METHOD: Active case detection was done on cases living quarters and workplaces. Patients were interviewed, and their blood and urine samples were sent for methanol analysis. Samples of suspected alcoholic beverages were also sent for analysis. A suspected case was defined as any person presented with clinical symptoms with a history of consuming alcoholic beverages within five days before symptoms and high anion gap metabolic acidosis. A confirmed case was defined as a suspected case with positive blood and urine methanol.
RESULTS: In total, there were 25 suspected cases, of which 12 cases were confirmed. The calculated attack rate was 48%. There were six mortalities (50%) secondary to severe metabolic acidosis. The most common presenting symptom was vomiting (75%) and abdominal pain (41.7%). These cases were linked to consumption of illicitly produced alcohol. Samples of the alcoholic drinks were positive containing high level of methanol.
CONCLUSION: The methanol outbreak in the Hulu Langat was successfully managed. Appropriate control and prevention measures were taken, including health promotion and joint enforcement activities. Steps were taken successfully through collaborations with multiple agencies and cooperation with Selangor Health Departments and the Ministry of Health. Continuous surveillance on the product of liquor, and health promotion are essential to prevent a similar outbreak from happening again in future.
Methodology: The leaves of all selected plants were extracted with methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate and butanol separately with simple cold maceration. Antioxidant activity of all crude extracts were quantitatively measured against DPPH and Ferric Reducing Assay. Antimicrobial evaluation was done by Microdilution and MTT assay and antipoliferative activity of all extracts of selected plant were evaluated against A549, HePG2 and MCF7 cell lines.
Results: Results showed that methanol extract exhibited highest percentage free radical scavenging activity of almost all extracts of selected plants. Antimicrobials results showed chloroform and methanol extracts of O. stamineus extract were the two most active extracts against resistant MRSA but not S. aureus. Only methanol extract of G. procumbens showed antimicrobial activity against the tested pathogens. Chloroform and methanol extracts of F. deltoidea elicited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus but not MRSA. Antiproliferative activity against three tested cell lines results showed that ethyl acetate extract of O. stamineus showed good effect whereas methanol extract of F. deltoidea and G. procumbens exhibited good antiproliferative activity.
Conclusions: The results of the present investigation demonstrated significant variations in the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative effects of different solvent extracts. These data could be helpful in isolation of pure potent compounds with good biological activities from the extracts of plants.
Materials and Methods: The authors prepared C. striatus extract in chloroform-methanol solvents. Next, the authors took subgingival microbiological samples from 16 cats that had periodontal disease. The authors determined the antibacterial properties of C. striatus extract against the isolated bacteria using the disk diffusion method and a broth microdilution-based resazurin microtiter assay. Finally, the authors used the Vero cell line to evaluate the cytotoxic activity, and they assessed the cell availability using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.
Results: The results showed weak antibacterial activity of C. striatus extract against Pseudomonas spp. and Escherichia coli. In addition, the authors found that minimum inhibition concentration values ranged between 400 and 500 mg/mL, and minimum bactericidal concentration values ranged between 650 and 550 mg/mL. However, the cytotoxic results were promising, showing that C. striatus extract increased the cell viability and growth when it was at a higher concentration. The extract also promotes growth and cell proliferation.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that C. striatus extract promoted cell proliferation in vitro and could be a plausible therapeutic wound healing alternative for periodontal disease in cats.