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Free radical-mediated damages may play an important role in cancerogenesis. To investigate their relevance in the cancer process, malonyl dialdehyde (MDA) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were determined in the normal brain tissue and brain tumor tissue. When compared with the normal brain tissue, we have detected: (i) significantly lower MDA concentration in brain tumor tissue (1.63 nmol/mg Pr vs 2.04 nmol/mg Pr; p = 0.03); (ii) SOD activity in brain tumor tissue was significantly lower (3.15 U/mg Pr vs 4.97 U/mg Pr; p = 0.0002); and (iii) CAT activity in brain tumor tissue was 106.3% higher than that in controls.

Curcuma longa L. (CLL) extract has previously been reported to alleviate liver damage. The current study examined the antioxidant activity of CLL by which the extract protects the liver against bleomycin (BLM)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. The hypothesis was that CLL extract would protect the liver by reducing oxidative stress (induced superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity), inhibiting lipid peroxidation, lowering biochemical parameters, and decreasing ROS production. Hepatic toxicity was induced by intraperitoneal injection of mice once daily with BLM (0.069 U/mL; 0.29 U/kg bw.) for a period of 4 weeks. The CLL was administered once a day for 4 weeks, 2 h prior at dose (40 mg/mL; 0.187 mg/kg/day). CLL extract significantly protected the liver, it decreased plasma bilirubin (BL) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and it reduced lipid peroxidation levels. BLM intoxication produced oxidative stress, in which the antioxidant system functioned incorrectly and ROS production significantly increased. The CLL extract provided significant hepatic protection against BLM toxicity by improving SOD, CAT (p < 0.05), and MDA levels and decreasing ROS in the group receiving BLM (p < 0.05), leading to reduced membrane lipid peroxidation. Throughout this study, the CLL extract facilitated recovery from BLM-induced hepatic injury by suppressing oxidative stress. Therefore, the CLL extract has the potential to serve as an antioxidant compound to treat chronic hepatotoxicity.

In recent years, many authors have investigated the possible antidiabetic effect of lactic acid bacteria. Lactobacillus species constitute a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group and have been found to exhibit beneficial effects on the development of diabetes and its complications. In the current study, we investigated the effects of newly characterised Bulgarian Lactobacillus strains, Lactobacillus brevis 15 and Lactobacillus plantarum 13, on blood glucose levels and body weight of rats fed a fructose-enriched diet. An experiment was conducted over a period of 8 weeks with 24 2-month-old Wistar rats randomly assigned to receive a standard diet (Con, control group), fructose-enriched diet (Fr group), standard diet with probiotics given twice a week (Pro group), and fructose-enriched diet with probiotics given twice a week (Pro+Fr group). At the end of the experimental period, a statistically significant increase in body weight was observed in all experimental groups (P<0.0001). The highest rise was seen in the fructose group (Fr, 169±19 g), followed by the Pro+Fr group (153±15 g), Pro group (149±13 g), and Con group (141±5 g). Moreover, the final blood glucose levels had risen significantly in the groups receiving fructose either without (Fr; P<0.0001) or with lactobacilli (Pro+Fr; P=0.002), while the rise was insignificant in the group of rats given probiotic supplementation only (Pro, P=0.071) and inexistent in the Con group (P=0.999). The highest elevation of blood glucose levels was observed in the Fr group (3.18 mmol/l), followed by the Pro+Fr group (2.00 mmol/l) whereas the Pro group showed the lowest levels (0.60 mmol/l). The results of our study suggest that the newly characterised Bulgarian Lactobacillus strains, L. brevis 15 and L. plantarum 13, could be considered as possible probiotics and might be able to prevent some metabolic disturbances.

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