Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Activities of Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll Arg (Euphorbiaceae) Fruit and Fruit Waste Extracts

Purpose: To investigate the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the fruit and fruit waste (residue and marc) extracts of Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll. Arg., known as mamao in Thai, using chemical and cell-based assays.Methods: The cytotoxicity of mamao fruit and fruit waste extracts obtained by expression, maceration and decoction against a panel of six human cancer cell lines (COR-L23, A549, LS174T, PC-3, MCF7 and HeLa) was determined by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. In addition, their antioxidant activities were measured by chemical methods: 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assay and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and cell-based methods: nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) dye reduction assay and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging assay. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were assessed colorimetrically at 765 nm and 415 nm respectively.Results: Among the test extracts, the ethanol extracts of fresh fruits (FME) and marc left after squeezing fresh fruits (MME) exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against human breast MCF7 cells while the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of dried fruits (RDW) was moderately cytotoxic to lung large cell carcinoma COR-L23 cells. In the chemical assays, the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of dried marc (RMW) displayed the strongest ABTS radicalscavenging and ferric-reducing activities among the extracts. In the cell-based assays, however, FME and DME exerted potent nitric oxide scavenging activity whereas the extract obtained by decocting the residue left after maceration of fresh fruits (RFW) showed moderate superoxide radical-scavenging activity relative to the test extracts. The ABTS radical-scavenging and ferric-reducing activities of these extracts strongly correlate with their phenolic and flavonoid contents, indicating their specific contributions to such activities.Conclusion: The ethanol extracts of fresh and dried mamao fruits exhibit both cytotoxic and cellular antioxidant activities, and thus possess great potentials for application in the development of effective dietary supplements to prevent oxidative stress-induced diseases.Keywords: Antidesma thwaitesianum Müll. Arg., Cytotoxicity, Lung cell carcinoma, Antioxidant activity, Cellular assay

Social Capital and Nutritional Status of Child Under 5 Years in Rural Indonesia and Thailand

Prevalensi gizi kurang Balita di pedesaan pada satu dasawarsa terakhir terdapat kecenderungan penurunan, yaitu di Thailand (0.3%) lebih cepat secara signifikan dibanding di Indonesia (3,5%). Diduga ada perbedaan pola pemanfaatan modal sosial dalam upaya perbaikan gizi Balita. Permasalahan dalam penelitian ini adalah apakah ada perbedaan pengaruh modal sosial yang berhubungan dengan status gizi Balita pada urban area di Indonesia dan Thailand. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, dengan strategi penelitian lapangan studi kasus di wilayah kerja Puskesmas Kajen 1, Kabupaten Pekalongan, Indonesia dan di Ongkharak Thailand. Fokus penelitian berupa aspek modal sosial yang terdiri dari: (1) citizenship, (2) asosiasi/organisasi sosial, (3) sosial suport yang mempengaruhi status gizi Balita di masyarakat. Teknik penentuan informan dengan cara purposive sampling dan snowball sampling. Hasil penelitian modal sosial yang berkaitan dengan status gizi Balita di desa di Indonesia dan Thailand mempunyai corak sejenis. Dimana unsur-unsur modal sosial yang mempengaruhi berupa: 1) cytizenship, dalam bentuk partisipasi aktif dan kreatif terutama dari para kader atau relawan, 2) organisasi sosial berupa Posyandu dan Pusat Pengembangan Balita. Sedangkan perbedaan yang tergambar adalah: 1) Organisasi sosial di Thailand merupakan program yang lebih pro aktif, 2) Di Indonesia aspek cytiznship yang berkaitan dengan unsur resiprocyti atau semangat untuk membantu sangat menonjol, dan 3) Program pemerintah Thailand yang sangat menentukan status gizi Balita diperlemah dengan banyaknya masalah bencana alam dan situasi politik. In Indonesia and Thailand, the prevalence trend of malnutrition of children under five in rural area in the last decade has declined, in Thailand (0.3%) was significantly faster than in Indonesia (3.5%). So the problem in this study is whether the different effect of social capital associated with nutritional status of children in rural area in Indonesia and Thailand.This study used a qualitative approach, in Kajen 1 health center, Pekalongan, Indonesia and in Ongkharak, Thailand. The focus of this study was the form of social capital aspect which consists of: (1) citizenship, (2) the association/social organization, (3) social support that affect the nutritional status of children in society. Informants consisted of village heads, heads of health center, village midwives, IHC cadres, community leaders and children's families. The technique of determining the informant by purposive sampling and snowball sampling.Based on result, social capital related to the nutritional status of children in rural area in Indonesia and Thailand had similar patterns. The elements of social capital that influence as follows: 1) citizenship, in the form of active and creative participation, especially from the cadre or volunteers, 2) social organizations such as IHC and Children Development Center. While the differences were illustrated: 1) social organization in Thailand was a more pro-active programs, 2) In Indonesia, citizenship aspects related to the elements reciprocity or passion to help each other was very prominent, and 3) The Thailand government programs that determine the nutritional status of children had been weakened with the many problems of natural disasters and political situation

Growth Inhibition of Human Gynecologic and Colon Cancer Cells by Phyllanthus watsonii through Apoptosis Induction

Phyllanthus watsonii Airy Shaw is an endemic plant found in Peninsular Malaysia. Although there are numerous reports on the anti cancer properties of other Phyllanthus species, published information on the cytotoxicity of P. watsonii are very limited. The present study was carried out with bioassay-guided fractionation approach to evaluate the cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction capability of the P. watsonii extracts and fractions on human gynecologic (SKOV-3 and Ca Ski) and colon (HT-29) cancer cells. P. watsonii extracts exhibited strong cytotoxicity on all the cancer cells studied with IC50 values of ≤ 20.0 µg/mL. Hexane extract of P. watsonii was further subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation and yielded 10 fractions (PW-1→PW-10). PW-4→PW-8 portrayed stronger cytotoxic activity and was further subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation and resulted with 8 sub-fractions (PPWH-1→PPWH-8). PPWH-7 possessed greatest cytotoxicity (IC50 values ranged from 0.66 – 0.83 µg/mL) and was selective on the cancer cells studied. LC-MS/MS analysis of PPWH-7 revealed the presence of ellagic acid, geranic acid, glochidone, betulin, phyllanthin and sterol glucoside. Marked morphological changes, ladder-like appearance of DNA and increment in caspase-3 activity indicating apoptosis were clearly observed in both human gynecologic and colon cancer cells treated with P. watsonii especially with PPWH-7. The study also indicated that P. watsonii extracts arrested cell cycle at different growth phases in SKOV-3, Ca Ski and HT-29 cells. Cytotoxic and apoptotic potential of the endemic P. watsonii was investigated for the first time by bioassay-guided approach. These results demonstrated that P. watsonii selectively inhibits the growth of SKOV-3, Ca Ski and HT-29 cells through apoptosis induction and cell cycle modulation. Hence, P. watsonii has the potential to be further exploited for the discovery and development of new anti cancer drugs

Panel: Asian financial integration

10.1080/17520843.2012.699897Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies52297-30