Objective:To investigate the protective role of pumpkin seed ethanolic extract against escitalopram-induced reproductive toxicity in male mice.Methods:Swiss albino male mice were randomly divided into five groups with...Objective:To investigate the protective role of pumpkin seed ethanolic extract against escitalopram-induced reproductive toxicity in male mice.Methods:Swiss albino male mice were randomly divided into five groups with six mice in each group.Group Ⅰreceived normal water orally,Group Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳand Ⅴreceived escitalopram oxalate(10 mg/kg),pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)plus escitalopram oxalate(10 mg/kg),escitalopram oxalate(20 mg/kg),and pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)plus escitalopram oxalate(20 mg/kg),respectively.All test doses were continuously administered orally once daily per animal body weight for 30 days and 60 days.Body weight and sexual organ weight were evaluated on day 31 and 61.Effects of pumpkin seed extract on sperm parameters,biochemical parameters and histology of testis were also investigated.Results:Escitalopram 10 or 20 mg/kg caused reproductive toxicity in male mice after 30 and 60 days of treatment.However,simultaneous administration of escitalopram oxalate(10 or 20 mg/kg)with pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)attenuated escitalopram-induced testicular toxicity.Significant increase in the body weight and relative organ weight was observed.Sperm count,sperm motility and viability significantly increased(P<0.05).The histopathological alterations caused by escitalopram was also ameliorated.Conclusions:Ethanolic extract of pumpkin seeds(300 mg/kg body weight)protects again reproductive toxicity induced by escitalopram.Therefore,dietary intake of pumpkin seed extract might be useful for male patients who expose to antidepressant drug due to depression.展开更多
Objective: To investigate the efficacy of pomegranate(Punica granatum) peel extract as an alternative treatment on the white laboratory mice against giardiasis.Methods: Experimental animals were divided into five grou...Objective: To investigate the efficacy of pomegranate(Punica granatum) peel extract as an alternative treatment on the white laboratory mice against giardiasis.Methods: Experimental animals were divided into five groups, including Group A:control(infected untreated), Group B: infected and fed with pectin 7 days before infection, Group C: infected and fed with pectin starting from 7th day of infection,Group D: infected and fed with pomegranate peel extract 7 days before infection, and Group E: infected and fed with pomegranate peel extract starting from 7th day of infection.Results: Results from this study revealed that the prevention rate in the experimental groups reached approximately 50% by the 10 th day of using pomegranate peel extract.Moreover, stool cyst counts of groups showed a significant reduction in the shedding of cysts approximately 75.6% by day 20 post-infection. ELISA test showed a reduction in Giardia antigen in the stools of the experimental groups which received pomegranate peel extract. The cure rate of these groups was approximately 97.4% by 28 th day of infection.Conclusions: Our present findings indicated that the pomegranate peel extract proved to be valuable in prevention and treatment of Giardia lamblia infection. Further studies are required to determine the effective dose of pomegranate peel extract against Giardia lamblia infection.展开更多
Aims Understanding the relative importance of historical and environ-mental processes in the structure and composition of communities is one of the longest quests in ecological research.Increasingly,researchers are re...Aims Understanding the relative importance of historical and environ-mental processes in the structure and composition of communities is one of the longest quests in ecological research.Increasingly,researchers are relying on the functional and phylogeneticβ-diversity of natural communities to provide concise explanations on the mechanistic basis of community assembly and the drivers of trait variation among species.The present study investigated how plant functional and phylogeneticβ-diversity change along key environmental and spatial gradients in the Western Swiss Alps.Methods Using the quadratic diversity measure based on six functional traits-specific leaf area,leaf dry matter content,plant height,leaf carbon content,leaf nitrogen content and leaf carbon to nitrogen content alongside a species-resolved phylogenetic tree-we relate variations in climate,spatial geographic,land use and soil gradients to plant functional and phylogenetic turnover in mountain commu-nities of the Western Swiss Alps.Important Findings Our study highlights two main points.First,climate and land-use factors play an important role in mountain plant community turnover.Second,the overlap between plant functional and phy-logenetic turnover along these gradients correlates with the low phylogenetic signal in traits,suggesting that in mountain land-scapes,trait lability is likely an important factor in driving plant community assembly.Overall,we demonstrate the importance of climate and land-use factors in plant functional and phyloge-netic community turnover and provide valuable complementary insights into understanding patterns ofβ-diversity along several ecological gradients.展开更多
Objective:To evaluate the antineoplastic activity of Eucalyptus extract(EUE) against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma(EAC)in Swiss albino mice.Methods:Preliminary examination of four plant extracts(namely Eucalyptus,Costus,A...Objective:To evaluate the antineoplastic activity of Eucalyptus extract(EUE) against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma(EAC)in Swiss albino mice.Methods:Preliminary examination of four plant extracts(namely Eucalyptus,Costus,Azadirachla.Feroniai has been done by observing the reduction ability of number of EAC cells in previously inoculated Swiss alliino mice.Among them as EuE showed maximum capability,the whole study has been conducted with EuE only. Important parameters viz.enhancement of life span,reduction of average tumor weight etc.have been studied.In addition the effects of EuE on hematological parameters in both normal and EAC inoculated mice have been measured.Effect of EuE on normal peritoneal cells has also been studied.Results:EuE reduced tumor burden remarkably.It reduced the tumor growth rate and enhanced the life span of EAC bearing mice noticeably.It reversed back the hematological parameters towards normal,reduced the Irasplanlability of EAC cells and enhanced the immunomodulatory effects in mice.The host toxic effect of EuE in mice is minimum and mostly reversible with time.All such data have been compared with those obtained by running parallel experiments with bleomycin at dose 0.3 mg/kg(i.p.).Conclusions:The Eucalyptus extract may be considered as a potent anticancer agent for advanced researches.展开更多
Aims Effects of climate change,especially changes in temperatures and precipitation patterns,are particularly pronounced in alpine regions.In response,plants may exhibit phenotypic plasticity in key functional traits ...Aims Effects of climate change,especially changes in temperatures and precipitation patterns,are particularly pronounced in alpine regions.In response,plants may exhibit phenotypic plasticity in key functional traits allowing short-term adjustment to novel conditions.However,little is known about the degree of pheno-typic plasticity of high elevation species relative to mid elevation congeners.Methods We transplanted 14 herbaceous perennial species from high eleva-tion into two common gardens(1050 and 2000 m.a.s.l.)in the Swiss Alps,and we examined plastic responses in key functional traits to changes in temperature and soil water availability.This design was replicated with 14 congeneric species from mid elevation to assess if the degree of phenotypic plasticity differs between mid and high elevation species.Survival was assessed across two growing seasons,while aboveground biomass and specific leaf area(SLA)were measured after the first growing season,and biomass alloca-tion to belowground and reproductive structures after the second.Moreover,a phenotypic plasticity index was calculated for the func-tional traits to compare the degree of plasticity between mid and high elevation species.Important Findings Aboveground biomass was higher in mid elevation species relative to high elevation congeners in all treatments,yet decreased for both with elevation and drought.Similarly,SLA decreased with elevation and drought.Root mass fraction(RMF)was generally higher in high ele-vation species,and decreased with drought at the lower site.Drought increased the allocation to reproductive structures,especially when plants were grown at their elevation of origin.Interestingly,no differ-ence was found in the degree of phenotypic plasticity averaged across mid and high elevation species for any of the studied functional traits.These results indicate that phenotypic plasticity in the focal traits did not depend on the elevation of origin of the species.Plasticity was not related to environmental heterogeneity,nor constrained by 展开更多
Background:Animal models are widely used in scientific research in order to obtain information from a whole organism under a specific set of experimental conditions.Various lineages of mice have been used to investiga...Background:Animal models are widely used in scientific research in order to obtain information from a whole organism under a specific set of experimental conditions.Various lineages of mice have been used to investigate diseases and new therapeutic strategies,and,consequently,hematological and biochemical tests in these laboratory animals are essential to validate scientific studies.Our study seeks to establish reference values for hematological and biochemical parameters of four lineages of mice.Methods:We evaluated the hematological and biochemical profiles of 20 males and 20 females from the lineages Swiss(heterogeneous),BALB/c and C57BL/6(isogenic),and B6D2F1(hybrid),totaling 160 mice.Analysis were standardized using the systems pocH-100iV Diff™for 19 hematological parameters and VITROS®350 for 12 biochemical parameters.Results:Results are shown as means and standard deviation,grouped by lineage and genre.Comparing the values obtained in this study with the values from previous studies,some variations were detected,which could be explained by differences in methodologies or individual variability.Conclusion:Thus our study shows that knowledge and disclosure of the values of physiological parameters of laboratory animals is necessary,and emphasises the importance of considering variations influenced by gender,lineage and genotype in the choice of the best experimental model.展开更多
Following the successful Swiss Innovation Week(SIW)held in July 2018,the Embassy of Switzerland in China launches its 2nd edition from 12 to 14of June 2019.With Swiss drones as the brand-new theme,Switzerland’s drone...Following the successful Swiss Innovation Week(SIW)held in July 2018,the Embassy of Switzerland in China launches its 2nd edition from 12 to 14of June 2019.With Swiss drones as the brand-new theme,Switzerland’s drone ecosystem and innovation in the field of flying robots were present.According to various rankings,Switzerland is one of the most innovative countrie s in the world and also one of the most competitive co untries.展开更多
4-tert-octylphenol (OP) is environmental pollutants that have been shown widespread impact estrogenic and toxic to the cells of mammals in culture. The effects of OP on the reproductive system of adult male vertebrate...4-tert-octylphenol (OP) is environmental pollutants that have been shown widespread impact estrogenic and toxic to the cells of mammals in culture. The effects of OP on the reproductive system of adult male vertebrates especially humans are virtually unknown. Thus, in the present investigation, pregnant females of albino rats were orally treated during pregnancy and until 21 days after birth (the period of lactation) with octylphenol (OP) at doses 0 (vehicle: corn oil), 40 mg/kg and 120 mg/kg on the epididymis of male rats at puberty (12 weeks of age). The present result showed that there is non-significant in the number;the size of newborn rats and there increased in mortality rate of newborn rats of the pregnant female treatment with dose low-and high-octylphenol compared to the control group. there is increased in the average body weight and percentage of gain in body weight of male rats from mothers of small treatment (G2, G3) and the control group (G1) for 12 weeks of age. Also, histological results showed that the adrenal gland in the group which was given high dose of octylphenol (G3) show that Severe histological changes in the cortex. When examining medulla and found large areas of necrosis and cell degradation, necrosis and cell death sharply.展开更多
文摘Objective:To investigate the protective role of pumpkin seed ethanolic extract against escitalopram-induced reproductive toxicity in male mice.Methods:Swiss albino male mice were randomly divided into five groups with six mice in each group.Group Ⅰreceived normal water orally,Group Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳand Ⅴreceived escitalopram oxalate(10 mg/kg),pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)plus escitalopram oxalate(10 mg/kg),escitalopram oxalate(20 mg/kg),and pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)plus escitalopram oxalate(20 mg/kg),respectively.All test doses were continuously administered orally once daily per animal body weight for 30 days and 60 days.Body weight and sexual organ weight were evaluated on day 31 and 61.Effects of pumpkin seed extract on sperm parameters,biochemical parameters and histology of testis were also investigated.Results:Escitalopram 10 or 20 mg/kg caused reproductive toxicity in male mice after 30 and 60 days of treatment.However,simultaneous administration of escitalopram oxalate(10 or 20 mg/kg)with pumpkin seed extract(300 mg/kg)attenuated escitalopram-induced testicular toxicity.Significant increase in the body weight and relative organ weight was observed.Sperm count,sperm motility and viability significantly increased(P<0.05).The histopathological alterations caused by escitalopram was also ameliorated.Conclusions:Ethanolic extract of pumpkin seeds(300 mg/kg body weight)protects again reproductive toxicity induced by escitalopram.Therefore,dietary intake of pumpkin seed extract might be useful for male patients who expose to antidepressant drug due to depression.
文摘Objective: To investigate the efficacy of pomegranate(Punica granatum) peel extract as an alternative treatment on the white laboratory mice against giardiasis.Methods: Experimental animals were divided into five groups, including Group A:control(infected untreated), Group B: infected and fed with pectin 7 days before infection, Group C: infected and fed with pectin starting from 7th day of infection,Group D: infected and fed with pomegranate peel extract 7 days before infection, and Group E: infected and fed with pomegranate peel extract starting from 7th day of infection.Results: Results from this study revealed that the prevention rate in the experimental groups reached approximately 50% by the 10 th day of using pomegranate peel extract.Moreover, stool cyst counts of groups showed a significant reduction in the shedding of cysts approximately 75.6% by day 20 post-infection. ELISA test showed a reduction in Giardia antigen in the stools of the experimental groups which received pomegranate peel extract. The cure rate of these groups was approximately 97.4% by 28 th day of infection.Conclusions: Our present findings indicated that the pomegranate peel extract proved to be valuable in prevention and treatment of Giardia lamblia infection. Further studies are required to determine the effective dose of pomegranate peel extract against Giardia lamblia infection.
基金Fellowship grant from the Faculty of Biology and Medicine University of Lausanne,Switzerland.
文摘Aims Understanding the relative importance of historical and environ-mental processes in the structure and composition of communities is one of the longest quests in ecological research.Increasingly,researchers are relying on the functional and phylogeneticβ-diversity of natural communities to provide concise explanations on the mechanistic basis of community assembly and the drivers of trait variation among species.The present study investigated how plant functional and phylogeneticβ-diversity change along key environmental and spatial gradients in the Western Swiss Alps.Methods Using the quadratic diversity measure based on six functional traits-specific leaf area,leaf dry matter content,plant height,leaf carbon content,leaf nitrogen content and leaf carbon to nitrogen content alongside a species-resolved phylogenetic tree-we relate variations in climate,spatial geographic,land use and soil gradients to plant functional and phylogenetic turnover in mountain commu-nities of the Western Swiss Alps.Important Findings Our study highlights two main points.First,climate and land-use factors play an important role in mountain plant community turnover.Second,the overlap between plant functional and phy-logenetic turnover along these gradients correlates with the low phylogenetic signal in traits,suggesting that in mountain land-scapes,trait lability is likely an important factor in driving plant community assembly.Overall,we demonstrate the importance of climate and land-use factors in plant functional and phyloge-netic community turnover and provide valuable complementary insights into understanding patterns ofβ-diversity along several ecological gradients.
基金Supported by University Grant Commission,Dhaka,Bangladeshfor JA Khanam(Grant No.(676)UCC/Chemistry/(10)2007-2008/3269)
文摘Objective:To evaluate the antineoplastic activity of Eucalyptus extract(EUE) against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma(EAC)in Swiss albino mice.Methods:Preliminary examination of four plant extracts(namely Eucalyptus,Costus,Azadirachla.Feroniai has been done by observing the reduction ability of number of EAC cells in previously inoculated Swiss alliino mice.Among them as EuE showed maximum capability,the whole study has been conducted with EuE only. Important parameters viz.enhancement of life span,reduction of average tumor weight etc.have been studied.In addition the effects of EuE on hematological parameters in both normal and EAC inoculated mice have been measured.Effect of EuE on normal peritoneal cells has also been studied.Results:EuE reduced tumor burden remarkably.It reduced the tumor growth rate and enhanced the life span of EAC bearing mice noticeably.It reversed back the hematological parameters towards normal,reduced the Irasplanlability of EAC cells and enhanced the immunomodulatory effects in mice.The host toxic effect of EuE in mice is minimum and mostly reversible with time.All such data have been compared with those obtained by running parallel experiments with bleomycin at dose 0.3 mg/kg(i.p.).Conclusions:The Eucalyptus extract may be considered as a potent anticancer agent for advanced researches.
基金This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation(3100A-135611)to J.Stöcklin.
文摘Aims Effects of climate change,especially changes in temperatures and precipitation patterns,are particularly pronounced in alpine regions.In response,plants may exhibit phenotypic plasticity in key functional traits allowing short-term adjustment to novel conditions.However,little is known about the degree of pheno-typic plasticity of high elevation species relative to mid elevation congeners.Methods We transplanted 14 herbaceous perennial species from high eleva-tion into two common gardens(1050 and 2000 m.a.s.l.)in the Swiss Alps,and we examined plastic responses in key functional traits to changes in temperature and soil water availability.This design was replicated with 14 congeneric species from mid elevation to assess if the degree of phenotypic plasticity differs between mid and high elevation species.Survival was assessed across two growing seasons,while aboveground biomass and specific leaf area(SLA)were measured after the first growing season,and biomass alloca-tion to belowground and reproductive structures after the second.Moreover,a phenotypic plasticity index was calculated for the func-tional traits to compare the degree of plasticity between mid and high elevation species.Important Findings Aboveground biomass was higher in mid elevation species relative to high elevation congeners in all treatments,yet decreased for both with elevation and drought.Similarly,SLA decreased with elevation and drought.Root mass fraction(RMF)was generally higher in high ele-vation species,and decreased with drought at the lower site.Drought increased the allocation to reproductive structures,especially when plants were grown at their elevation of origin.Interestingly,no differ-ence was found in the degree of phenotypic plasticity averaged across mid and high elevation species for any of the studied functional traits.These results indicate that phenotypic plasticity in the focal traits did not depend on the elevation of origin of the species.Plasticity was not related to environmental heterogeneity,nor constrained by
基金National Council for Scientific and Technological Development(CNPq)Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel,Brazil(CAPES)Research Support Foundation for the State of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil(FAPERJ)。
文摘Background:Animal models are widely used in scientific research in order to obtain information from a whole organism under a specific set of experimental conditions.Various lineages of mice have been used to investigate diseases and new therapeutic strategies,and,consequently,hematological and biochemical tests in these laboratory animals are essential to validate scientific studies.Our study seeks to establish reference values for hematological and biochemical parameters of four lineages of mice.Methods:We evaluated the hematological and biochemical profiles of 20 males and 20 females from the lineages Swiss(heterogeneous),BALB/c and C57BL/6(isogenic),and B6D2F1(hybrid),totaling 160 mice.Analysis were standardized using the systems pocH-100iV Diff™for 19 hematological parameters and VITROS®350 for 12 biochemical parameters.Results:Results are shown as means and standard deviation,grouped by lineage and genre.Comparing the values obtained in this study with the values from previous studies,some variations were detected,which could be explained by differences in methodologies or individual variability.Conclusion:Thus our study shows that knowledge and disclosure of the values of physiological parameters of laboratory animals is necessary,and emphasises the importance of considering variations influenced by gender,lineage and genotype in the choice of the best experimental model.
文摘Following the successful Swiss Innovation Week(SIW)held in July 2018,the Embassy of Switzerland in China launches its 2nd edition from 12 to 14of June 2019.With Swiss drones as the brand-new theme,Switzerland’s drone ecosystem and innovation in the field of flying robots were present.According to various rankings,Switzerland is one of the most innovative countrie s in the world and also one of the most competitive co untries.
文摘4-tert-octylphenol (OP) is environmental pollutants that have been shown widespread impact estrogenic and toxic to the cells of mammals in culture. The effects of OP on the reproductive system of adult male vertebrates especially humans are virtually unknown. Thus, in the present investigation, pregnant females of albino rats were orally treated during pregnancy and until 21 days after birth (the period of lactation) with octylphenol (OP) at doses 0 (vehicle: corn oil), 40 mg/kg and 120 mg/kg on the epididymis of male rats at puberty (12 weeks of age). The present result showed that there is non-significant in the number;the size of newborn rats and there increased in mortality rate of newborn rats of the pregnant female treatment with dose low-and high-octylphenol compared to the control group. there is increased in the average body weight and percentage of gain in body weight of male rats from mothers of small treatment (G2, G3) and the control group (G1) for 12 weeks of age. Also, histological results showed that the adrenal gland in the group which was given high dose of octylphenol (G3) show that Severe histological changes in the cortex. When examining medulla and found large areas of necrosis and cell degradation, necrosis and cell death sharply.
