No abstract

Lithium therapy mainly used in curing some psychiatric diseases responsible for numerous undesirable side effects on different organs in humans. The present study explores the beneficial effect of sobatum, a purified compound of Solanum trilobatum, on lithium carbonate (Li2CO3)-induced multiple organ toxicity in rats. Li2CO3 (150 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally in drinking water for a period of 30 days to induce toxicity in rats. Li2CO3 could induce lipid peroxidation to a significant extent that was accompanied by marked reduction in reduced glutathione, SOD, CAT, GST, GPX activities, and parallel decline in ATP in tissues. Toxicity resulted in abnormal elevation of lipids such as cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and fatty acids in liver tissues. Treatment with sobatum affords substantial protection in liver and heart by altering all the parameters to near normal levels that were further confirmed by histological examination. Sobatum prevents Li2CO3-induced oxidative damage of DNA by reducing DNA fragmentation indicating its block on cell death. However, these results demonstrated that sobatum has the ability to suppress the drug-induced toxicity.

The present study was designed to investigate whether Cissus quandrangularis extract (CQE) had healing effects on gastric ulcer, through modulation of polyamines and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in rats. Administration of acetic acid (AA) was accompanied by reduced PCNA which was determined by immunohistochemical staining, 3H-thymidine incorporation using liquid scintillation spectrometry, mitochondrial marker enzymes, polyamine contents and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α) expression in gastric mucosa of rats. Administration of CQE after the application of AA to the stomach enhanced the reduction of ulcer area in a dose-dependent manner which was confirmed by histoarchitecture. Moreover, CQE significantly increased the 3H-thymidine incorporation and the levels of polyamines such as putrescine, spermine and spermidine in ulcerated rats. In addition, the extract offers gastroprotection in the ulcerated area by increased expression of TGF-α and also reversed the changes in the gastric mucosa of ulcerated rats with significant elevation in mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes and PCNA levels. Based on these results, the healing effect of CQE on AA induced gastric mucosal injury in rats may be attributed to its growth promoting and cytoprotective actions, possibly involving an increase in tissue polyamine contents and cell proliferation.