AIM: To assessed the mRNA transcriptome profiling of human HepG2 cells exposed to Catharanthus roseus G. Don (C. roseus)-AgNPs.
METHODS: The proliferative activity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and normal human liver (THLE3) cells treated with C. roseusAgNPs were measured using MTT assay. The RNA samples were extracted and sequenced using BGIseq500 platform. This is followed by data filtering, mapping, gene expression analysis, differentially expression genes analysis, Gene Ontology analysis, and pathway analysis.
RESULTS: The mean IC50 values of C. roseusAgNPs on HepG2 was 4.38 ± 1.59 μg/mL while on THLE3 cells was 800 ± 1.55 μg/mL. Transcriptome profiling revealed an alteration of 296 genes. C. roseusAgNPs induced the expression of stress-associated genes such as MT, HSP and HMOX-1. Cellular signalling pathways were potentially activated through MAPK, TNF and TGF pathways that are responsible for apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The alteration of ARF6, EHD2, FGFR3, RhoA, EEA1, VPS28, VPS25, and TSG101 indicated the uptake of C. roseus-AgNPs via both clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent endocytosis.
CONCLUSION: This study provides new insights into gene expression study of biosynthesised AgNPs on cancer cells. The cytotoxicity effect is mediated by the aberrant gene alteration, and more interestingly the unique selective antiproliferative properties indicate the C. roseusAgNPs as an ideal anticancer candidate.
Objective: Thus, our study aimed to investigate the impact of G2548A polymorphism on serum leptin levels and insulin resistance among Malaysian T2DM patients.
Methods: This case-control study involved 150 T2DM patients and 150 non-diabetic volunteers from ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians. Genotyping of G2548A polymorphism was carried out using PCR-RFLP. Serum leptin and insulin levels were determined via ELISA. ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to determine the distribution of genotypes and allelic frequencies based on serum leptin and insulin levels.
Results: Frequency of AA genotype and A allele of G2548A variant were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in T2DM patients of Malay and Indian ethnicities (4%, 35%, and 36%, 57%, respectively) as compared to the control groups (0%, 22%, and 18%, 35%, respectively). Fasting serum leptin levels were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in T2DM patients compared to non-diabetic subjects (166.78 pg/ml, 101.94 pg/ml, respectively). Additionally, elevated serum leptin, insulin levels, and BMI in diabetic patients were found to be associated with the AA genotype of this variant, compared to GG, and GA genotypes (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest a significant association between G2548A polymorphism among Malaysian T2DM subjects, particularly among Malay and Indian ethnic groups. Moreover, the A allele frequency of the G2548A variant significantly increased the risk of T2DM and is significantly associated with increased serum leptin, insulin levels, and elevated BMI.
METHODS: Twenty-three male subjects walked on a customized platform with four different surface inclinations (i.e., 0, 5, 7.5 and 10°) with inclined and declined directions. The motion of the ten reflective markers was captured using Qualysis motion capture system (Qualysis, Gothenburg, Sweden) and exported to a visual three-dimensional (3D) software (C-motion, Germantown, USA) in order to analyze the GRF, JRF and PFS.
RESULTS: The results found that the peak vertical GRF is almost consistent for 0 and 5° inclination slope but started to decrease at 7.5° onwards during decline walking. The most affected JRF was found on knee at medial-lateral direction even as low as 5 to 10° inclination for both walking conditions. Furthermore, the findings also show that the JRF of lower extremity was more affected during declined walking compared to inclined walking based on the number of significant differences observed in each inclination angle. The PFS was found increased with the increase of surface inclination.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings could provide a new insight on the relationship of joint reaction forces and strain parameter in response to the incline and decline walking. It would benefit in providing a better precaution that should be considered during hiking activity, especially in medial-lateral direction in order to prevent injury or fall risk.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: The qualitative software QSR-NVivo 10 was used to manage, code, and analyse the data.
RESULTS: The analyses uncovered several major issues concerning COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The production of the COVID-19 vaccine at an unprecedented speed evoked the fear of skipping steps that would compromise vaccine safety. The unknown long-term effects and duration of protection erode confidence in taking the vaccines. There were also persistent concerns with regard to vaccine compositions that could be harmful or contain aborted foetal cells. The rate of COVID-19 death was viewed as low. Many interpreted the 95% effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine as insufficient. Preference for immunity gains from having an infection was viewed as more effective. Peer-reviewed publication-based data were favoured as a source of trust in vaccination decision-making.
CONCLUSIONS: The anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiments found in this study provide important insights for the formulation of public health messages to instill confidence in the vaccines.
RESULTS: The PFGE data was input into FPQuest software, and the dendrogram generated was studied for possible genetic relatedness among the isolates. All the isolates were found to belong to the Salmonella Enteritidis serotype with notable resistance to tetracycline, gentamycin, streptomycin, and sulfadimidine. The S. Enteritidis isolates tested predominantly subtyped into the ST11 and ST1925, which was found to be a single cell variant of ST11. The STs were found to occur in chicken meats, foods, and live chicken cloacal swabs, which may indicate the persistence of the bacteria in multiple foci.
CONCLUSION: The data demonstrate the presence of S. Enteritidis among chickens, indicating its preference and reservoir status for enteric Salmonella pathogens.
METHOD: Guided by the PRISMA Statement review checklist, a systematic review of the Scopus and Web of Science database has identified 10 related studies. The articles were assessed and analyzed after evaluated using The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools (JBI). Thematic analysis was obtained after using Nvivo software as a tool for data analysis by author.
RESULT: Further review of these articles resulted in three main themes-maternal changes during expressing breast milk, pumping challenges and impact of motivation factors to initiating lactation.
CONCLUSION: Expressing breast milk should be recognized as an important way to restructure motherhood with a preterm infant in NICU. However, maintaining expressed breast milk during preterm infants' treatment period in NICU may increase stress and difficulties for some mothers. Some recommendations are emphasized in relation to the need for more qualitative studies in this issue, which is to have a specific and standard systematic review method for guide research synthesis in context of climate change adaptation.
METHODS: Using a randomised double-blind crossover design, 21 (men = 6, women = 15) T2D subjects consumed test meals (3.65 MJ) consisting of a high fat muffin (containing 50 g test fats provided as PO, IPO or HOS) and a milkshake. Postprandial changes in gut hormones, glucose homeostasis, satiety, lipid and inflammatory parameters after meals were analysed. Some of the solid fractions of the IPO were removed and thus the fatty acid composition of the PO and IPO was not entirely equal (PO vs IPO: palmitate 39.8 vs 38.7; oleate 43.6 vs 45.1). PO, IPO and HOS contained 9.7, 38.9 and 0.2 g/100 g total fatty acids of palmitic acid at the sn-2 position, respectively. At 37 °C, IPO contained 4.2% SFC whereas PO and HOS were completely melted.
RESULTS: Our novel observation shows that the incremental area under curve (iAUC) 0-6 h of plasma GIP concentration was on average 16% lower following IPO meal compared with PO and HOS (P
EXPERIMENTS: New graphene-philic surfactants carrying aromatic moieties in the hydrophilic headgroups and hydrophobic tails were synthesized by swapping the traditional sodium counterion with anilinium. 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize the surfactants. These custom-made surfactants were used to assist the dispersion of GNPs in natural rubber latex matrices for the preparation of conductive nanocomposites. The properties of nanocomposites with the new anilinium surfactants were compared with commercial sodium surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), and the previously synthesized aromatic tri-chain sodium surfactant TC3Ph3 (sodium 1,5-dioxo-1,5-bis(3-phenylpropoxy)-3-((3phenylpropoxy)carbonyl) pentane-2-sulfonate). Structural properties of the nanocomposites were studied using Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Electrical conductivity measurements and Zeta potential measurements were used to assess the relationships between total number of aromatic groups in the surfactant molecular structure and nanocomposite properties. The self-assembly structure of surfactants in aqueous systems and GNP dispersions was assessed using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS).
FINDINGS: Among these different surfactants, the anilinium version of TC3Ph3 namely TC3Ph3-AN (anilinium 1,5-dioxo-1,5-bis(3-phenylpropoxy)-3-((3phenylpropoxy)carbonyl) pentane-2-sulfonate) was shown to be highly efficient for dispersing GNPs in the NRL matrices, increasing electrical conductivity eleven orders of magnitude higher than the neat rubber latex. Comparisons between the sodium and anilinium surfactants show significant differences in the final properties of the nanocomposites. In general, the strategy of increasing the number of surfactant-borne aromatic groups by incorporating anilinium ions in surfactant headgroups appears to be effective.