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. 2007 Feb 16;4(3):248-56.

Zizyphus spina-christi extract protects against aflatoxin B1-initiated hepatic carcinogenicity

Mosaad A Abdel-Wahhab  1 , Enayat A Omara, Mona M Abdel-Galil, Nabila S Hassan, Somaia A Nada, Ataa Saeed, Magdy M el-Sayed
Affiliations

Zizyphus spina-christi extract protects against aflatoxin B1-initiated hepatic carcinogenicity

Mosaad A Abdel-Wahhab et al. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Aflatoxins (AF), a group of closely related, extremely toxic mycotoxins, produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus can occur as natural contaminants of foods and feeds. Aflatoxins have been shown to be hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic to different animal species. Zizyphus spina-christi L. extract was investigated for its antifungal and antimicrobial activities. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the methanol extract of Z. spina-christi L. leaves against the oxidative stress of aflatoxin in rats. Fourty male Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into four groups including the control group, the group fed aflatoxin-contaminated diet (3 mg/kg diet) and the groups treated with Zizyphus extract (5 mg/kg b.w) alone or in combination with AF for 15 days. Biochemical analysis revealed that treatment with AF resulted in a significant increase in ALT, AST, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, TNFa, LPO, NO and CEA, whereas it decrease significantly GPX and SOD. The histopathological examination of the liver, kidney and testis showed sever histological changes typical to those reported for aflatoxicosis. Animals treated with Zizyphus extract alone or plus AF showed a significant improvement in all biochemical parameters and histological picture of liver, kidney and testis. It could be concluded that Zizyphus extract have a power protective role against aflatoxicosis.

Keywords: Aflatoxin; Zizyphus spina-christi; antioxidant; hepatotoxicity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sections of rat liver showing (A) control liver demonstrating a central vein and hepatic cords separated with blood sinusoids; (B) aflatoxin-treated group showing congested central vein, damaged bile ducts and massive vacuolar degeneration with abnormal nuclei (shrunken; S and pyknotic; P); (C) aflatoxin plus Zizyphus extract treated group showing more or less normal hepatocytes. (H&E X 300)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Section of rat kidneys showing (A) control kidney demonstrating normal proximal convoluted tubules and malpighian corpuscles; (B) aflatoxintreated group showing hyaline casts in proximal and distal tubules lumen and cellular debris. Intertubular mononuclear cellular infiltration also was noticed; (C) aflatoxin plus Zizyphus extract treated group showing normal tubules and glomeruli. The nuclei of the epithelial cells lining tubules revealed different degrees of mitotic division (arrows). (H&E X 300)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sections of rat testis showing: (A) control testes showing spermatocytes and spermatids; (B) aflatoxin-treated rats showing severe damage of mitotic figures and spermatic tails; (C) aflatoxin plus Zizyphus extract treated rats showing marked recovery in most of the seminiferous tubules, spermatogenic cells and spermatids. (H&E X 3
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References

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