Comparative study of the therapeutic effect of pomegranate alone or in combination with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on experimentally induced gastric ulcer in adult male rats: A histological and immunohistochemical study

Abstract

Introduction: Gastric ulcers are the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders. Pomegranate fruits have many beneficial therapeutic effects. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are a novel approach with promising therapeutic potential for curing human diseases. Aim of the work: To evaluate the effect of pomegranate and BMSCs on experimentally induced gastric ulcer in adult male rats. Materials and Methods: Sixty adult male rats were divided into four groups. Group I kept as the control group. Group II (Gastric ulcer), rats received 100% ethanol orally by gastric tube. Group (III) subdivided into 3 subgroups. Subgroup IIIa included rats with gastric ulcer that treated with pomegranate only. Subgroup IIIb, rats with gastric ulcer treated with BMSCs alone. Subgroup IIIc; gastric ulcer rats treated with a combination of pomegranate and BMSCs. Group IV included the untreated gastric ulcer rats. Fundus of stomach specimens were prepared and examined using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. Results: Groups II and IV showed various changes as deep erosion, marked damage of most of the cells. The presence of the inflammatory cells in gastric mucosa were supported by a significant increase of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) expression and collagen fibers depositions (P<0.01). A significant decrease of Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) positive reaction and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was observed (P<0.01). Subgroup IIIa showed attenuation of some histological changes, while subgroups IIIb and IIIc revealed more improvement of the histological and immunohistochemical changes described before. Conclusion: BMSCs can ameliorate experimentally-induced gastric injury in rats and protect the gastric tissue. Addition of pomegranate to BMSCs can lead to better results.

Role of bone marrow derived-mesenchymal stem cells against gastric ulceration: Histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study

“…Stem cell treated rats in our study restored the normal architecture of the gastric mucosa and the glandular cells; chief, parietal and surface mucous cells and these results is in agreement with El-Azab et al (2018) where their histological examination of stem cell treated ulcerated gastric tissue showed restoration of surface epithelium of gastric mucosa with almost normal mucous cells and gastric pits.…”

“…The scanning electron microscope results of a stem cell treated rats showed a marked improvement as undulating pattern of surface epithelial lining with mucus patches and regular gastric pits more or less similar to normal organization of gastric mucosal surface lining, these results support our results of ultrastructural examination of complete restoration of MSCs to mucosal integrity. Our histochemical results of the stem cell treated group showed intensive polysaccharides distribution among glandular cells and these is consisted with results documented by El-Azab et al (2018) . Furthermore, Lin et al (2015) stated that MSCs had a special effectiveness in treating gastric ulcer as a result of increasing growth factor secretion, which caused angiogenesis and maintained the vascular permeability.…”

“…Scientists are trying to develop therapies that regenerate or substitute tumor cells with tissues grown from stem cells and provide hope for people with cancer, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and several other ailments. The adult and embryonic stem cells could provide scientists with a route to developing useful new drug development and research methods ( El-Azab et al, 2018 ).…”

Evaluation of therapeutic potentials of α-Lipoic acid versus stem cells-derived microvesicles against experimentally–induced gastric ulcer in adult Male Albino Rats (Light and Electron microscopic study)

“…Immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF revealed that there was a significant increase in VEGF expression in both subgroups treated with ALA or MSCs-MVs. Our findings coincided with previous studies conducted by Kang et al [29] and El-Azab et al [30] who stated that healing of gastric ulcers is accelerated via regulation of VEGF and angiogenesis. Furthermore, MSCs exert significant therapeutic effects in gastric ulcer via secretion of growth factors such as VEGF which induces angiogenesis and preserves the blood supply to gastric mucosa.…”

Interplay of Biochemical, Genetic, and Immunohistochemical Factors in the Etio-Pathogenesis of Gastric Ulcer in Rats: A Comparative Study of the Effect of Pomegranate Loaded Nanoparticles Versus Pomegranate Peel Extract

“…(2) IND-treated group: rats received IND as described above. (3) PLN-treated group: the animals were given IND followed by PLN in a dose of 400 mg/kg/day via gastric gavage for 2 weeks ( El-Azab et al, 2018 ). (4) PPE-treated group: rats in this group received IND followed by PPE in the same dose and duration as PLN.…”