The current study aimed to determine how palm date aqueous fruit extracts (AFE) affected the autistic-like behaviors brought on by valproic acid (VPA) injection, as well as any potential contributions from Sirt-1, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy. The pregnant Sprague Dawley females were treated with VPA at 12.5th gestation day and pregnant females and their offspring were treated with AFE orally at doses of 4 mg/Kg by gastric gavage for 45 days after birth. The elevated plus-T maze, water maze, and rotarod tests were used to examine autism-like behaviors. At the end of the study, the expression of Nrf2, heme oxygenase (HO-1), Sirt-1, caspase-3 (a marker of apoptosis), LC3 (a marker of autophagy), and NFκB (inflammatory cytokines) were evaluated along with the oxidative stress in brain tissues and the histological changes in the cerebellum and hippocampus. The neurobehavioral assessments significantly declined due to VPA, which also significantly increased oxidative stress in the brain tissues and significantly decreased Nrf2 and HO-1 expression. Additionally, VPA administration caused significant increase in the expression of caspase-3 in the cerebellar cortex, not in the hippocampus; LC3 and NFκB in the hippocampus, not in the cerebellar cortex; and significant reduction in the expression of Sirt-1 in the hippocampus, not in the cerebellum. On the other hand, AFE treatment significantly improved the neurobehavioral changes as well as it improved significantly the oxidative stress and the expression of LC3, NFκB, NrF2, HO-1, and Sirt-1 in the cerebellum and hippocampus. Conclusions: AFE administration might improve the autistic-like symptoms induced by VPA in rats via attenuation of the oxidative stress, upregulation of Nrf2 and HO-1, Sirt-1 and LC3 expression with downregulation of caspase-3, and NFκB expression in the cerebellum and hippocampus.

Background: Doxorubicin (DOX) is widely used to treat a variety of malignancies in both adults and children, including those of the bladder, breast, stomach, and ovaries. Despite this, it has been reported to cause hepatotoxicity. The recent discovery of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells’ (BMSCs) therapeutic effects in the context of liver diseases suggests that their administration plays a part in the mitigation and rehabilitation of drug-induced toxicities. Objectives: This study investigated whether bone BMSCs could reduce DOX-induced liver damage by blocking the Wnt/β-catenin pathway that causes fibrotic liver. Materials and methods: BMSCs were isolated and treated with hyaluronic acid (HA) for 14 days before injection. Thirty-five mature male SD rats were categorized into four groups; group one (control) rats were supplemented with saline 0.9% for 28 days, group two (DOX) rats were injected with DOX (20 mg/kg), group three (DOX + BMSCs) rats were injected with 2 × 10⁶ BMSCs after 4 days of DOX injection, group four (DOX + BMSCs + HA) rats were injected with 0.1 mL BMSCs pretreated with HA after 4 days of DOX. After 28 days the rats were sacrificed, and blood and liver tissue samples were subjected to biochemical and molecular analysis. Morphological and immunohistochemical observations were also carried out. Results: In terms of liver function and antioxidant findings, cells treated with HA showed considerable improvement compared to the DOX group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the expression of inflammatory markers (TGFβ1, iNos), apoptotic markers (Bax, Bcl2), cell tracking markers (SDF1α), fibrotic markers (β-catenin, Wnt7b, FN1, VEGF, and Col-1), and ROS markers (Nrf2, HO-1) was improved in BMSCs conditioned with HA in contrast to BMSCs alone (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings proved that BMSCs treated with HA exert their paracrine therapeutic effects via their secretome, suggesting that cell-based regenerative therapies conditioned with HA may be a viable alternative to reduce hepatotoxicity.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact ofC. schoenanthusessential oil (CSEO) on the immune system, antioxidant balance, and histological changes in the kidney and spleen of female BALB/C mice. The chemical composition of CSEO was analyzed using GC-MS. Twenty-nine compounds were identified, representing 99.04% of the total detected. The main components were Piperitone (47.93%), Elemol (11.91%), 2-Carene (10.69%), β-eudesmol (7.67%), α-eudesmol (5.12%), and γ-eudesmol (4.24%). For bioassay, the mice were divided into three groups: control, 0.5% CSEO (G1), and 1% CSEO (G2). The effects of CSEO on various markers, including malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), urea, creatinine, and cytokines (IL-4, TNF-α, and TGF-β1), were evaluated. Additionally, kidney and spleen histopathological examinations were conducted. The treatment groups showed a significant increase in IL-4, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 levels compared to the control group, except for G1, which showed a non-significant decrease in TGF-β1 levels. Group 2 exhibited a significant increase in MDA levels compared to the control group, while group 1 had a nonsignificant increase. Both treatments showed a significant increase in GSH levels, while SOD and CAT levels showed a non-significant increase in G2 and a non-significant decrease in G1. Urea levels showed a non-significant increase, while creatinine levels were significantly decreased in G2 and non-significantly decreased in G1 compared to the control group. The histopathological examinations revealed congested red pulp with activated hematopoiesis and focal fibrosis in spleen sections of both G1 and G2. The study suggests that medicinal herbs such as CSEO need to be used with caution, and their effects should be evaluated carefully, especially in terms of dose-dependent effects. The results indicate that high doses of CSEO may increase the levels of some cytokines and antioxidants and have harmful effects on kidney architecture, congested red pulp, and fibrosis with increased hematopoiesis. Therefore, the random use of medicinal herbs may have harmful effects and needs to be carefully controlled to ensure safe use.

This study aimed to examine the impact of handwriting versus iPad writing on cervical alignment and pinch muscle strength among female university students at the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University. Thirty female students were divided into two equal groups: Group A engaged in handwriting, and Group B used iPad writing. The mean body mass index of the participants was 25.12 kg/m². Each participant was instructed to write for 15 min. Cervical range of motion (ROM) devices were used to assess cervical flexion, lateral bending, and rotation, whereas key pinch strength was measured to evaluate the strength of the dominant pinch muscles. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated no significant differences in the pinch strength outcome variables between the handwriting and iPad writing groups, F (1, 28) = 12.54, P = 0.25; η² = 0.05. The handwriting group exhibited lower mean values within their group compared to the iPad group. Furthermore, a repeated-measures ANOVA comparing the groups revealed no significant difference in the mean cervical range of motion (ROM) in flexion between the two groups (P = 0.67). However, the mean values for the handwriting group increased post-writing compared to those for the iPad group. The repeated-measures ANOVA between groups also demonstrated no significant difference in the mean cervical range of motion values for rotation to the right after writing for either group (P = 0.34) or for the cervical range of motion for rotation to the left (P = 0.49); however, an increase in the mean values of cervical rotation to the right was observed for the handwriting group. Using an iPad increases the degree of lateral bending and rotation to the left and right. In addition, the degree of right rotation increased in the iPad group. However, key-pinch muscle strength was lower in the handwriting group than in the iPad writing group.