Displaying publications 2281 - 2300 of 4002 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Fulltext The use of complementary and alternative medicine among Malay breast cancer survivors
    Shaharudin SH, Sulaiman S, Emran NA, Shahril MR, Hussain SN
    Altern Ther Health Med, 2011 Jan-Feb;17(1):50-6.
    PMID: 21614944
    BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by breast cancer survivors.
    METHODS: A descriptive survey design was developed. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, cancer clinical treatment history, and use of CAM were obtained through a modified self-administered questionnaire from 116 Malay breast cancer survivors aged 21 to 67 years who were 2 years postdiagnosis and currently undergoing follow-up treatment at breast cancer clinics at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre.
    RESULTS: Data suggest that 64% of the participants were identified as CAM users; dietary supplements were the most common form used, followed by prayer and Malay traditional medicine. Within the wide range of dietary supplements, multivitamins were most often taken followed by spirulina, vitamin C, evening primrose oil, and herbal products. Contrary to other findings, the CAM users were found to be older, had secondary education levels, and were from middle-income households. However, there was no significant difference between CAM users and nonusers in this study. Family members played an important role as the main source of information along with doctors/health care providers, friends, and printed materials/mass media. The reasons participants gave for using CAM were mainly to assist in healing the body's inner strength, to cure cancer, and to reduce stress. Only half of the participants consulted with their physicians regarding the safety of CAM use. The participants began to use CAM while undergoing clinical treatments. Most of the participants used CAM for more than a year. About RM100 to RM149 (31.88 USD to 47.50 USD at press time) were spent monthly on CAM by 32% of the participants. The CAM use was found to be effective and beneficial for patients' disease states, and they were contented with the usage of the CAM therapies. Multivariate analysis revealed that thedecision to use or not to use CAM was not dependent on sociodemographic background or cancer clinical treatment history.
    CONCLUSIONS: CAM was commonly used by breast cancer survivors as a coping mechanism to battle the disease.
    Study site: Breast cancer clinics, Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  2. Prevalence of gender disparities and predictors affecting the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
    Lee LK, Shahar S, Chin AV, Mohd Yusoff NA, Rajab N, Aziz SA
    Arch Gerontol Geriatr, 2012 Jan-Feb;54(1):185-91.
    PMID: 21546098 DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2011.03.015
    The aims were to investigate the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within gender disparities in Malaysian older adults, and to determine the predictors of MCI according to gender disparities. A community-based sample of urban, multiethnic dwelling elderly aged 60 years of age and above from Cheras, Kuala Lumpur was recruited. Prevalence of all-type MCI, amnestic-type MCI (am-MCI) and non-amnestic-type MCI (nam-MCI) was assessed using comprehensive neuropsychological batteries. The association between demography, socioeconomic status, lifestyle practices, and nutritional status and health risk factors with MCI were examined. Predictors of MCI occurrence between gender disparities were determined. The prevalence of all-type MCI, am-MCI and nam-MCI was 21.1%, 15.4% and 5.7%, respectively. Binary logistic regression indicated that hypercholesterolemia is the significant predictor for MCI in men after adjustment for age, ethnicity and total years of education. While, in women, MCI was best predicted by married status, without exercise practice, overweight and obesity. These results suggest that approximately one-fifth of the studied elderly people had MCI. Predictors for MCI are totally different between men and women. It is critical to identify those at higher risk for MCI in order to implement preventative measures to delay or reverse this abnormal condition.
  3. A new approach for the pistoning measurement in transtibial prosthesis
    Gholizadeh H, Abu Osman NA, Lúvíksdóttir Á, Eshraghi A, Kamyab M, Wan Abas WA
    Prosthet Orthot Int, 2011 Dec;35(4):360-4.
    PMID: 21975850 DOI: 10.1177/0309364611423130
    Good suspension lessens the pistoning (vertical displacement) of the residual limb inside the prosthetic socket. Several methods are used for measuring the pistoning.
  4. Dietary changes among breast cancer patients in Malaysia
    Shaharudin SH, Sulaiman S, Shahril MR, Emran NA, Akmal SN
    Cancer Nurs, 2013 Mar-Apr;36(2):131-8.
    PMID: 22293157 DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0b013e31824062d1
    BACKGROUND: Breast cancer patients often show an interest in making dietary changes after diagnosis of breast cancer to improve their health condition and prevent cancer recurrence.
    OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine changes in dietary intake 2 years after diagnosis among breast cancer patients.
    METHODS: One hundred sixteen subjects were asked to complete a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, diet recalls, and dietary changes questionnaire to assess dietary intake before and after diagnosis. The information on sociodemographic background, cancer treatment history, and anthropometric indices was also collected.
    RESULTS: Seventy-two subjects considered diet as a contributing factor to breast cancer, and 67 subjects changed their dietary habits after breast cancer diagnosis. The reasons for changes in diet were physician and dietitian advice and desire to cure cancer. The sources of information were derived from their physician, mass media, and family members. Total energy, protein, total fat, fatty acids, and vitamin E intake were significantly decreased after diagnosis. Meanwhile, the intake of β-carotene and vitamin C increased significantly after diagnosis. The changes included reduction in red meat, seafood, noodles, and poultry intake. An increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, low-fat milk, and soy products was observed. The subjects tended to lower high-fat foods intake and started to eat more fruits and vegetables.
    CONCLUSION: Breast cancer patients had changed to a healthier diet after breast cancer diagnosis, although the changes made were small.
    IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This will be helpful to dietitians in providing a better understanding of good eating habits that will maintain patients' health after breast cancer diagnosis.
  5. Waist circumference percentile curves for Malaysian children and adolescents aged 6.0-16.9 years
    Poh BK, Jannah AN, Chong LK, Ruzita AT, Ismail MN, McCarthy D
    Int J Pediatr Obes, 2011 Aug;6(3-4):229-35.
    PMID: 21668385 DOI: 10.3109/17477166.2011.583658
    BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity is increasing rapidly and abdominal obesity especially is known to be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and other non-communicable diseases. Waist circumference percentile curves are useful tools which can help to identify abdominal obesity among the childhood and adolescent populations.
    OBJECTIVE: To develop age- and sex-specific waist circumference (WC) percentile curves for multi-ethnic Malaysian children and adolescents aged 6.0-16.9 years. Subjects and methods. A total of 16,203 participants comprising 8,093 boys and 8,110 girls recruited from all regions of Malaysia were involved in this study. Height, weight, WC were measured and BMI calculated. Smoothed WC percentile curves and values for the 3rd, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th and 97th percentiles were constructed using the LMS Method.
    RESULTS: WC was found to increase with age in both sexes, but boys had higher WC values at every age and percentile. Z-scores generated using the UK reference data shows that Chinese children had the highest WC compared to Malays, Indians and other ethnicities. Comparisons with other studies indicate that at the 50th percentile, Malaysian curves did not differ from the UK, Hong Kong and Turkish curves, but at the 90th percentile, Malaysian curves were higher compared with other countries, starting at 10 years of age. The 90th percentile was adopted as the cut-off point to indicate abdominal obesity in Malaysian children and adolescents.
    CONCLUSION: These curves represent the first WC percentiles reported for Malaysian children, and they can serve as a reference for future studies.
  6. Fat intake and its relationship with pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer risk: a case-control study in Malaysia
    Sulaiman S, Shahril MR, Shaharudin SH, Emran NA, Muhammad R, Ismail F, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2011;12(9):2167-78.
    PMID: 22296351
    BACKGROUND: Fat intake has been shown to play a role in the etiology of breast cancer, but the findings have been inconsistent.

    OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer risk with fat and fat subtypes intake.

    METHODOLOGY: This is a population based case-control study conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 2006 to December 2007. Food intake pattern was collected from 382 breast cancer patients and 382 control group via an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and a broad range of potential confounders was included in analysis.

    RESULTS: This study showed that both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer risk did not increase significantly with greater intake of total fat [quartile (Q) 4 versus Q1 OR=0.76, 95% CI, 0.23-2.45 and OR=1.36, 95% CI, 0.30-3.12], saturated fat (ORQ4 to Q1=1.43, 95% CI, 0.51-3.98 and ORQ4 to Q1=1.75, 95% CI, 0.62-3.40), monounsaturated fat (ORQ4 to Q1=0.96, 95% CI, 0.34-1.72 and ORQ4 to Q1=1.74, 95% CI, 0.22-2.79), polyunsaturated fat (ORQ4 to Q1=0.64, 95% CI, 0.23-1.73 and ORQ4 to Q1=0.74, 95% CI, 0.39-1.81), n-3 polyunsaturated fat (ORQ4 to Q1=1.10, 95% CI, 0.49-2.48 and ORQ4 to Q1=0.78, 95% CI, 0.28-2.18), n-6 polyunsaturated fat (ORQ4 to Q1=0.67, 95% CI, 0.24-1.84 and ORQ4 to Q1=0.71, 95% CI, 0.29-1.04) or energy intake (ORQ4 to Q1=1.52, 95% CI, 0.68-3.38 and ORQ4 to Q1=2.21, 95% CI, 0.93-3.36).

    CONCLUSION: Total fat and fat subtypes were not associated with pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer risk after controlling for age, other breast cancer risk factors and energy intake. Despite the lack of association, the effects of total fat and fat subtypes intake during premenopausal years towards postmenopausal breast cancer risk still warrant investigation.

  7. Conformational destabilization of Bacillus licheniformis α-amylase induced by lysine modification and calcium depletion
    Tan CY, Rahman RN, Kadir HA, Tayyab S
    Acta Biochim. Pol., 2011;58(3):405-12.
    PMID: 21887412
    Bacillus licheniformis α-amylase (BLA) was chemically modified using 100-fold molar excess of succinic anhydride over protein or 0.66 M potassium cyanate to obtain 42 % succinylated and 81 % carbamylated BLAs. Size and charge homogeneity of modified preparations was established by Sephacryl S-200 HR gel chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Conformational alteration in these preparations was evident by the larger Stokes radii (3.40 nm for carbamylated and 3.34 nm for succinylated BLAs) compared to 2.43 nm obtained for native BLA. Urea denaturation results using mean residue ellipticity (MRE) as a probe also showed conformational destabilization based on the early start of transition as well as ΔG(D)(H(2)O) values obtained for both modified derivatives and Ca-depleted BLA. Decrease in ΔG(D)(H(2)O) value from 5,930 cal/mol (for native BLA) to 3,957 cal/mol (for succinylated BLA), 3,336 cal/mol (for carbamylated BLA) and 3,430 cal/mol for Ca-depleted BLA suggested reduced conformational stability upon modification of amino groups of BLA or depletion of calcium. Since both succinylation and carbamylation reactions abolish the positive charge on amino groups (both α- and ε- amino), the decrease in conformational stability can be ascribed to the disruption of salt bridges present in the protein which might have released the intrinsic calcium from its binding site.
  8. Clinical evaluation of two prosthetic suspension systems in a bilateral transtibial amputee
    Gholizadeh H, Abu Osman NA, Kamyab M, Eshraghi A, Lúvíksdóttir AG, Wan Abas WA
    Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2012 Oct;91(10):894-8.
    PMID: 22173083
    The effects of Seal-In X5 and Dermo liner (Össur) on suspension and patient's comfort in lower limb amputees are unclear. In this report, we consider the case of a 51-yr-old woman with bilateral transtibial amputation whose lower limbs were amputated because of peripheral vascular disease. The subject had bony and painful residual limbs, especially at the distal ends. Two prostheses that used Seal-In X5 liners and a pair of prostheses with Dermo liners were fabricated, and the subject wore each for a period of 2 wks. Once the 2 wks had passed, the pistoning within the socket was assessed and the patient was questioned as to her satisfaction with both liners. This study revealed that Seal-In X5 liner decreased the residual limb pain experienced by the patient and that 1-2 mm less pistoning occurred within the socket compared with the Dermo liner. However, the patient needed to put in extra effort for donning and doffing the prosthesis. Despite this, it is clear that the Seal-In X5 liner offers a viable alternative for individuals with transtibial amputations who do not have enough soft tissue around the bone, especially at the end of the residual limb.
  9. Fulltext Expression of an organic solvent stable lipase from Staphylococcus epidermidis AT2
    Rahman RN, Kamarudin NH, Yunus J, Salleh AB, Basri M
    Int J Mol Sci, 2010;11(9):3195-208.
    PMID: 20957088 DOI: 10.3390/ijms11093195
    An organic solvent tolerant lipase gene from Staphylococcus epidermidis AT2 was successfully cloned and expressed with pTrcHis2 in E. coli TOP10. Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,933 bp in length which coded for a polypeptide of 643 amino acid residues. The polypeptide comprised of a signal peptide (37 amino acids), pro-peptide and a mature protein of 390 amino acids. Expression of AT2 lipase resulted in an 18-fold increase in activity, upon the induction of 0.6 mM IPTG after a 10 h incubation period. Interestingly, this lipase was stable in various organic solvents (25% (v/v), mainly toluene, octanol, p-xylene and n-hexane). Literature shows that most of the organic solvent stable bacterial lipases were produced by Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus sp., but very few from Staphylococcus sp. This lipase demonstrates great potential to be employed in various industrial applications.
  10. Fulltext Patient satisfaction and loyalty to the private hospitals in Sana'a, Yemen
    Anbori A, Ghani SN, Yadav H, Daher AM, Su TT
    Int J Qual Health Care, 2010 Aug;22(4):310-5.
    PMID: 20543208 DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/mzq029
    To evaluate patients' satisfaction and loyalty to private hospitals and to identify factors influencing patient loyalty.
  11. Fulltext Expression and mutational analysis of GATA3 in Malaysian breast carcinomas
    Bong PN, Zakaria Z, Muhammad R, Abdullah N, Ibrahim N, Emran NA, et al.
    Malays J Pathol, 2010 Dec;32(2):117-22.
    PMID: 21329183 MyJurnal
    The GATA3 gene is a potential tumour marker and putative tumour suppressor gene in breast cancer. Its expression is associated with better prognosis and disease free survival in breast cancer patients. We aimed to evaluate GATA3 transcriptome expression and mutation in breast carcinomas and correlate its expression with oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), lymph node (LN) status, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression. Twenty-two breast infiltrating ductal carcinomas and paired normal tissues were used in Branch DNA assay to detect GATA3 mRNA expression. Normalized data for GATA3 mRNA expression were grouped according to the ER, PR and LN status, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression of the tumours. Statistical significance was tested using t-test and ANOVA at 95% confidence interval level. Mutational analysis of GATA3 was performed by direct sequencing of the coding regions of GATA3 mRNA. Our findings showed that GATA3 gene were over-expressed and under-expressed by > 2 fold change in 12 and 4 tested samples, respectively. Eighty per cent of ER positive breast carcinomas were GATA3 positive. There was a statistically significant correlation between GATA3 expression and ER at 95% confidence interval level between the study groups. On the contrary, GATA3 expression was not statistically significant with PR, LN, tumour grade and c-erbB-2 expression in our study. In addition, we observed that there was no mutation in mRNA coding region in 16 breast carcinomas that showed GATA3 differential gene expression. Our preliminary results suggested that GATA3 is linked to the ER. This scenario suggests that GATA3 may play a crucial role in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients. Whether GATA3 expression is involved in regulating tumour cell growth in oestrogen responsive breast cancer is a key question that remains to be answered.
  12. Fulltext The apoptotic effect of 1's-1'-acetoxychavicol acetate from Alpinia conchigera on human cancer cells
    Awang K, Azmi MN, Aun LI, Aziz AN, Ibrahim H, Nagoor NH
    Molecules, 2010 Nov;15(11):8048-59.
    PMID: 21063268 DOI: 10.3390/molecules15118048
    1'-(S)-1'-Acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) isolated from the Malaysian ethno-medicinal plant Alpinia conchigera Griff. was investigated for its potential as an anticancer drug. In this communication, we describe the cytotoxic and apoptotic properties of ACA on five human tumour cell lines. Data from MTT cell viability assays indicated that ACA induced both time- and dose-dependent cytotoxicity on all tumour cell lines tested and had no adverse cytotoxic effects on normal cells. Total mortality of the entire tumour cell population was achieved within 30 hrs when treated with ACA at 40.0 µM concentration. Flow cytometric analysis for annexin-V and PI dual staining demonstrated that cell death occurred via apoptosis, followed by secondary necrosis. The apoptotic effects of ACA were confirmed via the DNA fragmentation assay, in which consistent laddering of genomic DNA was observed for all tumour cell lines after a 24 hrs post-treatment period at the IC(50) concentration of ACA. A cell cycle analysis using PI staining also demonstrated that ACA induced cell cycle arrest at the G(0)/G(1) phase, corresponding to oral tumour cell lines. In conclusion, ACA exhibits enormous potential for future development as a chemotherapeutic drug against various malignancies.
  13. Adolescent pregnancy outcomes and risk factors in Malaysia
    Omar K, Hasim S, Muhammad NA, Jaffar A, Hashim SM, Siraj HH
    Int J Gynaecol Obstet, 2010 Dec;111(3):220-3.
    PMID: 20800837 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.06.023
    OBJECTIVE: To assess the outcomes and risk factors of adolescent pregnancies in 2 major hospitals in Malaysia.
    METHODS: We conducted a case-control study of pregnant girls aged 10 through 19 years. The controls were women aged 20 through 35 years who did not become pregnant in their adolescence. Cases and controls were matched for parity and place of delivery. Data were collected from questionnaires and the hospitals' medical records.
    RESULTS: The study included 102 cases and 102 controls. There were significant associations between adolescent pregnancy and low education level, low socioeconomic status, being raised by a single parent, not engaging in extracurricular school activities, engaging in unsupervised activities with peers after school, and substance abuse (P<0.05 for all); being anemic, being unsure of the expected delivery date, and having few antenatal visits and a late delivery booking; and low Apgar scores and perinatal complications.
    CONCLUSION: Adolescent pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies. Better sexual health strategies are required to address the associated complications.
  14. Fulltext Inherited t(9;22) as the cause of DiGeorge syndrome: a case report
    Shuib S, Abdul Latif Z, Abidin NZ, Akmal SN, Zakaria Z
    Malays J Pathol, 2009 Dec;31(2):133-6.
    PMID: 20514857 MyJurnal
    DiGeorge syndrome is associated with microdeletion of chromosome 22q11.2. Most cases occur sporadically although vertical transmission has been documented. We report a rare case of DiGeorge syndrome in an 8-year-old girl. Blood sample of the patient was cultured and harvested following standard procedure. All of the 20 cells analysed showed a karyotype of 45, XX, -22, t (9;22) (p23; q11.2). Cytogenetic investigation done on the patient's mother revealed that she was the carrier for the translocation. Her karyotype was 46, XX, t (9;22) (p23; q11.2). Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) analysis using TUPLE1 and N25 (Vysis, USA) probes showed deletion of the 22q11.2 region in the patient, confirming the diagnosis of DiGeorge syndrome. FISH analysis showed no deletion of the region in the mother.
  15. Statistical analysis of PM₁₀ concentrations at different locations in Malaysia
    Sansuddin N, Ramli NA, Yahaya AS, Yusof NF, Ghazali NA, Madhoun WA
    Environ Monit Assess, 2011 Sep;180(1-4):573-88.
    PMID: 21136287 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-010-1806-8
    Malaysia has experienced several haze events since the 1980s as a consequence of the transboundary movement of air pollutants emitted from forest fires and open burning activities. Hazy episodes can result from local activities and be categorized as "localized haze". General probability distributions (i.e., gamma and log-normal) were chosen to analyze the PM(10) concentrations data at two different types of locations in Malaysia: industrial (Johor Bahru and Nilai) and residential (Kota Kinabalu and Kuantan). These areas were chosen based on their frequently high PM(10) concentration readings. The best models representing the areas were chosen based on their performance indicator values. The best distributions provided the probability of exceedances and the return period between the actual and predicted concentrations based on the threshold limit given by the Malaysian Ambient Air Quality Guidelines (24-h average of 150 μg/m(3)) for PM(10) concentrations. The short-term prediction for PM(10) exceedances in 14 days was obtained using the autoregressive model.
  16. 1'S-1'-acetoxyeugenol acetate: a novel phenylpropanoid from Alpinia conchigera enhances the apoptotic effects of paclitaxel in MCF-7 cells through NF-κB inactivation
    In LL, Azmi MN, Ibrahim H, Awang K, Nagoor NH
    Anticancer Drugs, 2011 Jun;22(5):424-34.
    PMID: 21346553 DOI: 10.1097/CAD.0b013e328343cbe6
    In this study, the apoptotic mechanism and combinatorial chemotherapeutic effects of the cytotoxic phenylpropanoid compound 1'S-1'-acetoxyeugenol acetate (AEA), extracted from rhizomes of the Malaysian ethnomedicinal plant Alpinia conchigera Griff. (Zingiberaceae), on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were investigated for the first time. Data from cytotoxic and apoptotic assays such as live and dead and poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage assays indicated that AEA was able to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, but not in normal human mammary epithelial cells. A microarray global gene expression analysis of MCF-7 cells, treated with AEA, suggested that the induction of tumor cell death through apoptosis was modulated through dysregulation of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) pathway, as shown by the reduced expression of various κB-regulated gene targets. Consequent to this, western blot analysis of proteins corresponding to the NF-κB pathway indicated that AEA inhibited phosphorylation levels of the inhibitor of κB-kinase complex, resulting in the elimination of apoptotic resistance originating from NF-κB activation. This AEA-based apoptotic modulation was elucidated for the first time in this study, and gave rise to the proposal of an NF-κB model termed the 'Switching/Alternating Model.' In addition to this, AEA was also found to synergistically enhance the proapoptotic effects of paclitaxel, when used in combination with MCF-7 cells, presumably by a chemosensitizing role. Therefore, it was concluded that AEA isolated from the Malaysian tropical ginger (A. conchigera) served as a very promising candidate for further in-vivo development in animal models and in subsequent clinical trials involving patients with breast-related malignancies.
  17. High yield lipase-catalyzed synthesis of Engkabang fat esters for the cosmetic industry
    Abd Rahman NF, Basri M, Rahman MB, Rahman RN, Salleh AB
    Bioresour Technol, 2011 Feb;102(3):2168-76.
    PMID: 21050749 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2010.10.034
    Engkabang fat esters were produced via alcoholysis reaction between Engkabang fat and oleyl alcohol, catalyzed by Lipozyme RM IM. The reaction was carried out in a 500 ml Stirred tank reactor using heptane and hexane as solvents. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on a four-factor-five-level Central composite design (CCD) was applied to evaluate the effects of synthesis parameters, namely temperature, substrate molar ratio (oleyl alcohol: Engkabang fat), enzyme amount and impeller speed. The optimum yields of 96.2% and 91.4% were obtained for heptane and hexane at the optimum temperature of 53.9°C, impeller speeds of 309.5 and 309.0 rpm, enzyme amounts of 4.82 and 5.65 g and substrate molar ratios of 2.94 and 3.39:1, respectively. The actual yields obtained compared well with the predicted values of 100.0% and 91.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the properties of the esters show that they are suitable to be used as ingredient for cosmetic applications.
  18. Organic-solvent stability of elastase strain K overexpressed in an Escherichia-Pseudomonas expression system
    Wong CF, Salleh AB, Basri M, Abd Rahman RN
    Biotechnol Appl Biochem, 2010 Sep;57(1):1-7.
    PMID: 20726840 DOI: 10.1042/BA20100224
    The structural gene of elastase strain K (elastase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain K), namely HindIII1500PstI, was successfully sequenced to contain 1497 bp. The amino acid sequence, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, revealed that the mature elastase consists of 301 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 33.1 kDa, and contains a conserved motif HEXXH, zinc ligands and residues involved in the catalysis of elastase strain K. The structural gene was successfully cloned to a shuttle vector, pUCP19, and transformed into Escherichia coli strains TOP10, KRX, JM109 and Tuner™ pLacI as well as P. aeruginosa strains PA01 (A.T.C.C. 47085) and S5, with detection of significant protein expression. Overexpression was detected from transformants KRX/pUCP19/HindIII1500PstI of E. coli and PA01/pUCP19/HindIII1500PstI of P. aeruginosa, with increases in elastolytic activity to 13.83- and 5.04-fold respectively relative to their controls. In addition, recombinant elastase strain K showed considerable stability towards numerous organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, acetone, toluene, undecan-1-ol and n-dodecane, which typically pose a detrimental effect on enzymes; our finding provides further information to support the potential application of the enzyme in synthetic industries, particularly peptide synthesis.
  19. 1'S-1'-acetoxyeugenol acetate: a new chemotherapeutic natural compound against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells
    Hasima N, Aun LI, Azmi MN, Aziz AN, Thirthagiri E, Ibrahim H, et al.
    Phytomedicine, 2010 Oct;17(12):935-9.
    PMID: 20729047 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2010.03.011
    Medicinal plants containing active natural compounds have been used as an alternative treatment for cancer patients in many parts of the world especially in Asia (Itharat et al. 2004). In this report, we describe the cytotoxic and apoptotic properties of 1'S-1'-acetoxyeugenol acetate (AEA), an analogue of 1'S-1'-acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA), isolated from the Malaysian ethno-medicinal plant Alpinia conchigera Griff (Zingiberaceae) on human breast cancer cells. Data from MTT cell viability assays indicated that AEA induced both time- and dose-dependent cytotoxicity with an IC(50) value of 14.0 μM within 36 h of treatment on MCF-7 cells, but not in HMEC normal control cells. Both annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometric analysis and DNA fragmentation assays confirmed that AEA induced cell death via apoptosis. AEA was also found to induce cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 cells at the G(0)/G(1) phase with no adverse cell cycle arrest effects on HMEC normal control cells. It was concluded that AEA isolated from the Malaysian tropical ginger represents a potential chemotherapeutic agent against human breast cancer cells with higher cytotoxicity potency than its analogue, ACA.
  20. Anxiety of the mothers with referred baby during Universal Newborn Hearing Screening
    Mohd Khairi MD, Rafidah KN, Affizal A, Normastura AR, Suzana M, Normani ZM
    Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol, 2011 Apr;75(4):513-7.
    PMID: 21292333 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2011.01.009
    To investigate the anxiety among mothers whom their babies have failed test results in the first stage of Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening Program.
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links