Background: Sildenafil, a selective phosphodiesterase -5 (PDE-5) inhibitor increases cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and amplifies many biological actions of nitric oxide (NO) which is an important mediator of gastric mucosal defense ; was evaluated in this study using different doses for its cytoprotective effect on gastric mucosal damage induced by indomethacin . We also evaluated the effect of this drug on NO production, Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis, Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and Interlukin-4 (IL-4) expression.
Methods: The study was performed between April and July 2008 in the Department of Pharmacology / College of Medicine /Baghdad University .It was conducted on 80 adult male albino rats, divided into 8 groups, the first served as a control received the vehicle, the second received indomethacin orally of 60mg/kg .The third and fourth groups were pretreated 30 minutes prior indomethacin with oral sildenafil 10 and 20mg/kg respectively. The other groups were pretreated 30 minutes prior to sildenafil (10and20mg/kg) with intraperitoneal NG-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) 20mg/kg with or without L-Arginine. The rats were then sacrificed after 4 hours and their stomachs were isolated and submitted to macroscopical assessment and for the measurement of the gastric PGE2, MPO, and IL-4.
Results: Sildenafil (10 and 20 mg/kg) pretreatment resulted in a significant (p<0.01) decrease in the gastric damage score. The MPO activity was significantly (p<0.01) decreased, while the level of IL-4 was significantly (p<0.01) increased. On the other hand PGE2 level was not changed. L-NAME given 30 min before 10 and 20 mg/kg sildenafil, significantly (p<0.01) abolished the protective effects of sildenafil and also reversed the effects of sildenafil on MPO activity and IL-4 levels. On the other hand addition of L-Arginine resulted in the restoration of the protective effects of sildenafil which was also reflected on the gastric damage score, MPO activity and IL-4 levels.
Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the injurious effect of indomethacin can be reduced or ameliorated by sildenafil pretreatment, and that the protective effect of sildenafil against
indomethacin was through an NO dependent pathway.
The present work aimed to investigate the neuraminidase (nan1) gene expression in 32 different clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to explore the role of the enzyme in different types of infection and might give a better understanding of host cell-pathogens interaction. In addition, the effect of monosaccharide D-mannose on neuraminidase gene expression in eight isolates was studied by utilizing a reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The results demonstrated that the highest expression of nan1 gene was in otitis samples (208,913.81) which were significantly higher than that from other infections (P < 0.01). While, the concentrations of gene copies obtained from urin
... Show MoreThe effect of water stress induced by using polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) on germination of seeds and growth of seedlings of Silybum marianum was studied. Two concentrations of PEG were used to get two water stresses (-0.4 & -0.8 bar) as well as the control for comparison. The results showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in germination ratio compared with the control. The ratio did not slow down to less than 50% which indicates the ability of the seeds to resist water stress to some extent. Also, a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the length of shoot and root was observed compared with the control. This plant showed
... Show MoreRadiation therapy plays an important role in improving breast cancer cases, in order to obtain an appropriateestimate of radiation doses number given to the patient after tumor removal; some methods of nonparametric regression werecompared. The Kernel method was used by Nadaraya-Watson estimator to find the estimation regression function forsmoothing data based on the smoothing parameter h according to the Normal scale method (NSM), Least Squared CrossValidation method (LSCV) and Golden Rate Method (GRM). These methods were compared by simulation for samples ofthree sizes, the method (NSM) proved to be the best according to average of Mean Squares Error criterion and the method(LSCV) proved to be the best according to Average of Mean Absolu
... Show MoreA prepared PMMA/Anthracene film of thickness 70μm was irradiated under reduced pressure ~10-3 to 60Coγ-ray dose of (0.1mrad-10krad) range. The optical properties of the irradiated films were evaluated spectrophotometrically. The absorption spectrum showed induced absorption changes in the 200-400nm range. At 359nm, where there is a decrease in radiation-induced absorption, the optical density as a function of absorbed dose is linear from 10mrad-10Krad.It can therefore, be used as radiation dosimeter for gamma ray in the range 10mrd-10krad
Iron deficiency is considered as a common problem facing the general world population. In the current research, experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of aqueous extracts of Acacia senegal (Gum Arabic, GA), Spinacia oleracea (spinach), Zea mays (corn), and Capsicum annuum (red chili pepper) on iron and ferritin levels in rats. Vitamin C and fructose levels were first estimated in these plants by using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the GA extract contained the highest level of fructose (853 mg.L-1), followed by red chili pepper (635 mg.L-1), corn (521 mg.L-1), and spinach (271 mg.L-1
... Show MoreThis study was conducted in the poultry field of Al-Mustansiriya University/ Baghdad, to show the effect of adding different levels 0, 1, 5 and 10% of the fenugreek seeds in the rations containing many contaminated microbes on the productive performance of broilers. 150-day-old rose meat was used with a 41 average weight (gm), were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 3 replicates, and for each treatment 15 chicks per repetition: 0, 1, 5, and 10% (T0-T3), respectively. The results of this study showed that fenugreek seeds contain good amounts of protein, fat, ash and carbohydrates, which are 24.92, 8.82, 3.08 and 54.28 respectively. Fenugreek seeds also have high levels of tannins, coumarins and flavones, followed by saponins,
... Show MoreThis research was conducted under Lath house canopy of a nursery circumstances, Baghdad University for season 2013 in order to study the effect of soak lemon seeds sour orange with different levels of licorice concentrations extract (0, 0.5, 2.5 and 4.5 g/l) for 24 hours in the percentage of germination and some recipes vegetative growth of seedlings .the results outweigh the bitter orange seedlings and focus soak for licorice extract 4.5 g / l significant superiority in most of the traits plant height, leaf number, root length, stem diameter, amounting to 31.077 cm, 14.46 paper / plant, 25.35 cm, 0.52 mm respectively, which showed significant differences for the treatment of comparison which gave lower values. Clear that the licorice ext
... Show More