Anti-diabetic properties and nutrigenomic basis of Curculigo latifolia

Curculigo latifolia (C. latifolia) plant grows wildly in tropical Asia especially in Malaysia. C. latifolia fruit has 9000 times the sweetness of sucrose and it is due to a protein known as curculin. This indicates that C. latifolia plants has the potential to be used as an alternative low-calorie sweetener for diabetic patients. In the present study, anti-diabetic properties of C. latifolia fruit:root and the pertinent mechanism were investigated on diabetic-induced rats. Diabetes rats were developed by feeding high fat diet (HFD) which contain 56.9% calorie contributed by fat and low dose STZ (40 mg/kg bw) injection. Rats were administered with C. latifolia fruit:root at graded oral doses 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w for 30 days. Before and after treatments, blood glucose, plasma lipid and adiponectin were measured to evaluate its anti-diabetic effects. The regulatory effects of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts on genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were further studied on glucose transporter (GLUT 4), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARy) and adiponectin receptor (AdipoR1) in skeletal muscle tissue. The C. latifolia fruit:root possessed anti-diabetic activities as shown by the decreased of blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL), as well as increased plasma level of adiponectin. Treatment with 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts significantly improved glucose metabolism in diabetic-induced rats compared to other concentrations by increased gene expression of GLUT 4 (3 fold) and PPARy (4 fold) tissue in. Furthermore, adipose it also improved lipid metabolism by increased the expression of AdipoR2 (3 fold). Based on the current findings, C. latifolia fruit:root extracts exhibit anti-diabetic properties on hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in diabetic rats possibly through regulating the levels of GLUT4, PPARy and AdipoR2 tissue. Findings also provide an opportunity to food industries in designing product for diabetic complications

Antidiabetic and Hypolipidemic Activities of Curculigo latifolia Fruit:Root Extract in High Fat Fed Diet and Low Dose STZ Induced Diabetic Rats

Curculigo latifolia fruit is used as alternative sweetener while root is used as alternative treatment for diuretic and urinary problems. The antidiabetic and hypolipidemic activities of C. latifolia fruit:root aqueous extract in high fat diet (HFD) and 40 mg streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats through expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were investigated. Diabetic rats were treated with C. latifolia fruit:root extract for 4 weeks. Plasma glucose, insulin, adiponectin, lipid profiles, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT), urea, and creatinine levels were measured before and after treatments. Regulations of selected genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were determined. Results showed the significant ( < 0.05) increase in body weight, high density lipoprotein (HDL), insulin, and adiponectin levels and decreased glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), urea, creatinine, ALT, and GGT levels in diabetic rats after 4 weeks treatment. Furthermore, C. latifolia fruit:root extract significantly increased the expression of IRS-1, IGF-1, GLUT4, PPAR , PPAR , AdipoR1, AdipoR2, leptin, LPL, and lipase genes in adipose and muscle tissues in diabetic rats. These results suggest that C. latifolia fruit:root extract exerts antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects through altering regulation genes in glucose and lipid metabolisms in diabetic rats

The effectiveness of implementing credit hours co-curricular courses in Sultan Idris Education University

This study aims to identify the role of Co-curriculum Centre in implementing the co-curricular courses for the Bachelor of Education (ISMP) students of Sultan Idris Education University. The survey’s design uses questionnaires on the effectiveness of co-curricular courses of UPSI (α = .80) on 811 respondents of eighth semester students. The findings show that all sections are given good feedbacks by the students and state that they agree that the Co-curriculum Centre provides knowledge and experience which are useful to be applied during teaching practice. The highest mean score is co-curriculum content item (m = 3.68), lecturer of the co-curricular course item (m = 3.37), support officer of co-curriculum center item (m = 3.31) and teaching aids (m = 3.15). Through ANOVA, the comparison between the four items shows significant differences of p < .05. The factor of the content of co-curricular courses offered F(3,807) = 12:59, p = .000 and co-curricular course lecturer factor F(3,807) = 4:49, p = .004. While the teaching aids factor and the officers of Co-curriculum Center did not show a significant difference. The findings show that the co-curricular courses are very beneficial to the ISMP students in guiding them to implement co-curricular activities during the teaching practice in schools. Nevertheless, the Co-curriculum Centre should always be ready to provide beneficial courses, experienced lecturer, sufficient facilities and teaching aids, and dedicated officers

Peranan pengurusan masjid dan ahli jemaah dalam mengimarahkan institusi masjid pasca wabak Covid-19 : satu sorotan

Masjid merupakan sebuah tempat berkumpulnya masyarakat umat Islam sama ada untuk menunaikan ibadah ataupun urusan-urusan lain yang berkaitan dengan kehidupan seharian. Pada asasnya umat Islam berkumpul di masjid sekurang-kurangnya lima kali sehari iaitu pada waktu solat berjemaah. Namun pada hari, dunia dikejutkan dengan penyebaran pandemik COVID-19. Penyebaran wabak ini turut menjejaskan aktiviti pengimarahan institusi masjid. Kehadiran jemaah di masjid pada hari ini bergantung sepenuhnya kepada SOP yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak berwajib. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk memperincikan peranan serta tanggungjawab yang perlu diambil oleh pihak pengurusan masjid serta peranan ahli jemaah dalam menghadapi wabak COVID 19 supaya institusi masjid sentiasa diimarahkan seterusnya selamat dikunjungi oleh para jemaah. Kajian ini adalah kajian kualitatif yang menggunakan reka bentuk analisis kandungan. Data dikumpulkan daripada analisis dokumen ke atas situasi semasa COVID-19 serta SOP yang dikeluarkan oleh pihak KKM dan diaplikasikan di institusi masjid kemudiannya dianalisis secara deskriptif. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan institusi masjid terus diimarahkan walaupun dengan SOP yang telah ditetapkan. Pihak pengurusan masjid dan ahli jemaah perlu mematuhi segala SOP dikeluarkan oleh pihak berwajib untuk memastikan syiar terbesar umat Islam ini terus diimarah walaupun pandemik COVID-19 ini masih belum pulih sepenuhnya

Parental knowledge and awareness and towards allergy prevalence in Selangor

The allergy epidemiology is another worldwide problem as its prevalence trigger troublesome amongst society. Malaysia as a developing country has no exception towards it. Family as a fundamental institution as well as the simplest unit of the society have significant roles to put a bridle on the issues. Allergies are known to cause social and economic burden of the sufferer and to the close family member. Parental knowledge, attitude and practice plays a crucial role in allergy prevalence, prevention and treatment strategy. In Malaysia, the misconception of certain allergy symptom and prevention becomes another real challenge. Poorly self-perceives as the early diagnosis approach could lead to improper clinical diagnosis thus affects the treatment accuracy. It then brings about the delay of appropriate treatment and upturn the treatment cost. In certain urgent allergy conditions, such as anaphylaxis, a delay is lethal to the sufferer. This paper highlights the paternal and maternal knowledge, awareness and practice towards allergy disease. This study also presents the important of having adequate knowledge to self-perceive of allergy disease. As this approach is useful to give surface overview on allergy prevalence, adequate knowledge compromises of precise manifestation. This cross-sectional study involves 117 pair of parents in Selangor with the age ranged from 28-61 years old. A self-administered questionnaire has been used to indicate respondent’s allergy status, their knowledge, awareness and practice towards allergy disease. As overall, the common symptom of allergy among parents were allergy rhinitis, eczema and dry and itchy rashes at skin with the percentage of prevalence ranged between 6.8% to 28.4%. The data also indicated the effect on insufficient of knowledge and awareness among parents towards their decision on treatment and prevention plan. Most parents do not have adequate understanding on the relatedness of immune system abnormality reaction of allergy as well as the roles of immune system component such as Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in allergy reaction. They also have insufficient knowledge about the crucial allergy mechanism such as the cross-reaction activity and the difference between food allergy and food intolerances. Pearson correlation between knowledge of allergy term, cause and symptom with allergy prevention and treatment shows positive significant correlation with (r = 0.244, P=0.008) for maternal and (r = 0.262, P=0.004) for paternal respectively. Parents with inadequate knowledge about allergies symptom have limited ability to choose the treatment and prevention for allergy disease. As the shortcoming, they tend to do unnecessary dietary elimination and extreme food avoidance as well as disregards the important to consult with the healthcare professional regarding their allergy symptom. Overall, parental knowledge in society represent their involvement in prevention and treatment strategy for allergy sufferer especially their children. Adequate knowledge and awareness of this unit of society conceded a better future to control allergy prevalence among children

Improvement of foundation student performance in biology through intensive station based learning approach

A growing revolution is underway in teaching introductory science to foundation studies. Recent educational research explains that traditional teaching approaches in large classes often fail to reach many students. To address this problem, we conducted an intensive station rotation-based workshop called “Bio Made Easy” for a group of students who obtained F grade in the first Biology assessment, N = 120. The workshop was designed to improve students’ understanding of selected Biology topics by providing simple examples, analogy, and explanation of the concept using various active and interactive approaches. The goal was to change the students’ perception of biology and deliver the content within a short period of time. The students were divided into small groups and required to complete all stations conducted by different instructors. For each station, students were directed to perform activities that required them to actively participate, interact, and discuss among the group members. A comparison was made between their performance during the first test and the second test of the semester. From F grade in the first test, about 88.3% of the students accomplished higher performance grades in the test 2 assessment. This reflects an encouraging sign that active-learning practice and direct engagement of students in the station rotation-based learning approach improve student performance in biology subject and serve as one of the strategies to motivate students for better grades

Antidiabetic activity of Curculigo latifolia extracts in vitro and in vivo studies

Curculigo latifolia (C. latifolia) plant grows wildly in tropical Asia especially in Malaysia. C. latifolia fruit has 9000 times the sweetness of sucrose. The sweet taste of C. latifolia fruit is due to a protein known as curculin. This indicates that C.latifolia plant has the potential to be used as an alternative low-calorie sweetener for diabetic patients. Besides, natural phenolic compounds contained in C. latifolia which posses antioxidant activity can also be used to prevent and treat diabetes. In the present study, antidiabetic properties of C. latifolia in cell lines (in vitro) and in diabetic-induced rats were determined. Different parts of C. latifolia plant (fruit, root and leaf) were extracted using distilled water and then were freeze dried into powder. Total phenolic content and free radicals scavenging activity of C. latifolia fruit, root and leaf extracts were determined. C. latifolia fruit and root extracts exhibited higher scavenging free radicals activity (1.0 mg/ml) and followed by leaves extract (1.2 mg/ml). Besides, C.latifolia fruit extracts showed high phenolic content (95 mg GAE/100 g extract) and followed by roots (90 mg GAE/100 g extract), leaf in hot (100oC) water (83 mg GAE/100 g extract) and leaf in normal (at room temperature) water (74 mg GAE/100 g extract). In in vitro study, different concentrations (0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 3 mg/ml) of C. latifolia fruit, root and leaf extracts were screened for cytotoxicity effect towards BRIN- BD11 pancreatic, L6 myotubes and 3T3 adipocytes cells using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H tetrazolium) (MTS) assay. Results showed that C. latifolia fruit and root extracts did not cause toxicity towards BRIN-BD11 pancreatic, L6 myotubes and 3T3 adipocytes cells. However, C. latifolia leaf extracts at 2.3 mg/ml caused 50% BRIN BD11 cell death. Furthermore, the effect of C. latifolia as potential antidiabetic agent was evaluated by measuring: (1) insulin secretion by BRIN-BD11 pancreatic cells (2) radio labelled 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2DOG) uptake by 3T3 adipocyte and L6 myotubes and (3) adiponectin secretion by 3T3 adipocytes. Results from insulin assay showed that C. latifolia roots extract increased 40% of insulin over basal secretion followed by C. latifolia fruits extract (35%) in BRIN BD11 pancreatic cells. Whereas, leaves extract did not show significant increment. Meanwhile, results from 2DOG uptake activity showed that C. latifolia fruits extract significantly increased (p<0.05) 2DOG activity with insulin present up to 13 fold (at 0.05 mg/ml) in 3T3 adipocytes and 16 fold (at 0.1 mg/ml) in L6 myotubes. However, C. latifolia roots extract at 0.05 mg/ml significantly increased (p<0.05) 2DOG activity without insulin presence up to 2 fold in 3T3 adipocytes and L6 myotubes. Present study also indicates that with insulin presence, C. latifolia leaves extract at 0.1 mg/ml increased 21 fold of adiponectin secretion. However without insulin presence, C. latifolia roots extract increased 6 fold adiponectin secretion. The effectiveness of C. latifolia fruit and root extracts in increasing insulin secretion, 2DOG uptake and adiponectin secretion in vitro study were then confirmed by study on diabetes-induced rats. Combination of C. latifolia fruit and root (1:1) v/v used to treat the diabetes-induced rats. Diabetes rats were developed by feeding high fat diet (HFD) which contained 56.9% calorie contributed by fat and low dose (40 mg/kg bw) STZ injection. After acclimation period, rats were fed high fat diet for 30 days and were then injected with 40 mg/kg bw of STZ via intravenous (iv) injection at the tail. Rats were divided into seven groups; 1) normal rats, 2) obese rats (only fed with HFD), 3) diabetic rats (induced with HFD and low dose STZ), 4) diabetic rats treated with 50 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root (1:1) extracts, 5) diabetic rats treated with 100 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts,6) diabetic rats treated with 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts and 7) diabetic rats treated with 10 mg/kg b.w of glibenclamide. Treatment period was 30 days. Before and after treatments, biochemical parameters such as glucose, insulin,adiponectin, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG), urea, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and plasma γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) were measured. Results showed that 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts reduced significantly (p<0.05) 65% plasma glucose and 49% of total cholesterol level. Besides, with the same concentration it also increased 12% insulin and 41% of adiponectin levels in plasma. Furthermore, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts showed that urea, creatinine, ALT and GGT levels in diabetic-induced rats were reduced towards normalcy after 30 days of treatment. The regulatory effects of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts on genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were further studied. Ten genes; IGF-1, IRS-1, GLUT4,PPARγ, PPARα, AdipoR1, AdipoR2, leptin, lipoprotein lipase and lipase were analyzed using GenomeLab GeXP Genetic Analysis System. Results showed that treatment with 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts effectively improved glucose metabolism in diabetic-induced rats due to increase expression of insulin signaling receptor (IRS-1 (4 fold) and IGF-1 (4 fold)), glucose transporter (GLUT 4 (2 fold)) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ (8 fold) and PPARα (2 fold)). It also showed to improve lipid metabolism by increasing the expression of adiponectin receptor (AdipoR1 (5 fold) and AdipoR2 (4 fold)), leptin (5 fold), lipase (3 fold) and lipoprotein lipase (2 fold). Based on the current findings, it can be concluded that C. latifolia fruit:root extracts exhibit antidiabetic properties due to higher total phenolic content and its ability to scavenge free radicals. It effectively improved glucose and lipid metabolisms in diabetic-induced rats by increased IGF-1, IRS-1, GLUT4, PPARγ, PPARα,AdipoR1, AdipoR2, leptin, lipoprotein lipase and lipase genes regulation. All of the results demonstrate potential use of C. latifolia in diabetic therapy

Hypoglycemic activity of Curculigo latifolia on insulin and glucose uptake activities in in vitro

Curculigo latifolia (C. latifolia) has been shown to potentiate the antidiabetic and hypolipidemic effects on induced diabetic rats by altering the lipid and glucose metabolisms. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of extracted C. latifolia on in vitro glucose uptake and insulin secretion by adipocyte and investigated muscle and pancreatic cells. The aqueous extracted samples underwent polyphenol assay such as Total Phenolic Content (TPC) and the antioxidant assay to screen the antioxidant activity of extracted samples by inhibition of free radical from DPPH radical. With regard to in vitro, glucose uptake assay was analysed using L6 myotube and 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell lines and insulin secretion was assayed using BRIN-BD11 pancreatic cell in which both assays were examined under different extracted parts of samples investigated. The results indicated that C. latifolia fruit possessed the highest amount of TPC (95 mg GAE/100 g C. latifolia fruit extract) and antioxidant activity as it achieved the lowest IC50 for DPPH assay (1.0±0.1 mg/mL). Cells treated with C. latifolia fruit extract under insulin secretion assay has the highest stimulation compared to others in the following descending order fruit>root>leaf. In addition, C. latifolia fruit extract also showed the highest result in glucose uptake activity by 13 fold at 0.05 mg/mL with insulin presence in 3T3-L1 adipocyte cells. However, in L6 myotube cells, C. latifolia fruit extract increased basal and insulin-mediated glucose uptake activity. The results indicated the presence of antihyperglycaemic from insulin-releasing and glucose uptake activity in C. latifolia. of half-plane increase. Our results are agreeable with the previous works. Keywords: Magnetic nanocomposite; Heavy metal ions; Surface plasmon resonanc

Nutrigenomic effects of Curculigo latifolia on type 2 diabetic model

The present study evaluated the anti-diabetic effects of Curculigo latifolia fruit:root. The hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of C. latifolia fruit:root were investigated in high fat diet (HFD) with combination of low dose streptozotocin (STZ, 40 mg/kg body weight (b.w)) induced diabetic rats. C. latifolia fuit:root was orally administered once a day at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w for 30 days. Before and after treatments, plasma glucose, lipid and insulin were measured. The nutrigenomic effects of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts on genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolisms were further studied on glucose transporter (GLUT 4), leptin (LEP) and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) in adipose tissues. Results showed that 200 mg/kg b.w of C. latifolia fruit:root extracts significantly reduced blood glucose and plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL) levels. Meanwhile, insulin and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL) were increased. In addition, C. latifolia fruit:root extracts also increased the regulation of GLUT 4 (1 fold), Lep (3 fold) and IRS1 (2 fold) in adipose tissues. The results suggest that C. latifolia possess significant hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects. Hence, C. latifolia can be used as functional food or incorporated as a supplement in health-care food for the treatment of type 2 diabetic

Uses of curculigo latifolia (C.latifolia) extracts

The present invention relates to Curculigo latifolia (C.latifolia) extracts, wherein the extracts extracted from different parts of a plant such as fruits, roots and leaves, individually and in any combination thereof, characterized in that the extracts are used as an agent for treating and preventing metabolic disorder disease such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, cardiovascular, and atherosclerosis