Anchusa strigosa - prickly alkanet from Boraginaceae grows in roadsides, and fields of a broad range of habitats from mediterranean woodlands, to steppe vegetation, to true desert. It is commonly known as" him him" or "lisan al thawr". Anchusa can withstand hard weather conditions and hence is widely cultivated. The color of its flowers can range from pure white to deep cobalt blue. Various parts of A. strigosa are used in traditional medicine for treating several diseases or symptoms, such as abdominal pain, bronchitis, cough, and diarrhea. The goal of this study was to examine the cytotoxic effect of the crude extract of A. strigosa roots and leaves and their fractions against various tumor cell lines: adenocarcinoma MCF-7, human breast ductal carcinoma T-47D; human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231; and colorectal carcinomas Caco-2. In conclusion the antiproliferative effect was assessed by SRB assay where it showed that the phytochemical constituents in the leaf part of the plant (A. strigosa) do have more potential in depressing the proliferation rate of the cell lines than the root part.
Prostate cancer is the commonest male cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men. Over many decades, prostate cancer detection represented a continuous challenge to urologists. Although all urologists and pathologists agree that tissue diagnosis is essential especially before commencing active surgical or radiation treatment, the best way to obtain the biopsy was always the big hurdle. The heterogenicity of the tumor pathology is very well seen in its radiological appearance. Ultrasound has been proven to be of limited sensitivity and specificity in detecting prostate cancer. However, it was the only available targeting technique for years and was used to guide biopsy needle passed transrectally or transperineally
... Show MoreBackground: Antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli is a major concern for public health, as it reduces options to treat infections such at urinary tract infection (UTI). Green tea (Camellia sinensis) and other natural plant products have been of interest for their ability to modify antibiotic susceptibility of bacteria, a capacity largely attributed to bioactive polyphenols. Objective: The purpose of this work was to investigate in vitro the potential effect of green tea leaf ethanol extract on the antibiotic susceptibility of E. coli isolates. Materials and Methods: Green tea leaves was extracted using ethanol and re-dissolved 1% DMSO. Five concentrations of green tea leaves ethanol extract 0.60, 0.50, 0.30, 0.16 and 0
... Show MoreRecent reports provided evidence that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and some matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. This study investigated the expression pattern of some EMT markers (E-cadherin and Vimentin) and some MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Fifty five paraffin embedded biopsies were included in this study. Expression pattern of E-cadherin and Vimentin was evaluated by immunohistochemistry while cytoplasmic mRNA expression of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 were determined by in situ hybridization. The expression of all markers were significantly increased with the increase of patient's age (? 50 years), and furthermore an increase in men expression
... Show MoreRed cabbage and garlic extracts have protective effect against liver damage induced by fumonisin B1 (FB1) in male mice was studied. Randomly sixty mice have been divided in to six groups. Group one are the healthy mice, Group two are mice received oral dose of only FB-1 (100 μg/kg.b.w) once on daily for 1 month, Group three: mice received with red cabbage extract (500 mg/kg.bw) plus FB1, Group four: mice receiving just red cabbage extracts, Group five: mice receiving garlic extract (500mg/kg.bw) plus FB1, group 6: mice received only garlic extract. After finished the experiment, samples of blood were used for biochemical examination. The results indicated that group (2) mice treated
Pseudomonas aeruginosa gram-negative, bacilli and facultative aerobic, P. aeruginosa cause cystic fibrosis patients, wounds, burns, and immunodeficienct patients, that have many virulence factors such as pyocyanin , cytotoxic ,biofilm formation and motility, Eighty-eight isolates belonging to P. aeruginosa were collected including the 66 clinical isolates obtained from different hospitals in Baghdad and were from different sources and 22 environmental isolates from previous studies of soil near oil fields. Microscopical and cultural characteristics were studied and diagnosed using biochemical tests, VITEC device, their ability to adhere to non-living (Polystyrene), living cell line (A549) and cytotoxicity of bacterial filtrate
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