Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 81 in total

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  1. Chan KB, Pakiam C, Rahim RA
    Bull Narc, 2005;57(1-2):249-56.
    PMID: 21338025
    Recently, the abuse of ketum, an indigenous psychoactive plant, has received a lot of attention in Malaysia. To help national law enforcement agencies control its abuse, the laboratory of the Forensic Division has developed a procedure for its positive identification. Botanical identification may not be practical or conclusive, owing to the wide range of ketum materials available on the market, including dry macerated leaves, powdered leaves and drinks. In order to confirm that a substance is, in fact, ketum or that a preparation is derived from ketum, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is used to definitively identify the presence of the psychoactive principle mnitragynine.
  2. Hassan Z, Purwati E, Radu S, Rahim RA, Rusul G
    PMID: 11556596
    Fermented fish and meat samples were purchased from supermarket and wet market for microbiological analysis of Listeria species and Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Listeria species were isolated from 17 (73.9%) of 23 samples of imported frozen beef, 10 (43.5%) of the 23 samples of local beef and 14 (56%) of the 25 samples of fermented fish from wet market. Listeria monocytogenes occurred in 15 (75%) of the frozen beef samples, 6 (30.4%) of the 23 samples of local meat and 3 (12%) of the 25 samples from fermented fish. Listeria species was not isolated from any of the 23 samples of imported frozen beef from supermarket and from the 5 samples of buffalo meat examined. This highlights the possibility of Listeria spp or L. monocytogenes to persist in meat and fermented fish in wet market and raises the problem of illness due to the handling and consumption of Listeria-contaminated meat or fermented fish are likely as evidence by the high contamination rates of samples sold at the wet market.
  3. Ahmad NH, Rahim RA, Mat I
    Trop Life Sci Res, 2010 Dec;21(2):101-13.
    PMID: 24575203
    Research on natural products has been widely used as a strategy to discover new drugs with potential for applications in complementary medicines because they have fewer side effects than conventional drugs. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic effects of crude aqueous Catharanthus roseus extract on Jurkat cells and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The aqueous extract was standardised to vinblastine by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and was used to determine cytotoxicity by the MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assay. DNA fragmentation assay was employed to determine if cell death was due to apoptosis. The results showed that the aqueous extract induced cell death of Jurkat cells at 24, 48 and 72 hours post-treatment in a time- and dose-dependent manner. However, cells treated at 48 and 72 hours produced higher cytotoxic effects with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 2.55 μg/ml and 2.38 μg/ml, respectively. In contrast, the extract induced normal PBMC proliferation, especially after 24 hours treatment with 1000 μg/ml. This result indicates that the C. roseus crude aqueous extract showed differential effects of inhibiting the proliferation of the Jurkat cell line and promoting the growth of PBMCs. These data suggest that the extract may be applicable for modulating the normal and transformed immune cells in leukaemia patients.
  4. Bayat O, Baradaran A, Ariff A, Mohamad R, Rahim RA
    Biotechnol Lett, 2014 Mar;36(3):581-5.
    PMID: 24185903 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-013-1390-4
    Human interferon alpha (IFN-α) was expressed in two strains of Lactococcus lactis by aid of two promoters (P32 and Pnis) giving rise to two recombinant strains: MG:IFN and NZ:IFN, respectively. The expression of IFN was confirmed by ELISA and western blotting. Highest production was achieved using glucose for growth of both recombinant strains with nisin, used for induction of the recombinant strain with Pnis promoter, at 30 ng/ml. The optimum time for MG:IFN was 9 h and for NZ:IFN was 4.5 h. The highest productions by MG:IFN and NZ:IFN were 1.9 and 2.4 μg IFN/l, respectively. Both of the expressed IFNs showed bioactivities of 1.9 × 10(6) IU/mg that were acceptable for further clinical studies.
  5. Lai ZW, Rahim RA, Ariff AB, Mohamad R
    J Biosci Bioeng, 2012 Sep;114(3):286-91.
    PMID: 22608992 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2012.04.011
    The potential use of n-dodecane and n-hexadecane as oxygen vectors for enhancing hyaluronic acid (HA) biosynthesis by Streptococcus zooepidemicus ATCC 39920 was investigated using a 2-L stirred-tank bioreactor equipped with helical ribbon or Rushton turbine impellers. The volumetric fraction of the oxygen vector influenced the gas-liquid volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (K(L)a) positively. Batch HA fermentation with 1% (v/v) n-dodecane or 0.5% (v/v) n-hexadecane addition was carried out at different impeller tip speeds. Even though cell growth was lower in the fermentation with oxygen vector addition, the HA productivity and molecular weight were higher when compared to the fermentation without oxygen vector at low impeller tip speed. The highest HA concentration (4.25 gHA/l) and molecular weight (1.54 × 10(7) Da) were obtained when 0.5% (v/v) n-hexadecane and 0.785 m/s impeller tip speed of helical ribbon were used.
  6. Zamri HF, Shamsudin MN, Rahim RA, Neela V
    Vaccine, 2012 May 2;30(21):3231-8.
    PMID: 22426330 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.02.012
    A gene associated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) transport was cloned from a local clinical Vibrio cholerae O1 strain of the Ogawa serotype by using the Lactococcus lactis nisin-controlled expression (NICE) system. The V. cholerae wzm gene, which codes for an integral membrane transporter protein, was expressed and targeted to the cytoplasmic membrane, and was crudely isolated through simple centrifugation and SDS solubilization. To examine seroreactivity of this construct, rabbits were orally fed with 10(9) cfu/ml of live, recombinant L. lactis carrying the wzm gene, induced with nisin prior to administration. Recombinant plasmids were retrieved from L. lactis cultured directly from stool samples of inoculated rabbits. Reverse-transcriptase PCR of wzm using the retrieved plasmids confirmed transcription of this gene, indicating viability and stability of the recombinants in vivo. The L. lactis-Wzm construct elicited substantial levels of IgG and sIgA, and challenge with virulent V. cholerae O1 evoked severe diarrhoea in the naive, non-immunised control group, but not in those fed with either recombinant or non-recombinant L. lactis. Oral administration with recombinant L. lactis expressing the V. cholerae wzm gene increases both systemic and mucosal immunity, whereas L. lactis itself appears capable of protecting against the diarrhoeal symptoms caused by V. cholerae. Wzm is a conserved membrane protein associated with the LPS endotoxin, and together with the food-grade L. lactis, represent an attractive target for the development of a safer, live anti-infective therapy against V. cholerae.
  7. Moeini H, Omar AR, Rahim RA, Yusoff K
    Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis, 2011 May;34(3):227-36.
    PMID: 21146874 DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2010.11.006
    In the present study, we describe the development of a DNA vaccine against chicken anemia virus. The VP1 and VP2 genes of CAV were amplified and cloned into pBudCE4.1 to construct two DNA vaccines, namely, pBudVP1 and pBudVP2-VP1. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that co-expression of VP1 with VP2 are required to induce significant levels of antibody against CAV. Subsequently, the vaccines were tested in 2-week-old SPF chickens. Chickens immunized with the DNA-plasmid pBudVP2-VP1 showed positive neutralizing antibody titer against CAV. Furthermore, VP1-specific proliferation induction of splenocytes and also high serum levels of Th1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-γ were detected in the pBudVP2-VP1-vaccinated chickens. These results suggest that the recombinant DNA plasmid co-expressing VP1 and VP2 can be used as a potential DNA vaccine against CAV.
  8. Moeini H, Omar AR, Rahim RA, Yusoff K
    Virol J, 2011;8:119.
    PMID: 21401953 DOI: 10.1186/1743-422X-8-119
    Studies have shown that the VP22 gene of Marek's Disease Virus type-1 (MDV-1) has the property of movement between cells from the original cell of expression into the neighboring cells. The ability to facilitate the spreading of the linked proteins was used to improve the potency of the constructed DNA vaccines against chicken anemia virus (CAV).
  9. Masarudin MJ, Yusoff K, Rahim RA, Hussein MZ
    Nanotechnology, 2009 Jan 28;20(4):045602.
    PMID: 19417322 DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/4/045602
    The delivery of a full plasmid, encoding the green fluorescent protein gene into African monkey kidney (Vero3) cells, was successfully achieved using nanobiocomposites based on layered double hydroxides. This demonstrated the potential of using the system as an alternative DNA delivery vector. Intercalation of the circular plasmid DNA, pEGFP-N2, into Mg/Al-NO(3)(-) layered double hydroxides (LDH) was accomplished through anion exchange routes to form the nanobiocomposite material. The host was previously synthesized at the Mg(2+) to Al(3+) molar ratio R(i) = 2 and subsequently intercalated with plasmid DNA. Size expansion of the interlamellae host from 8.8 A in LDH to 42 A was observed in the resulting nanobiocomposite, indicating stable hybridization of the plasmid DNA. The powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) results, supplemented with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, compositional and electrophoresis studies confirmed the encapsulation episode of the biomaterial. In order to elucidate the use of this resulting nanobiocomposite as a delivery vector, an MTT assay was performed to determine any cytotoxic effects of the host towards cells. The intercalated pEGFP-N2 anion was later successfully recovered through acidification with HNO(3) after treatment with DNA-degrading enzymes, thus also showing the ability of the LDH host to protect the intercalated biomaterial from degradation. Cell transfection studies on Vero3 cells were then performed, where cells transfected with the nanobiocomposite exhibited fluorescence as early as 12 h post-treatment compared to naked delivery of the plasmid itself.
  10. Rahmat MF, Isa MD, Rahim RA, Hussin TA
    Sensors (Basel), 2009;9(12):10291-308.
    PMID: 22303174 DOI: 10.3390/s91210291
    Electrical charge tomography (EChT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that is aimed to reconstruct the image of materials being conveyed based on data measured by an electrodynamics sensor installed around the pipe. Image reconstruction in electrical charge tomography is vital and has not been widely studied before. Three methods have been introduced before, namely the linear back projection method, the filtered back projection method and the least square method. These methods normally face ill-posed problems and their solutions are unstable and inaccurate. In order to ensure the stability and accuracy, a special solution should be applied to obtain a meaningful image reconstruction result. In this paper, a new image reconstruction method - Least squares with regularization (LSR) will be introduced to reconstruct the image of material in a gravity mode conveyor pipeline for electrical charge tomography. Numerical analysis results based on simulation data indicated that this algorithm efficiently overcomes the numerical instability. The results show that the accuracy of the reconstruction images obtained using the proposed algorithm was enhanced and similar to the image captured by a CCD Camera. As a result, an efficient method for electrical charge tomography image reconstruction has been introduced.
  11. Ho CL, Nguyen PD, Harikrishna JA, Rahim RA
    DNA Seq., 2008 Feb;19(1):73-7.
    PMID: 17852357
    The vacuolar-type H+ -ATPase (V-ATPase) is a multimeric enzyme with diverse functions in plants such as nutrient transport, flowering, stress tolerance, guard cell movement and development. A partial sequence of V-ATPase proteolipid was identified among the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) generated from Acanthus ebracteatus, and selected for full-length sequencing. The 876-nucleotide cDNA consists of an open reading frame of 165 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence displays high similarity (81%) with its homologs from Arabidopsis thaliana, Avecinnia marina and Gossypium hirsutum with the four transmembrane domains characteristics of the 16 kDa proteolipid subunit c of V-ATPase well conserved in this protein. Southern analysis revealed the existence of several members of proteolipid subunit c of V-ATPase in A. ebracteatus. The mRNA of this gene was detected in leaf, floral, stem and root tissues, however, the expression level was lower in stem and root tissues.
  12. Baradaran A, Yusoff K, Shafee N, Rahim RA
    J Cancer, 2016;7(4):462-6.
    PMID: 26918060 DOI: 10.7150/jca.13566
    The hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) with its immunotherapeutic activities and sialic acid binding abilities is a promising cancer adjuvant. The HN was surfaced displayed on Lactococcus lactis and its cancer targeting ability was investigated via attachment to the MDA-MB231 breast cancers. To surface display the HN protein on the bacterial cell wall, HN was fused to N-acetylmuraminidase (AcmA) anchoring motif of L. lactis and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The expressed recombinant fusion proteins were purified and mixed with a culture of L. lactis and Lactobacillus plantarum. Immunofluorescence assay showed the binding of the recombinant HN-AcmA protein on the surface of the bacterial cells. The bacterial cells carrying the HN-AcmA protein interacted with the MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells. Direct and fluorescent microscopy confirmed that L. lactis and Lb. plantarum surface displaying the recombinant HN were attached to the breast cancer MDA-MB231 cells, providing evidence for the potential ability of HN in targeting to cancer cells.
  13. Raja N, Shamsudin MN, Somarny W, Rosli R, Rahim RA, Radu S
    PMID: 11485069
    A total of 11 Vibrio cholerae isolates from 1996-1998 outbreaks in Malaysia and 4 V. alginolyticus were analyzed. Isolates were characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern hybridization for the presence of the gene encoding zonula occludens toxin (zot). Screening of zot gene by PCR revealed the presence of this gene in V. cholerae and V. alginolyticus. The zot gene from one V. cholerae Ogawa isolate that was cloned in a pCR 2.1 TOPO vector was sequenced. The sequences obtained were 99% homologous to the zot gene sequence from the Gene Bank.
  14. Moeini H, Rahim RA, Omar AR, Shafee N, Yusoff K
    Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2011 Apr;90(1):77-88.
    PMID: 21181148 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-010-3050-0
    The AcmA binding domains of Lactococcus lactis were used to display the VP1 protein of chicken anemia virus (CAV) on Lactobacillus acidophilus. One and two repeats of the cell wall binding domain of acmA gene were amplified from L. lactis MG1363 genome and then inserted into co-expression vector, pBudCE4.1. The VP1 gene of CAV was then fused to the acmA sequences and the VP2 gene was cloned into the second MCS of the same vector before transformation into Escherichia coli. The expressed recombinant proteins were purified using a His-tag affinity column and mixed with a culture of L. acidophilus. Whole cell ELISA and immunofluorescence assay showed the binding of the recombinant VP1 protein on the surface of the bacterial cells. The lactobacilli cells carrying the CAV VP1 protein were used to immunize specific pathogen-free chickens through the oral route. A moderate level of neutralizing antibody to CAV was detected in the serum of the immunized chickens. A VP1-specific proliferative response was observed in splenocytes of the chickens after oral immunization. The vaccinated groups also showed increased levels of Th1 cytokines interleukin (IL)-2, IL-12, and IFN-γ. These observations suggest that L. acidophilus can be used in the delivery of vaccines to chickens.
  15. Lim SH, Jahanshiri F, Rahim RA, Sekawi Z, Yusoff K
    Lett Appl Microbiol, 2010 Dec;51(6):658-64.
    PMID: 20973806 DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-765X.2010.02950.x
    A system for displaying heterologous respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) glycoproteins on the surface of Lactococcus lactis NZ9000 was developed.
  16. Hassan Z, Mustafa S, Rahim RA, Isa NM
    In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim, 2016 Mar;52(3):337-348.
    PMID: 26659392 DOI: 10.1007/s11626-015-9978-8
    Development of tumour that is resistant to chemotherapeutics and synthetic drugs, coupled with their life-threatening side effects and the adverse effects of surgery and hormone therapies, led to increased research on probiotics' anticancer potentials. The current study investigated the potential of live, heat-killed cells (HKC) and the cytoplasmic fractions (CF) of Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus hominis as anti-breast cancer agents. MCF-7 cell line was treated with 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL each of live, HKC and CF of the bacteria; and cytotoxicity was evaluated for 24, 48 and 72 h using MTT assay. The morphological features of the treated cells were examined by fluorescence microscopy. The stage of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were quantified by flow cytometry. The bacterial effect on non-malignant breast epithelial cell line, MCF-10A, was assessed using MTT assay for 24, 48 and 72 h. All the three forms of the bacteria caused a significant decrease in MCF-7 (up to 33.29%) cell proliferation in concentration- and time-dependent manner. Morphological features of apoptosis like cell death, cell shrinkage and membrane blebbing were observed. Flow cytometry analyses suggested that about 34.60% of treated MCF-7 was undergoing apoptosis. A strong anti-proliferative activity was efficiently induced through sub-G1 accumulation (up to 83.17%) in treated MCF-7 and decreased number in the G0/G1 phase (74.39%). MCF-10A cells treated with both bacteria showed no significant difference with the untreated (>90% viability). These bacteria can be used as good alternative nutraceutical with promising therapeutic indexes for breast cancer because of their non-cytotoxic effects to normal cells.
  17. Rahim RA, Thiam CK, Rahiman MH
    Sensors (Basel), 2008 Mar 27;8(4):2082-2103.
    PMID: 27879811
    The use of a personal computer together with a Data Acquisition System (DAQ) as the processing tool in optical tomography systems has been the norm ever since the beginning of process tomography. However, advancements in silicon fabrication technology allow nowadays the fabrication of powerful Digital Signal Processors (DSP) at a reasonable cost. This allows this technology to be used in an optical tomography system since data acquisition and processing can be performed within the DSP. Thus, the dependency on a personal computer and a DAQ to sample and process the external signals can be reduced or even eliminated. The DSP system was customized to control the data acquisition process of 16x16 optical sensor array, arranged in parallel beam projection. The data collected was used to reconstruct the cross sectional image of the pipeline conveyor. For image display purposes, the reconstructed image was sent to a personal computer via serial communication. This allows the use of a laptop to display the tomogram image besides performing any other offline analysis.
  18. Jacob PJ, Masarudin MJ, Hussein MZ, Rahim RA
    Microb Cell Fact, 2017 Oct 11;16(1):175.
    PMID: 29020992 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-017-0789-3
    BACKGROUND: Iron based ferromagnetic nanoparticles (IONP) have found a wide range of application in microelectronics, chemotherapeutic cell targeting, and as contrast enhancers in MRI. As such, the design of well-defined monodisperse IONPs is crucial to ensure effectiveness in these applications. Although these nanostructures are currently manufactured using chemical and physical processes, these methods are not environmentally conducive and weigh heavily on energy and outlays. Certain microorganisms have the innate ability to reduce metallic ions in aqueous solution and generate nano-sized IONP's with narrow size distribution. Harnessing this potential is a way forward in constructing microbial nanofactories, capable of churning out high yields of well-defined IONP's with physico-chemical characteristics on par with the synthetically produced ones.

    RESULTS: In this work, we report the molecular characterization of an actinomycetes, isolated from tropical freshwater wetlands sediments, that demonstrated rapid aerobic extracellular reduction of ferric ions to generate iron based nanoparticles. Characterization of these nanoparticles was carried out using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FESEM-EDX), Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscope (FETEM), Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) Spectrophotometer, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). This process was carried out at room temperature and humidity and under aerobic conditions and could be developed as an environmental friendly, cost effective bioprocess for the production of IONP's.

    CONCLUSION: While it is undeniable that iron reducing microorganisms confer a largely untapped resource as potent nanofactories, these bioprocesses are largely anaerobic and hampered by the low reaction rates, highly stringent microbial cultural conditions and polydispersed nanostructures. In this work, the novel isolate demonstrated rapid, aerobic reduction of ferric ions in its extracellular matrix, resulting in IONPs of relatively narrow size distribution which are easily extracted and purified without the need for convoluted procedures. It is therefore hoped that this isolate could be potentially developed as an effective nanofactory in the future.

  19. Senik NISA, Zon EM, Rahim RA, Sapiai NA
    Radiol Case Rep, 2023 Sep;18(9):3101-3104.
    PMID: 37404223 DOI: 10.1016/j.radcr.2023.06.016
    Acute abdomen is an emergent condition that requires immediate evaluation and prompt treatment. Pneumoperitoneum is defined as the presence of air or gas in the peritoneal cavity. There are various potential causes of pneumoperitoneum, as well as conditions that can mimic or pseudo pneumoperitoneum. We encountered a case of a 26-year-old woman who had a history of postexploratory laparotomy, left ovarian cystectomy, left ovarian reconstruction, right salpingooophorectomy, and infracolic omentectomy for bilateral mucinous cystadenoma and mature cystic teratoma. On the eighth day following her operation, she developed progressive abdominal distension.
  20. Hanim BS, Rahim RA, Mohd Salleh MF, Zakaria H, Abd Shukor N
    Malays J Pathol, 2023 Dec;45(3):463-471.
    PMID: 38155387
    INTRODUCTION: Chorioamnionitis is the inflammation of the placenta and is histologically defined as the presence of neutrophilic infiltration into the chorio-amnion membrane with and without involvement of the umbilical cord. Currently, the inflammatory mediators involved in the eliciting of inflammatory response is still largely under investigation. CD47 and CD36 are pro-inflammatory molecules that are still under investigation. The aim of this study was to determine the expressions of CD47 and CD36 in the placenta of mothers with chorioamnionitis.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study, involving a total of 100 cases that comprised of acute subchorionitis (stage I, n=20), acute chorioamnionitis (stage II, n=20), acute necrotising chorioamnionitis (stage III, n=20) and non-chorioamnionitis placenta as control (n=40). All tissue blocks were retrieved from the archived pathology record over a period of 4 years. CD36 and CD47 immunohistochemistry were performed on all cases and their expression in various cell types on the placenta were analysed.

    RESULTS: CD36 was expressed only on the foetal vascular endothelial cells. Interestingly, CD47 showed positive staining on the neutrophils and its expression was significantly different between maternal inflammatory response stage II chorioamnionitis (n=13/20, p<0.001) with stage I and stage III chorioamnionitis.

    DISCUSSION: Our study showed CD47 was expressed in the neutrophils and it was associated with poorer perinatal outcomes and it may have a role in the pathogenesis of chorioamnionitis.

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