Diabetes is one of the leading causes of endometrial diseases in women. No study has addressed the influence of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) donors on endometrial injury on top of type 1 diabetes. This research was conducted to study either the effect of sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS), the H2S donor, or DL-propargylglycine (PAG), the inhibitor of endogenous H2S production, on the endometrium of diabetic rats. A total of 40 female Wistar rats were separated into control group, diabetic group, diabetic group treated with NaHS and diabetic group treated with PAG. Serum levels of insulin, glucose, total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were assessed. Uterine tissue markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and cell proliferation were analysed. Diabetes-induced endometrial overgrowth associated with oxidative stress, inflammation and inhibition of apoptosis. NaHS administration reversed the previous conditions while PAG administration got them worse. We concluded that H2S prevented endometrial overgrowth in a rat model of type 1 diabetes through modulation of PPARγ/mTOR and Nrf-2/NF-κB pathways.
Background: Finding a dead body in water raises an issue concerning determining the cause of death as drowning because of the complex pathophysiology of drowning. In addition, the corpse may be submersed postmortem. Objective: Evaluate the role of oxidative stress markers and NF-KB/iNOS inflammatory pathway as diagnostic biomarkers in drowning and whether they could differentiate freshwater from saltwater drowning. Methods: This study included forty-five adult male albino rats classified into five groups: control group (C), Freshwater-drowned group (FD), Freshwater postmortem submersion group (FPS), saltwater-drowned group (SD), and saltwater postmortem submersion group (SPS). After the autopsy, the rats' lungs in each group were prepared for histological, immunohistochemical (caspase 3, TNF-α, NF-kB, COX-2 & iNOS), biochemical studies; MDA, NOx, SOD, GSH, VCAM-1, COX-2; and RT-PCR for the relative quantification of NF-kB and iNOS genes expression. Results: Lung oxidative markers were significantly affected in drowned groups than in postmortem submersion groups. Inflammatory pathway markers were also significantly increased in the drowned groups, with concern that all markers were significantly affected more in saltwater than in freshwater drowned group. Conclusions: It is concluded that the tested markers can be used accurately in diagnosing drowning and differentiating it from postmortem submersion with a better understanding of the mechanism of death in drowning as both mechanisms, inflammatory and oxidative stress, were revealed and involved.
Mammary gland hyperplasia is one of the risk factors for breast cancer. Till date, there is no study that has addressed the effect of hemin in this condition. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of the heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) inducer (hemin) and its inhibitor (zinc protoporphyrin-IX) (ZnPP-IX) on mammary gland hyperplasia (MGH) induced by estrogen and progesterone in adult albino rats. Forty adult female albino rats were divided into the control group, MGH group, MGH + Hemin group, and MGH + Hemin + ZnPP-IX group. Serum levels of estradiol and progesterone were measured. Breast tissues were taken for estimation of oxidative, inflammatory, and apoptotic markers. Mammary gland histology was performed, and expression of Ki-67, Beclin, and P53 in breast tissue was also measured. Estrogen and progesterone administration induced hyperplasia of cells lining the ducts of the breast tissues associated with increased diameter and height of the nipples as well as increased oxidative stress markers, inflammatory markers, antiapoptotic markers, and cell autophagy. Hemin administration during induction of MGH can reverse all the affected parameters. Then, these effects were abolished by ZnPP-IX administration. We concluded that hemin administration can antagonize the cell stress induced by estrogen and progesterone and protect against the development of mammary gland hyperplasia via modulation of Nrf2/HO-1 and NF-κB pathways. Graphical Abstract