Phytochemicals and acute oral toxicity studies of the aqueous extract of Vernonia amygdalina from state of Malaysia

Vernonia amygdalina (VA) is a member of Asteracea family that use as traditional folk medicine in treating various infection and diseases. This study aim to determine the phytochemical characterization of Malaysian local VA and determine the acute oral toxicity. Phytochemical investigation was done by standard procedures. The crude extract of VA was observed to contained flavonoids, terpenoids, saponin and tannin. FTIR spectroscopy was done against VA aqueous extract revealed a presence of high content of flavonoids and terpenoids, phenols, methoxy compounds, ester carbonyl and amide. Sighting study for acute toxicity was conducted as per Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 425 guidelines which divided into sighting study and main study. One female Sprague Dawley rat was given single oral dose of VA aqueous extract at progressively dose of 175, 550, 2000 and 5000 mg/kg of body weight (BW), dissolved in 1ml distilled water and observed daily for 14 days. VA aqueous extract of 5000 mg/kg was used in main study as it exhibited no toxicity signs and mortality. All the treated rats survived and no toxicity signs were observed. No differences in body weights and organs weights. Liver function tests showed the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and globulin slightly increased but the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), albumin, total protein and total bilirubin were in normal range. Despite that, no elevation in the level of Alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Therefore, it can be concluded that the toxicity of VA is greater than 5000mg/kg BW as proved by AOT425 Statistical Programme

In vivo antidiabetic efficacy of Malaysian Vernonia amygdalina aqueous extract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major world health concern especially DM types 2. In Malaysia, about 2.6 million adults were diagnosed with diabetes and most of them turn to herbal medicine for treatment. Vernonia amygdalina or locally known as bitter leaf is believed by the local people and traditional inhaler to reduce blood glucose level. This study aims to prove the antidiabetic property of Malaysian local V. amygdalina as claim by the local Malaysian. V. amygdalina aqueous extract was prepared by reflux method and was further concentrated. Twenty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups; non-diabetic rats as normal control (NC), diabetic induced rats as diabetic control (DC), diabetic induced rats treated with 150 mg/kg metformin and diabetic induced rats treated with 50 mg/kg V. amygdalina aqueous extract. The diabetic rats were induced by using 40 mg/kg of Streptozotocin (STZ). The study was conducted for 28 days. Body weights (BW) were taken at weekly interval for 4 weeks. Fasting blood glucose was measured in 3 day intervals. At the end of experiment, blood samples were collected for lipid profile test and insulin secretion assay. There were no significant differences in BW, relative organ weight (ROW) and no organs abnormalities were observed in all experimental groups. Significant decreases in triglycerides, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose gave a prove evidence that V. amygdalina possessing antidiabetic property. However, the levels of insulin in diabetic induced rats treated with V. amygdalina aqueous extract were not significant as compared to the diabetic induced rats treated with metformin. The aqueous extract of V. amygdalina has antidiabetic activity. This work supports the folk use of this plant in treating diabetes. This antidiabetic property of Malaysian V. amygdalina may due to its phytochemical constituents as our previous study revealed the high contents of flavonoids and terpenoids. However, the aqueous extract of V. amygdalina did not act through regulation of insulin hormone since there was no significant change in insulin level

Evaluation of acute and sub-acute oral toxicity of the aqueous extract of aquilaria malaccensis leaves in sprague dawley rats

Aquilaria malaccensis or commonly known as ‘gaharu’ is a species of Aquilaria genus and belongs to the Thymelaeaceae family. It is widely distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Borneo Islands. Traditionally, its leaves were used to relieve bruises and studies have shown that they function as an antioxidant, aphrodisiac, and tranquilizer. Despite its proven beneficial medicinal properties, information regarding its toxicity is limited. Therefore, we performed a safety evaluation on the aqueous A. malaccensis leaves extract (AMAE) in Sprague Dawley rats. The assessment of acute toxicity based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guideline 420 revealed that AMAE did not influence mortality, clinical appearance, body weight gain, or necropsy findings at a dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight. In the sub-acute toxicity, all doses did not significantly modify the body weight and food and water intake. In male rats treated with 2000 mg/kg, there was a significant reduction in the relative weight of liver. Not only that, an increase in alkaline phosphatase and alanine transaminase was also observed in different groups among the female rats. A significant decrease in the creatinine level was also seen among male rats administered with different doses of AMAE. In both sexes, histopathological analysis had shown abnormalities in the liver and kidney of rats treated at the dose of 2000 mg/kg. In conclusion, the 50% lethal dose (LD50) of AMAE was estimated to be greater than 2000 mg/kg. In sub-acute duration, the findings suggested that AMAE administered orally is slightly toxic at higher doses (2000 mg/kg) and could provoke functional and structural changes in the kidney and liver of rats. Thus, the extract should be used with caution

Malaysian herbs as potential natural resources of anticancer drugs: from folklore to discovery

Cancer is a complex disease and ranks as a leading cause of death globally. Despite many advances made in cancer therapeutics, adverse side effects and treatment resistance remain a great problem. In that sense, there are increasing demands to discover new anticancer agents from naturallyderived compounds. Medicinal plants represent a valuable source of new drugs with promising efficacy and safety. They produce various secondary metabolites, which exhibit unique structures and a pharmacological spectrum of activity, including antitumour activity. Clinacanthus nutans, Strobilanthes crispus, Ficus deltoidea, Curcuma longa, Centella asiatica and Piper betle are among the plants species commonly used to cure cancer in traditional medicine formulae in Malaysia. The present review aims to highlight the anticancer properties of the listed Malaysian herbs with a focus on their bioactive compounds and the mode of action. Overall, many studies have disclosed the presence of active metabolites in these plants, including phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponin, curcumin and Asiatic acid. They possess significant cytotoxic or antiproliferative effects primarily via the induction of apoptosis, elevation of antioxidant activity and inhibition of cancer activating enzymes. Hence, further investigation into their clinical therapeutic potential may be noteworthy. Additionally, this review article also provides the reader with information concerning the conventional anticancer drugs and their limitations, recent developments and milestones achieved in plant- derived cancer therapeutics as well as different approaches to enhance the production of these anticancer molecules

Chemical profiling of volatile organic compounds from shoe odour for personal identification

Background: Body odour of an individual has a unique composition due to the combined influences of genetic, dietary, and environmental factors. This exploratory study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of obtaining unique chemical signatures of individuals from the shoe odour as a human chemical fingerprint for forensic identification. Methods: Five adult males and five adult females participated in this study and provided with two pairs of new canvas sports shoes. The participants were asked to do strenuous activities while wearing the shoes for 2 weeks. Two different extraction methods: swabbing technique, followed with direct extraction using different solvents, and air passive sampling technique, were compared for the effectiveness to extract the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the shoes. The variations of VOCs were investigated using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionisation detector (GC-FID), and the resultant chromatogram profiles collected from the shoe odour were further studied for individual identification purposes. In addition, principal component-discriminant analyses (PCA-DA) were then carried out on the GC dataset. Results: This study demonstrated that air passive sampling technique using methanol as the extraction solvent was effective for the detection of shoe odour. PCA-DA had successfully distinguished GC profile patterns and discriminated the shoe odour samples accordingly to their owners. The accuracy of DA for classification was 100%, with all samples were classified correctly to their groups. Conclusion: The chemical compounds of shoe odour have the potential to be utilised to aid the forensic investigation by identifying and narrowing down the possible suspect if shoes were recovered as evidence at the crime scene. © 2020, The Author(s)

Nanocarbon powder for latent fingermark development: a green chemistry approach

Abstract Background Optimal fingermark developing product would have the following attributes; small, rounded and well-dispersed particles, which has high affinity for the fingermark residue but exhibits minimal interaction with the substrate bearing the fingermark. However, most commercial powder formulations still utilise fine particles in the range of 1 to 10 μm. Results Ageing of the filtrate from rice husk acid digestion produced amorphous nanocarbon powder (NP) that exhibited non-smooth, slightly irregular spherical particles with a higher degree of agglomeration. Particle size distribution fell in the range of 100 to 500 nm with mean particle size of 300 nm. Molecular bonding and chemical composition of the NP was characterised using spectroscopic techniques. Findings revealed that the nanoparticle powders and reagent performed on par with the existing commercial powders and exhibited higher selectivity. Nanoparticle synthesis from low-cost precursor in this research did not require special equipment, addition of resins or adhesives, or surface passivation. Conclusion Nanocarbon powder is exploitable as fingermark developing powder generated from a sustainable source

Body Weight Determination from Foot Outline Length among the Iban Population in Malaysia

Foot impressions form a valuable physical evidence to solve crime. Foot impression measurements provide valuable information in estimating stature, weight, gender and age in crime scene investigation. In Asian countries, many people living in rural places walk without footwear. The aim of this research is to generate regression equations to determine living body weight from foot outline length among the Iban population of Malaysia. The study involved 200 (100 males, 100 females) adult Ibans, mostly living in Sarawak, a state in   Malaysia. Following the standard procedure, the foot outlines were collected followed by body weight measurements and were recorded for analysis. The collected data were analysed with PASW 20 computer software. The correlation coefficient (R) between the foot outline lengths and body weight was determined for males, females and pooled sample. Based on the foot outline and body weight, 30 regression equations were generated, 10 for males, 10 for females and 10 for pooled samples/unknown gender. The correlation coefficient (R) values were positive and statistically significant. It is concluded that the present investigation provided regression equations to determine body weight from foot outline anthropometry. These equations can be used to determine body weight even when partial foot impressions are available at crime scenes.   Keywords: Forensic Science, Body Weight, Foot Outline, Iban Population, Malaysi

Dietary supplements: a survey use, attitudes and knowledge among IIUM Kuantan students

Objectives: Dietary supplements have been recognized as products that are globally used, especially among university students due to its effectiveness and benefits towards health. In order to determine the efficiency of the supplements, the users must equip themselves with knowledge on the usage of dietary supplements. Hence, this study mainly aims to assess the usage, attitude and knowledge on dietary supplements among IIUM Kuantan students. Method: This study used a descriptive cross-sectional with stratified random sampling study among 349 undergraduate students at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan campus. Data was collected using online questionnaires and shared with students from IIUM Kuantan campus. The data was analyzed by using IBM Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS) version 25.0. Results: The overall prevalence of dietary supplements used by the students in the university was 31.8%. On the other hand, students show to have positive attitude and good knowledge, 70.8% and 84.0%, respectively. There was an association between course study and presence of illness with the level of attitudes based on Fisher exact test with p-values of <0.05 representing statistical significance. The same test was used resulting in age and BMI were associated with the level of knowledge. Conclusion: Prevalence of dietary supplements used was lower than other local findings and most of the students depict a good level of knowledge and positive attitudes towards dietary supplements. nevertheless, educational information regarding dietary supplements still needs to be provided to university students as the number of consumers keeps rising

Semi-purified fraction of Clinacanthus nutans induced apoptosis in human cervical cancer, SiHa cells via up-regulation of bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death in women, worldwide, and second in Malaysia. Nowadays, modern cancer treatment comes with negative and adverse side effects to the patients. Traditional medicinal plants such as Clinacanthus nutans has been locally recognized for its medicinal properties and was claimed for cancer treatment. According to our pilot study, a fraction of C. nutans has shown a potent inhibition on human cervical cancer cells, SiHa, in vitro. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the underlying anticancer mechanism of a semi-purified fraction (SF1) of C. nutans towards cervical cancer cells. Bioassay guided fractionation and further purification was carried out. All collected fractions of C. nutans were examined for cytotoxicity activity towards HeLa, SiHa and NIH cells by MTT Assay. SF1 exhibited better cytotoxic activity with best growth inhibition against SiHa cells (IC50 value = 9.60 μg/mL). Cytoselective effects were shown as no cytotoxicity observed in the treated normal NIH cells. SF1 induced early apoptosis event in SiHa cells as resulted by FITC-Annexin V/propidium iodide staining by flowcytometric analysis. The protein expression by flowcytometry using specific antibody conjugated fluorescent dye showed up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation Bcl-2 as well as increment of cytochrome C levels upon treatment with SF1. In conclusion, the findings suggested that SF1 demonstrated antiproliferative effects and induced apoptosis in SiHa cells through up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 via mitochondrial-dependent pathway

Automatic Extraction of Two Regions of Creases from Palmprint Images for Biometric Identification

Palmprint has become one of the biometric modalities that can be used for personal identification. This modality contains critical identification features such as minutiae, ridges, wrinkles, and creases. In this research, feature from creases will be our focus. Feature from creases is a special salient feature of palmprint. It is worth noting that currently, the creases-based identification is still not common. In this research, we proposed a method to extract crease features from two regions. The first region of interest (ROI) is in the hypothenar region, whereas another ROI is in the interdigital region. To speed up the extraction, most of the processes involved are based on the processing of the image that has been a downsampled image by using a factor of 10. The method involved segmentations through thresholding, morphological operations, and the usage of the Hough line transform. Based on 101 palmprint input images, experimental results show that the proposed method successfully extracts the ROIs from both regions. The method has achieved an average sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.8159, 0.9975, and 0.9951, respectively