Albizia harveyi is a tropical deciduous tree, found across South and Eastern Africa and widely used in traditional medicine. The leaf extract ameliorated the damaging effects of the frozen-thawing process in cryopreserved bull semen. In a dose-dependent pattern, sperm motility, viability, and membrane integrity were improved compared to the untreated control. Furthermore, the extract increased the percentage of viable sperm cells and reduced the percentages of early apoptotic and apoptotic sperm cells as well as the damage in sperm ultra-structure. These activities are in agreement with the robust antioxidant properties in vitro and in the seminal fluid as observed in the total antioxidant capacity and the lipid peroxidation parameter malondialdehyde. LC-MS yielded 35 compounds. The extract was dominated by quercetin-O-galloyl-hexoside and quercetin-O-pentoside, along with other flavonoid glycosides. The polyphenols are probably responsible for the observed activities. In conclusion, the current findings show that A. harveyi leaves are rich in bioactive polyphenols with functional properties, validating its traditional use.

The Splinter bean, Entada abyssinica, is widely used in folk medicine. In the current work, we profiled the secondary metabolites from E. abyssinica bark extract using LC-MS and investigated its effect on cryopreserved ram semen. Twenty-eight compounds, including tannins and gallic acid derivatives that prevailed in the extract, were tentatively identified. Results showed that the quality of the post-thawed semen showed a significant improvement when the extract was added to the extender at a concentration of 375 μg/mL. The progressive motility and plasma membrane integrity of sperm cells were significantly increased in the post-thawed semen; however, the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was insignificantly increased. A significant decrease in the concentration of hydrogen peroxide was detected as well. No significant changes were observed in activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) within the treated samples. Intact sperm percentage was significantly increased, while apoptotic and necrotic sperm percentages were reduced significantly. Molecular docking of some individual components from the extract revealed their potential to interfere with the apoptosis cascade in which Bcl-2 is involved. In conclusion, Entada abyssinica appears to be useful for cryopreservation presumably owing to its polyphenol content that has potent antioxidant capacity scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), enhancing the endogenous antioxidant system and inhibiting lipid peroxidation.

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This work aimed to find the effect of cranberry extract (75 and 150 mg/kg•b•w) and vit. C (1 g/kg•b•w orally) on renal toxicity induced by Diclofenac sodium in male albino rats. Treated rats with diclofenac sodium with a concentration 150 mg/kg•b•w, expressed a significant increase in several parameters includes, plasma total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride as well as renal nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNF-α) and TBARS. In addition, a significant reduction in renal superoxide dismutase (SOD), GSH, catalase (CAT) and plasma HDL. The present results explain that, using cranberry extract and vit. C resulted in increasing the level of GSH, CAT and SOD as well as gene expression of renal SOD, CAT and IL-22 and reduce the level of TBARs significantly which led to preventing renal tissue damage. Our results also revealed that cranberry extract can protect DNA from damage as obtained from comet essay. TM-U was elevated in DCLF treated group when compared with normal. However cranberry extract was able to reduce this elevation in dose dependant manner. Histological features in H&E taken to different groups also mirrors this findings. DCLF causes many changes in renal tissue include infiltration by inflammatory cells, attenuated glomeruli, apoptosis in tubular epithelia. Keywords

The study purposed to investigate the biocompatibility and sustainability of two computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) resin-based composites compared to a resin-modified ceramic in terms of surface roughness, biofilm formation, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and cellular changes observed under transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Three CAD/CAM blocks were used, two resin-based composites [Brilliant Crios (BC) and Cerasmart, (CS) and one hybrid ceramic (Vita Enamic (EN)]. Each block was sectioned into 10 × 12 × 2 mm specimens, followed by finishing and polishing. Each specimen was evaluated for surface roughness using 3D optical profilometry and scanned by scanning electron microscopy. Biofilm formation and its relation to surface roughness have been investigated for all tested materials. A Hep-2 cell line was used to investigate the viability through MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of the materials was measured at 24, 48, and 168 h. The activity of P53, caspase 3, and cytochrome C was evaluated to detect the genotoxicity of different groups, followed by TEM tracking of the cellular changes. Statistical analysis was implemented by utilizing a one-way analysis of variance test. The significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. With regard to the surface roughness, no statistically significant differences were shown between groups. BC possessed the highest biofilm formation value, followed by EN and CS, with no significance between them. No correlation between surface roughness of tested materials and biofilm formation was shown. Considering viability, the highest values were recorded for EN, whereas BC showed the lowest values. P53-fold changes in EN were significantly the lowest, indicating less genotoxicity. Within the current study’s limitations, BC showed the highest biofilm formation. However, no significant surface roughness difference or correlation with biofilm formation was observed in tested materials. EN showed the lowest cytotoxicity and the highest viability. EN revealed the best compatibility performance among tested materials. On the contrary, the BC exhibited fewer preferences.

This study evaluated the efficacy of Turraea fischeri leaf extract for maintaining the viability of cryopreserved goat sperm. Ejaculated semen was collected from 5 mature Baladi bucks (50–60 kg, 2–4 years of age) and those samples with mass motility ≥ 70% and sperm concentration ≥ 2.5 × 109/mL were selected, pooled, and divided into 4 aliquots. Each aliquot was diluted in Tris-citric-soybean lecithin extender containing a different concentration of T. fischeri leaf extract (0, 125, 250, or 375 µg/mL). Treated semen samples were cooled to 5 °C, transferred to 0.25-mL French straws, and stored in liquid nitrogen (LN2) at −196 °C. After thawing, membrane integrity was examined by transmission electron microscopy, apoptotic activity by Annexin/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry, and both enzyme activities and antioxidant capacity by spectroscopic assays. The leaf extract at 375 µg/mL significantly improved semen quality as indicated by enhanced total antioxidant capacity, reduced H2O2 concentration, a greater proportion of structurally intact motile sperm, and concomitant reductions in apoptosis and necrosis. The extract also significantly increased the proportion of sperm with a contiguous plasma membrane and intact acrosome (p < 0.05). Furthermore, LC-MS revealed numerous secondary metabolites in the extract that may contribute to sperm cryopreservation.

Silver ions and Nano silver particles have a great importance as they used as root canal sealers due to their antimicrobial properties. However biocompatibility and satisfactory physico-chemical properties should be achieved to directly contact the root canal sealers with the surrounding tissues. This study aimed to compare the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of silver-zeolite with silver nanoparticles. MRC-5 cell line was used as an in vitro model. The cell viability was assessed using MTT cytotoxicity assay. Genotoxicity was tested by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) for measuring DNA damage. Each material was tested in different concentrations (100mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 25mg/ml, 12.5mg/ml, and 6.25mg/ml). The results showed that silver zeolite has lower cytotoxic effect than silver nanoparticles among all different concentrations used in the study. Also the results showed unaccepted cytotoxicity levels for silver nanoparticles on concentrations of 100mg/ml and 50mg/ml. Data obtained from the Comet assay indicated that both silver nanoparticles and silver zeolite causes DNA damage with no significant difference between the two treated groups.(3996) Yousra Mohamed Nashaat, et al.

Aluminum (Al) is a ubiquitous xenobiotic with known toxicity for both humans and animals. Our study was conducted to investigate the protective role of febuxostat (Feb) against aluminum chloride (AlCl3)-induced hepatorenal injury in rats. Hepatorenal injury was induced by oral administration of AlCl3 (40 mg/kg b.w.), for 2 months. Twenty-four male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly allocated into four groups (six rats/group). The first group received the vehicle thought the experiment. The second group was considered as a control positive group. The third and fourth groups received oral treatment of Feb (10 mg/kg.b.w.) and (15 mg/kg.b.w.), respectively with AlCl3, concurrently for 2 months. Twenty-four hours, after the last treatment, serum biochemical, molecular, histopathology, and immunohistochemical studies were evaluated. Our findings showed that rats intoxicated with Alcl3 had disturbed biochemical picture. In addition, intoxication with AlCl3 increased oxidative stress and apoptosis, as demonstrated by an increase in malodialdeyde (MDA), carnitine o-acetyltransferase (Crat), and carbonic anhydrase (Car3) with a decrease in glutathione (GSH), MAP kinase-interacting serine/threonine kinase (MNK) and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA expression. Furthermore, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and the levels of caspase-3 were elevated with sever hepatic and renal pathological changes. Conversely, Feb (15 mg/kg.b.w.) could improve the serum biochemical indices and repressed MDA, Crat, and Car3 levels, whereas it increased GSH, MNK, and Nrf2 levels. Feb inhibited the apoptotic effect of AlCl3 in the liver and kidney by decreasing caspase-3 and TNF-α expression. The protective effect of Feb against AlCl3 toxicity was confirmed by histopathological findings. Moreover, molecular docking studies supported the anti-inflammatory effect of Feb due to its significant binding interactions with cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), NF-kappa-B-inducing kinase (NIK), and mitogen-activated protein kinases-p38 (MAPK-p38). The findings suggest that Feb system Feb can avert Alcl3-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity by enhancing the antioxidant defense system, and inhibiting the inflammatory cascade and apoptosis.