METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 253 participants aged between 1 and 85 years. Stool samples were examined using Wheatley's trichrome stain after in-vitro cultivation in Jones' medium to detect the presence of Blastocystis. Information pertaining to the demography, socioeconomic and environment were collected using pre-validated questionnaires.
RESULTS: The total prevalence of Blastocystis infection was 40.7%. The multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age ≥15 years (OR = 2.72; 95% CI = 1.47-5.04) and presence of infected family members (OR = 8.56; 95% CI = 4.47-16.38) were the significant risk factors associated with blastocystosis in these communities.
CONCLUSIONS: Blastocystosis is revealed through this study to be still prevalent among Orang Asli communities in rural Malaysia. The two main approaches that should be implemented by the public health authority in battling this infection would be the screening of other family members and giving treatment to the infected individuals. Moreover, it is imperative for health education on good personal and food hygiene practices are provided in order to reduce the morbidity and transmission of Blastocystis infection among the Orang Asli in their communities meaningfully.
METHODS: In this study the nested multiplex malaria PCR was redesigned, targeting the 18S rRNA gene, to identify the fifth human Plasmodium species, Plasmodium knowlesi, together with the other human Plasmodium (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) by amplified fragment size using only two amplification processes and including an internal reaction control to avoid false negatives.
RESULTS: The technique was validated with 91 clinical samples obtained from patients with malaria compatible symptoms. The technique showed high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (96%) when it was compared to the reference method employed for malaria diagnosis in the Instituto de Salud Carlos Ⅲ and a published real-time PCR malaria assay.
CONCLUSIONS: The technique designed is an economical, sensitive and specific alternative to current diagnosis methods. Furthermore, the method might be tested in knowlesi-malaria endemic areas with a higher number of samples to confirm the quality of the method.
METHODS: We used the national data on annual reported cases, deaths, incidence rate, mortality rate, and case fatality rate of dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) as well as dengue virus serotypes prevalent in Malaysia during the last decade. Trend/ regression lines were fitted to investigate the trend of dengue incidences and deaths due to the disease for a 11-year period (2000-2010). For the distribution of national incidence rate, mortality rate, and case fatality rate of DF and DHF, descriptive statistics using mean and 95% confidence intervals (CI 39) for means, and range were applied.
RESULTS: The number of dengue cases and number of deaths have increased, on average, by 14% and 8% per year respectively. The average annual incidence rate of DF per 100 000 populations was higher as compared to that of DHF. Conversely, the yearly mean mortality rate of DHF per 100 000 populations was greater than that of DF. The simultaneous circulation of all four dengue serotypes has been found in Malaysia. But a particular dengue virus serotype predominates for at least two years before it becomes replaced by another serotype.
CONCLUSIONS: The dengue situation in Malaysia has worsened with an increasing number of reported cases and deaths during the last decade. The increasing trend of dengue highlights the need for a more systematic surveillance and reporting of the disease.
METHODS: The free radical scavenging activity of the L. siceraria (Molina) fruit extract was assayed by using α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,20-azinobis 3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonate (ABTS), FRAP, reducing power, chelating ability and β-carotene bleaching assay.
RESULTS: The IC(50) values of DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging activity was found to be 1.95 mg/mL and 19 mg/mL, respectively. In ferrous chelation assay, the percentage of inhibition was found to be 89.21%. The reducing power of ethanolic extract of L. siceraria (Molina) fruit was 0.068 at 1 mg/mL and increased to 0.192 at 5 mg/mL. The β-carotene linoleate bleaching assay was 46.7% at 5 mg/mL and antioxidant activity using FRAP at 0.305 for 1 mg/mL to 0.969 for 5 mg/mL.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that L. siceraria (Molina) fruit could be an important sources of natural radical scavengers.
METHODS: Two sub-adult Burmese pythons kept as pets for a period of about 6 to 7 months by different owners, were brought to an exotic animal practice for treatment. On a complete medical examination, some ticks and mites (acari) were detected beneath the dorsal and ventral scales along body length of the snakes. Ticks were directly identified and mites were mounted prior to identification.
RESULTS: A total of 12 ticks represented by 3 males, 2 females and 7 nymphal stages of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (R. sanguineus) were extracted from the first python while the other one was with 25 female Ophionyssus natricis (O. natricis) mesostigmatid mites. Only adult female mites were found. These mites are common ectoparasites of Burmese pythons.
CONCLUSIONS: Both the acarine species found on the Burmese pythons are known vectors of pathogens. This is the first record that R. sanguineus has been reported from a pet Burmese python in Malaysia.
METHODS: Galactagogue activity was evaluated in terms of quantity of milk produced from the rats treated with petroleum ether, ethanol or water extracts of the flower. Lactating rats (n = 5) of Spraque Dawley with six pups each were administered with the extracts in the amount of 500 mg/kg body weight, while the control rats were given an equivalent amount of distilled water. The rats were daily administered via oral feeding starting from Day 5 until Day 14 and the performance of milk production was measured along the experimental period by weight-suckle-weight method. Results were statistically analyzed using SPSS by means of ANOVA at 0.05 and was expressed as their mean?standard deviation. The rates of pups' growth were measured as the weight gain along the experimental period.
RESULTS: The rats treated with aqueous extract produced higher milk than control and ethanol groups. Aqueous extract was identified to increase milk production by 25%, while petroleum ether extract by 18%. The mean of yields produced by the rats during suckling period for aqueous, petroleum ether, ethanol and control were 4.62±2.45, 4.37±1.93, 3.65±1.89 and 3.69±1.79, respectively. Growth rates of pups for the rats treated with control, aqueous, ethanol extract and petroleum ether were (1.85±0.49), (1.78±0.56), (1.65±0.46) and (1.56±0.42) g/pup, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study reveals the potential of M. x paradisiaca flower to enhance milk production of nursing mothers which could be exploited for commercialization of the isolated extract.
METHODS: First, the essential oils were obtained using a Clevenger-type apparatus. Then, the essential oils compositions were identified by chromatography methods including GC-FID and GC-MS. For the next step, DPPH radical scavenging activity (RSA), β-carotene bleaching (BCB), and ferrous ion chelating ability (FIC) were chosen to evaluate the essential oils antioxidant activity. Finally, disc diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration method (MIC) was applied to investigate antimicrobial activity of the rhizomes and leaves oils of E. sayapensis against 18 microorganisms.
RESULTS: All of the oils contained oxygenated monoterpenes (leaves: 74.18%, stems: 75.60%, and rhizome: 54.61%), The essential oil obtained from leaves contained high amount of carvone (21.38%), cis-carveol (13.49%); The rhizomes oil was rich in linalool formate (25.47%), eugenol (11.84%); and the stems oil was dominated by α-terpineol (39.86%), linalool formate (30.55%). The leaves oil represented the highest ability in all of the antioxidant activity tests. For antimicrobial activity, the rhizome oil presented more active when compared to leaves oil against Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella sonnei, Serratia marcescens, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Candida albicans, and Candida parapsilosis.
CONCLUSIONS: The most components of the essential oils belong to oxygenated monoterpenes. Linalool formate, carvone, and α-terpineol are found as the most abundant compounds in the oils of the different parts of E. sayapensis. The rhizomes oil can prevent the growth of wide spectrum microorganisms; however, the oils are not highly potent in antioxidant assays.
METHODS: Acanthamoeba triangularis isolates were obtained from environmental water samples and identified by PCR. They were exposed to ethyl acetate, water and butanol fractions of L. japonica Thunb. at concentrations ranging from 0.5 mg/mL to 1.5 mg/mL. The extracts were evaluated for growth inhibition at 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. Chlorogenic acid at a concentration of 1 mg/mL was examined for inhibition of encystment.
RESULTS: Ethyl acetate fraction at a concentration of 1.5 mg/mL evoked a significant reduction of trophozoite viability by 48.9% after 24 h, 49.2% after 48 h and 33.7% after 72 h chlorogenic acid, the major active constituent of L. japonica Thunb. at the concentration of 1 mg/mL reduced the cysts/trophozoite ratio by 100% after 24 h, 84.0% after 48 h and 72.3% after 72 h. This phenolic compound at concentration of 1 mg/mL concurrent with 0.6% hydrogen peroxide inhibited hydrogen peroxide-induced encystment by 92.8% at 72 h.
CONCLUSIONS: Results obtained from this study show that ethyl acetate fraction at 1.5 mg/mL is the most potent fraction of L. japonica Thunb. and its major constituent chlorogenic acid showed the remarkable inhibition of encystment at a concentration of 1 mg/mL.
METHODS: These plants were collected, identified and the extracts were prepared by using conventional Soxhlet ethanol extraction technique. The venom neutralization activity was accessed in mice (20-25g) and number of mortalities was observed against clinically important snake (Naja nigricollis) venom. Present study also deals with in vitro membrane stabilizing activity of these plants against hyposaline induced human red blood corpuscles (HRBC).
RESULTS: Extracts of H. javanica and G. superba gave 80 % and 90 % protection to mice treated with minimum lethal dose of venom (LD(99)). These two plants showed significant neutralization effect against the venoms of Naja nigricollis venom. H. javanica and G. superba (25-100 mg/mL) produced significant changes of membrane stabilization of human red blood cells (HRBC) exposed to hyposaline-induced haemolysis.
CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that probably due to presence of various phytochemicals plays an important role in the anti-venom potential of these Indian medicinal plants against Naja nigricollis venom. The above observations confirmed that A. paniculata, C. magna, G. superba and H. javanica plant extracts possess potent snake venom neutralizing capacity and could potentially be used as an adjuvants for antivenin therapy in case of snakebite envenomation, especially against the local effects of cobra venoms.
METHODS: Peripheral blood, bone marrow and spleen aspirate samples were collected from clinically suspected VL patients (n = 26). A new PCR primer pair (MK1F/R) was designed targeting kinetoplast mini circle DNA sequences of Leishmania donovani, and Leishmania infantum, and was used to diagnose VL along with some other established primers for VL in polymerase chain reactions. Test was validated by comparing with several other diagnostic methods.
RESULTS: The designed primer set showed 100% specificity and 98% sensitivity in detecting VL using blood samples, when compared with more invasive samples: bone marrow or spleen aspirates.
CONCLUSIONS: The newly designed primer MK1F/R could be a better alternative for PCR based diagnosis of VL using less invasive sample, peripheral blood instead of bone marrow or spleen aspirates.
METHODS: Essential oils obtained by steam distillation were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was evaluated against four bacteria: Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa); and two fungi: Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Cyptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans), using disc-diffusion and broth microdilution methods.
RESULTS: Cycloisolongifolene, 8,9-dehydro formyl (35.29%) and dihydrocostunolide (22.51%) were the major compounds in C. aeruginosa oil; whereas caryophyllene oxide (18.71%) and caryophyllene (12.69%) were the major compounds in C. mangga oil; and 2,6,9,9-tetramethyl-2,6,10-cycloundecatrien-1-one (60.77%) and α-caryophyllene (23.92%) were abundant in Z. cassumunar oil. The essential oils displayed varying degrees of antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms. C. mangga oil had the highest and most broad-spectrum activity by inhibiting all microorganisms tested, with C. neoformans being the most sensitive microorganism by having the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values of 0.1 μL/mL. C. aeruginosa oil showed mild antimicrobial activity, whereas Z. cassumunar had very low or weak activity against the tested microorganisms.
CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary results suggest promising antimicrobial properties of C. mangga and C. aeruginosa, which may be useful for food preservation, pharmaceutical treatment and natural therapies.
METHODS: Kenaf seed oil (KSO), microencapsulated kenaf seed oil (MKSO), kenaf seed extract (KSE) and defatted kenaf seed meal (DKSM) were prepared and phytochemicals screening on these samples were done prior in vivo study. Phenolic compounds in KSE were quantified using high performance liquid chromatography. There were 40 (divided in eight diet groups of 5) male Sprague dawley rats adapted to normal standard diet or hypercholesterolemic diet (HD) with or without the treatment of these kenaf samples for 32 days.
RESULTS: All the kenaf samples exhibited to contain most of the major phytochemicals. KSE possessed gallic acid, tannic acid, catechin, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, syringic acid, sinapic acid, ferulic acid, naringin acid, and protocatechuic acid. The significant higher (P<0.05) serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and MDA levels in HD group without treatment than the normal control group suggested the hypercholesterolemia was induced by the incorporation of cholesterol into diet. KSE exhibited higher cholesterol-lowering properties due to the significant lower (P<0.05) in serum triglycerides, total cholesterol and MDA levels. KSE showed the highest efficiency of cholesterol-lowering activity, followed by KSO, MKSO and DKSM.
CONCLUSIONS: DKSM, MKSO, KSO and KSE appeared to have comparable anti-hypercholesterolemic effect with the commercial hypocholesterolemic drug. Hence, kenaf seed could be used as an alternative natural source to replace the synthetic hypocholesterolemic drugs.
METHODS: Antioxidative property of methanolic leaves extract of A. paniculata (0.06 mg/mL). Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by its ability to reduce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) toxicity against S. aureus ATCC 25923 [(3.8 × 108) cfu/mL]. Effects of the extract on expressions of katA (encoding catalase), sodA and sodM [encoding superoxide dismutases (SODs)], and ahpC [encoding alkylhydroperoxide reductase C (AhpC)] in S. aureus were determined by RT-qPCR and corresponding enzyme activity assays were performed. Nitroblue tetrazolium reduction (NBT) assay was performed to determine effects of the extract on intracellular and extracellular levels of O2- in S. aureus.
RESULTS: Cells challenged with 7.5 mmol/L H2O2 showed 0% survival in 30 min whereas 25% survived after treatment with the extract and H2O2. Cells that were treated with the extract alone had 43% survival in the same exposure period. Expressions of sodA and sodM genes in extract-treated cells were lowered 0.8-fold and 0.7-fold, respectively with decrease in total SOD activity of 26.8 U compared to untreated cells, 32.4 U (P
METHODS: The hepatoprotective efficacy of CBE (200 and 400 mg/kg) was investigated against CCl4 (4 mL/kg)-induced hepatotoxicity, elevated liver enzymes [ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)], and total protein (TP) contents in the serum. Moreover, CBE-aided antioxidant defense against hepatotoxic insult of CCl4 was measured by evaluating a number of anti-oxidative biomarkers including reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum by using spectrophotometric analyses.
RESULTS: Results showed that the exposure of experimental animals to CCl4 did induce significant hepatotoxicity compared to the non-induced (untreated) group. The oral administration of CBE demonstrated a significant dose-dependent alleviation in the liver enzymes (AST, ALT, and ALP), increased antioxidant defense (GSH, SOD, and CAT), and reduced MDA levels in the serum of treated animals compared to the animals without treatment. The resulting data showed that the administration of CBE decreased the serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP compared to the CCl4-induced group.
CONCLUSIONS: The resulting data evidenced that CBE exhibits promising hepatoprotective potential against the chemical induced hepatotoxicity, maintains homeostasis in liver enzymes, and can provide significant antioxidant defense against free radicals-induced oxidative stress.
METHODS: The dry powder leaves of Tetrastigma were extracted with different organic solvent such as hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, butanol and aqueous methanol. The total phenolic and total flavonoids contents of the essential oil and various organic extracts such as hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, butanol and aqueous ethanol were determined by Folin - Ciocalteu method and the assayed antioxidant activity was determined in vitro models such as antioxidant capacity by radical scavenging activity using α, α-diphenyl- β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method.
RESULTS: The total phenolic contents of the essential oil and different extracts as gallic acid equivalents were found to be highest in methanol extract (386.22 mg/g) followed by ethyl acetate (190.89 mg/g), chloroform (175.89 mg/g), hexane (173.44 mg/g), and butanol extract (131.72 mg/g) and the phenolic contents not detected in essential oil. The antioxidant capacity of the essential oil and different extracts as ascorbic acid standard was in the order of methanol extract > ethyl acetate extract >chloroform> butanol > hexane extract also the antioxidant activity was not detected in essential oil.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that the extent of antioxidant activity of the essential oil and all extracts are in accordance with the amount of phenolics present in that extract. Leaves of Tetrastigma being rich in phenolics may provide a good source of antioxidant.
METHODS: The dried leaves powder was extracted with methanol at room temperature by using Soxhlet extractor. Methanol crude extracts of M. borneensis were extrastel with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and butanol.
RESULTS: Qualitative analyses of various organic crude extracts showed that majority of these are flavonoids, terpeniods, alkaloids and glycosides. Most of the identified compounds by GC-MS are biologically important. Further the M. borneensis leaf possesses certain characteristics that can be ascribed to cultivation on a domestic plantation.
CONCLUSIONS: The suitable extracts for respective compounds can be chosen on the basis of above GC-MS analysis. All the major compounds from different extracts are biologically active molecules. Thus the identification of a good number of compounds from various extracts M. borneensis might have some ecological significance.
METHODS: The cytotoxic activity of the hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of Curcuma mangga rhizomes against human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines (HT29) was determined by using the SRB assay.
RESULTS: The ethyl acetate extract showed a higher cytotoxic effect compared to the hexane extract. Morphological changes of the HT29 cells such as cell shrinkage, membrane blebbling and formation of apoptotic bodies while changes in nuclear morphology like chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation were observed. Further evidence of apoptosis in HT29 cells was further supported by the externalization of phosphatidylserine which indicate early sign of apoptosis.
CONCLUSIONS: The early sign of apoptosis is consistent with the cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 checkpoint which suggests that the changes on the cell cycle lead to the induction of apoptosis in HT29.
METHODS: Two types of extractions were used; aqueous and lipid. Three doses of each A. dactylomelan extract, respectively; 50, 100, 200 mg/kg were administered (i.p.) to male mice for mounting behavior test. Sildenafil citrate or Viagra® (5 mg/kg) being positive control while negative control received saline solution.
RESULTS: The animals treated with lipid extract at the respective dose exhibited mounting behavior, but the mounting frequency decreased at higher doses (100 and 200 mg/kg). However, all doses of aqueous extract did not show any mounting behavior. Meanwhile, in all doses of lipid extracts administered displayed significant difference (P<0.05) from the positive control. Despite this, only the lipid extract of 50 mg/kg showed significant difference (P<0.05) with negative control. This signifies that lipid extracts especially in dose 50 mg/kg have a substantial effect of aphrodisiac property. In addition, the presence of steroids was detected in the phytochemical screening of lipid extract.
CONLUSIONS: The findings from this study provides preliminary scientific evidence that A. dactylomela could be used as an alternative medication of natural product for promoting sexual activity in men.
METHODS: Cytochrome P450 of Ae. aegypti was amplified using polymerase chain reaction, cloned and sequenced. Evolutionary relationship of the sequence was inferred and bioinformatics tools were used to predict subcellular localisation, signal peptide, transmembrane helix, phosphorylation, O-glycosylation, secondary and tertiary structures of the deduced protein.
RESULTS: Polymerase chain reaction rather amplified a cytochrome P450 pseudogene which was named CYP4H44P (GenBank accession number KF779932). The pseudogene has 1537 nucleotides and an open reading frame of 335 amino acids containing cytochrome P450 motifs except the WxxxR motif. It is highly homologous to CYP4H28 and CYP4H28v2. Phylogenetic analysis and evolutionary divergence showed strong clustering with CYP4H28 alleles and least divergence from the alleles respectively. The deduced protein was predicted to be found in the cytoplasm and likely to be phosphorylated but devoid of signal peptide, transmembrane helix and O-glycosylated sites. The secondary and tertiary structures were also generated.
CONCLUSIONS: A cytochrome P450 pseudogene, CYP4H44P was cloned from Ae. aegypti. The pseudogene is homologous with CYP4H28 alleles and seems to have recently diverged from this group. Isolating this pseudogene is an important step for evaluating its biological role in the mosquito and for the evolutionary analysis of Ae. aegypti CYPs.