In this study, juvenile male Sprague-Dawley rats (PND 22) were fed with soya extract, bisphenol A, and 17β-estradiol, respectively by oral gavage to determine the potential effect on the morphology of their reproductive organs and their hormonal levels. After three weeks of treatment (PND 43), all animals were sacrificed and the blood and testes were collected. All the three treatment groups showed histological differences in testes morphology compared to the control. Animals treated with soya extract and bisphenol A showed a decrease in circulating estradiol levels while animals treated with 17β-estradiol showed elevated circulating levels of estradiol. Only the animals treated with soya extract showed elevated levels of circulating testosterone. The results of the present study showed that, soya extract, bisphenol A, and 17β-estradiol can alter the histological structure of the testes and influence circulating steroidal hormone levels.
The objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa fruit extract and its effect on triacylglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and lipid peroxidation in induced-cholesterol New Zealand White Rabbits. In DPPH assay, at concentration of 200 ug/mL methanol extract give 62.13% inhibition of DPPH free radicals with IC50 of 107 μg/mL. Similarly, in FRAP assay the methanol extract at concentration of 500 ug/mL showed the highest absorbance (0.16) for antioxidant activity. Whereas, in metal chelating assay the methanol extract at concentration of 100 mg/mL exhibited 36% inhibition of metal chelating ions. The antioxidant activities were due to the presence of phenolics compounds of quinic acid, gallic acid and caffeic acid, which were identified with Q-TQF MS. Total phenolic and total flavonoid content was the highest in water extract at 66.515 mg of GAE/g and 1.828 mg of QE/g, respectively. The water extract of R. tomentosa was non-toxic at LC50 = 616.083 μg/mL. The white New Zealand rabbits group A was fed by oral gavages with normal diet; Group B cholesterol 1% diet; group C cholesterol 1% diet with fruit extract 50 mg/kg and Group D cholesterol 1% diet with simvastatin standard drug 5 mg/kg. The rabbits in group C has a significantly reduced (p<0.05) total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and significantly increased (p<0.05) high density lipoprotein (HDL) and triacylglycerides (TG) as compared with group B. The lipid peroxidation was reduced significantly (p<0.05) as indicated by the low TBARs-MDA level in group C. Thus, these results showed that the R. tomentosa fruit extracts was able to reduce cholesterol level and increased HDL level which can prevent the formation of atherosclerosis in New Zealand white rabbits.
We have previously designed a series of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and in the current study, the in vivo therapeutic efficacy and toxicity were investigated. Among all the peptides, DM3 conferred protection to a substantial proportion of the lethally infected mice caused by a strain of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Synergism was reported and therapeutic efficacy was significantly enhanced when DM3 was formulated in combination with penicillin (PEN). No toxicity was observed in mice receiving these treatments. The in silico molecular docking study results showed that, DM3 has a strong affinity towards three protein targets; autolysin and pneumococcal surface protein A (pspA). Thus AMPs could serve as supporting therapeutics in combination with conventional antibiotics to enhance treatment outcome.