No abstract

Background: Modern society is full of stress. Immobilization stress is a model used in animals to study its effects. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects biological membranes from oxidative stress. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of immobilization stress on the adrenal cortex of rats and the ameliorative effect of vitamin E. Materials and Methods: Forty adult male rats were used in this study and were divided equally into 4 groups. Group I: were divided equally into negative and positive controls. Group II: rats received vitamin E at a dose of 40 I.U/kg by gastric tube for 30 days. Group III: rats subjected to immobilization stress 2 hours /day for 30 days. Group IV: rats subjected to immobilization stress 2 hours /day and received 40 I.U/kg of vitamin E for 30 days. Adrenal sections were histologically prepared and examined. Results: Group II was comparable to group IA. Group III revealed zona glomerulosa (ZG) with loss of normal architecture, zona fasciculata (ZF) with multiple cells containing cytoplasmic vacuolations and darkly stained nuclei. By EM ZG cells appeared with accumulations of lipid droplets and lysosomes, irregular nuclear envelopes and chromatin condensation. ZF cells showed numerous lipid droplets and irregular nuclear envelopes. There were significant increases in the mean area of collagen fibers and mean serum cortisol level. Group IV revealed regression of these changes and increase in the mean count of CD44 +ve cells. Conclusions: Immobilization stress exerted deleterious suprarenal cortical changes and vitamin E had an ameliorative effect.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major health problem associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have revealed advantages for therapeutic use in medical practice. Microvesicles (MVs) are membranous, cell-derived vesicles released by MSCs into their microenvironment. The conditioned medium (CM) is the medium surrounding MSCs. Aim of the Work: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of MSCs, their CM and microvesicles (MVs) on experimentally induced acute kidney injury in rats. Materials and Methods: Fifty-five rats were divided into five groups: Group I (control group). Group II: given glycerol intramuscularly. Group III: given glycerol then MSCs. Group IV: given glycerol then CM. Group V: given glycerol then MVs. Kidney specimens were processed for H&E and Ki-67 staining and EM studies. Results: Subgroup IIA revealed vacuolation of the cytoplasm, flattening of the epithelial lining the tubules, extrusion of cytoplasm and nuclei into luminal spaces, deeply stained nuclei, and hyaline material in tubular lumina. EM examination of proximal and distal convoluted tubules showed multiple vacuoles, lysosomes, loss of continuity of apical cell membrane, presence of debris in the lumina and vacuolated mitochondria. Group IIB revealed poor improvement with persistence of most lesions. Groups III, VI and V showed amelioration of most of these lesions, and decrease in blood urea and serum creatinine levels. Conclusion: Mesenchymal stem cells, CM and MVs ameliorate induced AKI and with little differences in their effectiveness. CM and MVs can be used in treating diseases.Mesenchymal stem cells have showed many advantages for therapeutic usage such as strong immunosuppressive effects, capability to migrate to the tissue injury sites, lack of ethical issues and better safety of allogeneic MSCs after infusion. However, several problems can occur such as the unwanted differentiation of mesenchymal lineages, high risk of cancer transformation of MSCs and their targeted differentiation may be suboptimal [5] .

No abstract

No abstract