit latex. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of fig fruit latex on several cancer cell lines as well as its effect on lymphocytes proliferation and cytokines secretion. Methods: After preparing a methanolic extract from fig latex, its effect on various cancer cell lines including Fen (bladder cancer), K562 (myeloid leukemia), Hela (cervix carcinoma), Jurkat (lymphoid leukemia) and Raji (lymphoma) was examined by MTT colorimetric assay. For evaluating the effects of extract on lymphocyte proliferation and viability, BrdU assay and flow cytometry staining were used. Cytokine secretion was measured by ELISA assay. Results: The extract showed the strongest activity against K562 cell line (IC50, 234 µg/ml) and the least activity against Hela cells (IC50 >1000 µg/ml). On evaluation of the immunomodulatory effect of fig by BrdU assay, a reduction in lymphocytes proliferation by increasing the concentration of the extract was observed; proliferation index from 1.2±0.06 at 0.1 µg/ml of the extract reached to 0.13±0.2 at 800 µg/ml. In flow cytometry analysis, a significant cytotoxic effect at concentrations ≥400 µg/ml was observed. The extract at 100 and 200µg/ml had the ability to reduce secretion of interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-4 cytokines. Conclusion: Fig latex extract showed cytotoxicity on different cells particularly K562 leukemia cells which implied its anticancer activity. This extract at lower concentrations reduced lymphocytes proliferation and cytokine production which showed its immunoinhibitory effects and suggested its possible beneficial in treatment of immune-mediated diseases.

No abstract