Soft fleshed tomatoes are easily damaged due to mechanical injuries. Later, the wounded tissue will be exposed to fungal infection thus fasten the deterioration rate and reduce the quality of tomato. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential aqueous ginger extract to inhibit fungal pathogen that causes tomato wilt and its potential in delaying the weight loss of tomato fruits. For this purpose, in vitro antifungal assay using poison plate technique was used to observe the inhibition of fungal pathogen. Then, healthy tomato fruits were dipped in aqueous ginger extract before evaluated for the post-harvest quality such as weight loss and firmness. The results of this study show that 10% aqueous ginger extract can inhibit the fungal pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum) that causes tomato wilt with 13.57% inhibition. Through in vivo antifungal assay, tomato fruits dipped in this plant extract showed lower weight loss (14.44%) and higher firmness (1.7 N) as compared to untreated fruit, but the data were not significantly different. Therefore, manipulation of this extract was suggested to increase its antifungal properties or as eco-friendly coating to lengthen the shelf life of agricultural produces.
This case report describes the effect of an envenomation by the Beautiful Pit Viper Trimeresurus venustus (or Cryptelytrops venustus), which is a green pit viper native to Thailand and Malaysia. A previously healthy 60-year-old snake breeder with no relevant medical history was bitten by his adult T. venustus in the third finger of his right hand while taking it out of the feeding box. The bite was painful and swelling progressed to include his whole hand within an hour after the bite. He was treated symptomatically with pre-emptive antibiotics and analgesics, never developed any hematological disorders such as coagulopathy and bleeding or disseminated intravascular coagulation and was discharged 26 hours after the bite. The clinical course in our patient matched two other well-documented cases reported to our Poisons Centre, and one further case presented as a conference-poster. All patients recovered with symptomatic therapy and never required antivenom. Therefore, bites by T. venustus seem to present with less severe symptoms compared to other Trimeresurus species.
Naturally, plant habitats are exposed to several potential effects of biotic and different abiotic environmental challenges. Several types of micro-organisms namely; bacteria, viruses, fungi, nematodes, mites, insects, mammals and other herbivorous animals are found in large amounts in all ecosystems, which lead to considerable reduction in crop productivity. These organisms are agents carrying different diseases that can damage the plants through the secretion of toxic-microbial poisons that can penetrate in the plant tissues. Toxins are injurious substances that act on plant protoplast to influence disease development. In response to the stress effect, plants defend themselves by bearing some substances such as phytoalexins. Production of phytoalexins is one of the complex mechanisms through which plants exhibit disease resistance. Several findings specifically on phytoalexins have widen the understanding in the fields of plant biochemistry and molecular biology. However, this review reports the interaction of toxins and phytoalexins in plant-pathogen cycle, research progress on the association of phytoalexins with plant disease resistance as well as the role of the phytoalexins in plant disease control.
A study was carried out to determine the clinical effectiveness of intramuscular botulinum toxin type A (BTX) in the treatment of spasticity or dystonia in 58 consecutive children with cerebral palsy (CP). The effectiveness of the treatment was determined by the reduction of spasticity and global parental perception scale. The mean age of treatment was six years and the most frequent aim of treatment (91.1%) was functional improvement. The median reduction of spasticity as measured by modified Ashworth scale was 1. The short term outcome was graded as excellent or good by 44.6% and satisfactory by 38.4% of parents. Patients with dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy had the best response. Adverse effects were minimal. BTX treatment is modestly effective in the majority of our patients with spastic and dyskinetic cerebral palsy.
Matched MeSH terms: Poisons/administration & dosage*; Poisons/therapeutic use
The elderly consume many medications including traditional medicines. In 1986, it was found that 29% of elderly took traditional medicines although in 1996, the National Health Morbidity survey reported a 2.3% prevalence. However, studies from other countries showed much higher percentages. The Ministry of Health in Malaysia is concerned that some of these preparations maybe contaminated with steroids, antihistamines, hormones and other poisons. The aims of the study were to determine a). the health seeking behaviour of elderly Malays living in rural areas, b). the utilization of both modern and traditional medicines and c). the steroid content of the traditional medicines used. Methodology included interviews using structured questionnaires of elderly Malays living in rural areas of Kelantan, aged above 60 years. Samples of traditional medications collected were sent to the Pharmacology Department, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, for steroid content analysis using Thin Layer Chromatography. A total of 599 elderly respondents were interviewed comprising 62.4% females and 37.6% males. The 60-69 years cohort group made up 48.7%, followed by 70-79 years at 36.1% and the remainder 15.2% were more than 80 years. There were 82% of elderly taking medicines. The trends of utilization of modern and traditional medicine in the last two weeks among elderly were 59.3% and 40.9% respectively. The utilization of traditional medicine by rural elderly Malays was therefore much higher than that reported in the previous study and nearly similar to that of France and Australian studies. There were 102 samples of traditional medications collected and analysed for steroid content. Results showed that 27.5% were positive for prednisolone, 34.3% positive for unknown steroids (a total of 61.8%) and 38.2% were negative for both steroids. The present study therefore once again confirmed the high usage of traditional medicines where some of which are contaminated with steroids.
Accidental poisoning in children is a preventable condition. It is a problem mainly in children aged 1 to 4 years. This is a descriptive study of accidental poisoning in children below 12 years old admitted to Hospital Seremban from October 15, 1994 to October 14, 1995. A major cause of household accidental poisoning was kerosene ingestion (25%) followed by ingestion of medications (22%), liniment methyl salicylate (12 %), mothballs (12%) and hypochlorinate solution (9%). There was a higher incidence of poisoning in males (50.8%), among Indians (41.2%) and in children from lower social classes (67%). A greater proportion of the accident occurred when the child was taken care by the parents (53 %) and in the house (80%). Most of the poison was ingested from its original package (81%). The immediate action taken was sending the child to the hospital (75%) without carrying out other actions such as washing the child’s mouth. The delay of sending the child to hospital was due to husband not at home (57%). Most of the cases (72.1 %) were discharged well within 1-2 days following admission.
Flying feather is a traditional street weapon, which is believed to be originated from Philippine. It is a famous weapon in Tawau, Sabah, shot within short distance and being used with the aim to debilitate the victims. Some may even apply poison at the tip of the weapon. We report two cases of severe chest injuries in resulting from flying feathers. Case 1, a 25-year old man sustained left sided hemothorax with anterior right ventricle injury. He underwent thoracotomy and was discharged well. Case 2, a 40-year old man, presented to emergency department with no signs of life, sustained penetrating injury to the left second intercostal muscle, the pericardium and the anterior wall of the right ventricle adjacent to the interventricular septum. These cases highlight the severity spectrum of cardiac injury resulting from flying feathers.
Two supposedly Strychnos-based Semai Senoi dart poisons from Western Malaysia, ipoh akar and lampong, and their accompanying plant materials have been re-investigated botanically, chemically, and pharmacologically. The two poisons contained tertiary and quaternary alkaloids, including strychnine and bis-quaternary dimeric bases, and also cardiotonic glycosides. The dominant pharmacological activity of the highly toxic ipoh akar poison was convulsant. The weaker lampong poison had muscle-relaxant activity of the curarizing type. The alkaloids of the two poisons were almost certainly derived from Strychnosignatii Berg. (S. ovalifolia Wall. ex G. Don) and not from S. vanprukii Craib to which the accompanying plant materials probably belong, while the cardiotonic glycosides of the two poisons came from Antiaris toxicaria Lesch. The quaternary alkaloids of both S. ignatii and S. vanprukii have muscle relaxant activity.
Two new Schiff base ligands (TE and TF) were prepared from conjugation of testosterone with 4-(4-ethylphenyl)-3-thiosemicarbazide and 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-thiosemicarbazide, respectively. Their nickel (NE and NF) and zinc (ZE and ZF) complexes were reported. X-ray crystallography revealed a distorted square planar geometry was adopted by NE. The compounds demonstrated excellent selectivity towards the colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT 116 despite their weak preferences towards the prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3 and LNCaP). Against HCT 116, all these compounds were able to arrest cell cycle at G0/G1 phase and induce apoptosis via mitochondria-dependent (TE, NE, and TF) and extrinsic apoptotic pathway (ZE, NF, and ZF). Moreover, only ZE was able to act as topoisomease I poison and halt its enzymatic reactions although all compounds presented excellent affinity towards DNA.