Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in ageing and age-related neurodegenerative changes including Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is characterized by signs of major oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. Present study was designed to investigate whether the Centella asiatica extract (CAE) would prevent 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurotoxicity in aged Sprague-Dawley rats. Adult, male Sprague-dawley rats of 300-350 g were divided into control, C. asiatica alone, MPTP alone (20 mg/kg, for 21 days) and MPTP with C. asiatica (300 mg/kg for 21 days) groups. Effect of aqueous extract of C. asiatica on oxidative biomarker levels in corpus striatum and hippocampus homogenate was examined. MPTP-challenged rats elicited a significant increase in lipid hydroperoxides (LPO) (p < 0.01), protein-carbonyl-content (PCC) (p < 0.01) and xanthine oxidase (XO) (p < 0.01) when compared with control rats. There was a significant decrease in total antioxidants (TA) (p < 0.001), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (p < 0.001), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (p < 0.01) and catalase (CAT) (p < 0.001) levels with MPTP treatment. Supplementation of CAE reduced LPO and PCC and significantly increased (p < 0.01) TA and antioxidant enzyme levels (p < 0.01) in corpus striatum and hippocampus. These results show that administration of C. asiatica was effective in protecting the brain against neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsonism.
Graft rejection and disease recurrence are well-recognized complications of liver transplantation (LT) for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (AISC). We describe indications and outcome of LT for childhood AIH and AISC.
We present a wavefront reversal technique to produce a dual-field fringe pattern for self-referencing collimation testing in wedge-plate lateral-shear interferometry. The method requires only a suitably placed cubic beam splitter to produce two replicas of the fringe field formed by the wedge-plate lateral-shear interferometer. One of the replicas has a fringe pattern that is the reverse of the other. With these two fringe fields, the collimation testing has a built-in reference, and the detection sensitivity is twice that of a single-wedge-plate technique.
MeSH terms: Bone Plates; Interferometry; Microsurgery; Professional Practice
Rapid and direct online preconcentration followed by CE with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE-C(4)D) is evaluated as a new approach for the determination of glyphosate, glufosinate (GLUF), and aminophosphonic acid (AMPA) in drinking water. Two online preconcentration techniques, namely large volume sample stacking without polarity switching and field-enhanced sample injection, coupled with CE-C(4)D were successfully developed and optimized. Under optimized conditions, LODs in the range of 0.01-0.1 microM (1.7-11.1 microg/L) and sensitivity enhancements of 48- to 53-fold were achieved with the large volume sample stacking-CE-C(4)D method. By performing the field-enhanced sample injection-CE-C(4)D procedure, excellent LODs down to 0.0005-0.02 microM (0.1-2.2 microg/L) as well as sensitivity enhancements of up to 245- to 1002-fold were obtained. Both techniques showed satisfactory reproducibility with RSDs of peak height of better than 10%. The newly established approaches were successfully applied to the analysis of glyphosate, glufosinate, and aminophosphonic acid in spiked tap drinking water.
MeSH terms: Aminobutyrates/analysis*; Electric Conductivity; Glycine/analogs & derivatives*; Glycine/analysis; Herbicides/analysis; Online Systems; Water/chemistry; Water Supply; Reproducibility of Results; Electrophoresis, Capillary/methods*; Organophosphonates/analysis*
The in vitro fermentability of sago (Metroxylon sagu) resistant starch type III (RS(3)) by selected probiotic bacteria was investigated. Sago RS(3) with 12% RS content was prepared by enzymatic debranching of native sago starch with pullulanase enzyme, followed by autoclaving, cooling, and annealing. The fermentation of sago RS(3) by L. acidophilus FTCC 0291, L. bulgaricus FTCC 0411, L. casei FTCC 0442, and B. bifidum BB12 was investigated by observing the bacterial growth, carbohydrate consumption profiles, pH changes, and total short chain fatty acids (SCFA) produced in the fermentation media. Comparisons were made with commercial fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS), Hi-maize 1043, and Hi-maize 240. Submerged fermentations were conducted in 30 mL glass vials for 24 h at 37 degrees C in an oven without shaking. The results indicated that fermentation of sago RS(3) significantly (P < 0.05) yielded the highest count of Lactobacillus sp. accompanied by the largest reduction in pH of the medium. Sago RS(3) was significantly the most consumed substrate compared to FOS and Hi-maizes.
The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) has grown rapidly, but little is known about the drivers of inpatient spending in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to compare the clinical presentation and expenditure on hospital admission for inpatients with a primary diagnosis of Type 2 DM in India, China, Thailand and Malaysia.
MeSH terms: China/epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/economics*; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/epidemiology; Female; Hospitalization/economics*; Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data; Humans; India/epidemiology; Length of Stay/economics*; Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Thailand/epidemiology; Prevalence; Cost of Illness; Hospital Charges/statistics & numerical data*
The chromosomal aberrations (CA) assay and micronucleus (MN) test were employed to investigate the effect in vitro of zerumbone (ZER) on human chromosomes. ZER is a sesquiterpene compound isolated from the rhizomes of wild ginger, Zingiber zerumbet Smith. The rhizomes of the plant are employed as a traditional medicine for some ailments and as condiments. ZER has been shown to have anti-cancer and apoptosis-inducing properties against various human tumour cells. It has also been shown to be active in vivo against a number of induced malignancies. Studies on ZER genotoxicity in cultured human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) have not been reported so far. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the ability of ZER to induce chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei formation in human lymphocytes in vitro. Human blood samples were obtained from four healthy, non-smoking males aged 25-35years. Cultures were exposed to the drug for 48h at four final concentrations: 10, 20, 40 and 80 microM. Mitomycin C (MMC) was used as a positive control. The results of chromosomal aberrations assay showed that ZER was not clastogenic, when compared to untreated control, meanwhile MN test results showed a dose-dependent increase in MN formation. The overall clastogenic effect of ZER on human PBL was statistically not significant. In conclusion, ZER is a cytotoxic but not a clastogenic substance in human PBL.
The ubiquitin extension protein (uep1) gene was identified as a constitutively expressed gene in oil palm. We have isolated and characterized the 5' region of the oil palm uep1 gene, which contains an 828 bp sequence upstream of the uep1 translational start site. Construction of a pUEP1 transformation vector, which contains gusA reporter gene under the control of uep1 promoter, was carried out for functional analysis of the promoter through transient expression studies. It was found that the 5' region of uep1 functions as a constitutive promoter in oil palm and could drive GUS expression in all tissues tested, including embryogenic calli, embryoid, immature embryo, young leaflet from mature palm, green leaf, mesocarp and meristematic tissues (shoot tip). This promoter could also be used in dicot systems as it was demonstrated to be capable of driving gusA gene expression in tobacco.
The kinetics of wax ester synthesis from oleic acid and oleyl alcohol using immobilized lipase from Candida antartica as catalyst was studied with different types of impeller (Rushton turbine and AL-hydrofoil) to create different mixing conditions in 2l stirred tank reactor. The effects of catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, and impeller tip speed on the synthesis were also evaluated. Rushton turbine impeller exhibited highest conversion rate at lower impeller tip speed as compared to AL-hydrofoil impeller. A second-order reversible kinetic model from single progress curve for the prediction of fractional conversion at given reaction time was proposed and the corresponding kinetic parameter values were calculated by non-linear regression method. The results from the simulation using the proposed model showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. Activation energy shows a value of 21.77 Kcal/mol. The thermodynamic parameters of the process, enthalpy and entropy, were 21.15 Kcal/mol and 52.07 cal/mol.K, respectively.
In this study, difatty acyl urea has been successfully synthesized from corn oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. Ethyl fatty ester and glycerol were produced as by-products. In this reaction, corn oil was refluxed with urea in ethanol. The highest conversion percentage (78%) was obtained when the process was carried out for 8 hours using urea to corn oil ratio of 5.6: 1.0 at 78 degrees C. Both difatty acyl urea and ethyl fatty ester have been characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique.
There is little data concerning the ability of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (EL) to reverse the inhibitory effects of estrogen on testosterone production and spermatogenesis. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of EL on testicular histology and sperm count in estrogen-treated male rats.
Many previous published methods for the quantitative determination of propranolol (PRN) in human plasma have poor recoveries and were not validated according to the FDA guideline. The aim of this study is to develop a simple HPLC method for detecting PRN in human plasma and to validate it so that it can be applied to a clinical study. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a mixture of a mobile phase consisting of 160 ml water, 180 ml methanol, 70 ml acetonitrile, 2.5 ml acetic acid, and 125 microl triethylamine (v/v). The pH of the whole mixture was adjusted to 3.4. A flow rate of 0.5 ml/min was employed throughout with a 15 microl injection volume. Detection was done using a UV detector at 291 nm. The validated method was linear for concentrations ranging from 15-180 ng/ ml with a good separation and specificity for both PRN and its internal standard, oxprenolol (OXP), with excellent recoveries, precision, and accuracies. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 1 and 10 ng/ml, respectively. The stability studies demonstrated that PRN is stable in the autosampler vials and also up to 3.5 months. To the authors' knowledge, the recovery, that ranged between 97.9-102.7%, is the highest among all previously reported methods that used HPLC with UV detection. The developed and validated method for PRN analysis is excellent and applicable to a clinical study.
Tonsillectomy is frequently associated with postoperative pain of considerable duration, which is usually accompanied by the substantial consumption of both opioid and non-opioid analgesic such as NSAIDs and local anaesthetics.
Entamoeba histolytica is the second major cause of liver abscess disease in humans, particularly in developing countries. Recently, DNA molecular-based methods have been employed to enhance the detection of E. histolytica in either pus or stool specimens. In this study, the results of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect E. histolytica DNA in pus from liver abscess cases were compared with those of indirect hemagglutination assay on the corresponding serum samples. Bacterial cultures were also performed on the pus samples for the diagnosis of pyogenic liver abscess. The real-time PCR detected E. histolytica DNA in 23 of 30 (76.7%) pus samples, when compared with 14 of 30 (46.7%) serum samples in which anti-Entamoeba antibodies were detected by indirect hemagglutination assay and 4 of 30 (13.3%) pus samples that showed bacterial infection by culture. The use of real-time PCR is a promising detection method for diagnosis and epidemiology assessment of amoebic liver abscess.
Esophageal cancer (ECA) is an important cancer in Malaysia. The aim of the study is to review the demographic data and clinical presentation of patients with ECA seen at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
Hemovigilance like quality systems and audits has become an integral part of the Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) in the developed world and has contributed greatly to the development of the blood service. However developing countries are still grappling with donor recruitment and efforts towards sufficiency and safety of the blood supply. In these countries the BTS is generally fragmented and a national hemovigilance program would be difficult to implement. However a few developing countries have an effective and sustainable blood program that can deliver equitable, safe and sufficient blood supply to the nation. Different models of hemovigilance program have been introduced with variable success. There are deficiencies but the data collected provided important information that can be presented to the health authorities for effective interventions. Hemovigilance program modeled from developed countries require expertise and resources that are not available in many developing countries. Whatever resources that are available should be utilized to correct deficiencies that are already apparent and obvious. Besides there are other tools that can be used to monitor the blood program in the developing countries depending on the need and the resources available. More importantly the data collected should be accurate and are used and taken into consideration in formulating guidelines, standards and policies and to affect appropriate interventions. Any surveillance program should be introduced in a stepwise manner as the blood transfusion service develops.
MeSH terms: Blood Banks/organization & administration*; Blood Banks/standards; Blood Banks/supply & distribution; Blood Donors/supply & distribution; Blood Transfusion/methods; Blood Transfusion/standards; Blood Transfusion/utilization*; Blood Transfusion/statistics & numerical data; Developing Countries*; Health Resources/supply & distribution; Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration*; Humans; Population Surveillance/methods*; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Program Development/standards; Blood-Borne Pathogens; Disease Transmission, Infectious/prevention & control; Disease Transmission, Infectious/statistics & numerical data
A 13-year-old girl with a known diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus presented with seizures and psychosis. An electroencephalogram (EEG) revealed continuous, non-evolving periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) in the left temporal region, which did not resolve with benzodiazepine. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan demonstrated a focal hyperintensity in the left medial temporal and left occipital lobes, left thalamus and bilateral cerebellar white matter, with evidence of vasculitis in the magnetic resonance angiography. Intravenous immunoglobulin was given because of failed steroid therapy, which resulted in a full resolution of clinical, EEG and MRI abnormalities. Lupus cerebritis should be considered as a possible aetiology in PLEDs, and immunoglobulin can be effective in neuropsychiatric lupus.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Brain/anatomy & histology; Brain/pathology; Brain/physiopathology; Electroencephalography; Female; Hospitals, University; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Malaysia; Seizures/drug therapy; Seizures/etiology*; Seizures/physiopathology; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/therapeutic use*; Lupus Vasculitis, Central Nervous System
The aim of this study was to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for repair abdominal wall defects. Myoblast were seeded onto the scaffolds and cultivated in vitro for 5 days. Full thickness abdominal wall defects (3 x 4 cm) were created in 18 male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal groups. The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis whereas the second group repaired with non-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis and function as a control. Three animals were sacrificed at 7th, 14th, and 30th days of post-implantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic analysis. In every case, seeded scaffolds have better deposition of newly formed collagen with neo-vascularisation than control group. Interestingly, multinucleated myotubes and myofibers were only detected in cell-seeded group. This study demonstrated that myoblast-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis can be used as an effective scaffold to repair severe and large abdominal wall defects with regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue.
The aim of this study was to prepare a lipid-based self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) to increase the solubility and oral bioavailability of a poorly water-soluble compound, buparvaquone (BPQ).