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Fulltext Effects of Gelam and Acacia honey acute administration on some biochemical parameters of Sprague Dawley rats

Samat S, Nor NA, Nor Hussein F, Ismail WI

BMC Complement Altern Med, 2014;14:146.
PMID: 24885010 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-146

Since ancient times, honey has been used for medicinal purposes in many cultures; it is one of the oldest and most enduring substances used in wound management. Scientific evidence for its efficacy is widely studied, but systemic safety studies are still lacking. It is essential to study the impact of consumption of honey on the health and proper development of the consumer. Therefore, the present study was designed to observe the effects of acute administration (14 days) of Gelam honey (GH), a wild harvesting honey and Acacia honey (AH), a beekeeping honey, on male and female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats.
Fulltext Combinatorial Cytotoxic Effects of Gelam Honey and 5-Fluorouracil against Human Adenocarcinoma Colon Cancer HT-29 Cells In Vitro

T-Johari SAT, Hashim F, Ismail WI, Ali AM

Int J Cell Biol, 2019;2019:3059687.
PMID: 30923553 DOI: 10.1155/2019/3059687

Combination of natural products with chemodrugs is becoming a trend in discovering new therapeutics approach for enhancing the cancer treatment process. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptosis induction of Gelam honey (GH) combined with or without 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) on HT-29 cells. The cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay to assess cytotoxicity. Morphological changes and apoptosis were determined by the inverted microscope, Annexin V-FITC, and DNA fragmentation via flow cytometric analysis, respectively. Our results demonstrate that combined treatment revealed a remarkable and concentration-dependent cytotoxic effect on HT-29 cells in comparison with GH and 5-FU alone. Flow cytometry analysis showed that early apoptosis event was more pronounced in combined treatment. In addition, compared to 5-FU alone, apoptosis of HT-29 cells treated with combinations of GH and 5-FU demonstrated increasing percentages of fragmented DNA. Our results suggest that GH has a synergistic cytotoxic effect with 5-FU in HT-29 cell lines in vitro. Although the actions of the molecular mechanisms are not yet clear, the results reveal that the combination of GH and 5-FU could have the potential as a therapeutic agent.
Fulltext Four-Week Consumption of Malaysian Honey Reduces Excess Weight Gain and Improves Obesity-Related Parameters in High Fat Diet Induced Obese Rats

Samat S, Kanyan Enchang F, Nor Hussein F, Wan Ismail WI

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2017;2017:1342150.
PMID: 28246535 DOI: 10.1155/2017/1342150

Many studies revealed the potential of honey consumption in controlling obesity. However, no study has been conducted using Malaysian honey. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of two local Malaysian honey types: Gelam and Acacia honey in reducing excess weight gain and other parameters related to obesity. The quality of both honey types was determined through physicochemical analysis and contents of phenolic and flavonoid. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were induced to become obese using high fat diet (HFD) prior to introduction with/without honey or orlistat for four weeks. Significant reductions in excess weight gain and adiposity index were observed in rats fed with Gelam honey compared to HFD rats. Moreover, levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol, plasma leptin and resistin, liver enzymes, renal function test, and relative organ weight in Gelam and Acacia honey treated groups were reduced significantly when compared to rats fed with HFD only. Similar results were also displayed in rats treated with orlistat, but with hepatotoxicity effects. In conclusion, consumption of honey can be used to control obesity by regulating lipid metabolism and appears to be more effective than orlistat.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) disclosure to health care providers: A qualitative insight from Malaysian thalassemia patients

Ismail WI, Ahmad Hassali MA, Farooqui M, Saleem F, Roslan MNF

Complement Ther Clin Pract, 2018 Nov;33:71-76.
PMID: 30396630 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.06.004

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study investigated the disclosure of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use to health care providers by Malaysian thalassemia patients.
METHODS: The semi-structured interviews were audio taped, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English.
RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified four themes: 1) reason for CAM disclosure, 2) attempt to disclose CAM, 3) withdrawal from CAM disclosure, and 4) non-disclosure of CAM use. The reason for patients' disclosure of CAM use to healthcare providers is because they wanted to find information about CAM and were afraid of the interaction between the conventional medicine and CAM. Patients also disclosed the use of CAM because they were not satisfied with the conventional medicine that had caused them harm.
CONCLUSION: Effective communication between patients and health care providers is important, especially for patients who are undergoing conventional thalassemia treatment, for fear that there is an interaction between conventional treatment and CAM use.
Fulltext Assessment of Mental Health and Quality of Life Status of Undergraduate Students in Indonesia during COVID-19 Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study

Karuniawati H, Sari N, Hossain MS, Ismail WI, Haq AHB, Yulianti T, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022 Sep 22;19(19).
PMID: 36231312 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912011

The COVID-19 pandemic globally impacted physical, spiritual, and mental health (MH). The consequences significantly affected students' quality of life (QoL) too. This cross-sectional study assessed MH status and its relationship to the QoL of college students in Indonesia. This study collected data (September 2021-April 2022) online using the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21) to measure MH and the world health organization quality-of-life scale (WHOQoL-BREF) to measure the QoL. The data were analysed using SPSS with a bivariate and multivariate linear regression test. A total of 606 respondents participated in this study, with the majority being women (81.0%), aged 21-27 years (44.3%), and unmarried (98.5%) respondents. We observed 24.4% (n = 148) moderate depression, 18.3% (n = 111) very severe anxiety, and 21.1% (n = 128) moderate stress status. The QoL measurement determined that a moderate QoL in the physical and environmental health domains (>70%) and poor QoL in the psychological health domain (58.3%) were found. Gender, age, family support, history of COVID-19 diagnosis, family with COVID-19 diagnosis, vaccination status, and physical symptoms are significantly associated with MH status and QoL (p-value < 0.05). This study demonstrated that COVID-19 was negatively related to college students' MH and QoL. Targeted interventions may be needed to ameliorate both MH and QoL.
Fulltext Polychaeta-mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles: A potential antibacterial agent against Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND)-causing bacteria, Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Abu Hassan MS, Elias NA, Hassan M, Rahmah S, Wan Ismail WI, Harun NA

Heliyon, 2023 Nov;9(11):e21663.
PMID: 37954386 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21663

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have emerged as a promising application in aquaculture. Their nano-sized dimensions, comparable to pathogens offer potential solutions for combating antibiotic resistance. In this study, AuNPs were synthesized by using polychaetes, Marphysa moribidii as the bio-reducing agent. Modifications were made to reduce agglomeration in green-synthesized AuNPs through ultrasonication. The antibacterial activities of AuNPs against V. parahaemolyticus were evaluated. The physicochemical characteristics of the green synthesized AuNPs were comprehensively investigated. The successful formation of AuNPs was confirmed by the appearance of a red ruby colour and the presence of surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peaks at 530 nm as observed from UV-vis spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed spherical-shaped AuNPs with some agglomerations. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed particle size of AuNPs ranging from 10 nm to 60 nm, meanwhile dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis indicated an average particle size of 24.36 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the high crystallinity of AuNPs, and no AuNPs were detected in the polychaetes extracts prior to synthesis. A brief ultrasonication significantly reduced the tendencies for AuNPs to coalesce. The green-synthesized AuNPs demonstrated a remarkable antibacterial efficacy against V. parahaemolyticus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests revealed that a concentration of 0.3 g/ml of AuNPs effectively inhibited V. parahaemolyticus. These findings highlighted the potential of green-synthesized AuNPs as antibacterial agents for the prevention and management of AHPND in aquaculture.
Fulltext Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Antibiotic Use among the Population of Boyolali, Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Karuniawati H, Hassali MAA, Suryawati S, Ismail WI, Taufik T, Hossain MS

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 Aug 04;18(16).
PMID: 34444015 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168258

Misuse and overuse of antibiotics are potential causes of the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance (ABR). Having information about the knowledge, attitude, and practices concerning antibiotics use by the public might help control ABR growth. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the levels and associated factors of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of antibiotics use among the public. A questionnaire was designed and validated, which consisted of a total of 51 questions with four sections: demographics (6), knowledge (20), attitude (12), and practice (13) to measure KAP. Univariate analysis (using Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis analysis) was applied to assess the differences in the mean scores of KAP. Linear regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with KAP. Finally, using Spearman analysis we have examined the correlation between responses to the KAP. The sample size of this study was 575, with a 99.96% response rate. Regarding knowledge, 73.12% of respondents stated that antibiotics could be used to treat viral infections, and 63.35% of respondents answered that antibiotics could reduce fever. Concerning attitude, 50% of respondents had considered stopping taking antibiotics as soon as symptoms had disappeared. In analyzing practice, we found 40% of respondents obtained antibiotics from a pharmacy without a prescription from a physician, a nurse, or a midwife. Statistical analysis revealed that KAP about antibiotic use was significantly associated with gender, area of residence, level of education, and monthly income (p < 0.05). Our findings concluded that men, respondents with low income, those with low-level education, and those living in rural areas are more prone to excessive use of antibiotics without knowing the adverse effects of improper use and how it can contribute to high ABR. So it is urgently necessary to strengthen policies on antibiotics use, including drug provision, distribution, and sales. In addition, people with low KAP should be a priority consideration in education outreach initiatives.
Fulltext Corrigendum to "Stevioside from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni Increases Insulin Sensitivity in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes"

Mohd-Radzman NH, Wan Ismail WI, Jaapar SS, Adam Z, Adam A

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2016;2016:2467420.
PMID: 27594889 DOI: 10.1155/2016/2467420

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2013/938081.].
Fulltext Stevioside from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni Increases Insulin Sensitivity in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

Mohd-Radzman NH, Ismail WI, Jaapar SS, Adam Z, Adam A

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013;2013:938081.
PMID: 24391675 DOI: 10.1155/2013/938081

Stevioside from Stevia rebaudiana has been reported to exert antihyperglycemic effects in both rat and human subjects. There have been few studies on these effects in vitro. In this paper, radioactive glucose uptake assay was implemented in order to assess improvements in insulin sensitivity in 3T3-L1 cells by elevation of glucose uptake following treatment with stevioside. Oil Red-O staining and MTT assay were utilized to confirm adipocyte differentiation and cell viability, respectively. Findings from this research showed a significant increase in absorbance values in mature adipocytes following Oil Red-O staining, confirming the differentiation process. Stevioside was noncytotoxic to 3T3-L1 cells as cell viability was reduced by a maximum of 17%, making it impossible to determine its IC50. Stevioside increased glucose uptake activities by 2.1 times (p < 0.001) in normal conditions and up to 4.4 times (p < 0.001) in insulin-resistant states. At times, this increase was higher than that seen in positive control group treated with rosiglitazone maleate, an antidiabetic agent. Expressions of pY20 and p-IRS1 which were measured via Western blot were improved by stevioside treatment. In conclusion, stevioside has direct effects on 3T3-L1 insulin sensitivity via increase in glucose uptake and enhanced expression of proteins involved in insulin-signalling pathway.
Fulltext Potential Roles of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni in Abrogating Insulin Resistance and Diabetes: A Review

Mohd-Radzman NH, Ismail WI, Adam Z, Jaapar SS, Adam A

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013;2013:718049.
PMID: 24324517 DOI: 10.1155/2013/718049

Insulin resistance is a key factor in metabolic disorders like hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, which are promoted by obesity and may later lead to Type II diabetes mellitus. In recent years, researchers have identified links between insulin resistance and many noncommunicable illnesses other than diabetes. Hence, studying insulin resistance is of particular importance in unravelling the pathways employed by such diseases. In this review, mechanisms involving free fatty acids, adipocytokines such as TNF α and PPAR γ and serine kinases like JNK and IKK β , asserted to be responsible in the development of insulin resistance, will be discussed. Suggested mechanisms for actions in normal and disrupted states were also visualised in several manually constructed diagrams to capture an overall view of the insulin-signalling pathway and its related components. The underlying constituents of medicinal significance found in the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant (among other plants that potentiate antihyperglycemic activities) were explored in further depth. Understanding these factors and their mechanisms may be essential for comprehending the progression of insulin resistance towards the development of diabetes mellitus.
Fulltext Tinospora crispa Ameliorates Insulin Resistance Induced by High Fat Diet in Wistar Rats

Abu MN, Samat S, Kamarapani N, Nor Hussein F, Wan Ismail WI, Hassan HF

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2015;2015:985042.
PMID: 25821506 DOI: 10.1155/2015/985042

The antidiabetic properties of Tinospora crispa, a local herb that has been used in traditional Malay medicine and rich in antioxidant, were explored based on obesity-linked insulin resistance condition. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups, namely, the normal control (NC) which received standard rodent diet, the high fat diet (HFD) which received high fat diet only, the high fat diet treated with T. crispa (HFDTC), and the high fat diet treated with orlistat (HFDO). After sixteen weeks of treatment, blood and organs were harvested for analyses. Results showed that T. crispa significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the body weight (41.14 ± 1.40%), adiposity index serum levels (4.910 ± 0.80%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST: 161 ± 4.71 U/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT: 100.95 ± 3.10 U/L), total cholesterol (TC: 18.55 ± 0.26 mmol/L), triglycerides (TG: 3.70 ± 0.11 mmol/L), blood glucose (8.50 ± 0.30 mmo/L), resistin (0.74 ± 0.20 ng/mL), and leptin (17.428 ± 1.50 ng/mL) hormones in HFDTC group. The insulin (1.65 ± 0.07 pg/mL) and C-peptide (136.48 pmol/L) hormones were slightly decreased but within normal range. The histological results showed unharmed and intact liver tissues in HFDTC group. As a conclusion, T. crispa ameliorates insulin resistance-associated with obesity in Wistar rats fed with high fat diet.
Automatic alkaloid removal system

Yahaya MR, Hj Razali MH, Abu Bakar CA, Ismail WI, Muda WM, Mat N, et al.

Pak J Biol Sci, 2014 Jan 01;17(1):141-5.
PMID: 24783795

This alkaloid automated removal machine was developed at Instrumentation Laboratory, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Malaysia that purposely for removing the alkaloid toxicity from Dioscorea hispida (DH) tuber. It is a poisonous plant where scientific study has shown that its tubers contain toxic alkaloid constituents, dioscorine. The tubers can only be consumed after it poisonous is removed. In this experiment, the tubers are needed to blend as powder form before inserting into machine basket. The user is need to push the START button on machine controller for switching the water pump ON by then creating turbulence wave of water in machine tank. The water will stop automatically by triggering the outlet solenoid valve. The powders of tubers are washed for 10 minutes while 1 liter of contaminated water due toxin mixture is flowing out. At this time, the controller will automatically triggered inlet solenoid valve and the new water will flow in machine tank until achieve the desire level that which determined by ultra sonic sensor. This process will repeated for 7 h and the positive result is achieved and shows it significant according to the several parameters of biological character ofpH, temperature, dissolve oxygen, turbidity, conductivity and fish survival rate or time. From that parameter, it also shows the positive result which is near or same with control water and assuming was made that the toxin is fully removed when the pH of DH powder is near with control water. For control water, the pH is about 5.3 while water from this experiment process is 6.0 and before run the machine the pH of contaminated water is about 3.8 which are too acid. This automated machine can save time for removing toxicity from DH compared with a traditional method while less observation of the user.
Hospital waiting time: the forgotten premise of healthcare service delivery?

Pillay DI, Ghazali RJ, Manaf NH, Abdullah AH, Bakar AA, Salikin F, et al.

Int J Health Care Qual Assur, 2011;24(7):506-22.
PMID: 22204085

This is a national study which aims to determine the average waiting time in Malaysian public hospitals and to gauge the level of patient satisfaction with the waiting time. It also aims to identify factors perceived by healthcare providers which contribute to the waiting time problem.
Gellan Gum Hydrogels Filled Edible Oil Microemulsion for Biomedical Materials: Phase Diagram, Mechanical Behavior, and In Vivo Studies

Muktar MZ, Bakar MAA, Amin KAM, Che Rose L, Wan Ismail WI, Razali MH, et al.

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Sep 26;13(19).
PMID: 34641095 DOI: 10.3390/polym13193281

The demand for wound care products, especially advanced and active wound care products is huge. In this study, gellan gum (GG) and virgin coconut oil (VCO) were utilized to develop microemulsion-based hydrogel for wound dressing materials. A ternary phase diagram was constructed to obtain an optimized ratio of VCO, water, and surfactant to produce VCO microemulsion. The VCO microemulsion was incorporated into gellan gum (GG) hydrogel (GVCO) and their chemical interaction, mechanical performance, physical properties, and thermal behavior were examined. The stress-at-break (σ) and Young's modulus (YM) of GVCO hydrogel films were increased along with thermal behavior with the inclusion of VCO microemulsion. The swelling degree of GVCO hydrogel decreased as the VCO microemulsion increased and the water vapor transmission rate of GVCO hydrogels was comparable to commercial dressing in the range of 332-391 g m-2 d-1. The qualitative antibacterial activities do not show any inhibition against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) bacteria. In vivo studies on Sprague-Dawley rats show the wound contraction of GVCO hydrogel is best (95 ± 2%) after the 14th day compared to a commercial dressing of Smith and Nephew Opsite post-op waterproof dressing, and this result is supported by the ultrasound images of wound skin and histological evaluation of the wound. The findings suggest that GVCO hydrogel has the potential to be developed as a biomedical material.
Fulltext Nanostructure Engineering via Intramolecular Construction of Carbon Nitride as Efficient Photocatalyst for CO2 Reduction

Sohail M, Altalhi T, Al-Sehemi AG, Taha TAM, S El-Nasser K, Al-Ghamdi AA, et al.

Nanomaterials (Basel), 2021 Nov 29;11(12).
PMID: 34947595 DOI: 10.3390/nano11123245

Light-driven heterogeneous photocatalysis has gained great significance for generating solar fuel; the challenging charge separation process and sluggish surface catalytic reactions significantly restrict the progress of solar energy conversion using a semiconductor photocatalyst. Herein, we propose a novel and feasible strategy to incorporate dihydroxy benzene (DHB) as a conjugated monomer within the framework of urea containing CN (CNU-DHBx) to tune the electronic conductivity and charge separation due to the aromaticity of the benzene ring, which acts as an electron-donating species. Systematic characterizations such as SPV, PL, XPS, DRS, and TRPL demonstrated that the incorporation of the DHB monomer greatly enhanced the photocatalytic CO2 reduction of CN due to the enhanced charge separation and modulation of the ionic mobility. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity of CNU-DHB15.0 in comparison with parental CN was 85 µmol/h for CO and 19.92 µmol/h of the H2 source. It can be attributed to the electron-hole pair separation and enhance the optical adsorption due to the presence of DHB. Furthermore, this remarkable modification affected the chemical composition, bandgap, and surface area, encouraging the controlled detachment of light-produced photons and making it the ideal choice for CO2 photoreduction. Our research findings potentially offer a solution for tuning complex charge separation and catalytic reactions in photocatalysis that could practically lead to the generation of artificial photocatalysts for efficient solar energy into chemical energy conversion.

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