Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of Thunbergia laurifolia Linn. on experimental opisthorchiasis

Thunbergia laurifolia Linn (Rang Chuet) possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as anticancer activities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of T. laurifolia in reducing inflammation from pathological changes in Syrian hamsters infected with the human liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini. Hamster groups were also administered N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and treated with T. laurifolia. Light microscopic observation of histopathological changes, liver function tests for alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and kidney function tests for blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were performed. Antioxidant effects of both fresh and dried Rang Chuet solutions were observed. Analysis of the histopathological changes showed anti-inflammatory properties, both in the case of O. viverrini infection or with NDMA administration, by reducing the aggregation of inflammatory cells surrounding the hepatic bile ducts as indicated by normal serum ALT, ALP, BUN and creatinine levels in treated Syrian hamsters. The present study found that fresh and dried Rang Chuet solutions clearly reduced the inflammatory cells in both O. viverrini-infected and NDMA-administered groups and was correlated with the total antioxidant capacity. These findings suggest that T. laurifolia possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and that its application may be useful for prevention of the inflammatory process, one of the risk factors of O. viverrini-associated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).     

Granulomatous inflammation of the liver in opisthorchiasis

Granulomatous liver inflammation was studied in Syrian hamsters in opisthorchiasis alone and in combination with different factors, such as carcinogens, anthelmintics, immunosuppressants and pregnancy. Parasitic ova and metabolites, as well as hepatic cell necrosis are shown to be the initiating factors of granulomatous inflammation. Granulomas originate in ductal walls, hepatic stroma and parenchyma. Four granuloma types are distinguished, i.e. macrophagal, giant-cell, necrotizing and cicatricial one. The biggest granuloma area was observed in superinvasive form of helminthiasis, when infection was combined with a carcinogen (DMNA), and in pregnant female hamsters treated with droncite. It is suggested that opisthorchiasis is a granulomatous disease.     

Effect of prednisolone on the growth of human bone marrow cells in vitro.

The addition of prednisolone to autostimulatory cultures of human bone marrow in agar results in the formation of an increased number of granulocytic aggregates. The effect is dependent on the concentration of cultured cells and does not occur at low cell concentration. The increase in aggregate numbers is maximal early in the culture and occurs at steroid concentrations which are comparable with pharmacological levels. Prednisolone directly inhibits the responsiveness of granulocytic precursors to colony-stimulating activity (CSA) and it is suggested that the stimulatory effect is indirect and may be caused by a steroid action on mediator production. These findings may be relevant to the polymorphonuclear leucocytosis induced by glucocorticoids.     

The effect of liver tissue homogenate on growth in the liver of tadpoles

Summary Two groups of experiments were conducted on Rans temporaria and Rana ridibunds tadpoles.In the first group Rana temporaria and Rana ridibunda tadpoles of the I, II and III stages were injected intraperitoneally with a liver suspension of tadpoles (Rana temporaria of the V stage) in a 0.75% NaCl solution. In the second group, tadpoles (Rana riolbunda) of the II and III stages were injected with a liver suspension of tadpoles of the 0 and 1 stages of the same species.In the first group the growth of the liver was specially stimulated by the homogenate, in the second group, a tendency to diminution of the relative weight of the liver was noted.Presented by Prof. N. N. Zhukov-Verezhnikov, Active Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences USSR     

Effect of liver RNA on the growth of tumors in experimental animals

Summary A study was made on the effect of RNA recovered from the rat liver by various methods on the growth of transplantable tumors in experimental animals. It was shown that RNA from the liver cells produced by Kirby's phenol method in V. I. Vorobyov's modification or after Scherrer inhibited the growth of sarcoma M-1 in rats in 45–93% of cases. In case of ascitic hepatoma of rats the inhibiting effect of RNA is not always apparent. The tumor-inhibiting effect of the liver RNA depends, to a certain extent, on the method used for RNA recovery. The effect of RNA on the growth of sarcoma M-1 and protein synthesis in tumor cells (in vitro) is apparently not specific.(Presented by Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences, USSR, A. I. Savitskii) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 60, No. 8, pp. 102–105, August, 1965     

Localisation of actin in the liver fluke,Fasciola hepatica

Adult and 3-week-old juvenileFasciola hepatica were examined for the presence of the cytoskeletal protein actin. Techniques of direct fluorescence using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-phalloidin and of indirect immunofluorescence using a monoclonal anti-actin antibody (MAA) demonstrated actin in the testes, sub-tegumental and gut musculature, tegumental cell bodies and tegumental spines. In contrast, polyclonal anti-actin antibody (PAA) revealed immunostaining only in the vitellaria. Effective removal of the tegument with 1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and this enabled immunoblotting of whole fluke and tegumental fractions with and without spines. Whole fluke fractions produced three bands corresponding to molecules exhibiting relative molecular weights of 43, 28 and 15 kDa, respectively, whereas the tegumental fraction with spines revealed a single band corresponding to 15 kDa in size. The fraction without spines displayed no bands. The present study localised actin in a number of different tissue types within the liver fluke. Using MAA, three forms of actin have been identified in the whole fluke and a single one in the tegumental spines.     

Citrate synthase from the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica

Citrate synthase catalyses the first step of the Krebs’ tricarboxylic acid cycle. A sequence encoding citrate synthase from the common liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, has been cloned. The encoded protein sequence is predicted to fold into a largely α-helical protein with high structural similarity to mammalian citrate synthases. Although a hexahistidine-tagged version of the protein could be expressed in Escherichia coli, it was not possible to purify it by nickel-affinity chromatography. Similar results were obtained with a version of the protein which lacks the putative mitochondrial targeting sequence (residues 1 to 29). However, extracts from bacterial cells expressing this version had additional citrate synthase activity after correcting for the endogenous, bacterial activity. The apparent K _m for oxaloacetate was found to be 0.22 mM, which is higher than that observed in mammalian citrate synthases. Overall, the sequence and structure of F. hepatica citrate synthase are similar to ones from other eukaryotes, but there are enzymological differences which merit further investigation.     

Liver collagen turnover in hamsters during infection by the human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

Hamsters infected with Opisthorchis viverrini, a liver fluke of man, showed an increased deposition of collagen in their livers. However, increased collagen breakdown as well as its synthesis were observed in the infected livers. Thus, stimulated synthesis might be the main factor responsible for the net increase in collagen content. Synthesis and degradation increased to a greater extent in short-term infection than in long-term infection whereas the hepatic collagen content was equally elevated in both cases. The results, therefore, suggested a difference in collagen metabolism of short-term and long-term infected livers.     

Angioprotective effect of cathergen in experimental liver damage

Institute of Therapy, Siberian Branch, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Laboratory of Lymphology, Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Novosibirsk. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Yu. I. Borodin.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 108, No. 7, pp. 28–30, July, 1989.     

On the effect of prednisolone on hamster bone.

Over a period of 10.8 weeks 0.4, 4.0 or 40.0 mg, respectively of prednisolone bisuccinate/kg/day were injected intramuscularly into Syrian golden hamsters with a body weight of about 100 g. The dosage of 4.0 mg of prednisolone/kg did not produce any osteoporotic changes. The modulus of elasticity and the fracture load of the bones under investigation did not differ from the values obtained in control animals. At a dosage of 0.4 mg of prednisolone/kg/day the values of analysis (density, ash/cm3, calcium/cm3 and hydroxyproline/cm3) decreased by 5-8 percent, and at a dosage of 40.0 mg of prednisolone/kg/day even by 20-34 per cent as compared with the control group. The modulus of elasticity and the fracture load were significantly changed.     

Amino acid composition of the indian liver fluke Fasciola indica

Summary Eighteen free amino acids have been found in Fasciola indica by the chromatographic method (two-dimensional ascending). Besides methionine, taurine and histidine, not reported earlier in the liver fluke, two non-protein amino acids, - and -amino-butyric acid have also been found. Valine, reported earlier in F. hepatica by Daugherty (1952), has not been found in F. indica.