الفهرس 
Plant growth regulatorsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 175 |  |  |
| | | from | 175 | | |
Abstract
Ethephon is a plant growth promoter, belongs to organophosphorus compounds and act by the liberation of ethylene gas which is a natural plant hormone. Ethephon is used in agricultural systems for controlling ripening, abscission of fruits and induction of flower as a result increasing agricultural productivity. Despite its beneficial activities in agriculture, ethephon induced a wide range of adverse effects including hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects. Also, ethephon caused damage to immune and nervous systems. Saussurea lappa costus widely has been reported to possess potent therapeutic and antioxidant properties. The current study was designed to investigate the histological, immunohistochemical and physiological changes of the liver and kidney of male albino rats after ethephon intoxication. Furthermore, elucidate the possible ameliorating effects of Saussurea lappa as a natural material against hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity caused by ethephon on normal cells in male albino rats. The experiments were performed on 50 Sprague-Dawley male albino rats weighing 150±10 gm continued for 4-8 weeks. The rats were divided into 5 groups (10 animals each). G1: Control group, includes rats that fed with standard diet for 4 weeks and were given saline orally. G2: Costus group, includes rats that received costus intragastrically at a dose of (50 mg/kg body weight/ day). G3: Ethephon group includes rats that received ethephon intragastrically at a dose of (200mg /kg body weight/ day) for four weeks. G4: post-treated group, includes rats that received ethephon intragastrically at a dose of (200mg /kg body weight/ day) for four weeks and then received costus intragastrically at a dose of (50 mg/kg body weight/ day) for another four weeks. G5: Self-healing group, includes rats that received ethephon intragastrically at a dose of (200mg /kg body weight/ day) for four weeks and then was held without receiving any drugs for another four weeks. At the end of the experiment, rats were subjected to a full necropsy after being euthanized with intraperitoneal injection with sodium pentobarbital. Blood samples were individually collected from the inferior vena cava of each rat in non-heparinized glass tubes to determine serum ALT, AST, albumin, total protein, alkaline phosphatase, urea, creatinine, potassium, sodium, calcium and chloride. After scarification of rats, liver and kidney from different group under study were prepared for histological and immunohistochemical investigations. The results of the present study were statistically analyzed and can be summarized as follows: • In histological investigations, in rats intoxicated with ethephon (G3) and self-healing (G5) groups showed hepatotoxicity manifested by marked inflammatory cells, degeneration in hepatic cords in addition to karyomegaly and pyknotic nuclei indicating apoptosis, moderate fibrosis, congested blood sinusoids and possible necrosis of hepatic tissue. Kidney sections in rats intoxicated with ethephon (G3) and self-healing (G5) groups showed variable pathological changes in glomeruli and some parts of the urinary tubules as moderate cellular infiltration, degeneration and possible necrosis in glomerulus and renal tubules. • Treatment with costus as in post-treated (G4) group showed a moderate improvement in hepatocytes with mild degeneration, mild inflammatory cells and mild congestion of the central vein. Also, revealed good improvement in both glomeruli and renal tubules. • Immunohistochemical observations of the liver and kidney tissues showed a significant increase of PCNA expressions after ethephon intoxication. Liver and kidney sections in the control (G1) and costus (G2) groups in showed mild to moderate positive PCNA expression, while Strong positive expressions for PCNA in ethephon (G3) group. The intensity of expression of PCNA on liver and kidney after treatment with costus as in (G4) post treated group was significantly decreased when compared with ethephon (G3) or with ethephon self-healing (G5) groups. • The results of comet assay of liver and kidney showed that intoxication with ethephon in (G3) led to significant increase in DNA damage as compared to normal control (G1) and costus (G2) groups. This increased DNA damage was reduced after treatment with costus as in post-treated (G4) group. • In the recent study, ethephon intoxication induced elevations in levels of ALT, AST, ALP, urea, creatinine K+ and Cl-. These elevations decreased in rats treated with costus. On the other hand, ethephon intoxication decreased levels of albumin, total protein, Na+ and Ca++, these levels increased in rats treated with costus.