BACKGROUND: Hydatid cyst is an infection with global distribution that is caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm of Echinococcus. The long-term survival of the hydatid in the host shows the parasite has advanced highly effective strategies for escaping the host defense. Deaths are caused by parasitic infections which are often due to tissue damages that result in host cell death, this is known as apoptosis. So it is important to know the process and the role of apoptosis that is created or controlled by a parasite. OBJECTIVES: Investigation of cytotoxicity effect, induction of apoptosis and mechanism of induction of apoptosis of cattle hydatid fluid on bovine lymphocyte cells as efficient cells of immunity were studied. METHODS: In this study, the cytotoxicity effect of bovine hydatid fluid (HF) on lymphocyte cells was investigated as effective immune cells against Echinococcus granulosus by MTS method. Then the mean of the expression of caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2 genes in bovine lymphocytes treated/untreated was determined with fertile and infertile hydatid cyst fluid using Real Time PCR method. RESULTS: The viability mean of lymphocytes was significantly lower in the fertile HF treated lymphocytes compared to both infertile HF-treated lymphocytes and cell control. Bax gene expression was significantly (P=0.046) higher in the fertile HF-treated lymphocytes compared to both infertile HF-treated lymphocytes and cell control. Although Caspase 3 was higher in this group, the difference was not significant. Also, expression of Bcl-2 gene in fertile fluid treated lymphocytes was found to be lower than that of infertile and control. CONCLUSIONS: Present study indicates that hydatid cyst fluid molecules can probably induce apoptosis in immune cells in vitro and the parasite’s ability to stay alive for a long time in the host by controlling the host immune response from the apoptosis pathway.

The formation and function of the corpus luteum (CL) increase the likelihood of pregnancy and efficiently manage implantation. Apoptosis must occur at an appropriate time in the formation of the CL. This also affects its function. However, it is still unclear if the type of apoptosis affects the function.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin notably produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. Bacillus subtilis fermentation extract (BSFE) contains specific enzymes which hydrolyse OTA. This study evaluated the efficiency of BSFE in ameliorating the immunotoxic and nephrotoxic effects of OTA in broiler chickens.

Clinoptilolite has antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties due to its biological activities. In various cancer cell culture studies, it has been reported effective against tumour cells and gave positive results in treatment of various tumours in dogs. No study was found on the effects of the nanoparticulate form, nanoclinoptilolite, on cancer cells. The aim of this study was to determine its cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in canine osteosarcoma (OSA) cell culture.

Introduction: In the present study apoptosis was investigated in the cornu ammonis and cerebellum of 10 dogs naturally infected with rabies virus. Diagnosis of rabies was based on the results of fluorescent antibody staining and experimental inoculation.Material and Methods: The paraffin tissue sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, avidin-biotin complex peroxidase (ABC-P), and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end-labelling (TUNEL) methods.Results: Histopathological examination revealed encephalomyelitis of varying severity and the presence of Negri bodies. Dense rabies antigens were determined in the motor neurons with ABC-P method. On the other hand, Bcl-2 protein and Bax protein gave positive reaction in seven and five cases, respectively. TUNEL staining demonstrated very marked apoptotic changes in the nuclei of neurons localised deep in the substantia alba of the cerebellum. Similar changes were also determined in perivascular mononuclear cells and glia cells within the substantia alba. No apoptopic changes were found in the motor neurons of the cornu ammonis.Conclusion: The absence of apoptotic changes in the neurons was considered to be the consequence of the necrotic changes that developed in these neurons.

The aim of this study was to develop and examine a model of apoptosis and necrosis of hepatocytes induced by a damaging factor - adriamycin, correlating time after its administration with cell death type, and to investigate the localisation within the liver acinus of hepatocytes dying in these two ways. The results obtained in the present and previous studies were compared in order to make a map of cell death localisation in the liver acinus, showing the effect of time in action and dose of adriamycin. The experiment was performed on 32 female Wistar rats, divided into four groups: I and II - experimental, and III and IV - control. Adriamycin (3 mg/kg b.w.) was administered intraperitoneally to rats in groups I and II, and the rats were decapitated after four (group I) and eight (group II) weeks. Animals in control groups III and IV were given 0.5 mL of 0.9% NaCl solution, and decapitated after four and eight weeks respectively. Sections of the liver were examined with a three-stage immunohistochemical method. This method allowed to examine hepatocytes qualitatively and quantitatively for the presence of proteins involved in three types of apoptosis: induced by the mitochondrial pathway (caspase 3, 9), the intrinsic pathway related to endoplasmic reticulum stress (caspase 3, 12), and the extrinsic pathway (caspase 3, 8). One of the inflammatory markers, caspase 1, was also examined. The zonal localisation of all three types of apoptosis was assessed in the liver tissue. More oxidated hepatocytes indicated only signs of the internal mitochondrial pathway, whereas less oxidated hepatocytes induced the internal reticular pathway and the external apoptotic pathway. The period between adriamycin administration and hepatic cell investigation was a main factor of the process. A longer period post insult resulted in a more pronounced effect of the activation of apoptosis. Sections explored eight weeks after treatment with different doses of the drug (3 and 5 mg/kg in the previous study) showed a similar intensity of apoptosis.

This study investigated the effects of intragastric administration of apelin-13 on the secretion of critical pancreatic hormones in a cohort of three-week-old Wistar rats. The research aimed to uncover apelin’s modulatory roles in endocrine interactions dictating metabolic homeostasis during early life.

Lagovirus europaeus is a single-stranded RNA virus causing an acute fatal disease in wild and domestic rabbits around the world. Studies have shown that the pivotal process impacting the immune response against the disease is apoptosis, registered mainly in hepatocytes and in peripheral blood, together with an increased number of cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTLs). It is known that cytotoxic lymphocytes can induce target cells to undergo apoptosis on the pseudoreceptor pathway, such apoptosis having been found in several acute and chronic viral infections. The study aimed to assess the crosstalk between the apoptosis of peripheral blood lymphocytes and CD8+ T lymphocytes (as CTLs) in rabbits infected with 6 Lagovirus europaeus GI.1a viruses.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin notably produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. Bacillus subtilis fermentation extract (BSFE) contains specific enzymes which hydrolyse OTA. This study evaluated the efficiency of BSFE in ameliorating the immunotoxic and nephrotoxic effects of OTA in broiler chickens. Day-old broiler chicks were divided equally into four groups of ten: control, OTA (0.5 mg/kg feed), BSFE product (1 mL/L water) and OTA + BSFE at the same concentrations. The chicks were vaccinated against avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and infectious bronchitis, and lymphoproliferation was induced in all birds by phytohaemagglutinin-P (PHA-P). Serum samples were taken before sacrifice and organ tissue samples were taken after, in which renal function biomarkers were assayed and the presence of OTA residue was evaluated by high-performance thin-layer chromatography. Protein markers of apoptosis were determined by qPCR, and tissue lesions were examined histopathologically. Exposure to OTA significantly decreased the antibody response to the vaccines and the lymphoproliferative response to PHA-P, and significantly elevated the renal function indicators: serum urea, uric acid and creatinine. It also induced oxidative stress (reduced catalase activity and glutathione concentration), lipid peroxidation (increased malondialdehyde content), apoptosis (increased Bax and Caspase-3 and decreased Bcl-2 gene levels) and pathological lesions in kidney, bursa of Fabricius, spleen and thymus tissue. Residues of OTA were detected in the serum and tissue. BSFE mitigated most of these toxic effects. BSFE counters OTA-induced immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity because of its content of carboxypeptidase and protease enzymes.

Clinoptilolite has antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties due to its biological activities. In various cancer cell culture studies, it has been reported effective against tumour cells and gave positive results in treatment of various tumours in dogs. No study was found on the effects of the nanoparticulate form, nanoclinoptilolite, on cancer cells. The aim of this study was to determine its cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in canine osteosarcoma (OSA) cell culture. Doses at 50% inhibitory concentration were determined by measuring the dose- and duration-dependent cytotoxicity of nanoclinoptilolite on canine D-17 osteosarcoma cells by methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) test for 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h. Murine caspase-3 and -7 activity and expression levels of the BAX and BCL2 genes were measured using RT-PCR to investigate the apoptotic effect. Nanoclinoptilolite decreased cell viability and induced caspase-3- and -7-mediated apoptosis in treated canine OSA cells. Furthermore, its application to canine OSA cells downregulated the expression of BCL2 and upregulated the expression of proapoptotic BAX. Clinoptilolite, which was previously demonstrated to have anticancer properties, decreased cell viability effectively and rapidly and increased the apoptotic cell ratio in a novel use in nanoparticle form, exhibiting this effect by increasing the BAX/BCL2 ratio.