Women of childbearing age with epilepsy are often concerned about hazards of antiepileptic drugs exposure on their baby, during pregnancy and lactation. Valproic acid (VPA) is a well-established human teratogen that is frequently prescribed in the treatment of epilepsy, migraines, and bipolar affective disorder. We investigate the protective effect of Nigella sativa (NS) oil extract on the spinal neurons and glia cells damage induced by prenatal VPA administration on the morphology of mice embryos spinal cord and placenta. Five groups of six pregnant mice each were used for the study. Group 1 was administered VPA 600mg/kg/day, group 2 and 3 had VPA 600mg/kg/day and 0.1ml and 0.2ml of NS oil respectively, group 4 received VPA 600mg/kg and folic acid 400µg daily. The fifth group had saline only and served as control. The treatment were given orally from GD 9 to GD 11. The dams were sacrificed on GD 15 and the embryos with the placenta were explanted from the uterus and fixed in 4% formaldehyde and processed for H&E and examine with Nikon image analyser. The histopathological changes in the spinal cord of VPA exposed embryos include distortion in the central canal and gray matter of the spinal cord, which were found to be prevented by administering NS with VPA. Necrosis that was recorded in the placenta of VPA only treated dams was also prevented by NS. In conclusion we proposed NS oil extract can be used in preventing histopathological effects of VPA on the spinal cord cell of mice embryos and placenta.
Bismuth oxide nanoparticles (Bi2O3 NPs) have gained a spot in the development of novel molecular
probes for in vivo biomedical imaging. It exists in six polymorphic forms and each of them exerts with
different stabilities according to its synthetisation temperature. The aim of this preliminary study is to
determine effect of different synthetiation temperatures on cellular viability in vitro. One hundred µg/ml
Bi2O3 NPs synthesised at 60, 90 and 120°C were characterised using scanning electron microscope (SEM)
and their cytotoxicity was evaluated using cell viability assay (MTT assay) upon 24 hours exposure to
Chang liver cells. Images captured by SEM showed an average diameter of 300 nm monoclinic-shaped
with high crystalline formation of all three Bi2O3 NPs. MTT assay revealed increase in liver cell viability
as the synthetisation temperature of Bi2O3 NPs increase. The outcomes suggested that synthetisation
temperature of Bi2O3 NPs plays a role in cellular viability, hence predictive to the biocompatibility of
these nanoparticles to be applied as in vivo radiographic contrast medium.