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Patient inaccessibility to antifungal drugs in developing nations: The case of Pakistan

Saleem A, Khan A, Ahmad A, Khan MU, Babar ZU

Res Social Adm Pharm, 2017 Nov;13(6):1218.
PMID: 28768574 DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.07.010
Fulltext Computational Analysis of Gynura bicolor Bioactive Compounds as Dipeptidyl Peptidase-IV Inhibitor

Rozano L, Abdullah Zawawi MR, Ahmad MA, Jaganath IB

Adv Bioinformatics, 2017;2017:5124165.
PMID: 28932239 DOI: 10.1155/2017/5124165

The inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPPIV) is a popular route for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Commercially available gliptin-based drugs such as sitagliptin, anagliptin, linagliptin, saxagliptin, and alogliptin were specifically developed as DPPIV inhibitors for diabetic patients. The use of Gynura bicolor in treating diabetes had been reported in various in vitro experiments. However, an understanding of the inhibitory actions of G. bicolor bioactive compounds on DPPIV is still lacking and this may provide crucial information for the development of more potent and natural sources of DPPIV inhibitors. Evaluation of G. bicolor bioactive compounds for potent DPPIV inhibitors was computationally conducted using Lead IT and iGEMDOCK software, and the best free-binding energy scores for G. bicolor bioactive compounds were evaluated in comparison with the commercial DPPIV inhibitors, sitagliptin, anagliptin, linagliptin, saxagliptin, and alogliptin. Drug-likeness and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) analysis were also performed. Based on molecular docking analysis, four of the identified bioactive compounds in G. bicolor, 3-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and trans-5-p-coumaroylquinic acid, resulted in lower free-binding energy scores when compared with two of the commercially available gliptin inhibitors. The results revealed that bioactive compounds in G. bicolor are potential natural inhibitors of DPPIV.
Bioactivity and Cell Compatibility of β-Wollastonite Derived from Rice Husk Ash and Limestone

Shamsudin R, Abdul Azam F', Abdul Hamid MA, Ismail H

Materials (Basel), 2017 Oct 17;10(10).
PMID: 29039743 DOI: 10.3390/ma10101188

The aim of this study was to prepare β-wollastonite using a green synthesis method (autoclaving technique) without organic solvents and to study its bioactivity. To prepare β-wollastonite, the precursor ratio of CaO:SiO₂ was set at 55:45. This mixture was autoclaved for 8 h and later sintered at 950 °C for 2 h. The chemical composition of the precursors was studied using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), in which rice husk ash consists of 89.5 wt % of SiO₂ in a cristobalite phase and calcined limestone contains 97.2 wt % of CaO. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns after sintering showed that only β-wollastonite was detected as the single phase. To study its bioactivity and degradation properties, β-wollastonite samples were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) for various periods of time. Throughout the soaking period, the molar ratio of Ca/P obtained was in the range of 1.19 to 2.24, and the phase detected was amorphous calcium phosphate, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX) and XRD. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated that the peaks of the calcium and phosphate ions increased when an amorphous calcium phosphate layer was formed on the surface of the β-wollastonite sample. A cell viability and proliferation assay test was performed on the rice husk ash, calcined limestone, and β-wollastonite samples by scanning electron microscope. For heavy metal element evaluation, a metal panel that included As, Cd, Pb, and Hg was selected, and both precursor and β-wollastonite fulfilled the requirement of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM F1538-03) standard specification. Apart from that, a degradation test showed that the loss of mass increased incrementally as a function of soaking period. These results showed that the β-wollastonite materials produced from rice husk ash and limestone possessed good bioactivity, offering potential for biomedical applications.
Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of employee empowerment

Choi SL, Goh CF, Adam MB, Tan OK

Hum Resour Health, 2016 Dec 01;14(1):73.
PMID: 27903294

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have revealed that nursing staff turnover remains a major problem in emerging economies. In particular, nursing staff turnover in Malaysia remains high due to a lack of job satisfaction. Despite a shortage of healthcare staff, the Malaysian government plans to create 181 000 new healthcare jobs by 2020 through the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). This study investigated the causal relationships among perceived transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction among nurses and medical assistants in two selected large private and public hospitals in Malaysia. This study also explored the mediating effect of empowerment between transformational leadership and job satisfaction.
METHODS: This study used a survey to collect data from 200 nursing staff, i.e., nurses and medical assistants, employed by a large private hospital and a public hospital in Malaysia. Respondents were asked to answer 5-point Likert scale questions regarding transformational leadership, employee empowerment, and job satisfaction. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the measurement models and to estimate parameters in a path model. Statistical analysis was performed to examine whether empowerment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction.
RESULTS: This analysis showed that empowerment mediated the effect of transformational leadership on the job satisfaction in nursing staff. Employee empowerment not only is indispensable for enhancing job satisfaction but also mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction among nursing staff.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this research contribute to the literature on job satisfaction in healthcare industries by enhancing the understanding of the influences of empowerment and transformational leadership on job satisfaction among nursing staff. This study offers important policy insight for healthcare managers who seek to increase job satisfaction among their nursing staff.
Fulltext Gadolinium-based layered double hydroxide and graphene oxide nano-carriers for magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery

Usman MS, Hussein MZ, Fakurazi S, Ahmad Saad FF

Chem Cent J, 2017 May 30;11(1):47.
PMID: 29086824 DOI: 10.1186/s13065-017-0275-3

Gadolinium (Gd)-based contrasts remain one of the most accepted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, which is among the world most recognized noninvasive techniques employed in clinical diagnosis of patients. At ionic state, Gd is considered toxic but less toxic in chelate form. A variety of nano-carriers, including gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanoparticles have been used by researchers to improve the T1 and T2 contrasts of MR images. Even more recently, a few researchers have tried to incorporate contrast agents simultaneously with therapeutic agents using single nano-carrier for theranostic applications. The benefit of this concept is to deliver the drugs, such as anticancer drugs and at the same time to observe what happens to the cancerous cells. The delivery of both agents occurs concurrently. In addition, the toxicity of the anticancer drugs as well as the contrast agents will be significantly reduced due to the presence of the nano-carriers. The use of graphene oxide (GO) and layered double hydroxides (LDH) as candidates for this purpose is the subject of current research, due to their low toxicity and biocompatibility, which have the capacity to be used in theranostic researches. We review here, some of the key features of LDH and GO for simultaneous drugs and diagnostic agents delivery systems for use in theranostics applications.
FPGA implementation of real-time SENSE reconstruction using pre-scan and Emaps sensitivities

Siddiqui MF, Reza AW, Shafique A, Omer H, Kanesan J

Magn Reson Imaging, 2017 12;44:82-91.
PMID: 28855113 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2017.08.005

Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE) is a widely used technique in Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to reduce scan time. Reconfigurable hardware based architecture for SENSE can potentially provide image reconstruction with much less computation time. Application specific hardware platform for SENSE may dramatically increase the power efficiency of the system and can decrease the execution time to obtain MR images. A new implementation of SENSE on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is presented in this study, which provides real-time SENSE reconstruction right on the receiver coil data acquisition system with no need to transfer the raw data to the MRI server, thereby minimizing the transmission noise and memory usage. The proposed SENSE architecture can reconstruct MR images using receiver coil sensitivity maps obtained using pre-scan and eigenvector (E-maps) methods. The results show that the proposed system consumes remarkably less computation time for SENSE reconstruction, i.e., 0.164ms @ 200MHz, while maintaining the quality of the reconstructed images with good mean SNR (29+ dB), less RMSE (<5×10-2) and comparable artefact power (<9×10-4) to conventional SENSE reconstruction. A comparison of the center line profiles of the reconstructed and reference images also indicates a good quality of the reconstructed images. Furthermore, the results indicate that the proposed architectural design can prove to be a significant tool for SENSE reconstruction in modern MRI scanners and its low power consumption feature can be remarkable for portable MRI scanners.
Magnetic graphene sol-gel hybrid as clean-up adsorbent for acrylamide analysis in food samples prior to GC-MS

Rashidi Nodeh H, Wan Ibrahim WA, Kamboh MA, Sanagi MM

Food Chem, 2018 Jan 15;239:208-216.
PMID: 28873561 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.06.094

Graphene (G) modified with magnetite (Fe3O4) and sol-gel hybrid tetraethoxysilane-methyltrimethoxysilane (TEOS-MTMOS) was used as a clean-up adsorbent in magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) for direct determination of acrylamide in various food samples prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Good linearity (R2=0.9990) was achieved for all samples using matrix-matched calibration. The limit of detection (LOD=3×SD/m) obtained was 0.061-2.89µgkg-1 for the studied food samples. Native acrylamide was found to be highest in fried potato with bright-fleshed (900.81µgkg-1) and lowest in toasted bread (5.02µgkg-1). High acrylamide relative recovery (RR=82.7-105.2%) of acrylamide was obtained for spiked (5 and 50µgkg-1) food samples. The Fe3O4@G-TEOS-MTMOS is reusable up to 7 times as a clean-up adsorbent with good recovery (>85%). The presence of native acrylamide was confirmed by mass analysis at m/z=71 ([C3H5NO]+) and m/z=55 ([C3H3O]+).
Fulltext Mass spectrometry data of metabolomics analysis of Nepenthes pitchers

Rosli MAF, Azizan KA, Baharum SN, Goh HH

Data Brief, 2017 Oct;14:295-297.
PMID: 28795107 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2017.07.068

Hybridisation plays a significant role in the evolution and diversification of plants. Hybridisation among Nepenthes species is extensive, either naturally or man-made. To investigate the effects of hybridisation on the chemical compositions, we carried out metabolomics study on pitcher tissue of Nepenthes ampullaria, Nepenthes rafflesiana and their hybrid, Nepenthes × hookeriana. Pitcher samples were harvested and extracted in methanol:chloroform:water via sonication-assisted extraction before analysed using LC-TOF-MS. MS data were analysed using XCMS online version 2.2.5. This is the first MS data report towards the profiling, identification and comprehensive comparison of metabolites present in Nepenthes species.
Strontium doped injectable bone cement for potential drug delivery applications

Taha A, Akram M, Jawad Z, Alshemary AZ, Hussain R

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl, 2017 Nov 01;80:93-101.
PMID: 28866230 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2017.05.117

Microwave assisted wet precipitation method was used to synthesize calcium deficient strontium doped β-tricalcium phosphate (Sr-βTCP) with a chemical formula of Ca2.96-xSrx(PO4)2. Sr-βTCP was reacted with monocalcium phosphate monohydrate [Ca(H2PO4)2.H2O, MCPM] in presence of water to furnish corresponding Sr containing brushite cement (Sr-Brc). The samples were characterized by using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Strontium content in the prepared samples was determined by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The effect of Sr2+ions on the structural, mechanical, setting properties and drug release of the cement is reported. Incorporation of Sr2+ions improved the injectability, setting time and mechanical properties of the Brc. The release profiles of antibiotics incorporated in Brc and Sr-Brc confirmed that the Sr incorporation into the Brc results in the efficient release of the antibiotics from the cement.
Devosia elaeis sp. nov., isolated from oil palm rhizospheric soil

Mohd Nor MN, Sabaratnam V, Tan GYA

Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2017 Apr;67(4):851-855.
PMID: 27902276 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.001683

A bacterial isolate, designated strain S37T, was isolated from the rhizosphere of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Strain S37T was found to be Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile and rod shaped. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain S37T was most closely related to Devosia albogilva IPL15T (97.3 %), Devosia chinhatensis IPL18T (96.8 %) and Devosia subaequoris HST3-14T (96.5 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 63.0 mol%, and dominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), 11-methyl C18 : 1ω7c and C16 : 0. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-10 (Q-10), and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid and phospholipids. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic data, it is clear that strain S37T represents a novel species of the genus Devosia within the family Hyphomicrobiaceae, for which we propose the name Devosia elaeis sp. nov., with strain S37T (=TBRC 5145T=LMG 29420T) as the type strain.
Fulltext Quality of Life in Children with Disorders of Sex Development

M Selveindran N, Syed Zakaria SZ, Jalaludin MY, Rasat R

Horm Res Paediatr, 2017;88(5):324-330.
PMID: 28965114 DOI: 10.1159/000478780

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Disorders of sex development (DSD) are a heterogeneous group of rare conditions. Evidence-based treatment is challenged by a lack of clinical longitudinal outcome studies. We sought to investigate the quality of life of children with DSD other than congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
METHODS: The participants (aged 6-18 years) were 23 patients raised as males and 7 patients raised as females. Control data were obtained from representatives of the patients' siblings matched for age and gender. The Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM Version 4.0 (PedsQL) Generic Core Scales were used as the study tool.
RESULTS: In comparison with the reference data, the patient group had significantly lower overall PedsQL (p < 0.01) and school functioning (p < 0.01) scores. Also, the total PedsQL score was significantly lower in patients with DSD who were of female social sex as compared to the controls who were females. Family income, surgical procedures, degree of virilization, and mode of puberty did not influence the PedsQL scores.
CONCLUSION: This study revealed a poorer quality of life for patients with DSD as compared to the age-matched control group. This highlights the need for a skilled multidisciplinary team to manage this group of patients.
Surface modification of valve metals using plasma electrolytic oxidation for antibacterial applications: A review

Rizwan M, Alias R, Zaidi UZ, Mahmoodian R, Hamdi M

J Biomed Mater Res A, 2018 02;106(2):590-605.
PMID: 28975693 DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.36259

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is an advance technique to develop porous oxidation layer on light metals, primarily to enhance corrosion and wear resistance. The oxidation layer can also offer a wide variety of mechanical, biomedical, tribological, and antibacterial properties through the incorporation of several ions and particles. Due to the increasing need of antimicrobial surfaces for biomedical implants, antibacterial PEO coatings have been developed through the incorporation of antibacterial agents. Metallic nanoparticles that have been employed most widely as antibacterial agents are reported to demonstrate serious health and environmental threats. To overcome the current limitations of these coatings, there is a significant need to develop antibacterial surfaces that are not harmful for patient's health and environment. Attention of the readers has been directed to utilize bioactive glasses as antibacterial agents for PEO coatings. Bioactive glasses are well known for their excellent bioactivity, biocompatibility, and antibacterial character. PEO coatings incorporated with bioactive glasses can provide environment-friendly antimicrobial surfaces with exceptional bioactivity, biocompatibility, and osseointegration. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 590-605, 2018.
Comparative ultrastructural hepatic alterations induced by free and liposome-encapsulated mefenamic acid

Jarrar QB, Hakim MN, Cheema MS, Zakaria ZA

Ultrastruct Pathol, 2017 8 23;41(5):335-345.
PMID: 28829237 DOI: 10.1080/01913123.2017.1349850

Mefenamic acid (MFA) is used as an anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antipyretic agent for treatment of a wide range of pathological disorders. While the uncertainty of its safety and the poor oral bioavailability constitute the major limiting factors of its medical use, considerable efforts including liposomal encapsulation are needed to achieve maximum therapeutic advantages. The current work was conducted to investigate the ultrastructural alterations in the liver induced by free MFA and its liposomal preparation. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with daily oral doses of either free MFA or MFA entrapped in Tween 80 inoculated liposomes at the concentration of 80 mg/kg for 28 days. Ultrathin sections were prepared from biopsies taken from the liver of each member of all animals under study and subjected to examination by transmission electron microscopy. The liver of rats that were exposed to liposomal MFA showed more ultrastructural alterations than the rats treated with the free drug. While both groups of rats demonstrated sinusoidal dilatation, Kupffer cell hyperplasia, mitochondrial damage, and nuclear alterations, rats treated with liposome-encapsulated MFA induced an increase in the multiple lysosomes formation, hepatocytic steatosis, and apoptotic activity than free MFA-treated rats. The ultrastructural findings of the present study indicate that the use of liposomal MFA induces more hepatic damage than the use of free MFA.
Finite element analysis of the wrist in stroke patients: the effects of hand grip

Ramlee MH, Beng GK, Bajuri N, Abdul Kadir MR

Med Biol Eng Comput, 2018 Jul;56(7):1161-1171.
PMID: 29209961 DOI: 10.1007/s11517-017-1762-3

The provision of the most suitable rehabilitation treatment for stroke patient remains an ongoing challenge for clinicians. Fully understanding the pathomechanics of the upper limb will allow doctors to assist patients with physiotherapy treatment that will aid in full arm recovery. A biomechanical study was therefore conducted using the finite element (FE) method. A three-dimensional (3D) model of the human wrist was reconstructed using computed tomography (CT)-scanned images. A stroke model was constructed based on pathological problems, i.e. bone density reductions, cartilage wane, and spasticity. The cartilages were reconstructed as per the articulation shapes in the joint, while the ligaments were modelled using linear links. The hand grip condition was mimicked, and the resulting biomechanical characteristics of the stroke and healthy models were compared. Due to the lower thickness of the cartilages, the stroke model reported a higher contact pressure (305 MPa), specifically at the MC1-trapezium. Contrarily, a healthy model reported a contact pressure of 228 MPa. In the context of wrist extension and displacement, the stroke model (0.68° and 5.54 mm, respectively) reported a lower magnitude than the healthy model (0.98° and 9.43 mm, respectively), which agrees with previously reported works. It was therefore concluded that clinicians should take extra care in rehabilitation treatment of wrist movement in order to prevent the occurrence of other complications. Graphical abstract ᅟ.
Oxindole based oxadiazole hybrid analogs: Novel α-glucosidase inhibitors

Taha M, Imran S, Rahim F, Wadood A, Khan KM

Bioorg Chem, 2018 02;76:273-280.
PMID: 29223804 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2017.12.001

Inhibition of α-glucosidase is an effective strategy for controlling post-prandial hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. Beside these α-glucosidase inhibitors has been also used as anti-obesity and anti-viral drugs. Keeping in view the greater importance of α-glucosidase inhibitors here in this study we are presenting oxindole based oxadiazoles hybrid analogs (1-20) synthesis, characterized by different spectroscopic techniques including 1H NMR and EI-MS and their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. All compounds were found potent inhibitors for the enzyme with IC50 values ranging between 1.25 ± 0.05 and 268.36 ± 4.22 µM when compared with the standard drug acarbose having IC50 value 895.09 ± 2.04 µM. Our study identifies novel series of potent α-glucosidase inhibitors and further investigation on this may led to the lead compounds. A structure activity relationship has been established for all compounds. The interactions of the active compounds and enzyme active site were established with the help of molecular docking studies.
Exploring Promising Immunomodulatory Potential of Natural and Synthetic 1,3-Diphenyl-2-propen-1-one Analogs: A Review of Mechanistic Insight

Safdar MH, Hasan H, Afzal S, Hussain Z

Mini Rev Med Chem, 2018;18(12):1047-1063.
PMID: 29173165 DOI: 10.2174/1389557517666171123212039

The immune system is an intricate and coordinated nexus serving as a natural defense to preclude internal and external pathogenic insults. The deregulation in the natural balance of immunological functions as a consequence of either over expression or under expression of immune cells tends to cause disruption of homeostasis in the body and may lead to development of numerous immune system disorders. Chalcone moieties (1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-one) have been well-documented as ideal lead compounds or precursors to design a wide range of pharmacologically active agents to down-regulate various immune disorders. Owing to their unique structural and molecular framework, these α, β-unsaturated carbonyl-based moieties have also gained remarkable recognition due to their other multifarious pharmacological properties including antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, antibacterial, anti-tuberculosis, and anticancer potential. Though a great number of methodologies are currently being employed for their synthesis, this review mainly focuses on the natural and synthetic chalcone derivatives that are exclusively synthesized via Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction and their immunomodulatory prospects. We have critically reviewed the literature and provided convincing evidence for the promising efficacy of chalcone derivatives to modulate functioning of various innate and adaptive immune players including granulocytes, mast cells, monocytes, macrophages, platelets, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and T-lymphocytes.
Fulltext Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Malaysia: "Where are we now?"

Raihan R, Mohamed R, Radzi Abu Hassan M, Md Said R

Euroasian J Hepatogastroenterol, 2017 Jan-Jun;7(1):65-67.
PMID: 29201775 DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1214

Malaysia is a country where an estimated 1 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and an estimated 2.5% of the adult population are positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV). Effective nationwide vaccine coverage seems to be a highly effective measure to prevent new HBV infection. Treatment of HCV infection is also a regular practice in Malaysia. These measures highlight the possibility to reach the World Health Organization elimination target by 2030. To achieve this target, the Health Ministry and other nongovernmental organizations, such as My Commitment to Cure (MyC2C) are working together to develop a strategic road map to reach the global elimination target in Malaysia by 2030. How to cite this article: Raihan R, Mohamed R, Hasan MRA, Rosaida MS. Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Malaysia: "Where are we now?" Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2017;7(1):65-67.
Seroprevalence of lymphatic filariasis among migrant workers in Peninsular Malaysia

Noordin R, Mohd Zain SN, Yunus MH, Sahimin N

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 2017 08 01;111(8):370-372.
PMID: 29206992 DOI: 10.1093/trstmh/trx062

Background: Malaysia aims to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) by the year 2020, thus the potential threat of LF from migrant workers needs to be investigated.
Methods: Brugian and bancroftian filariasis among 484 migrant workers from six countries were investigated using rapid tests based on detection of specific IgG4 antibodies against BmR1 (Brugia Rapid) and BmSXP recombinant antigens.
Results: The seroprevalence of brugian filariasis was very low; however, bancroftian filariasis was notable among workers from India, Nepal and Myanmar.
Conclusion: Malaysia is not endemic for Wuchereria bancrofti, but harbors the vectors for the parasite, thus the results showed that migrant workers should be monitored for this infection.
Fulltext Improved In Vivo Efficacy of Anti-Hypertensive Biopeptides Encapsulated in Chitosan Nanoparticles Fabricated by Ionotropic Gelation on Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Auwal SM, Zarei M, Tan CP, Basri M, Saari N

Nanomaterials (Basel), 2017 Dec 02;7(12).
PMID: 29207480 DOI: 10.3390/nano7120421

Recent biotechnological advances in the food industry have led to the enzymatic production of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory biopeptides with a strong blood pressure lowering effect from different food proteins. However, the safe oral administration of biopeptides is impeded by their enzymatic degradation due to gastrointestinal digestion. Consequently, nanoparticle (NP)-based delivery systems are used to overcome these gastrointestinal barriers to maintain the improved bioavailability and efficacy of the encapsulated biopeptides. In the present study, the ACE-inhibitory biopeptides were generated from stone fish (Actinopyga lecanora) protein using bromelain and stabilized by their encapsulation in chitosan (chit) nanoparticles (NPs). The nanoparticles were characterized for in vitro physicochemical properties and their antihypertensive effect was then evaluated on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The results of a physicochemical characterization showed a small particle size of 162.70 nm, a polydispersity index (pdi) value of 0.28, a zeta potential of 48.78 mV, a high encapsulation efficiency of 75.36%, a high melting temperature of 146.78 °C and an in vitro sustained release of the biopeptides. The results of the in vivo efficacy indicated a dose-dependent blood pressure lowering effect of the biopeptide-loaded nanoparticles that was significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared with the un-encapsulated biopeptides. Moreover, the results of a morphological examination using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated the nanoparticles as homogenous and spherical. Thus, the ACE-inhibitory biopeptides stabilized by chitosan nanoparticles can effectively reduce blood pressure for an extended period of time in hypertensive individuals.
Fulltext Pilot study to investigate the feasibility of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify older Malaysian people at risk of falls

Romli MH, Mackenzie L, Lovarini M, Tan MP

BMJ Open, 2016 08 16;6(8):e012048.
PMID: 27531736 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012048

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between home hazards and falls in older Malaysian people is not yet fully understood. No tools to evaluate the Malaysian home environment currently exist. Therefore, this study aimed to pilot the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify hazards in Malaysian homes, to evaluate the feasibility of using the HOME FAST in the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study and to gather preliminary data about the experience of falls among a small sample of Malaysian older people.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted.
SETTING: An urban setting in Kuala Lumpur.
PARTICIPANTS: 26 older people aged 60 and over were recruited from the control group of a related research project in Malaysia, in addition to older people known to the researchers.
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The HOME FAST was applied with the baseline survey for the MELoR study via a face-to-face interview and observation of the home by research staff.
RESULTS: The majority of the participants were female, of Malay or Chinese ethnicity and living with others in a double-storeyed house. Falls were reported in the previous year by 19% and 80% of falls occurred at home. Gender and fear of falling had the strongest associations with home hazards. Most hazards were detected in the bathroom area. A small number of errors were detected in the HOME FAST ratings by researchers.
CONCLUSIONS: The HOME FAST is feasible as a research and clinical tool for the Malaysian context and is appropriate for use in the MELoR study. Home hazards were prevalent in the homes of older people and further research with the larger MELoR sample is needed to confirm the validity of using the HOME FAST in Malaysia. Training in the use of the HOME FAST is needed to ensure accurate use by researchers.

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