Background: Levetiracetam is a member of the new antiepileptic drugs and has a broad spectrum effect, used as an adjunctive therapy in addition to monotherapy in the treatment of partial onset-seizures. The effect of levetiracetam on the development of embryo nervous system after maternal exposure during pregnancy has not been identified. Objective: to evaluate the effect of antiepileptic drug, levetiracetam (LEV) within its therapeutic dose 350mg/Kg body weight on albino female rat to clarify its effect on the developing cerebral cortex histologically. Material And Methods: Ten pregnant female rats were separated into two groups, control group and experimental group. They were obtained from the animal house of the high institute of infertility diagnosis and assisted reproductive technologies/Al-Nahrain university. They were maintained in environmentally controlled room at a temperature of 21–28±4Cº, 40–60% humidity, 12 hours light-dark cycle, in a noise free environment. Oral administration of 350mg/Kg of LEV to the experiment group while physiologic saline was given to control group. Results: microscopic assessment of the cerebral cortex defects in the cerebrum of the treated group when compared with the control group. There was disorganization of the cortical layers where boundaries were dimmed, the depth of the six layers were overlapping, decreased proportion of the stellate cells in the external granular layer therefore, reducing layer outline, vascular congestion and hemorrhage. Furthermore, observation shows cellular degeneration, necrosis, and nucleus karyorrhexis. Conclusion: this study demonstrate that they must take care from giving Levetiracetam to pregnant female because it induces histological changes in the brain of the newborn rat.
The goal of the extant revision was to explore the influence of caffeic acid (CA) extracted from Arctium lappa L. on lipid profile and histology of aorta in rats . Analytical study demonstrated a high percentage of both chlorogenic and caffeic acid in the 80 % methanol extract of the aerial parts (leaves and stems) of Arctium lappa L. from the family Asteraceace. Hypolipidemic activity of caffeic acid was studied against cholesterol induced hypercholesterolemia in Wistar albino rats for thirty days. Rats were separated into normal group (A), hypercholesterolemic positive controller group (B). While, the rest three groups (C, D and E) attended as hypercholesterol
... Show MoreABSTRACT Wound is damage or disruption to the normal anatomical structure and function. Carrageenan is sulphated polysaccharide found in Gigartina, Chondrus and Eucheuma species in the red algal family. Having anticancer, anti-inflammatory and renewal of tissues. Our study aimed to detect the role of kappa carrageenan in the burned skin wound repair. Skin burn were performed in the right and left cheek of 20 male rats (aged 7-8 weeks weighing 300-350 g). Burned skin rats were categorized into two equal groups. Burned areas of right side were treated with a local application of 1 ml of kappa carrageenan solution once daily (treatment group) and the left side receive no treatment (control group). After 5, and 10 days, 5 rats from each
... Show MoreBackground: The hippocampus is empirically assumed to have different functions, of which the best known are: the representation of self-location in cognitive dimensions, and the storage and retrieval of memory.
Materials and methods: Eleven adult male albino rats were used. Brain specimens were processed into paraffin blocks, sectioned (10 μm thick), and stained using Haematoxylin and Eosin, and Luxol Fast Blue MBS counterstained with Cresyl Violet. Morphometric analysis was done through eyepiece micrometers.
Results: The lamellae of the hippocampus were morphometrically evaluated in context of embryogenesis and nerve fiber content.
Conclusion: This study confirmed the existence of differences in nerve
Background: The use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy warrants several side effects and also deleterious effects on fetal development, the antiepileptic drugs have potential to affect the fetal development throughout the pregnancy although, the majority of infants born to epileptic pregnant women are normal but more expose to the malformations. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of carbamazepine drug on the kidney development at day 7 postnatally in the Albino Rat (Rattus rattus) as a mammalian model. Material & Methods: 20 healthy pregnant female rats were divided into two groups, 10 pregnant rats in each group; group one served as control group administrated distal water while group two used as experimenta
... Show MoreBackground: Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement and posture resulting from permanent, nonprogressive defect or lesion of the immature brain. Spastic cerebral palsy is a common clinical type which is difficult to diagnose clinically in the early years of life. This study was conducted to identify the changes in the H-reflex excitability in children with spastic cerebral palsy as compared to normal children.
Methods: The excitability of the monosynaptic H-reflex pathway was tested in 36 children with spastic cerebral palsy during waking by calculation of the H-reflex wave amplitude with the ratio of maximal H /maximal M response amplitudes and compared with 32 normal children of the matching age.
Introduction: In recent decades, the endovascular treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) has advanced. However, it still carries risks of unanticipated complications. Coil migration is a reported complication of aneurysmal coiling procedures. Herein, we report a case of early intraprocedural coil migration during pressure cooker technique embolization of right thalamic AVM, discussing the management and potential explanations. The literature showed no report of coil migration after the pressure cooker technique in the form of coil-augmented Onyx injection technique (CAIT). Case description: An otherwise healthy 26-year-old female suddenly developed a severe headache with no loss of consciousness. Computed tomograp
... Show MoreBackground: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is one of the most important metabolic causes for mental retardation in children, in which early diagnosis would successfully prevent mental retardation, yet, there are some other serious metabolic diseases that share the same mode of presentation and some of the phenotypic manifestations also.
Methods: During the period from August 2009 to August 2011, 63 cases were referred to the Children Welfare Teaching Hospital (CWTH) with clinical features of PKU, all were enrolled in this study, few blood drops on a special filter paper were taken from each patient and sent to a specialized metabolic laboratory in Saint Joseph University \Beirut, using tandem mass
Solving problems via artificial intelligence techniques has widely prevailed in different aspects. Implementing artificial intelligence optimization algorithms for NP-hard problems is still challenging. In this manuscript, we work on implementing the Naked Mole-Rat Algorithm (NMRA) to solve the n-queens problems and overcome the challenge of applying NMRA to a discrete space set. An improvement of NMRA is applied using the aspect of local search in the Variable Neighborhood Search algorithm (VNS) with 2-opt and 3-opt. Introducing the Naked Mole Rat algorithm based on variable neighborhood search (NMRAVNS) to solve N-queens problems with different sizes. Finding the best solution or set of solutions within a plausible amount of t
... Show MoreABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats we
... Show MoreAneurysms of the cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) are rare. They usually are secondary to traumatic or infectious etiologies and are rarely idiopathic. The specific characteristics of idiopathic aneurysms in such location are not well defined in the literature. The authors report a rare case of a ruptured giant idiopathic cortical MCA aneurysm with review of the available literature on this clinical entity.
A 24-year-old female presented with headache, disturbed level of consciousness, and right-sided weakness. Imaging studies showed a left frontoparietal intracer