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Ameliorating effect of edible bird’s nest against lead acetate toxicity on the rat hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis and expressions of epidermal growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in ovaries

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Abstract

Lead acetate (LA) alters ovarian histology, size and function, as well as decreases oestrogen production. LA is also toxic to rat ovary and pituitary gland. Edible bird’s nest (EBN) can reportedly alleviate these damages. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of EBN supplement on the ovaries and pituitary glands of rats exposed to LA toxicity. Five treatment groups were established as follows: group 1 (C), which was given distilled water; group 2 (T0), which was administered with LA (10 mg/kg body weight (BW); and groups 3 (T1), 4 (T2) and 5 (T3), which were given LA (10 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 30, 60 and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively. Rats were euthanised at day 35 to collect ovary and pituitary gland for histomorphological study and the expression analysis of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Plasma was used to determine concentrations of E2, progesterone (P4), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (P). E2, P4, GH and P levels were lower (p < 0.05) in T0, whereas T3 had the highest E2 concentration. All EBN-treated groups had increased number of survival follicles, as well as significant proliferation of gonadotrophic cells in the pituitary gland and decreased degenerative changes. All immunohistochemistry results showed significantly higher EGF and VEGF expression levels (p < 0.05) in T3. Overall, results showed the detrimental effects of LA on the ovary and pituitary gland and revealed the ameliorating effect of oral EBN supplementation against LA toxicity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the staff of Theriogenology laboratory for their assistance. The authors also wish to acknowledge the help of Prof. Abdul Salam Babji from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for providing edible bird’s nest used for the study.

Funding

This study was funded by the Universiti Putra Malaysia (Grant Putra IPS/9487100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Abdulla A. Albishtue, Nurhusien Yimer, Abd Wahid Haron & Rosnina Yusoff

  2. Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq

    Abdulla A. Albishtue

  3. Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Md Zuki A. Zakaria

  4. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Bahaa H. Almhanawi

Authors
  1. Abdulla A. Albishtue
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  2. Nurhusien Yimer
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  3. Md Zuki A. Zakaria
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  4. Abd Wahid Haron
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  5. Rosnina Yusoff
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  6. Bahaa H. Almhanawi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nurhusien Yimer.

Ethics declarations

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. As for the animals used in this study, all welfare issues were taken into consideration by making sure all procedures performed have been in accordance with the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee guideline (Project approval number: UPM/IACUC/AUPR009/2016).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Albishtue, A.A., Yimer, N., Zakaria, M.Z.A. et al. Ameliorating effect of edible bird’s nest against lead acetate toxicity on the rat hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis and expressions of epidermal growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in ovaries. Comp Clin Pathol 27, 1257–1267 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-018-2729-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-018-2729-y

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