Abdulla Aaid Hadi Albishtue

Lead acetate (LA) has been shown to cause hepato-renal damages through induction of oxidative stress. Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has reportedly been shown to alleviate these damages, but no studies have been conducted on this area. The present study was aimed to evaluate the protective effects of EBN supplement on the liver and kidney of rats exposed to LA toxicity. Five groups of rats were used and grouped as follows: group 1 (positive control, C), was given distilled water; group 2 (positive control, T0), was administered with LA (10 mg/kg BW); and groups 3 (T1), 4 (T2), and 5 (T3), were given LA (10 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively. At day 35, blood was collected via cardiac puncture, serum was used for biochemical analysis, and rats were euthanized to collect liver and kidney for histo-morphological study. Laboratory analysis revealed significantly elevated liver enzymes, urea and creatinine levels in the T0 and T1 compared to C and T3 (p<0.05). The level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly lower in the T3 and C compared to T0 and T1 (p<0.05). Histo-morphological studies showed that exposed rats to LA without EBN supplement with portal and central vein dilatation and congestion evidenced by hepatocyte necrosis and degeneration as well as increased number of kupffer cells, while degree of damage was decreased in EBN treated groups. The animals in T3 showed ameliorating effects against LA toxicity, as well as decreased number of kupffer cells. In T0 and T1 rats, histopathological lesions of the kidneys were characterized by the degenerations of the tubular system, while T2 and T3 groups showed no such lesions. In conclusion, findings showed that EBN can protect the hepatic and renal tissues from the damaging effects of LA toxicity and modulate biochemical alterations.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of Edible bird’s nest (EBN) supplement on uterine function and embryo-implantation rate. A total of 24 adult female rats, divided equally into 4 groups, were treated with different doses of EBN for 8 weeks. In the last week of treatment, intact fertile male rats were introduced into each group (three per group) for overnight for mating. On day 7 post-mating (post-implantation), blood samples were collected from the hearts of anaesthetised rats that were later sacrificed. The uteri were removed for assessment of embryo implantation rate, histological and electron microscopic examination, and immunohistochemical analyses. Results showed that as the concentration of EBN supplemented increased, the pregnancy and embryo implantation rates were also increased in the treated groups; significantly at G3 and G4. Although histological evaluation did not show much difference among the groups, scanning electron microscopic examination showed enhanced development of elongated microvilli and pinopods in G4. Results also showed that up-regulated expressions of EGF, REGF, VEGF, PCNA, and progesterone, and estrogen receptors in the uteri of treated groups. Moreover, plasma estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (P) levels were higher (p < 0.05) in G3 and G4. The EBN increased the antioxidant (AO) and total AO capacities and reduced oxidative stress (OS) levels in pregnant rats. In conclusion, findings of this study revealed that EBN enhances fertility and embryonic implantation rate via promoting proliferation and differentiation of uterine structures as evidenced by the upregulation of the expressions of steroid receptors and that of EGF, REGF, VEGF, and PCNA in the uterus. Furthermore, observations of improved growth of ultrastructural pinopods that assist in embryo attachment with uterine epithelium, increased concentrations of E2, P4, GH and P levels, as well as increased AO capacities with reduced OS levels in the treated groups might reflect additional possible mechanisms by which EBN enhances embryo implantation rate and pregnancy success.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of edible bird’s nest (EBN) supplement on the uteri of rats exposed to lead acetate (LA) toxicity. Materials and Methods: Five treatment groups were established as follows: Group 1 (C), which was given distilled water; Group 2 (T0), which was administered with LA (10 mg/kg body weight [BW]); and Groups 3 (T1), 4 (T2), and 5 (T3), which were given LA (10 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively, for days. Rats were euthanized at week 5 to collect blood for superoxide dismutase (SOD) assay, and uterus for histomorphological study and expression analyses of epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Results: Results revealed that LA causes destruction of uterine lining cells and necrosis of uterine glands of exposed rats without EBN supplement while the degree of damage decreased among EBN treated groups; T3 showed the highest ameliorating effect against LA toxicity, as well as an increased number of uterine glands. Increased levels of SOD were also achieved in EBN supplemented groups than the controls. Results of immunohistochemistry showed significantly higher expressions of EGF, VEGF, and PCNA levels (p<0.05) in T3 compared to other treatments. EBN maintained upregulation of antioxidant – reactive oxygen species balance. Conclusion: The findings showed that EBN could ameliorate the detrimental effects of LA toxicity on the uterus possibly by enhancing enzymatic antioxidant (SOD) activity as well as expressions of EGF, VEGF, and PCNA with cell proliferation roles.

and digested and then run in mass spectrometry. Secondly, the total sperm lysate was run in SDS page gel, and then the bands were stained with coomassie stain. The bands were cut and digested to extract the whole amino acids. And finally, it was also run in mass spectrometry. The results revealed that several proteins identified in healthy bovine sperm. These were involved in different binding proteins, glycoproteins, transmembrane, and soluble proteins. These proteins might play a role in sperm activity. It might also be related to the behaviour of sperm during the formation process in testis and migration of sperm via the male reproductive tract and also inside the female reproductive tract after mating and fertilization. Interestingly, gel bands had more abundance of protein compared to the whole lysate, which disappeared fewer proteins. Through combing both methods, it was observed that bovine sperm had several proteins which should be investigated in future studies to understand more about the metabolism and physiology of sperm. In conclusion, this study approved that bovine sperm has essential different and uncharacterized proteins which might answer many theoretical aspects of biological and biochemical sperm migrations after the mating process.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of edible bird’s nest (EBN) supplementation on the uteri of rats based on analyses of the morphological and histomorphometric changes, and expressions of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its receptor (REGF) genes, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and steroid receptors. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four: Sprague Dawley rats were equally distributed into the following four groups: G1 (control), G2, G3, and G4 represented the groups treated with EBN at graded concentrations of 0, 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg body weight (BW) per day for 8 weeks, respectively. During the experimental period, the BW of each rat was recorded weekly. At the proestrus stage of estrous cycle, blood samples were collected from the hearts of anesthetized rats that were later sacrificed. The uteri were removed for histological and …

Lead acetate (LA) alters ovarian histology, size and function, as well as decreases oestrogen production. LA is also toxic to rat ovary and pituitary gland. Edible bird’s nest (EBN) can reportedly alleviate these damages. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of EBN supplement on the ovaries and pituitary glands of rats exposed to LA toxicity. Five treatment groups were established as follows: group 1 (C), which was given distilled water; group 2 (T0), which was administered with LA (10 mg/kg body weight (BW); and groups 3 (T1), 4 (T2) and 5 (T3), which were given LA (10 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 30, 60 and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively. Rats were euthanised at day 35 to collect ovary and pituitary gland for histomorphological study and the expression analysis of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Plasma was used to determine concentrations of E2, progesterone (P4), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (P). E2, P4, GH and P levels were lower (p < 0.05) in T0, whereas T3 had the highest E2 concentration. All EBN-treated groups had increased number of survival follicles, as well as significant proliferation of gonadotrophic cells in the pituitary gland and decreased degenerative changes. All immunohistochemistry results showed significantly higher EGF and VEGF expression levels (p < 0.05) in T3. Overall, results showed the detrimental effects of LA on the ovary and pituitary gland and revealed the ameliorating effect of oral EBN supplementation against LA toxicity.