Displaying publications 61 - 72 of 72 in total

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  1. Tajul Arifin K, Sulaiman S, Md Saad S, Ahmad Damanhuri H, Wan Ngah WZ, Mohd Yusof YA
    BMC Cancer, 2017 12 21;17(1):879.
    PMID: 29268718 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-017-3883-3
    BACKGROUND: Chlorella vulgaris (ChV), a unicellular green algae has been reported to have anticancer and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to determine the chemopreventive effect of ChV on liver cancer induced rats by determining the level and expression of several liver tumour markers.

    METHODS: Male Wistar rats (200-250 g) were divided into 4 groups according to the diet given: control group (normal diet), ChV group with three different doses (50, 150 and 300 mg/kg body weight), liver cancer- induced group (choline deficient diet + 0.1% ethionine in drinking water or CDE group), and the treatment group (CDE group treated with three different doses of ChV). Rats were killed at 0, 4, 8 and 12 weeks of experiment and blood and tissue samples were taken from all groups for the determination of tumour markers expression alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), M2-pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) and specific antigen for oval cells (OV-6).

    RESULTS: Serum level of TGF-β increased significantly (p < 0.05) in CDE rats. However, ChV at all doses managed to decrease (p < 0.05) its levels to control values. Expressions of liver tumour markers AFP, TGF-β, M2-PK and OV-6 were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in tissues of CDE rats when compared to control showing an increased number of cancer cells during hepatocarcinogenesis. ChV at all doses reduced their expressions significantly (p < 0.05).

    CONCLUSIONS: Chlorella vulgaris has chemopreventive effect by downregulating the expression of tumour markers M2-PK, OV-6, AFP and TGF-β, in HCC-induced rats.

  2. Tan JK, Then SM, Mazlan M, Raja Abdul Rahman RN, Jamal R, Wan Ngah WZ
    J Nutr Biochem, 2016 May;31:28-37.
    PMID: 27133421 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.12.019
    Bcl-2 family proteins are crucial regulators of apoptosis. Both pro- and antiapoptotic members exist, and overexpression of the latter facilitates evasion of apoptosis in many cancer types. Bcl-2 homology domain 3 (BH3) mimetics are small molecule inhibitors of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members, and these inhibitors are promising anticancer agents. In this study, we report that gamma-tocotrienol (γT3), an isomer of vitamin E, can inhibit Bcl-2 to induce apoptosis. We demonstrate that γT3 induces cell death in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells by depolarising the mitochondrial membrane potential, enabling release of cytochrome c to the cytosol and increasing the activities of caspases-9 and -3. Treatment of cells with inhibitors of Bax or caspase-9 attenuated the cell death induced by γT3. Simulated docking analysis suggested that γT3 binds at the hydrophobic groove of Bcl-2, while a binding assay showed that γT3 competed with a fluorescent probe to bind at the hydrophobic groove. Our data suggest that γT3 mimics the action of BH3-only protein by binding to the hydrophobic groove of Bcl-2 and inducing apoptosis via the intrinsic pathway in a Bax- and caspase-9-dependent manner.
  3. Tan JK, Zakaria SNA, Gunasekaran G, Abdul Sani NF, Nasaruddin ML, Jaafar F, et al.
    Oxid Med Cell Longev, 2023;2023:4416410.
    PMID: 36785791 DOI: 10.1155/2023/4416410
    Aging is a complex process characterized by progressive loss of functional abilities due to the accumulation of molecular damages. Metabolomics could offer novel insights into the predictors and mechanisms of aging. This cross-sectional study is aimed at identifying age-associated plasma metabolome in a Malay population. A total of 146 (90 females) healthy participants aged 28-69 were selected for the study. Untargeted metabolomics profiling was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Association analysis was based on the general linear model. Gender-associated metabolites were adjusted for age, while age-associated metabolites were adjusted for gender or analyzed in a gender-stratified manner. Gender-associated metabolites such as 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid, carnitine, cortisol, and testosterone sulfate showed higher levels in males than females. Deoxycholic acid and hippuric acid were among the metabolites with a positive association with age after being adjusted for gender, while 9(E),11(E)-conjugated linoleic acid, cortisol, and nicotinamide were negatively associated with age. In gender-stratified analysis, glutamine was one of the common metabolites that showed a direct association with age in both genders, while metabolites such as 11-deoxy prostaglandin F2β, guanosine monophosphate, and testosterone sulfate were inversely associated with age in males and females. This study reveals several age-associated metabolites in Malays that could reflect the changes in metabolisms during aging and may be used to discern the risk of geriatric syndromes and disorders later. Further studies are required to determine the interplay between these metabolites and environmental factors on the functional outcomes during aging.
  4. Tan TL, Ahmad NS, Nasuruddin DN, Ithnin A, Tajul Arifin K, Zaini IZ, et al.
    PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0152065.
    PMID: 27003588 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152065
    INTRODUCTION: Early diagnosis of sepsis and bacterial infection is imperative as treatment relies on early antibiotic administration. There is a need to develop new biomarkers to detect patients with sepsis and bacterial infection as early as possible, thereby enabling prompt antibiotic treatment and improving the survival rate.

    METHODS: Fifty-one adult patients with suspected bacterial sepsis on admission to the Emergency Department (ED) of a teaching hospital were included into the study. All relevant cultures and serology tests were performed. Serum levels for Group II Secretory Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) and CD64 were subsequently analyzed.

    RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Sepsis was confirmed in 42 patients from a total of 51 recruited subjects. Twenty-one patients had culture-confirmed bacterial infections. Both biomarkers were shown to be good in distinguishing sepsis from non-sepsis groups. CD64 and sPLA2-IIA also demonstrated a strong correlation with early sepsis diagnosis in adults. The area under the curve (AUC) of both Receiver Operating Characteristic curves showed that sPLA2-IIA was better than CD64 (AUC = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83-0.97 and AUC = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.82-0.99, respectively). The optimum cutoff value was 2.13μg/l for sPLA2-IIA (sensitivity = 91%, specificity = 78%) and 45 antigen bound cell (abc) for CD64 (sensitivity = 81%, specificity = 89%). In diagnosing bacterial infections, sPLA2-IIA showed superiority over CD64 (AUC = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.85-0.96, and AUC = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.93-1.00, respectively). The optimum cutoff value for bacterial infection was 5.63μg/l for sPLA2-IIA (sensitivity = 94%, specificity = 94%) and 46abc for CD64 (sensitivity = 94%, specificity = 83%).

    CONCLUSIONS: sPLA2-IIA showed superior performance in sepsis and bacterial infection diagnosis compared to CD64. sPLA2-IIA appears to be an excellent biomarker for sepsis screening and for diagnosing bacterial infections, whereas CD64 could be used for screening bacterial infections. Both biomarkers either alone or in combination with other markers may assist in decision making for early antimicrobial administration. We recommend incorporating sPLA2-IIA and CD64 into the diagnostic algorithm of sepsis in ED.

  5. Then SM, Sanfeliu C, Top GM, Wan Ngah WZ, Mazlan M
    PMID: 22217149 DOI: 10.1186/1743-7075-9-1
    Down syndrome (DS) neurons are more susceptible to oxidative stress and previous studies have shown that vitamin E was able to reduce oxidative stress and improve DS neurons' viability. Therefore, this study was done to investigate the protective role of γ-tocotrienol (γT3) in DS neurons from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) -induced oxidative stress. The pro-apoptosis tendency of γT3 was compared to α-tocopherol (αT) in non-stress condition as well.
  6. Then SM, Mazlan M, Mat Top G, Wan Ngah WZ
    Cell Mol Neurobiol, 2009 Jun;29(4):485-96.
    PMID: 19172392 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-008-9340-8
    Besides acting as potent free radical scavengers, tocopherols and tocotrienols have been known to have non-antioxidant properties such as the involvement of alpha-tocopherol (alphaT) in PKC pathway and the anti-cancer properties of gamma-tocotrienol (gammaT3). This study aims to elucidate whether protective effects shown by alphaT and gammaT3 in H(2)O(2)-induced neuron cultures have anti-apoptotic or pro-apoptotic tendency toward the initiation of neuronal apoptosis. H(2)O(2) is used to induce apoptosis in primary cerebellar neuron cultures which is attenuated by pretreatment of alphaT or gammaT3 at concentrations < or =10 microM. Similar to our previous work, gammaT3 was found to be neurotoxic at concentrations > or =100 microM, whereas alphaT showed no neurotoxicity. Cellular uptake of gammaT3 was higher than that of alphaT. Treating cells simultaneously with either gammaT3 or alphaT and with then H(2)O(2) led to higher expression of Bax and Bcl-2 than in neurons exposed to H(2)O(2) alone. Analysis of Bcl-2/Bax ratio as 'survival index' showed that both pretreatment of gammaT3 and alphaT followed by H(2)O(2) increase the 'survival index' of Bcl-2/Bax ratio compared to H(2)O(2)-treated cells, while treatment of gammaT3 alone decrease the ratio compared to unchanged Bcl2/Bax ratio of similar treatment with alphaT alone. Similar treatment of gammaT3 decreased p53 expression and activates p38 MAPK phosphorylation, whereas alphaT did not alter its expression compared to H(2)O(2)-treated cells. Treating neurons with only gammaT3 or alphaT increased the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, p53, and p38 MAPK compared to control with gammaT3 exerting stronger expression for proteins involved than alphaT. In conclusion, low doses of gammaT3 and alphaT confer neuroprotection to H(2)O(2)-treated neurons via their antioxidant mechanism but gammaT3 has stronger pro-apoptosis tendency than alphaT by activating molecules involved in the neuronal apoptotic pathway in the absence of H(2)O(2).
  7. Wan Hasan WN, Kwak MK, Makpol S, Wan Ngah WZ, Mohd Yusof YA
    PMID: 24559113 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-72
    Nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45 related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a primary transcription factor, protecting cells from oxidative stress by regulating a number of antioxidants and phase II detoxifying enzymes. Dietary components such as sulforaphane in broccoli and quercetin in onions have been shown to be inducers of Nrf2. Piper betle (PB) grows well in tropical climate and the leaves are used in a number of traditional remedies for the treatment of stomach ailments and infections among Asians. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of Piper betle (PB) leaves extract in Nrf2 signaling pathway by using 2 types of cells; mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from wild-type (WT) and Nrf2 knockout (N0) mice.
  8. Wan Nasri WN, Makpol S, Mazlan M, Tooyama I, Wan Ngah WZ, Damanhuri HA
    J Alzheimers Dis, 2019;70(s1):S239-S254.
    PMID: 30507571 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180496
    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of memory and other cognitive abilities. AD is associated with aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) deposited in the hippocampal brain region. Our previous work has shown that tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) supplementation was able to attenuate the blood oxidative status, improve behavior, and reduce fibrillary-type Aβ deposition in the hippocampus of an AD mouse model. In the present study, we investigate the effect of 6 months of TRF supplementation on transcriptome profile in the hippocampus of APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice. TRF supplementation can alleviate AD conditions by modulating several important genes in AD. Moreover, TRF supplementation attenuated the affected biological process and pathways that were upregulated in the AD mouse model. Our findings indicate that TRF supplementation can modulate hippocampal gene expression as well as biological processes that can potentially delay the progression of AD.
  9. Wee LH, Morad NA, Aan GJ, Makpol S, Wan Ngah WZ, Mohd Yusof YA
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2015;16(15):6549-56.
    PMID: 26434873
    The PI3K-Akt-mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin and apoptosis signaling pathways have been shown to be involved in genesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to elucidate whether combination of Gelam honey and ginger might have chemopreventive properties in HT29 colon cancer cells by modulating the mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin and apoptosis signaling pathways. Treatment with Gelam honey and ginger reduced the viability of the HT29 cells dose dependently with IC50 values of 88 mg/ml and 2.15 mg/ml respectively, their while the combined treatment of 2 mg/ml of ginger with 31 mg/ml of Gelam honey inhibited growth of most HT29 cells. Gelam honey, ginger and combination induced apoptosis in a dose dependent manner with the combined treatment exhibiting the highest apoptosis rate. The combined treatment downregulated the gene expressions of Akt, mTOR, Raptor, Rictor, β-catenin, Gsk3β, Tcf4 and cyclin D1 while cytochrome C and caspase 3 genes were shown to be upregulated. In conclusion, the combination of Gelam honey and ginger may serve as a potential therapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer through inhibiton of mTOR, Wnt/β catenin signaling pathways and induction of apoptosis pathway.
  10. Yusof HM, Ab-Rahim S, Wan Ngah WZ, Nathan S, A Jamal AR, Mazlan M
    Bioimpacts, 2021;11(2):147-156.
    PMID: 33842285 DOI: 10.34172/bi.2021.22
    Introduction: Metabolomic studies on various colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines have improved our understanding of the biochemical events underlying the disease. However, the metabolic profile dynamics associated with different stages of CRC progression is still lacking. Such information can provide further insights into the pathophysiology and progression of the disease that will prove useful in identifying specific targets for drug designing and therapeutics. Thus, our study aims to characterize the metabolite profiles in the established cell lines corresponding to different stages of CRC. Methods: Metabolite profiling of normal colon cell lines (CCD 841 CoN) and CRC cell lines corresponding to different stages, i.e., SW 1116 (stage A), HT 29 and SW 480 (stage B), HCT 15 and DLD-1 (stage C), and HCT 116 (stage D), was carried out using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Mass Profiler Professional and Metaboanalyst 4.0 software were used for statistical and pathway analysis. METLIN database was used for the identification of metabolites. Results: We identified 72 differential metabolites compared between CRC cell lines of all the stages and normal colon cells. Principle component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis score plot were used to segregate normal and CRC cells, as well as CRC cells in different stages of the disease. Variable importance in projection score identified unique differential metabolites in CRC cells of the different stages. We identified 7 differential metabolites unique to stage A, 3 in stage B, 5 in stage C, and 5 in stage D. Conclusion: This study highlights the differential metabolite profiling in CRC cell lines corresponding to different stages. The identification of the differential metabolites in CRC cells at individual stages will lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of CRC development and progression and, hence, its application in treatment strategies.
  11. Yusof KM, Makpol S, Fen LS, Jamal R, Wan Ngah WZ
    J Nat Med, 2019 Sep;73(4):745-760.
    PMID: 31177355 DOI: 10.1007/s11418-019-01323-6
    Our previous study reported that combined treatment of γ-tocotrienol with 6-gingerol showed promising anticancer effects by synergistically inhibiting proliferation of human colorectal cancer cell lines. This study aimed to identify and elucidate molecular mechanisms involved in the suppression of SW837 colorectal cancer cells modulated by combined treatment of γ-tocotrienol and 6-gingerol. Total RNA from both untreated and treated cells was prepared for transcriptome analysis using RNA sequencing techniques. We performed high-throughput sequencing at approximately 30-60 million coverage on both untreated and 6G + γT3-treated cells. The results showed that cancer-specific differential gene expression occurred and functional enrichment pathway analysis suggested that more than one pathway was modulated in 6G + γT3-treated cells. Combined treatment with 6G + γT3 augmented its chemotherapeutic effect by interfering with the cell cycle process, downregulating the Wnt signalling pathway and inducing apoptosis mainly through caspase-independent programmed cell death through mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of ER-UPR, disruption of DNA repair mechanisms and inactivation of the cell cycle process through the downregulation of main genes in proliferation such as FOXM1 and its downstream genes. The combined treatment exerted its cytotoxic effect through upregulation of genes in stress response activation and cytostatic effects demonstrated by downregulation of main regulator genes in the cell cycle. Selected genes involved in particular pathways including ATF6, DDIT3, GADD34, FOXM1, CDK1 and p21 displayed concordant patterns of gene expression between RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR. This study provides new insights into combined treatment with bioactive compounds not only in terms of its pleiotropic effects that enhance multiple pathways but also specific target genes that could be exploited for therapeutic purposes, especially in suppressing cancer cell growth.
  12. Zailan N, Abdul Rashid AH, Das S, Abdul Mokti NA, Hassan Basri J, Teoh SL, et al.
    Clin Ter, 2010;161(6):515-21.
    PMID: 21181079
    Chlorella vulgaris (CV) is a green microalgae enriched with nutrients, vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll. The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential wound healing effects of CV as a dressing while comparing it to sodium alginate dressing.
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