Protective Effect of Onion Extract Against Experimental Immunesuppression in Wistar Rats: Biological and Molecular Study

Abstract

Background: The wrong use of drugs results in disturbances in the immunity that affect human health. These drugs have side effects that may lead to death because of lake of immunity. Human beings need to use natural products to strength the immune system and avoid such side effects. Of these products is the onion that used to strength the immune system. This study was conducted to study the protective effect of onion extract on immune-suppressed rats and its impact on the expression level of cytokines, acute phase proteins and antioxidants compared to both control and immune suppressed groups. Materials and Methods: Forty rats were divided into four groups (10 per group) control group (CNT), immunesuppressed group (DEXA) injected with dexamethasone at a dose of 5 mg per kg intraperitoneally (IP) twice daily for 3 days, onion extract administered group (OE) given orally at a dose of 500 mg per kg for 4 weeks. Group 4 (y), was given onion extract for a week then immune-suppressed with DEXA for 3 days then continued with OE for 3 weeks. Serum and RNA were extracted for examining the biochemical and genetic changes. Results: Injection of dexamethasone decreased number of leukocytes with increase in the number of neutrophils and the decrease of all other types of white blood cells. Moreover, a decrease in antioxidant levels such as catalase, super oxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione (GSH) with an increase in the level malondialdehyde (MDA). In parallel, a decrease in serum levels of cytokines, such as TNF and IL-6, together with immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM), were reported in DEXA injected rats that were ameliorated by prior administration of OE. Gene expression analysis revealed that dexamethasone suppressed gene expression of antioxidants together with IL-1 and 8 while increased IL-10 mRNA expression. All of these changes have been normalized to the normal level by OE administration to DEXA injected rats. Conclusion: The present findings clearly emphasize the medical importance of onions as immune-stimulants at genetic and cellular levels, and that they are good for human health.

Onion Biofortification Using Selenium Bionanofertilizer and its Bulk Source under Sandy Soil Conditions

“…(Foliar or soil or in vitro application). As so far as we know, few articles published on onion biofortified with different nutrient such as Se [50,1], and Zn [52], but there is no published article on biofortifying onion with Se under nutrient deficiency stress. I In the current study, different sources of Se-fertilizers were applied for biofortification of onion under sandy soil conditions.…”

Health‐promoting foods and food crops ofWest‐Africaorigin: The bioactive compounds and immunomodulating potential

“…They owe their medicinal properties to the presence of a wide range of bioactive compounds (Teshika et al, 2019). Over the years, studies have demonstrated the outstanding health benefits of onion as well as their bioactive compounds including anticancer (Tsuboki et al, 2016), antidiabetic (Jini & Sharmila, 2020), antimicrobial (Loredana et al, 2019), anti‐inflammatory (Jakaria et al, 2019), antiobesity (Lee et al, 2016), antioxidant (Ouyang et al, 2018), cardiovascular protective (Colina‐Coca et al, 2017), digestive system protective (Khajah et al, 2020), hepatorenal protective (Ahmed et al, 2017), immunomodulatory properties (Alkhedaide et al, 2017), neuroprotective (Salami et al, 2020), respiratory protective (El‐Hashim et al, 2020), and reproductive protective (Table 1) (Shokoohi et al, 2018).…”

Recent Advances in Molecular Genetics of Onion

“…Onions are rich in various chemical compounds, including organosulfur compounds [1,2], phenolics [3,4], polysaccharides [5], and saponins [6,7]. An onion bulb possesses remarkable health benefits, including antioxidant [8], antimicrobial [9], anti-inflammatory [10], anti-obesity [11], anti-diabetic [12], anticancer [13], cardiovascular protective [14], neuroprotective [15], hepatorenal protective [16], respiratory protective [17], digestive system protective [18], reproductive protective [19], and immunomodulatory properties [20].…”