الفهرس 
Title: Immunomodulatory and Histopathological Effects of Toxocara vitulorum Extract on Induced Cholangitis in Rats
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Abstract
Cholangitis is an end stage of hepatobiliary disorder. chronic infection of worms can modulate the immune response towards T helper (Th)2-related cytokines. The current study aims to investigate the immunomodulatory role of an ascarid nematode, Toxocara vitulorum extract (TvE) in induced cholangitis in rats using alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT). Thirty-six rats were initially divided into 3 main groups as follow: group 1 (control, 6 rats/group): Rats of this group were administered orally with olive oil, the vehicle of ANIT and injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 0.01M PBS, the vehicle of TvE. group 2 (TvE, 6 rats/group): Rats of this group were injected i.p. with a single dosage of 1 mg/ rat TvE. group 3 (ANIT, 24 rats/group): This group was subdivided into four subgroups (6 rats/group). Rats of these subgroups were i.p. injected with a single dose of olive oil, 1 mg/rat TVE, 80 mg/kg body weight UDCA and TVE & UDCA 30 min prior to ANIT injection. The results showed that the treatments with TvE and/or UDCA decreased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Þ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in cholestatic rats compared to untreated rats. While glutathione reduced (GSH) and catalase (CAT) levels increased. To be continued for histological examination, our study detected that, TvE increased the expression levels of Bcl-2 protein and decreased the levels of caspase-3 protein, suggesting that suppression of apoptosis may be one potential mechanism of TvE against ANIT-induced liver cholangitis in rats. Immunologically, pretreatment with either TvE or combination before cholangitis induction attenuated the predominant T helper (Th)1- (IFN-Þ and TNF-Ü) to Th2-related cytokines (IL-13 and IL-10). These results confirmed proposed immunomodulatory effect of TvE on cholangitis. The results of this study clearly attract attention towards evaluation of TvE as a potential therapeutic alternative in cholestasis.Additionally, the suppression of apoptosis may be one potential mechanism of TvE against ANIT-induced liver cholangiti in rats