Background: A major biomarker for liver fibrosis is transglutaminase which catalyzes cross-linking of epsilon-amines and alpha-glutamyl residues among amino acids leading to fibrosis. Fructus Piperis Longi is a common herb used in Chinese medicine. The present study evaluates the role of the ethanol extract of Fructus Piperis Longi in the modulation of liver function in liver fibrosis.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered a systemic inflammatory disease that affects not only the joints, but also other organs in the body causing many extra-articular complications such as kidney and liver impairments as well as hematological disturbances. Low-dose radiation (LDR) modulates a variety of immune responses that have exhibited the properties of immune hormesis. LDR has been used clinically for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Several molecular mechanisms and cellular components contribute to the clinical efficacy of low dose radiotherapy (LD-RT). The present study aims at evaluating the possible capability of low dose γ-irradiation to reduce some of these extra-articular complications in adjuvant-induced arthritis model in rats. The current results revealed a significant increase in liver parameters in serum including ALT, AST activities as well as creatinine level in adjuvant induced arthritic rats that indicate liver and kidney impairments respectively. The results also revealed a sharp increase in total leukocytic count (TLC). All of these biochemical and hematological disturbances were found to be significantly improved after exposure to low dose γ-irradiation.

Background: Ionizing radiation absorption causes immediate biochemical, sub cellular and cellular damage, while its morphological expression and organ dysfunction are often considerably delayed. This study was aimed to investigate the possible therapeutic effects of ethanolic olive leaves extract or bone marrow derived-mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) transplanted in the liver of rats exposed to gamma radiation. For this purpose, hematological and biochemical parameters were determined Materials and methods: 50 adult male albino rats (Sprague dawely strain) were used in this study. They were divided into 5 groups (C group: Untreated control rats; R group: rats exposed to a single dose of gamma-radiation (6 Gy), OLE group: rats treated with olive leaves extract (15 mg /kg body weight / day for 30 days), R+OLE group: animals of this group were irradiated with 6Gy then treated with OLE(15 mg /kg body weight/ day) after 3 hours post irradiation for 30 days. and R+MSCs group: Mesenchymal stem cells-irradiated animals (MSCs +R): animals of this group were irradiated with 6Gy then injected after 6hours post irradiation with (BM-MSCs) 3×10 6 cells/ml suspension through caudal vein. All these groups were subjected to hematological and biochemical investigations. Results: Hematological and liver function changes were shown in gamma irradiated rats, these changes included a significant depression in hematological parameters of blood such as (RBCs, Hb, Hct and WBCs)and a significant increase in liver parameters (ALT,AST and ALP) at different intervals of the experiment in comparison with the control group. These changes manifested good amelioration in the exposed groups by using either olive leaves extract (OLE) or bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Conclusion: Ethanolic olive leaves extracts and mesenchymal stem cells have ameliorated hematological and biochemical parameters changes in liver of the irradiated group. their actions may be due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.