METHODS: Thirty male rats were divided into 5 groups (n = 6), namely: healthy control; non-treated diabetic control; and diabetic-rats treated with 200 mg/kg metformin; Labisia pumila ethanol extract (LP) at 150 mg/kg or 300 mg/kg doses. Diabetes was induced by 60 mg streptozotocin /kg intraperitoneal injection. Rats were orally treated daily for ten weeks. Their fasting blood glucose (FBG), neurological functions (hot plate and tail immersion; thermal hyperalgesia; cold allodynia; motor walking function), biomarkers for inflammation and oxidative stress, the neuro-histopathological changes, and brain somatic index were measured.
RESULTS: The extract significantly prevented abnormal increases in FBG and decreases in body weight gain. It attenuated behavioral dysfunctions (hot plate and tail immersion; thermal hyperalgesia; cold allodynia; motor walking function), systemic inflammation (serum TNF-α, prostaglandin-E2) oxidative tension (malondialdehyde), histological brain and sciatic nerve injuries in the diabetic-rats, better than Metformin.
CONCLUSION: LP mitigated neural dysfunction better than metformin partly by amending diabetic systemic inflammation, oxidative tension, and diabetic abnormalities. The nerve injuries were strongly correlated to serum prostaglandin-E2, TNF-α levels, and walking functions. The motor function was correlated to sensory neuronal functions, inflammation, and oxidation. The sensory neuronal functions were more affected by TNF-α than prostaglandin-E2 or oxidation. Diabetic brain and sciatic nerve deteriorations were influenced by serum TNF-α, PGE2, and MDA levels.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-021-00905-0.
METHODS AND RESULTS: This review discusses optimizations and techniques for antibody production through choice of discovery platforms, expression systems, cell culture mediums, and other strategies to increase expression yield. Each system has its own merits and demerits, and the strategy chosen is critical in addressing various biological aspects.
CONCLUSIONS: There is still insufficient evidence to validate the efficacy of some of these techniques, and further research is needed to consolidate these industrial production systems. There is no doubt that more strategies, systems, and pipelines will contribute to enhance biopharmaceutical production.
METHODOLOGY: An exploratory, descriptive qualitative design was performed. The cross-sectional survey used a non-probability convenient sampling technique to recruit the respondents, who were required to answer an open-ended question: Either "If you are willing to get the vaccine, please state your reason" or "If you are not willing to get vaccinated, please state your reason." The survey also included questions on demography such as age, gender, and place of residence. According to the Health Belief Model, the data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barrier, and cues for action.
RESULTS: A total of 1091 respondents who completed the online survey comprised 685 (62.8%) females, 406 (37.2%) males, with a mean age of 38.16 (SD = 16.44). The majority (81.1%) were willing to get vaccinated. Thematic analysis showed that most respondents perceived that the vaccine is safe, effective, protective and will provide herd immunity. Barriers to vaccination include unknown long-term side effects, rapid vaccine production, inadequate information and concerns regarding halal status. Cues to vaccination included individual desire, social responsibility, economic concerns and wait-and-see behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: The public should be well informed about the vaccine, its efficacy, side effects, and halal status to increase vaccine acceptability and achieve herd immunity.
METHODOLOGY: This is a cross-sectional study among secondary school children from 5 random schools in an urban city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Those with intellectual disability and/or difficulty to comprehend Malay language, and without parental consent and assent, were excluded. Students from randomly selected classes aged 13-year-old to 17-year-old were invited to fill in these questionnaires: Socio-demographic Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-esteem Questionnaire, Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ-A), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaires (EDE-Q), Internet Addiction Test Scale (IAT), and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI).
RESULT: 461 students participated in the study. 21.5% of the participating students were found to have depression (n = 99). Younger age and Chinese race showed significant association with adolescent depression with a p-value of 0.032 and 0.017 respectively. Other significant correlations with depression were self-esteem (p = 0.013), disordered eating (p = 0.000), lower physical activity (p = 0.014) and problematic internet usage (p = 0.000).
DISCUSSION: The prevalence of depression among adolescents in this study (21.5%) is in line with previous prevalence studies in Malaysia. Self-esteem is postulated to be a moderating factor for depression hence explaining the significant association. A sedentary lifestyle may increase the risk of developing depression, The causal relationship between problematic internet usage and depression is complex and difficult to establish. This is similar to the relationship between problematic eating behavior and depression as well.
CONCLUSION: There is still a need to explore the causal relationship between lifestyle factors and depression among youth. Despite that, the results from this paper have accentuated the gravity of the importance of a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. An appropriate preventive measure is governmental strategies and policies aiming at improving a healthier lifestyle in this age group.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out this systematic review based on the instructions of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Ethical agreement was not necessary as main data have not been collected. During March 2022, we searched the main English databases, for example, Google Scholar, Web of Sciences, EMBASE, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and PubMed/MEDLINE, with limitation to human clinical trials. For this study, no time limit was applied for the publication of articles.
RESULTS: Out of 1380 papers, 52 papers up to March 2022 were eligible for review in this systematic review. Based on the obtained results, the most widely used medicinal plants for aromatherapy in patients with cardiovascular diseases were Lavandula angustifolia (lavender, 55.7%), Rosa damascena (Damask rose, 11.5%), and Mentha piperita (peppermint, 5.8%), respectively. Most studies have been performed on the effect of aromatherapy on coronary angiography (21 papers, 40.4%), followed by artery bypass graft surgery (14 studies, 26.9%), and cardiac patients (5 studies, 9.6%). Most studies on the effect of aromatherapy in cardiovascular diseases were performed on anxiety (31 papers, 59.6%), sleep quality (8 studies, 15.4%), and hemodynamic parameters (6 studies, 11.5%), respectively.
CONCLUSION: This study systematically reviewed the effects of aromatherapy in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The review of studies showed that lavender, Damask rose, and peppermint are the most frequents plants used for aromatherapy, whereas they significantly improved some illnesses and conditions, especially anxiety and sleep quality. Therefore, it can be concluded that cardiologist can used aromatherapy as a natural complementary and alternative therapy particularly with lavender, Damask rose, and peppermint to improve quality of life and some conditions such as anxiety and sleep quality.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: The mice were divided randomly into a control group (aqua bidest and mercury acetate) and an experimental group for this purpose. The experimental mice group was given orally nano Ca supplementation in three dose groups (9 mg, 18 mg, and 27 mg/200 g animal body weight) once a day for 21 consecutive days. The mice are then given mercury acetate (1300 µg/200 g animal body weight intraperitoneally) on the 21st day. One hour after giving the nano Ca supplement, the mice's blood was taken. Liver and kidney were autopsied two days later to check quantitative and qualitative changes caused by mercury concentrations in liver and kidney histopathologies.
RESULTS: The results demonstrated the importance of nano Ca supplementation before mercury acetate induction, which has been shown to reduce necrotic depletion and hepatocyte degeneration.
CONCLUSION: Nano Ca supplementation has decreased the concentration of Hg in the blood of mice so that it can be used as a potential health supplement to detoxify mercury toxins.