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Fulltext Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) alleviates vascular dysfunction in angiotensin II-infused hypertensive mice by modulating oxidative stress and eNOS

Mohd Sabri NA, Lee SK, Murugan DD, Ling WC

Sci Rep, 2022 Oct 21;12(1):17633.
PMID: 36271015 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21107-5

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has been shown to have antihypertensive activity. However, the role of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in improving vascular function via modulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in hypertensive subjects is not well researched. Angiotensin II-infused hypertensive mice (8-10 weeks old) received EGCG (50 mg/kg/day) for 14 days via oral gavage. The arterial systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured using the tail-cuff method every three days. At the end of the treatment, the vascular reactivity of the isolated aortae was studied using wire myographs. The level of nitric oxide (NO), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and tetrahydrobiopterine (BH4) were determined using assay kits while the presence of proteins (NOS, p-eNOS and NOx-2) were determined using by Western blotting. In vivo treatment with EGCG for 14 days significantly attenuated the increase in SBP, alleviated the vascular dysfunction, increased the vascular cGMP and BH4 level as well as the expression of p-eNOS and decreased elevated ROS level and NOx-2 protein in angiotensin II-infused hypertensive mice. Collectively, treatment with EGCG in hypertensive mice exerts a blood pressure lowering effect which is partly attributed to the improvement in the vascular function due to its ability to reduce vascular oxidative stress in the aortic tissue leading to a decrease in eNOS uncoupling thus increasing NO bioavailability.
Fulltext Evaluation of HPV 16 and HPV 18 Oncoprotein Expression as Alternative Diagnostic Tools in Cervical Lesion

Sabri NA, Shamsuddin SH, Mat Zin AA

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2024 Feb 01;25(2):521-527.
PMID: 38415538 DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.2.521

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV16 and HPV18 expression in formalin - fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue in different grades of the cervical lesion and evaluate the potential use of E6 and E7 oncoproteins derived from HPV 16 and 18 as diagnostic protein biomarkers for triaging cervical lesions.
METHODOLOGY: A total of 102 FFPE cervical tissues were collected from 2 tertiary hospitals and immunohistochemical reactivity staining of E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV16 and HPV18 were evaluated using immunoreactive scoring (IRS) system and analysed statistically.
RESULT: The result showed an increased oncoprotein expression with the progression of cervical lesions. There is a statistically significant association between histology grade and HPV16/18-E6 expression (p = 0.028). However, there are no significant association of histological grade to HPV16-E7 immunoreactivity score (p = 0.264) and HPV18-E7 (p=0.080).
CONCLUSION: The immunohistochemical expression of HPV oncoproteins is a potential alternative diagnostic tool applicable in a low-resource laboratory setting. The advantage of the histochemical evaluation is that this method is simpler to apply and less expensive in comparison to in situ mRNA hybridization. Nevertheless, our study also found that antibodies against HPV that are commercially available suffer quite substantial specificity issues such as background staining and inconsistency between different batches. Hence, the utilization of antibody-based staining warrants stringent quality control.
Heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Cd, Ni) in aerosols emitted from electronic cigarettes sold in Malaysia

Ting CY, Ahmad Sabri NA, Tiong LL, Zailani H, Wong LP, Agha Mohammadi N, et al.

J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng, 2020;55(1):55-62.
PMID: 31530230 DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2019.1665950

While past studies have detected heavy metals in aerosols emitted from electronic cigarettes (ECIG), they have provided little information detailing the practical implications of the findings to the Malaysian population due to variations between products. The aims of this study were to analyse heavy metals of interest (HMOI) in the aerosols emitted from selected ECIG and to evaluate potential health risks by referring to the permissible daily exposure (PDE) from inhalational medications defined by the United States Pharmacopeia Chapter 232. All four HMOI were detected in aerosols emitted from the selected ECIG in Sarawak. Among the four, Cr was present at the highest median levels (6.86 ng/m3), followed by Ni (0.30 ng/m3), Pb (0.19 ng/m3) and Cd (0.01 ng/m3). Five out of 100 combinations (5%) of ECIG and ECIG liquids were found to emit Cr that exceed the recommended PDE. Future studies examining more heavy metal variants, using a larger sample size and different analytical techniques to compare various ECIGs are recommended.
Fulltext Sexual dysfunction in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome in Malaysia

Dashti S, Latiff LA, Hamid HA, Sani SM, Akhtari-Zavare M, Abu Bakar AS, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2016;17(8):3747-51.
PMID: 27644611

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a combination of chronic anovulation, obesity, and hyperandrogenism and can affect sexual function in women of reproductive age. It is also associated with endometrial cancer. Our aim was to evaluate the frequency and predisposing factors of sexual dysfunction in PCOS patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 16 married women with a definite diagnosis of PCOS were recruited. Sexual function was assessed in the domains of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain using the female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaire. Patients were also assessed for mental health using the depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21) questionnaire. Presence of hirsutism was assessed using the Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) scoring system. Demographic data were obtained from patients during in-person interview.

RESULTS: Sexual dysfunction was present in 62.5% of patients with the domains of arousal and lubrication particularly affected (93.8% and 87.5%, respectively). Patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety were significantly more likely to suffer sexual dysfunction than those without these symptoms (p=0.04 and p=0.03 respectively). Patients with stress symptoms reported higher orgasm dysfunction than those without (p=0.02). No significant difference in any of the FSFI score domains was observed between patients with and without hirsutism.

CONCLUSIONS: PCOS patients markedly suffer from sexual dysfunction and therefore it seems appropriate to be screened for intervention. Poor mental health conditions that may be the result of infertility or other complications of PCOS should also be considered as curable causes of sexual dysfunction in these patients.