Diabetes melitus telah terbukti mengganggu penghasilan testosteron dan menyebabkan masalah libido dalam kalangan
lelaki. Sehingga kini, tiada kajian mengenai potensi Lunasia amara dalam membaiki aktiviti seksual tikus jantan teraruh
diabetes. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti potensi afrodisiak L. amara ke atas tikus jantan teraruh
diabetes. Empat kumpulan tikus teraruh diabetes masing-masing diberi perlakuan ekstrak L. amara (250 dan 500 mg/
kg berat tubuh), 500 mg/kg metformin dan air suling. Tikus kumpulan kawalan normal tanpa aruhan diabetes menerima
perlakuan air suling. Perlakuan diberikan secara suap paksa selama 30 hari untuk melihat kesan L. amara ke atas status
libido, aras testosteron serum, berat tubuh tikus, morfometri testis dan epididimis kauda serta aktiviti enzim antioksida
testis tikus teraruh diabetes berbanding kawalan. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan berlaku penurunan libido, aras
testosteron dan aktiviti khusus enzim antioksida (glutation peroksidase, katalase dan superoksida dismutase) testis tikus
teraruh diabetes secara signifikan (p<0.05) pada kedua-dua dos tersebut berbanding kawalan normal. Sementara itu,
perlakuan L. amara didapati tidak menjejaskan morfometri testis, epididimis kauda dan berat tubuh tikus yang menerima
perlakuan L. amara berbanding kawalan normal. Kajian ini membuktikan bahawa ekstrak akuas batang L. amara pada
dos 250 dan 500 mg/kg berat tubuh tidak berupaya memperbaiki aktiviti seksual tikus jantan teraruh diabetes.
Vinegar is a liquid product that undergoes both alcoholic and acetous fermentation of sugar (carbohydrate) sources. Soursop (Annona muricata) is easily available in Malaysia throughout the year. However, it is also highly perishable and has a short shelf-life. Therefore, in this research, soursop was used in the production of vinegar, to increase its utilisation and reduce wastage. The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of fermentation time and pH on soursop vinegar using a 3 × 5 factorial design and to determine its chemical compositions. It was found that pH and fermentation time showed significant (p<0.05) effects on the reduction of sugar content and the production of acetic acid, while only fermentation time showed a significant effect on the production of ethanol. The interaction between factors did not exhibit any statistical significance (p>0.05). It was evident that the sugar concentration reduces over time and it was inversely proportional to the ethanol and acetic acid concentrations, due to the conversion of sugar to ethanol and subsequently acetic acid. It was found that higher pH (pH5.5) gave significantly (p<0.05) higher acetic acid production in the vinegar, while pH has no significant (p>0.05) effect on ethanol production. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in vitamin C content in all vinegar samples. Thus, it can be established that at fermentation time of 120 h and pH5.5, more sugar was used and more ethanol and acetic acid were produced.
ABSTRACTS FOR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCES CONFERENCE 2019 (IHMSC 2019). Accelerating Innovations in Translational and Precision Medicine. Held at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. 8-9th March, 2019
Introduction: According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2015, 47.7% of the Malaysian population are either obese or overweight. The increased obesity prevalence has caused major health problems including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Although several anti-obesity drugs have been developed, they are limited due to adverse side effects. Previous studies demonstrated that xanthorrhizol (XNT) reduced the levels of serum free fatty acid and triglyceride in vivo, but the detailed anti-obesity activities and its related mechanisms are yet to be reported. Thus, this study aims to evaluate its abilities to inhibit adipocyte hyperplasia and hypertrophy employing 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
Methods: Statistical significance was established by one-way ANOVA, where p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: In this study, the IC50 value of XNT (98.3% purity) from Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was 35 ± 0.24 μg/mL. The loss of cell viability was due to 20.01 ± 2.77% of early apoptosis and 24.13 ± 2.03% of late apoptosis. XNT elicited apoptosis via up-regulation of caspase-3 and cleaved PARP-1 protein expression for 4.09-fold and 3.12-fold, respectively. Moreover, XNT decreased adipocyte differentiation for 36.13 ± 3.64% and reduced GPDH activity to 52.26 ± 4.36%. The underlying mechanism was due to impaired expression of PPARγ to 0.36-fold and FAS to 0.38-fold, respectively. On the other hand, XNT increased glycerol release by 45.37 ± 6.08% compared to control. During lipolysis, XNT up-regulated the leptin protein for 2.08-fold but down-regulated the protein level of insulin to 0.36-fold. These results indicated that XNT reduced the volume of adipocytes through modulation of leptin and insulin.
Conclusion: To conclude, XNT exerted its anti-obesity mechanisms by suppression of adipocyte hyperplasia through induction of apoptosis and inhibition of adipogenesis whilst reduction of adipocyte hypertrophy through stimulation of lipolysis. Thus, XNT could be developed as a potential anti-obesity agent in the future.
Fermentation has been long used as a method to produce beverage of various health benefits. In this research, ripe papaya
(Carica papaya) was fermented through alcoholic fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, followed by acetous
fermentation using Acetobacter spp. from mother of vinegar, to reduce wastage of this highly perishable Malaysian
fruit. The papaya juice was pasteurised prior to the fermentation process. Optimisation of acetous fermentation was
carried out using the response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite rotatable design (CCRD). Acetous
fermentation time had shown significant effect on all the chemical characteristics while mother of vinegar concentration
did not significantly effect on all the chemical characteristics. The vinegar-like fermented papaya beverage which was
produced at the optimum point (Fermentation time = 70.80 h and concentration = 40% mother of vinegar) contained
0.37 ± 0.01% reducing sugar, 3.54 ± 0.36% ethanol, 2.46 ± 0.07% acetic acid, 327.89 ± 3.60 mg GAE/ L total phenolic,
2.32 ± 0.17 mg/100 mL ascorbic acid and 52.40 ± 0.23% mg AA/100 mL free-radical scavenging activity. In conclusion,
vinegar-like fermented papaya beverage was successfully produced and its chemical compositions changed from papaya
juice to wine and vinegar-like beverage with increased bioactive compounds and antioxidative activity.
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a prevailing vertebrate model for developmental biology studies due to its ease of care, rapid embryogenesis stages development and translucent embryos. In this studies, ATM Kinase and MRN complex role as DNA damage response proteins during embryogenesis was examined by using specific MRN complex (Mirin) and ATM Kinase inhibitors (Ku60019 and Ku55933). To create DNA lesions in zebrafish, embryos at mid-blastula transition (MBT) stage were exposed to inhibitors (Mirin, Ku60019 or Ku55933) and later exposed to UVC irradiation wavelength of between 100 to 280 nm. Hatching but with visible physical deformation was observed for embryos treated with Mirin, Ku60019 or Ku55933 and UVC exposure at concentration of 3μM, 1.5 nM and 3nM or lower, respectively up to 72 hours-post fertilisation (hpf). On the other hand, no deformities were observed for all control as well as mock treated embryos. This study confirmed that DNA damage response proteins are crucial during embryo development to prevent undesired abnormal biological development. Thus, it is proven that protein inhibitors are a cheaper alternative in valuating specific protein roles during embryogenesis compared to both genomic and transcription modification tools.
Hyperlipidemia is defined as the presence of either hypertriglyceridemia or hypercholesterolemia, which could cause atherosclerosis. Although hyperlipidemia can be treated by hypolipidemic drugs, they are limited due to lack of effectiveness and safety. Previous studies demonstrated that xanthorrhizol (XNT) isolated from Curcuma xanthorrhizza Roxb. reduced the levels of free fatty acid and triglyceride in vivo. However, its ability to inhibit cholesterol uptake in HT29 colon cells and adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells are yet to be reported. In this study, XNT purified from centrifugal TLC demonstrated 98.3% purity, indicating it could be an alternative purification method. The IC50 values of XNT were 30.81 ± 0.78 μg/mL in HT29 cells and 35.07 ± 0.24 μg/mL in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, respectively. Cholesterol uptake inhibition study using HT29 colon cells showed that XNT (15 μg/mL) significantly inhibited the fluorescent cholesterol analogue NBD uptake by up to 27 ± 3.1% relative to control. On the other hand, higher concentration of XNT (50 μg/mL) significantly suppressed the growth of 3T3-L1 adipocytes (5.9 ± 0.58%) compared to 3T3-L1 preadipocytes (81.31 ± 0.55%). XNT was found to impede adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner from 3.125 to 12.5 μg/mL, where 12.5 μg/mL significantly suppressed 36.13 ± 2.1% of lipid accumulation. We postulate that inhibition of cholesterol uptake, adipogenesis, preadipocyte and adipocyte number may be utilized as treatment modalities to reduce the prevalence of lipidemia. To conclude, XNT could be a potential hypolipidemic agent to improve cardiovascular health in the future.
Xanthorrhizol (XNT) is a bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid compound extracted from Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. It has been well established to possess a variety of biological activities such as anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective, estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects. Since many synthetic drugs possess toxic side effects and are unable to support the increasing prevalence of disease, there is significant interest in developing natural product as new therapeutics. XNT is a very potent natural bioactive compound that could fulfil the current need for new drug discovery. Despite its importance, a comprehensive review of XNT's pharmacological activities has not been published in the scientific literature to date. Here, the present review aims to summarize the available information in this area, focus on its anticancer properties and indicate the current status of the research. This helps to facilitate the understanding of XNT's pharmacological role in drug discovery, thus suggesting areas where further research is required.