on behalf of the ANBP2 Echo Study Committee .Background: Hypertension leads to cardiac structural and functional changes, commonly assessed by echocardiography. It is not clear which echocardiographic parameters are most predictive of future cardiovascular events among elderly treated hypertensive patients over short or long term.Objectives: To assess the predictive performance of echocardiographic findings for having cardiovascular outcomes in elderly hypertensive patients. Methods:We used echocardiographic data from the LVH sub-study of the Second Australian National Blood Pressure trial. Participants aged ≥65-yrs were followed for a median of 4.1 years (short-term) and an additional median 6.9 years (longterm) for any cardiovascular events. Echocardiograms were performed at baseline to estimate left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), LV systolic and diastolic dysfunction, LV wall thickness and relative wall thickness. LV mass was calculated according to the American Society of Echocardiography criteria and LVH was defined based on LV mass indexed according to body surface area (male >115 g/m 2 , female >95 g/m 2 ). Cox-regression proportional hazard models were used to understand the relationship between echocardiographic findings and cardiovascular events. 4 105.0±8.3 157.6±10.6 109.4±8.1 α 119.7±9.7 α 123.9±14.5 α 138.3±9.2 Data are expressed as mean ± SD. NC: normal control, L-NAME: L-name only,CAP: L-name + captopril (100mg/kg/day), TQ10: L-name + thymoquinone 10mg/kg, TQ5:L-name+thymoquinone 5mg/kg, TQ2.5:L-name + thymoquinone 2.5mg/kg. α significantly lower compared to L-NAME group at (P< 0.01) using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus has become a serious warning to mankind health all over the world. The management goal of diabetes is to keep blood glucose levels as close as possible to healthy individuals. Medications used to treat diabetes are usually associated with complications and may cause different side effects. Many traditional anti-diabetic plants have become popular in the management of diabetes mellitus. Flaxseed has been used as traditional medicine for centuries. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of flaxseed extract in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods: Diabetes mellitus was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats using a single injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg i.p.). The rats were divided into five groups of 8 rats each. Group NC, normal control rats; Group NF, normal rats treated with flaxseed extract (400 mg/kg); Group DC, diabetic control rats; Group DG, diabetic rats treated with glibenclamide (0.6 mg/kg); Group DF, diabetic rats treated with flaxseed extract (400 mg/kg); for 4 weeks. Results: There were significant increase in relative liver weight, blood glucose levels in DC group comparing to NC group (p<0.05). The disturbance of these parameters was ameliorated in DF and DG groups. Histological observation revealed congestion of central veins, degeneration of hepatocytes, and reduced glycogen granules in DC group. These pathological changes were ameliorated in the flaxseed extract and glibenclamide treated rats. Conclusion: Flaxseed extract may represent a candidate alternative treatment to control diabetes mellitus and its related hepatopathy.

Introduction: The oil extract of black cumin seeds Nigella sativa (NSO) demonstrated considerable preservation of spatial cognitive functions in rats subjected to chronic brain hypoperfusion (CBH). The hippocampal CA1 region pyramidal cells are the earliest neurons suffering neurodegeneration following CBH. Objective: The current study was devoted to assess the protective effects of Nigella sativa (NSO) treatment on CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells of rats subjected to chronic brain hypoperfusion (CBH) that was achieved through permanent two vessel occlusion (2VO) procedure. Methods: Twenty four rats were equally divided into three groups; sham control, untreated 2VO and NSO treated group (2VO with daily oral NSO treatment. After the 10th postoperative week coronal sections of the hippocampus were collected for histopathological and electron microscopical examinations. Results: The number of viable pyramidal cells within CA1 hippocampal region in sham control and NSO treated groups was significantly higher than that of untreated 2VO group, while the difference was not significant when comparing the viable pyramidal cells number of sham control with NSO treated groups. Furthermore, 2VO group showed marked intracellular ultrastructural distortions that were less pronounced in NSO treated group. Conclusion: NSO displayed a robust potential to protect hippocampal pyramidal cells from CBH induced neurodegeneration putting forward its prospective neuroprotective activity against age related cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

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Objective: The objectives of the current study were to confirm the blood pressure lowering effect of thymoquinone (TQ) and to investigate its mechanism through muscarinic and β-adrenergic receptors.Methods: Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was recorded using the non-invasive blood pressure tail-cuff technique. A dose-response relationship was obtained after using 3 TQ doses (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally to 3 different groups (n =5) of adult rats under pentobarbital anesthesia. MAP was then measured for another 2 animal groups pretreated either with atropine (P-at) or propranolol (P-pro) followed by 10 mg/kg TQ.Results: TQ produced a significant dose-dependent blood pressure and heart rate lowering effect. TQ-induced MAP reduction was significantly less pronounced in P-at (12±2.8 mmHg) than non-pretreated group (29±3.2 mmHg) with P<0.01. Conversely, TQ-induced MAP reduction in P-pro (28±3.4 mmHg) did not demonstrate a significant difference from the non-pretreated group (29±3.2 mmHg) with P>0.05.Conclusion: This study confirms the dose-related hypotensive effect of TQ and provides an evidence for the traditional use of Nigella sativa for the treatment of hypertension. The mechanism of TQ-induced hypotension involves at least in part activation of vascular muscarinic receptors, but not β-adrenergic receptors.

This is the first study evaluating the frequencies of nucleophosmin (NPM1) gene mutation according to the hyperleukocytosis (HL) grading score. The current two cut off values of this score in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients are [1] those with 50-100 × 10 9 /L and [2] those with ≥ 100 × 10 9 /L total WBC count. The score represents the current clinically based definition of HL in patients with AML. A total of 90 patients with AML were included. AML patients were stratified into three groups: [1] those with a WBC count below 50 × 10 9 /L (n = 33), [2] those with a WBC count 50-100 × 10 9 /L (n = 29) and [3] those with a WBC above 100 × 10 9 /L (n = 28). Complete blood cell count, immunophenotyping and PCR of the exon 12 of NPM1 gene followed by sequencing analysis were done. NPM1 mutations were detected in 20/90 (22.2%) of patients with AML involving exon 12 of NPM1 gene and showed significant correlations with some hematologic characteristics. Contrary to expectation, no statistically significant difference was found in the WBC counts according to the NPM1 gene the mutation status among the studied groups. Also, there were no significant differences in the WHO classification categories according to the HL grading score. The difference in the frequency of NPM1 mutation in Asian compared to Western patients might be attributed to biology and aetiology variation of the disease in different population. The current two cut off values defining the HL are molecularly unreliable in spite of being clinically defined.

Co-enzyme Q10 (Co-Q10) plays a key role in the cellular respiration for the production of ATP. The toxicity of quinones to the kidney appears to depend on variety of factors, including genetic polymorphisms and the individual’s comorbidites. The aim of the present study was to assess histologically the nephrotoxic effects of 6 weeks daily oral intake of Co-Q10 in experimental animals. Twenty-five Wistar rats weighing between 220-270 g were randomly divided into two groups: experimental “treated” and control “untreated” groups (n=15, n=10, respectively). The animals of the experimental group received 300 mg/kg daily dose of gelatinous capsules of Co-Q10 by oral gavage for six weeks. At the end of the study, all animals were sacrificed under general anesthesia and samples of the kidneys were excised for microscopic histopathological assessment of renal tissue using stain. The experimental group showed a range of mild to severe dilatation of Bowman’s space, with a mean corpuscular diameter of 294±38 µm that was significantly higher (p <0.05) than that of the untreated control group 208±31 µm. Shrinkage to complete destruction of the glomeruli was observed in the experimental group only. The long-term use of high doses of Co-Q10 had revealed a selective nephrotoxicity towards podocytes. This might be a risk factor leading to renal proximal tubular necrosis in rats and the subsequent renal function deterioration.

Also called coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), Ubiquinone is a vitamin-like endogenously produced factor essential for Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) mitochondrial production. Several research studies have reported that the exogenous supplementation of CoQ10 can lead to excessive salivation, especially in patients complaining of dry mouth. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term daily use of CoQ10 on the salivary glands in experimental animals by comparing the diameters of the glandular acini and striated ducts of a CoQ10-treated group and a control group. Twenty-five white albino rats were randomly divided into two groups; the control group consisted of 10 rats, while the CoQ10-treated group comprised 15 rats. The latter received daily oral treatment of 300 mg/kg CoQ10 for six weeks. Samples of the parotid, submandibular and sublingual glands were then dissected and examined histologically for comparative measurement of the diameters of the glands’ acini and striated ducts. The CoQ10 treated group had mean diameters of the serous acini for the parotid (79.8±11.2 μm) and submandibular (81.07±13.5 μm) glands that were significantly higher (P<0.05) than their diameters in the control group (67.5±8.4 μm and 73.3±13.8 μm), respectively. However, the difference was not statistically significant when comparing the diameters of striated ducts of the CoQ10-treated group and the control group. Continuous and prolonged exposure to exogenous ubiquinone may cause hypertrophic dilation of the acini within the salivary glands, namely the parotid and submandibular glands, which might be the underlying mechanism for excessive salivation. This can be considered a reversible adaptive response.