Jehan A Khan

Impact of aqueous doash extract on urinary mutagenicity in rats exposed to heterocyclic amines

Doash (Origanum majorana) is an herbaceous plant found commonly in Saudi Arabia. It is used as a food flavor and a folk remedy to treat a number of diseases. The 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoline (IQ) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) are the most abundant of the heterocyclic amine carcinogens present in cooked food. In the present study, the potential of doash tea to influence carcinogen metabolism was investigated indirectly using heterocyclic amines as model mutagens, IQ and PhIP. Results obtained showed that doash tea had no influence on body weight in both the studies. Rats were treated with different doses of IQ (1, 3, 5 and 10 mg/kg) or PhIP (1, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg). The selected dosage was 5 mg/kg for both heterocyclic amines. Results obtained revealed that rats treated with doash tea and given a single dose of the heterocyclic amines, whether for 1 day (short-term) or for 1 month (long term), showed a statistically significant decrease in their excretion of indirect mutagens (IQ or PhIP). Following treatment of the rats with a single oral dose of IQ or PhIP, the highest mutagenic activity determined in the presence of an activation system was excreted in the urine after 24 h, with much lower levels of mutagencity being excreted during subsequent elimination from the body. No mutagenicity was observed in the absence of an activation system that is direct-acting mutagenicity using (IQ and PhIP). Statistical analysis revealed that, in comparison with the control group, the aqueous doash extract significantly reduced the mutagenic response after 24 h. It was concluded that doash extract significantly decreased the excretion of mutagens in comparison with the control group (water only).

Assessment of the antimutagenic effect of Doash tea extract fractions.

Origanum majorana L (Doash) is one of the traditional remedy that is used as a tea and to treat ailments, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The present study has attempted to evaluate the inhibitory action of Doash fractions on the bioactivation of selected food mutagens and direct-acting mutagens. Four Sallmonella bacterial strains (TA98, TA97, TA100 and TA1530) were used in the present study. These strains contain different mutations in the histidine operon, allowing the bacteria to detect different types of mutation. The two strains (TA98 and TA97) are capable of detecting frameshift mutations, while TA100 and TA1530 are able to detect base-pair substitutions. The liver homogenate and other subcellular fractions were prepared. Identification of Doash fractions was conducted using the high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry system. The results of the present study demonstrated that the Doash tea fraction components have the ability to reduce the in vitro mutagencity of several promutagens, which were employed in this study. Fraction No. 5 (with the highest content of solid) was the most potent inhibitor of the mutagenicity of all promutagens employed in this study. The antimutagenic effect of Doash tea extract, and its various fractions, was pronounced, indicating that the metabolism of cytochrome P450 1A2 isozyme is likely to be inhibited.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant potential of stevia extract

Background: The current trend globally is the utilization of natural products as therapeutic agents given its minimum side effects. The leaves of Stevia contain several active ingredient compounds such as rebaudioside. Stevia extract have been used for many purposes. Active oxygen radicals can induce base modifications, DNA breakage, and intracellular protein crosslink’s. This study was done to evaluate the potential of stevia extract as antibacterial and antioxidants actions. Materials and methods: Antibacterial activity of different extracts of stevia was tested in vitro against different species of bacteria and hepato-protective efficacy was testes in rats injected with CCl4 as hepatotoxic. Results: Acetone extract exhibited antibacterial activity against selected five bacteria species. The acetone extract suppressed the elevation of serum ALT (p <0.05) and AST (p <0.001) activities induced by CCl4. Animals given stevia extract showed prevention against deleterious effects of CCl4 by lowering lipid peroxidation and enhancement of antioxidant activities as SOD and CAT. The protection trial is better than treatment trial. Total phenolic content of aqueous and acetone extracts were found 30 mg and 85 mg gallic /gm extract respectively. While the total flavonoids were 40 mg and 80 mg quercetin/g respectively. The GC-MS analysis showed that monoterpene and indole are the main components. Aqueous extract don’t show any antibacterial activity against the tested strains. The antioxidant properties were attributable to its phenolic content to scavenge free radicals. Conclusion: Acetone extract possess a potent antimicrobial and activity against deleterious effect of CCl4-caused liver damage.

SELENIUM ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH LYCOPENE MODIFIES LIVER METABOLIZING ENZYMES AGAINST GALACTOSAMINE – A TIME BOUND STUDY

Background: Hepatitis is one of the major public health problems worldwide. This study was designed to evaluate the potential hepatoprotective effects of lycopene (Lyco) and selenium (Se) against galactosamine (Gala) induced hepatitis in rats. Materials and Methods: Seventy five (75) male albino rats were grouped into five of fifteen rats each. GP 1: Control. Animals in Groups (II-V) were injected i.p with Gala (300 mg/kg b.w daily) for 5 days. GP III: Rats were orally pretreated with Lyco (15 mg/kg b.w). GP IV: rats were pretreated orally sodium selenite (0.1 mg/kg b.w) by gavages. GP V: Rats treated with both Lyco and Se. The treatment was continuous for 30 days. Results: The levels of serum inflammatory markers interleukine-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor TNFα, nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdhyde (MDA) were markedly elevated in rats injected with Gala compared with control group. Administration of Lyco combined with Se reversed these effects and significantly reduced the levels of these markers (p<0.001) compared with Gala. In addition, combined treatment resulted in a significant improvement in antioxidant activities as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase compared with untreated. Non-significant changes were recorded in the activities of UDP-glucuronyltransferase and sulphotransferase in rats injected with Gala but the activity of glutathione Stransferase was significantly elevated (p<0.001). Conclusion: The combined effect of Lyco + Se showed a significant hepatoprotective action against Gala induced hepatitis in rats through inhibition of release of inflammatory mediators and enhancement of antioxidant capacity.

Liver modifying enzymes by selenium alone or combined with lycopene against galactosamine-induced acute hepatic injury in rats

C acid (CA) is found in the seeds of coffee, apple, peanut and orange as well as in both seeds and cell walls of commelinid plants. This phenolic compound has been reported to possess antioxidant, anticancer and anti inflammatory activities. We have investigated the hepatoprotective effect of CA against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury. Mice were treated intraperitoneally with vehicle or CA (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg) 1 hour before and 2 hours after CCl4 (20 μl/ kg) injection. The serum activities of aminotransferases and the hepatic level of malondialdehyde were significantly higher after CCl4 treatment while the concentration of reduced glutathione was lower. These changes were attenuated by CA. The serum level and mRNA expression of TNF-α significantly increased after CCl4 treatment and CA attenuated these increases. The levels of i-NOS and COX-2 protein and mRNA expression after CCl4 treatment were significantly higher and CA reduced these increases. CCl4-treated mice showed increased nuclear translocation of NF-κB, and decreased levels of inhibitors of NFκB in cytosol. Also, CCl4 significantly increased the level of phosphorylated JNK and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and nuclear translocation of activated c-Jun. CA significantly attenuated these changes. We also found that acute CCl4 challenge induced TLR4, TLR2 and TLR9 protein and mRNA expression and CA significantly inhibited TLR4 expression. These results suggest that CA protects from CCl4-induced acute liver injury through reduction of oxidative damage and inflammatory signaling pathways.H has been an important public health concern with a global prevalence of 26% among adults. Several studies reported that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (SSBC) has been associated with higher blood pressure (BP) levels. These previous studies on the association between SSBC consumption and hypertension were conducted in Western countries. Therefore, we examined the association between hypertension prevalence and SSBC intake among Korean adults aged 19 through 65. This study used data from 2007-2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. We excluded subjects who had a diagnosis of or were receiving treatment for hypertension. Hypertension was defined as having a systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mmHg. SSBC intakes were calculated using food frequency questionnaires for the past year. Odds ratios (ORs) for hypertension were assessed by using logistic regression and multivariable models. 14.5% of all subjects were classified as having hypertension. A high SSBC (>2.3 servings/week) was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension after adjusting for confounding factors such as total daily energy intake, sodium intake and others. In the subgroup analysis by gender and obesity, SSBC was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension in obese women but was marginally associated in obese men. Further longitudinal and randomized clinical studies are warranted to confirm this causal relationship.S nanoparticles (SeNPs) have been proved to have biological activities along with low toxicity, but are quite unstable and poorly taken up by cells. In this paper, a new polysaccharide (DP1), purified from Dictyophora indusiata, was used to functionalize SeNPs to form high stable nanocomposites DP1-SeNPs with an average diameter of 89.14 nm. DP1-SeNPs showed notable antiproliferative effect on human cancer cell lines (HepG2, MCF-7, SGC-7901, A549, Hela and PC3). The antiproliferative effect of DP1-SeNPs was associated with nuclear condensation, DNA cleavage, S phase cell arrest. With the treatment of DP1-SeNPs, caspase-3, 8, 9 were triggered in a dose-dependent manner in HepG2 cells. Also, the expression level of FADD was increased dramatically, implying that DP1-SeNPs induced apoptotic pathways were mainly through the activation of FADD and caspase-3, 8, 9. Furthermore, ROS over generation and mitochondrial dysfunction were also involved in DP1-SeNPs-induced apoptosis. Therefore, the underlying antiproliferative activity mechanism of DP1-SeNPs was both via death receptor-mediated and mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways. This work could eventually lead to development of anti-cancer nutraceutical supplements using natural materials of food origin.T use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in disease therapy has increased exponentially in recent years. Herbal plant decoctions, an integral component of CAM, are a veritable source of alternative medicine. Treatment using herbal extracts constitutes a tremendous resource for alternative remedy especially at disease onset. A scientific investigation of traditional herbal plants may provide valuable leads for the development of alternative drugs and therapeutic remedies. The dearth of valid ethnobotanical information on herbal plants used in disease therapy remains an impediment to the utilization of CAM by clinicians. Factors such as improper identification and standardization of these herbal plants constitute a potential reason for concern. Consequently, it is imperative that studies are undertaken to assure the quality, efficacy, and safety of these plants. Our plant of interest, Brickellia cavanillesii (Asteraceae), one of the more popular herbal plants consumed in Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern parts of the USA for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, is believed to possess hypoglycemic and antioxidative properties. Unfortunately, little is known about its chemical composition. This study investigates the lyophilized extracts of B. cavanillesii in an attempt to elucidate its use as a therapeutic agent; chromatographic methods were utilized to analyze the methanolic extract of lyophilized Brickellia cavanillesii. The identified compounds were found to be the primary constituents of the essential oils of many plants and flowers. Essential oils are employed widely in traditional disease remedies.I this work we propose a statistical method here called SheNon (Shelf-life prediction for Non-accelerated studies). Such method is based on principal components and linear regression analysis. Here we present shelf-life estimation for minimally processed eggplants. Samples were stored without chemical preservatives and evaluated by appearance, color, aroma, overall acceptance (OA), purchase intention (PI), L, a *, b *, Hue angle (h), soluble solids (SS), acidity, pH, browning index (BI) and chromaticity. PC1 and PC5 presented the highest correlations with time, respectively and then moved on to regression fitting step. Eggplants showed to age mainly along PC1. Some attributes like aroma, appearance, color, OA, PI, L and h were related to fresh samples and a*, b*, SS, BI and chromaticity were associated to aged products. To predict the shelf-life, a linear regression model was selected considering these principal components. A borderline sample vector was provided by an expert in food technology, which, applied to in the adjusted regression model, yielded the shelf-life estimative of 9.6 days (±4 days, confidence level of 95%). By the results it was found that the proposed method is promising for estimating shelf-life.

Evaluation of the in vitro antimutagenic effect of Doash tea aqueous extracts

Human carcinogens are formed mainly due to the lifestyle and diet that is followed. It is well known that dietary factors play a crucial role in the aetiology of human cancer. The new attractions of drug discovery using natural products remain an important issue in the current herbal medicine research. The present study aimed to evaluate the antimutagenic activity of the water extracts of Doash leaves against several known mutagens, both direct- and indirect-acting, belonging to different chemical classes. These classes are heterocyclic amines (HAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines. The antimutagenic activity will be determined in Salmonella/microsomal system (Ames) using strains of Salmonella Typhimurium. Four Salmonella bacterial strains (TA98, TA97, TA100 and TA1530) were used in the present study. Results obtained showed that Doash extract possesses powerful antimutagenic properties, which impair the deleterious effects of various chemicals used in this study. One possible mechanism involved in this protection is the inhibition of the metabolic activation of chemical carcinogens to their reactive metabolites. We also suggest that the health benefits of Doash could be derived from the additive and synergistic combinations of the various phytochemicals present in Doash leaves. Other studies should also be conducted to determine the active components of Doash leaves, including macronutrients, micronutrients and other phytochemicals. Clinical studies should be performed before any claims that Doash consumption offers chemoprotection against cancer can be made.