Background: Human brain endothelial cells (HBECs) are part of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BBB acts as a barrier to control the passage of molecules or materials from the blood into the brain. Identification of specific proteins changes in their expressions that are related to disease state is important in order to understand the disease mechanism involving brain vasculature. To achieve that, the techniques involve in identifying the proteins of interest must be optimized prior to further investigation. Methodology: In this study, identification of Claudin-5 in HBEC lysates was tested using different sample preparation techniques such as; 1) reducing with Dithiothreitol (DTT) and non-reducing conditions; 2) denaturing by heating at 95°C for 5 minutes or 70°C for 20 minutes and 3) protein loading at 3 and 4 µg. The samples were then subjected to an automated capillary-based immunoassay, Jess. Results and Discussion: The results showed that HBEC samples loaded at 4 µg and heated for 5 minutes at 95°C with DTT produced clearer and intense bands for Claudin-5 identification compared to the other set ups. As reducing condition and denaturing by heated at 95°C for 5 minutes conditions demonstrated good results, the conditions were used to identify ICAM-1 expression at different protein loading (3 and 4 µg). The result demonstrated that HBEC samples heated for 5 minutes at 95°C with DTT and loaded at 4 µg produced a good detection for ICAM-1. Conclusion: These optimized conditions could be served as a standard procedure for further identification of Claudin-5 and ICAM-1 proteins in HBEC using a capillary immunoassay instrument.
Kajian ini dilakukan untuk menentukan prevalens jangkitan Trichomonas vaginalis, di kalangan wanita yang berumur 20 hingga 59 tahun di Hospital Umum Sarawak melalui pemeriksaan ke atas lumuran Pap lazim. Prevalens jangkitan ini dikaji di kalangan lima kumpulan etnik utama iaitu kaum Iban, Cina, Melayu, Bidayuh dan Orang Ulu. Penyaringan dijalankan pada lumuran Pap lazim ke atas 300 sampel slaid yang telah diproses dan dicelup menggunakan pencelup Papanicolaou. Berdasarkan maklumat pada borang permohonan penyaringan lumuran Pap, tanda dan gejala jangkitan diambil kira sebagai petunjuk penting semasa penyaringan kerana melalui tanda dan gejala jangkitan, lumuran Pap mempunyai hubungan yang rapat kepada ciri-ciri gambaran sitomorfologi jangkitan yang berlaku ke atas sel epitelial sekiranya ianya mengalami jangkitan. Kategori umur untuk setiap golongan etnik juga dijadikan sebagai salah satu faktor pengukur bagi menilai tahap kekerapan jangkitan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan trikomoniasis mencatatkan jangkitan sebanyak 7.7% kes. Jangkitan berlaku pada kesemua kumpulan etnik dan lebih kerap ditemui pada golongan umur 20 hingga 29 tahun. Kesemua kes turut menunjukkan tanda dan gejala jangkitan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan kepentingan menjalani ujian lumuran Pap sebagai ujian mengesan jangkitan Trikomonas vaginalis selain saringan awal pengesanan kanser serviks.
Acanthamoeba is a free living protozoa that can cause keratitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Physiological characteristics of this amoeba are found to have a medical importance in which it can be related to the pathogenicity potential of the organism. This study was carried out to investigate the physiological characteristics of survivability during axenization. Six Acanthamoeba strains from three clinical isolates (HSB 1, HKL 48 and HKL 95) and three environmental isolates (PHS 2, PHS 11 and PHS 15) were used in this study. Axenization test was done by treating cysts with hydrochloric acid (3%) and Page saline containing Gentamicin (100 μg/ml). Cysts were then cultured into PYG enrich media, incubated at 30oC and the presence and proliferation of trophozoites of Acanthamoeba were observed. This study showed that PHS 15, HSB 1, HKL 48 and HKL 95 could be axenized but they have poor proliferation rate in PYG enrich media. The result showed that the difference between both clinical and environmental isolates was observed in two strains; PHS 2 and PHS 11. This indicates that there is a possibility that the physiological traits of strains from both isolates are the same and strains from the environment are able to show the pathogenic potential and capable of causing infection to human.
Keywords: Axenization, Survivability, Acanthamoeba, Clinical and environmental strains
Acanthamoeba is a free living protozoa that can cause keratitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Physiological characteristics of this amoeba are found to have a medical importance in which it can be related to the pathogenicity potential of the organism. This study was carried out to investigate the physiological characteristics of survivability during axenization. Six Acanthamoeba strains from three clinical isolates (HSB 1, HKL 48 and HKL 95) and three environmental isolates (PHS 2, PHS 11 and PHS 15) were used in this study. Axenization test was done by treating cysts with hydrochloric acid (3%) and Page saline containing Gentamicin (100 µg/ml). Cysts were then cultured into PYG enrich media, incubated at 30oC and the presence and proliferation of trophozoites of Acanthamoeba were observed. This study showed that PHS 15, HSB 1, HKL 48 and HKL 95 could be axenized but they have poor proliferation rate in PYG enrich media. The result showed that the difference between both clinical and environmental isolates was observed in two strains; PHS 2 and PHS 11. This indicates that there is a possibility that the physiological traits of strains from both isolates are the same and strains from the environment are able to show the pathogenic potential and capable of causing infection to human.
Hypertension and estrogen deficiency in women have been identified as significant risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases. Hypertension causes excessive vascular stretch and contributes to the initiation of cellular injury in blood vessels while estrogen has been demonstrated to exert beneficial protective effects on the vascular system. Although the specific biological outcomes exerted by either excessive stretch or estrogen exposure are well established, the combined biochemical effects of both stimuli remain unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted for quantitative proteomics study on human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) subjected to 20% “pathological” cyclic stretch for a period of 18 hour in the presence or absence of 17β-estradiol by isobaric Taqs for Relative and Absolute Quantification. The results showed that only some proteins responded to 17β-estradiol (e.g., thioredoxin reductase-1), stretch (e.g., 14-3-3 protein epsilon or acidic leucine-rich nuclear phosphoprotein 32 family member B) and interestingly, some proteins returned to control pre-treatment levels when exposed to both (e.g., d-dopachrome decarboxylase, thrombospondin-1). In addition, HCMECs that exposed only to estrogen had a very similar proteomic profile (i.e., up-regulation of structural, cellular adhesion and proliferation proteins) as to those exposed to estrogen with 20% stretching for 18 hour, suggesting that estrogen ablated the detrimental effects by the stretch alone. These findings sheds light on the molecular mechanisms by which the cerebrovascular protective actions of estrogen on HCMEC exposed to pathological levels of cyclic stretch which could provide a platform for future research in therapeutic approach.
Motivation camp is one of the learning interventions to assist underperform students in improving their academic performances in term of GPA (Grade Point Average). An intervention study was carried out to know the effectiveness of a motivation camp in improving the academic performances among the biomedical science students at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Total of 44 respondents were involved in this study from year 2 and year 3 and had been categorized into control and intervention groups (n = 22 per group). The intervention group was given motivational talks followed by a group discussion and self-reflection. The students in the intervention group were also assigned with academicians to facilitate and guide them throughout the motivational camp. The students were interested in motivational talks activity the most. The average GPA showed a significant improvement after the motivation camp with 3.01 ± 0.30 (p < 0.05) for the intervention group. Yet, control group also displayed a significant increment in the average GPA, 3.24 ± 0.06 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, motivation camp is one of the many learning intervention tools that strategize to help students in improving their academic performances but it should be complemented with other intervention methods.
Background: Time management is one of the factors that may influence students’ academic performance in university. A cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the role of motivation camp programme towards time management among first-year undergraduate students of the Biomedical Science Programme, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) by using a questionnaire. Methods: A total of 32 students was categorized into group 1 and group 2 (n=16 per group), with group 1 is students who did not attend the motivational camp and group2 participated in the camp. Their academic performance in terms of Grade Point Average (GPA) was evaluated in semester 1 and 2 of the 2017/2018 session. A correlation test between total study hours and GPA in both semesters showed a weak correlation for group1 and group2. Independent T-test was also carried out to compare time management and GPA. Results: There is no significant difference between group1 and group2 in time planning; however, there is a significant difference (p