scholarly journals Effect of Acute Toxoplasmosis on Anxiety and Cortisol and Interleukin-17 Levels in Male Rats: An Experimental Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Fallah ◽  
Tayebeh Shamsi Ehsan ◽  
Iraj Salehi ◽  
Amir Hossein Maghsood ◽  
Mohammad Matini ◽  
...  

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan with worldwide distribution. Recent studies have shown that the transmission of T. gondii is facilitated by its ability to modify the host’s behavior. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of T. gondii infection on anxiety in an animal model and determine the levels of cortisol and interleukin-17 (IL-17) in rats. Methods: In this study, 40 rats were randomly allocated to four groups, namely uninfected animals as the control group, infected group, infected and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX)-treated group, and infected and dexamethasone-receiving group. Thirty days after the infection, the rats were subjected to behavioral tests utilizing the plus maze. The cortisol and IL-17 levels in the serum of the infected rats were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The infected rats had a significantly higher number of entries to the open arms, and the mean spent time in the open arms was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). The dexamethasone-receiving and TMP-SMX-treated rats had a lower number of entries to the open arms, and the mean spent time in the open arms was less than that of the infected group; however, there were no significant differences in closed arm entries between different groups and the control group. Regarding the total activity, the infected rats had significantly higher values than the controls, dexamethasone-receiving rats, and TMP-SMX-treated rats; nevertheless, the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: In conclusion, it was observed that T. gondii had anxiolytic effects, and IL-17 and cortisol levels increased in the serum of the infected rats.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Faezeh Nemati Karimooy ◽  
Alireza Ebrahimzadeh Bideskan ◽  
Abbas Mohammadi Pour ◽  
Seyed Mahmoud Hoseini

AbstractStanozolol is an anabolic-androgenic steroid which is commonly abused by athletes for improved energy, appearance, and physical size. It has been previously shown to cause changes in behaviour and has various physical effects. Studies have previously been conducted on its neurotoxic effect on the central nervous system (CNS), which are typically psychological in nature. This study was performed to investigate the apoptotic effect of stanozolol on different parts of the rat hippocampus. Sixteen male Wistar rats were divided randomly into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group received subcutaneous injections of stanozolol (5mg/kg/day) for consecutive 28 days, whereas the control group received saline using the same dosing schedule and administration route. After routine procedures, coronal sections of rat brain were stained with Toluidine blue and TUNEL for pre-apoptotic and apoptotic cell detection, respectively. In order to compare groups, the mean number of TUNEL-positive and pre-apoptotic neurons per unit area were calculated and analysed. Histopathological examination revealed that the mean number of pre-apoptotic and apoptotic neurons in the CA1, CA2, CA3 and DG areas of the hippocampus were significantly increased in the stanozolol treated group. In conclusion, stanozolol abuse may induce pre-apoptotic and apoptotic cell formation in different regions of the hippocampus.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2887-2893
Author(s):  
Entssar S. Hafid ◽  
May K. Ismael

      Cytokines and chemokines are small-secreted proteins involved in many aspects of cell development, differentiation, and activation functions. A prominent characteristic of these molecules is their effect on the immune system in relation to the development of cell trafficking and immune tissues and organs. Furthermore, they play an important role in initiating and coordinating the organized and sequential recruitment and activation of cells into Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected lungs. We aimed to evaluate the levels of interleukin -17 (IL-17) and the chemotactic chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) in the sera of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. About 90 subjects were included, involving 50 patients with pulmonary TB and 40 apparently healthy individuals who were selected as a control group. Sera were obtained for measuring IL-17 and CCL-5 levels by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results revealed that serum levels of IL-17 showed no significant differences between each patient's group and control. In contrast, the serum level of CCL-5 was significantly increased in pulmonary tuberculosis patients compared to control (P ≤0.01). The mean ±SE values of IL-17 level in PTB patients and controls were 43.06 ±3.64 and 41.009 ± 0.009 pg/ml, respectively. While, the mean ±SE values of CCL-5 level in PTB patients and controls were 455.40 ±25.35 and 80.86 ± 5.96 ng/L, respectively. The results of the current study suggest that high levels of CCL-5 in the sera of PTB patients may indicate an important role in the immunopathogenesis of the disease. Therefore, this chemokine could be considered as a useful biomarker for the severity of PTB infections.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-21
Author(s):  
Sadia Choudhury Shimmi ◽  
M Tanveer Hossain Parash ◽  
Lazina Afrin ◽  
Pervin Akter

Background: Kidney is the main excretory organ which can be damaged by various disease conditions, foods, exposure to some chemicals, toxins, or infectious agents. Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) may have antioxidant activity thereby can be used for the improvement of kidney functions though its exact role is yet to be explored. Objective: To observe the effect of peanut kernel powder on kidney by observing the histology and some biochemical parameters (serum creatinine and blood urea) in Wistar albino rats. Materials and method: This experimental study was conducted between October 2012 to December 2012 in the Institute of Food and Nutrition, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total number of 20 apparently healthy Wistar albino male rats, weighing between 120 to 150 grams, age range 90 to 120 days were used. Prior to conducting the study, the animals were acclimatized for 14 days. Then, they were divided into two groups; control group (Group A) consisted of 10 rats and experimental group (Group B- Peanut treated group) consisted of 10 rats. All groups of animals received basal diet for 21 consecutive days and in addition, experimental group received peanut kernel powder (500mg/kg body weight/day; orally) in the morning along with food for 21 consecutive days. All the animals were sacrificed on 22nd day. The blood and kidney samples were collected. Blood urea, serum creatinine levels were measured and histopathology of kidney was done by using standard laboratory procedure. Results: The mean body weight of peanut treated group was significantly lower than that of control group. The mean blood urea and creatinine levels were higher in peanut treated group in comparison to those of control group but the differences were not statistically significant. On histology, kidney revealed normal findings both in control and peanut treated group. Conclusion: Role of peanut kernel powder in normalizing the biochemical parameters is controversial. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dmcj.v2i1.17792 Delta Med Col J. Jan 2014; 2(1): 17-21


1981 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mridula Chowdhury ◽  
Robert Tcholakian ◽  
Emil Steinberger

Abstract. It has been suggested that treatment of intact male rats with oestradiol benzoate (OeB) causes an interference with testosterone (T) production by the testes by a direct inhibitory effect on steroidogenesis. To test this hypothesis, different doses (5, 10 or 25 IU) of hCG were administered concomitantly with 50 μg of OeB to adult intact or hypophysectomized male rats. The testicular and plasma testosterone, and serum hCG levels were determined. The sex accessory weights were recorded. In the intact OeB-treated group of animals, hCG stimulated both the secondary sex organs and plasma testosterone levels above the intact control group. However, in hypophysectomized animals, although plasma testosterone levels increased above that of intact controls, their secondary sex organ weights did not. Moreover, inspite of high circulating hCG levels, the testicular testosterone content and concentration remained suppressed in OeB-treated animals. The reason for such dichotomy of hCG action on OeB-treated animals is not clear at present.


Author(s):  
Ashraf Albrakati

Tramadol, a broadly in recent years, is an effective analgesic agent for the treatment of moderate to acute pain. Its metabolites are excreted by the kidney which may cause nephrotoxicity. Moringa oleifera leaves are commonly used to provide herbal and plant-derived medicinal products especially in developing nations. The present study was carried out to determine the biochemical and histopathological changes in the kidney of tramadol-treated albino mice and to evaluate the possible protective role of Moringa oleifera leaves against tramadol-induced nephrotoxicity. Twenty adult albino mice were divided into four groups. Control group (group i) received daily intraperitoneal injection of normal saline only, group ii received oral dose of Moringa oleifera leaves extract (20 mg/kg/bw) for three weeks, group iii received daily intraperitoneal dose of tramadol (0.3 mg/kg/bw) for the same period, group iv, received daily oral dose of Moringa oleifera leaves extract, (20 mg/kg/bw) three hours before injecting intraperitoneal dose of tramadol (0.3 mg/kg/bw), for the same period. Blood samples were withdrawn at the end of the experiment for kidney function tests and specimens from the kidney were processed for histological study. No significant differences in the mean values of the kidney function tests were noticed between Moringa oleifera group and control group. However, there was highly significant increase in the mean values of serum, urea and creatinine in tramadol-treated group as compared to the control group. Although tramadol + Moringa oleifera group revealed significant difference in the mean values of urea and creatinine when compared with tramadol-treated group. So, Moringa oleifera leaves extract have been shown to attenuate the renal dysfunction, improve the renal architecture, with nearly normalization of serum urea and creatinine levels which indicate improvement of renal function. In conclusion, in the light of biochemical results and histological findings, co-administration of Moringa oleifera leaves lessened the negative effects of tramadol-induced nephrotoxicity; possibly by its antioxidant action. Further investigation of these promising protective effects of Moringa oleifera leaves against tramadol-induced renal injury may have considerable impact on developing an adjunct therapy aiming to improve the therapeutic index of some nephrotoxic drugs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-228
Author(s):  
Layla Parast ◽  
Priscillia Hunt ◽  
Beth Ann Griffin ◽  
David Powell

AbstractIn some applications, researchers using the synthetic control method (SCM) to evaluate the effect of a policy may struggle to determine whether they have identified a “good match” between the control group and treated group. In this paper, we demonstrate the utility of the mean and maximum Absolute Standardized Mean Difference (ASMD) as a test of balance between a synthetic control unit and treated unit, and provide guidance on what constitutes a poor fit when using a synthetic control. We explore and compare other potential metrics using a simulation study. We provide an application of our proposed balance metric to the 2013 Los Angeles (LA) Firearm Study [9]. Using Uniform Crime Report data, we apply the SCM to obtain a counterfactual for the LA firearm-related crime rate based on a weighted combination of control units in a donor pool of cities. We use this counterfactual to estimate the effect of the LA Firearm Study intervention and explore the impact of changing the donor pool and pre-intervention duration period on resulting matches and estimated effects. We demonstrate how decision-making about the quality of a synthetic control can be improved by using ASMD. The mean and max ASMD clearly differentiate between poor matches and good matches. Researchers need better guidance on what is a meaningful imbalance between synthetic control and treated groups. In addition to the use of gap plots, the proposed balance metric can provide an objective way of determining fit.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betul Cekic ◽  
Fazilet Zumrut Biber Muftuler ◽  
Ayfer Yurt Kılcar ◽  
Cigdem Ichedef ◽  
Perihan unak

PURPOSE: People consume vegetables without the knowledge of the side effects of the biological and chemical contents and interactions between radiopharmaceuticals and herbal extract. To this end, current study is focused on the effects of broccoli extract on biodistribution of radiolabeled glucoheptonate (99mTc-GH) and radiolabeling of blood components. METHODS: GH was labeled with 99mTc. Quality control studies were done utilizing TLC method. Biodistribution studies were performed on male rats which were treated via gavage with either broccoli extract or SF as control group for 15 days. Blood samples were withdrawn from rats' heart. Radiolabeling of blood constituents performed incubating with GH, SnCl2 and 99m Tc. RESULTS: Radiochemical yield of 99mTc-GH is 98.46±1.48 % (n=8). Biodistribution studies have shown that according to the control, the treated group with broccoli has approximately 10 times less uptake in kidney. The percentage of the radioactivity ratios of the blood components is found to be same in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is no considerable effect on the radiolabeling of blood components, there is an outstanding change on the biodistribution studies especially on kidneys. The knowledge of this change on kidney uptake may contribute to reduce the risk of misdiagnosis and/or repetition of the examinations in Nuclear Medicine.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Hayder AL – Zamely

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of experimental infection by Escherichia coli on some blood parameters and histopathological changes in male rats to reach this objective twenty male rats (Rattus norvigicus) were divided into two groups, housed under same conditions of water, feed, temperature, light and humidity. The first one served as control group, while the second was experimentally infected with Ecoli by administration of 2ml / rat of (1×109) colony forming unit/ml of E-coli. Five days later blood were obtained from animals by cardiac puncture to measure the total and differential white blood cells count hemoglobin concentration packed cells volume red blood cells count, and thrombocytes count. One animal from each group was killed and histopathological examination was done for intestine kidney liver and spleen to detect the effect of infection on these organs. The results revealed a significant increase in total leukocytes count (P<005) in infected group while the differential count showed a significant increase in neutrophils and significant decrease in lymphocytes (P< 0.05) in same group. There were a significant decrease in hemoglobin concentration packed cell volume and non significant decrease in red blood cells count. While thrombocytes count showed a significant decrease in infected group compared with control group (P<0.05). The histopathological examination of infected male rats intestine was demonstrated mild diffuse inflammation which include increased numbers of neutrophile in tissue intraepithelial lymphocytes and goblet cells In kidney renal tubules showed extensive epithelial swelling with decreased lumen space and generalized necrotic changes with interstitial hemorrhage in renal cortex. In liver hepatocytes were swollen with decreased sinusoidal spaces and widely distributed necrotic foci were seen. There is extensive splenic necrosis with infiltration of leukocytes from white pulp to red pulp of spleen.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan-jing Leng ◽  
Hai-bin Zhou ◽  
Jiang-ling Fu ◽  
Wen-juan Wang

Abstract PURPOSECarbonic anhydrase-2 (CA-2) plays a role in mineralization and calcification in organism. Strong evidence suggests that CA-2 is associated with urolithiasis. However, the relationship between CA-2 and urinary stone remains unclear. The study aimed to assess the association of urine CA-2 (uCA-2) level and the potential risk of urinary stone.METHODSFrom March 2017 to November 2019, a prospective cohort study was conducted on patients with urinary stones and healthy subjects to determine the pretreatment uCA-2 level detection by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The difference of uCA-2 level between patients with urinary stones and healthy subjects was compared. Then comparison between stone patients with complications and without complications was carried out as well as correlation analysis to detect factors associated with biomarker expression.RESULTS118 patients with urinary stones were into urinary stones group and 42 healthy subjects were into healthy control group. The mean pretreatment uCA-2 level was significantly higher in patients with urinary stones group than healthy controls group (P=0.028). Furthermore, The uCA-2 level was positive correlation with urinary stones complications (R=0.379, P=0.000), especially pain complications (R=0.524, P=0.000) and hematuria complications (R=0.374, P=0.000). Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis that a uCA-2 level threshold of 10.94 ng/mL had 83.67% sensitivity and 68.12% specificity for predicting urinary stones complications. CONCLUSIONSExcessive uCA-2 excretion is a major risk factor for urinary stone. Our findings suggested that uCA-2 may be used as an unappreciated biomarker for the diagnosis urinary stone in patients and to predict its complications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-9
Author(s):  
Rostika Flora ◽  
Mohammad Zulkarnain ◽  
Sukirno

BACKGROUND Physical exercise is strongly associated with the release of β-endorphin. It is assumed that the type and intensity of physical exercise contributes to the release of β-endorphin. This study aimed to compare levels of β-endorphin in brain tissue in response to aerobic and anaerobic physical exercise. METHODS This study was an experimental laboratory study using 35 male Wistar rats divided into one control group and two physical exercise treatment groups: aerobic and anaerobic. Physical exercise was conducted on an animal treadmill running at aspeed of 20 m/min for 30 min of aerobic exercise and 35 m/min with 1-min intervals every 5 min for 20 min for anaerobic exercises. Each aerobic and anaerobic exercise group was furtherly classified into three subgroups (1×/week, 3×/week, and 7×/week). β-endorphin levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The data were analyzed using independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS The highest mean of β-endorphin level was found in the weekly exercise (54.45 [1.41] pg/ml) of aerobic exercise group and daily exercise (70.50 [11.67] pg/ml) of anaerobic exercise group. Mean of β-endorphin level in control group was 33.34 (3.54) pg/ml. A significant increased of β-endorphin mean level (p<0.001) was found in all aerobic and anaerobic exercise groups except the aerobic exercise 7×/week group(37.37 [6.30] pg/ml) compared to control. CONCLUSIONS Both aerobic and anaerobic physical exercise conducted for 6 weeks could increase the level of β-endorphin in brain tissue.


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