@article {174, title = {Inhibitory Effect of Salvadora persica (Miswak) against Cigarette Smoke-induced Mutagenicity and Sperm Abnormalities in Rats}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {11}, year = {2019}, month = {November,2019}, pages = {384-388}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {384}, abstract = {

Objective: The objective of the study is to evaluate the inhibitory effect of Salvadora persica against the cigarette smoke-induced mutagenicity and sperm damages in rats. Materials and Methods: Young male Wistar rats of weight 120{\textendash}140 g were exposed to the cigarette smoke for 8 weeks. The lyophilized decoction of S. persica was administered daily for 4 weeks by oral route at the doses 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg. The somatic and germinal cells damages were determined by peripheral blood micronucleus and sperm abnormalities tests, respectively. In vitro antioxidant activity of the decoction was determined by hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay. Ginseng was used as a standard herbal agent. The results were analyzed statistically by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test. P \<0.05 was considered to indicate the significance of results. Results: The data from the present study indicated that cigarette smoke exposure significantly (P \< 0.01) increased the population of micronucleated erythrocytes and sperm shape abnormalities and, reduced the polychromatic: normochromatic (P/N) ratio, and total sperm count compared to control. The administration of S. persica produced a dose-dependent inhibition on somatic and male germinal cell damages induced by cigarette smoke and the significant (P \< 0.05) activity was observed at 200 mg/kg. However, none of the tested doses enhanced significantly the P/N ratio. Ginseng at 100 mg/kg significantly (P \< 0.01) prevented the cigarette smoke-mediated damages. The in-vitro antioxidant activity indicated both S. persica and ginseng possess scavenging activity against the hydrogen peroxide free radicals. Conclusion: The observation suggests that the decoction of S. persica can prevent the somatic and germinal cell nuclear damages induced by cigarette smoke exposure. These actions could be related to its antioxidant property.

}, keywords = {Antioxidant, Cigarette smoke, Micronuclei, Salvadora persica, Sperm abnormalities.}, doi = {10.4103/pr.pr_65_19}, author = {Syed Imam Rabbani and Sultan Sajid and Vasudevan Mani and Omar Khan and M. A. A. Salman} } @article {609, title = {Co-administration of Sodium Arsenite and Ethanol: Protection by Aqueous Extract of Aframomum Longiscapum Seeds}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {4}, year = {2012}, month = {July,2012}, pages = {154-160}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {154}, abstract = {

Background: Human exposure to arsenicals, its toxicity, subsequent adverse effects on health has been widely reported and implicated in the etiology of several cancers. Objectives: We investigated the effect of Aframomum longiscapum (AL) extracts on sodium arsenite (SA) and ethanol (EtOH)- induced toxicities in rats. Materials and Methods: Male rats were fed SA, EtOH, and SA + EtOH, with or without AL for 5 weeks. Hepatic transaminases were assessed in serum, micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (mPCEs) from bone marrow, liver histopathology, and semen quality from caudal epididymis were assessed, respectively, and data were represented as mean {\textpm} SD, analyzed by ANOVA. Results: SA, SA + EtOH, and AL alone induced mPCEs formation in rat bone marrow (P \< 0.05). A decrease (P \< 0.05) in mPCEs in AL + SA + EtOH-treated rats compared with SA, and SA + EtOH was observed. SA and EtOH treatment increased serum hepatic transaminases (P \< 0.05) relative to control, while AL treatment resulted in a decrease (P \< 0.05). AL, SA, and SA + EtOH treatment decreased sperm count and motility (P \< 0.05) with no effect on viability compared with control. Semen morphological abnormalities showed no difference (P \> 0.05) across the treated groups. Hepatic histopathology indicated mild mononuclear cellular infiltration in the control group. Necrotic hepatocyte were observed in SA, SA + EtOH treated groups, with no visible lesions seen in the AL treated group. Mild hepatocyte congestion of the portal vessels was observed in AL + SA + EtOH-treated groups. Conclusion: The AL extract exhibited anticlastogenic and hepatoprotective potentials, reduced sperm count, motility, with no effect on viability and morphology. Our findings suggest that AL may mitigate the effect of arsenicals-induced clastogenicity implicated in chemical carcinogenesis.

}, keywords = {Aframomum longiscapum, Arsenite, ethanol, Micronuclei}, doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.99078}, author = {Solomon E. Owumi and Oyeronke A. Odunola and Mohammed Aliyu} }