Mohamed Al-Essa

University of Jordan | UJ · Faculty of Medicine

Purpose: To investigate the contractile responses of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) to spasmogens after incubation with harmaline, harmine, and harmalol, which are alkaloids obtained from Peganum harmala L., a member of the Zygophyllaceae family. Methods: Contractile responses of VSMCs to norepinephrine (NE; 1 µmol/L) and potassium chloride (...

Background: Hubble-Bubble smoking is a common smoking practice and spreading fast among young adults even in western countries. People think it is less toxic than cigarette smoking. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of oxidative stress markers and antioxidants in the blood of Hubble-Bubble (smokers compared to controls as a s...

Background: The leaves of Origanum are widely used in herbal medicine hence of having many beneficial ingredients, one of these important compounds is Carvacrol. The inhibitory effect of Carvacrol was the core of this study by applying different kinds of stimulants to smooth muscles in the wall of thoracic aorta in rats. Aim: To investigate the...

Aims We aim to evaluate the potential application of amine reactive fluorogenic reagents for estimating enzymatic proteolysis. Background Proteolytic enzymes play important roles in regulating many physiological processes in living organisms. Objectives Assessment of protein degradation by using reagents for protein assay techniques. Methods We...

Peganum harmala L., Zygophyllaceae popularly known as Wild Syrian rue, a well-known plant in folk medicine for many pharmacological uses including antispasmodic activity. Chemical composition of the plant showed that the most important constituents of this plant are betacarboline alkaloids such as harmalol, harmaline, and harmine. In this work, we...

The leaves of Aloysia citriodora Palau (Jordanian "malliseh") are traditionally used to remediate irritative gastrointestinal symptoms. The aim of this study is to assess the spasmolytic activity of the ethanolic extract and essential oil of "malliseh" on spasmogen-induced isometric tension in small intestine isolated from Wistar rats (Rattus norve...

Red blood cells (RBCs) are attractive tools for surface modification to adhere specifically to molecules, cellular fragments (e.g., microvesicles), or whole cells for potential use in bioanalytical assays or as a delivery vehicle in targeted therapy. Within this study, we have loaded RBCs with fluorochrome‐conjugated antibodies (Ab) against CD45 an...

Introduction: This study explored d-ribose pharmacokinetics after intravenous (IV) and oral administration to healthy rabbits. Materials and methods: D-ribose was administered once as 420 mg/kg (N=4) or 840 mg/kg (N=6) dose intravenously, or as an oral dose of 420 mg/kg (N=3) or 840 mg/kg (N=3). Serum was obtained at various time points, up to 210...

This study was designed to load different antibodies and a fluorescent dye onto the red blood cell (RBC) surface. We have used fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugate anti-human Ab, CD22-PE (B-cell marker-phycoerythrin Ab) and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI) for insertion over the RBCs surface. In a first step conjugation experiments were p...

Background and Objective: Although Bongardia chrysogonum L. (family Berberidaceae) has been used in many countries in traditional medicine to treat gastrointestinal tract disorders, scientific evidence for this treatment is lacking. The present study was carried out to assess the antimicrobial activity and to evaluate the antispasmodic potential of...

Rapid intravenous administration of D-ribose may result in a significant reduction in cellular damage in patients with sudden ischemic insults. The development of an effective and clinically safe therapeutic regimen using the intravenous route in critically ill patients especially with cardiac diseases requires a comprehensive assessment of potenti...

To evaluate the potential toxic effects associated with the intravenous administration of an isotonic solution (4.2%) of d-ribose once per day for 14 days in Fischer rats (F-244), thirty rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (5 males and 5 females each). Rats in group 1 received 10 ml/kg of a 4.2% d-ribose solution intravenously once per day for...

This study was designed to compare the efficacy of intraventricular (IV), intramyocardial (IM) or combined IV and IM injections of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) administered either immediately, 5, or 10days after induction of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a nude rat model. Acute myocardial infarction was induced in 99, adu...

The purpose of this study is to determine if intraventricular injection of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSC) are effective in treating streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) in nude rats. Twenty-two adult, male nude rats (strain Crl:NIH-Fox1RNU) were used to induce diabetes using streptozotocin. A single, 150mg/kg STZ was...

The present study investigates the direct effects of Carum carvi L. (Apiaceae) ethanol extract on dispersed intestinal smooth muscle cells (SMC) of guinea pigs. Effects of the plant extract on SMC and of acetylcholine (Ach) on extract pretreated SMC were measured by micrometric scanning technique. Three different extract concentrations (2.5 mg/mL,...

To determine the clinical pathology parameters in nude rats (Crl:NIH-Fox1RNU) following experimental induction of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 50 male adult nude rats weighing 250–350g were used. Complete blood count, total and differential leukocyte counts, plasma total protein, albumin, glucose, urea, creatinine, total bilirubin, aspartate...

The purpose of this study was to determine species related differences in the diabetogenic response to streptozotocin (STZ) after single intraperitoneal injection. Twenty adult, male, nude rats (NR, strain Crl:NIH-Fox1 RNU) and 8 adult, male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to induce diabetes using streptozotocin. A single, 150mg/kg STZ was injec...

One hundred and fifty athymic nude (rnu/rnu) rats were intubated by direct visualizion of the larynx using a nasal speculum with an attached otoscope as a light source. A blunt, plastic covered stylet was introduced between the vocal cords as guide for a 16-gauge intravenous catheter which was used as an endotracheal tube. Successful intubation was...

The effects of the ethanol extract of Tilia cordata. Miller (Tiliaceae) were studied in vitro. using intestinal smooth muscle cells of guinea pigs dispersed by collagenase. The extract induced a dose-dependent contraction of the dispersed smooth muscle cells. The obtained data indicated a direct effect of the T. cordata. extract on the intestinal s...

To determine the prevalence, reasons, source of information of vitamin-mineral supplement uses, and their relationship with selected demographic and lifestyle characteristics among Jordan University students. A cross-sectional survey was carried out at Jordan University, Amman, Jordan from March to September 2005. The survey included 1,187 students...

The effect of the ethanolic extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia was tested on dispersed smooth muscle cells (SMC) of the guinea pigs. A slight contractile response was observed when SMC were treated with low concentrations of the extract. Pre-treatment of the SMC with ethanolic extract of E. angustifolia caused concentration dependent inhibition of a...