In conclusion, erdosteine could effectively protect the testes in methotrexate-induced toxicity. (Source: Toxicology and Industrial Health current issue)

This study was performed to elucidate the dose-dependent effects of sodium metabisulfite ingestion on rat gastric tissue apoptotic changes and lipid peroxidation. Forty male wistar rats, aged 3 months were used. They were randomly divided into four groups: control (C), the group treated with Na2S2O5 (10 mg/kg; S1), the group treated with Na2S2O5 (100 mg/kg; S2), the group treated with Na2S2O5 (260 mg/kg; S3). Na 2S2O5 was given by intragastric intubation for 35 days. In the S2 and S3 groups, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels increased markedly when compared with the control group. High doses of sulfite administration elevated number of apoptotic cells both in mucosa and submucosa layers of stomach in parallel with increased MDA levels. These results suggest that sodium metabisulfite increased l...

Wistar rats (male) were divided into 3 groups — group A (GA) served as control, group B (GB) were daily administered chlorpyrifos (Anu Products Ltd., India) orally at a dose of 5 mg/kg b wt. and animals in group C (GC) received daily an oral administration of chlorpyrifos at a dose of 10 mg/kg b wt. Rats were sacrificed on 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th week after initiation of the experiment. Kidneys were extirpated and fixed in aqueous Bouin’s solution. The tissues thus fixed were routinely processed for histological studies. The present study showed that the histopathological changes were caused in kidney of rats by chlorpyrifos administration. The changes noticed were mainly the shrinkage of glomerulus at initial stage of treatment, the tubular dilation, the glomerular hypercel...

Peroxisome proliferators (PPs)-induced DNA hypomethylation has been proposed as a mechanism of their toxicity, including carcinogenic action. The effect of di-butyl phthalate (DBP), a known peroxisome proliferators, on the methylation level of the c-myc promoter region in rat liver was studied. Changes in the methylation status of the c-myc gene were correlated with changes in DNA synthesis, DNA methyltransferase (DNMTs) activity and liver weight. Male Wistar rats received DBP in one, three or fourteen daily oral doses of 1800 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) x day—1 (this dose is close to the dose that increases the numbers of peroxisomes in male Wistar rats). We have demonstrated that DBP decreased the methylation of the c-myc gene. Cytosine hypomethylation in the analyzed CpG sites of the...

People live in the mountains distributed across the world and are exposed to reduced inspired oxygen and lower barometric pressure along with other factors that lead to high-altitude diseases. The present study was conducted to examine what extent of marketed medicines used in the management of high-altitude sickness has been tested for their genotoxic activity. Comet assay or the single-cell gel electrophoresis was utilized to evaluate genotoxicity of the six medicines on human peripheral whole blood cells and isolated lymphocytes at the concentrations 250 µg/mL, 500 µg/mL and 1 mg/mL. The comet assay endpoints included percentage Tail DNA (% Tail DNA) and olive tail moment (OTM) as they were considered to be sensitive and reliable scores across different laboratories. The res...