Investigation of anti-inflammatory lignans from the leaves of Symplocos sumuntia Buch-Ham ex D Don (Symplocaceae)

Purpose: To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Symplocos sumuntia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don and identify the main secondary metabolites responsible for this effect.Methods: The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the plant extract and isolated compounds was determined in terms of the ability to inhibit the production of nitric oxide (NO), and expressions of iNOS and COX-2 proteins in RAW264.7 cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Compounds were isolated and identified by spectroscopic methods.Results: The methanol extract of S. sumuntia leaves showed strong inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production and expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. A phytochemical assay-guided fractionation of the methanol extract of S. sumuntia leaves led to the isolation of four lignans which are arctigenin (1), matairesinol (2), monomethylpinoresinol (3) and pinoresinol (4). These compounds were identified for the first time from S. sumuntia. All four compounds inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), with arctigenin showing the most potent activity with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 4.08 μM.Conclusion: S. sumuntia is a promising source of anti-inflammatory agents, which may clarify to the therapeutic use of this plant in Vietamese traditional medicine.Keywords: Symplocos sumuntia, Symplocos caudata, Lignan, Arctigenin, Anti-inflammator

Indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation: Case studies of ethnic minorities in the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam

This study aims to investigate the indigenous knowledge (IK) of three ethnic minority groups in the Northern Mountain Region (NMR) of Vietnam. The groups include (1) Tay people who live at lower elevations; (2) a Dao community who tend to live in the middle elevations and (3) Hmong farmers who mainly reside at higher elevations areas of the mountain. This research intends to identify climate change (CC) and its impact on agricultural cultivation and find out how these groups can adapt to CC by applying their IK in agriculture practices. Data was collected through focus group discussions (n=9), in-depth interviews (n=80), and participant observation. From the 80 respondents, 27 live in Bac Kan province, 23 in Yen Bai province and 30 in Son La province; those who had experience in agricultural production, elderly and village heads. The results show that the NMR weather has significant changes that negatively impact agriculture cultivation and local livelihood. Although the respondents are from different ethnic minorities, these farmers are highly aware of the CC risks, leading into adaptation practices. While the Tay people's major adaptation strategies include the use of a variety of native plants and changing planting calendars, the Dao and Hmong people apply intercropping and local techniques methods in terracing fields using local varieties of livestock. Our findings highlight the importance of using the IK of ethnic minorities in adaptation towards CC. A better targeting about the use of local resources in future national policies and projects is encouraged.Nghiên cứu này nhằm thu thập kiến thức bản địa (IK) của ba nhóm dân tộc thiểu số ở Miền núi phía Bắc (MNPB) của Việt Nam bao gồm (1) dân tộc Tày chủ yếu sống ở vùng thấp; (2) Người Dao có xu hướng sống ở các độ cao trung bình; và (3) người Hmông chủ yếu cư trú ở các khu vực đồi núi cao. Nghiên cứu này nhằm xác định tình hình biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH) và tác động của nó đối với sản xuất nông nghiệp, đồng thời tìm hiểu cách thức các nhóm dân tộc thiểu số này có thể thích ứng với BĐKH bằng cách áp dụng các kiến thức bản địa của họ vào thực tiễn sản xuất nông nghiệp. Dữ liệu được thu thập thông qua thảo luận nhóm tập trung (n = 9), phỏng vấn sâu (n = 80) và quan sát người tham gia. Trong số 80 người được hỏi, có 27 người sống ở tỉnh Bắc Kạn; 23 người ở tỉnh Yên Bái và 30 người ở tỉnh Sơn La, là những người có kinh nghiệm sản xuất nông nghiệp, người cao tuổi và trưởng thôn. Kết quả cho thấy thời tiết ở khu vực MNPB đã có những thay đổi so với trước gây tác động xấu đến canh tác nông nghiệp và sinh kế của cộng đồng. Mặc dù những người được hỏi từ các dân tộc khác nhau nhưng họ đều nhận thức được sự thay đổi này của thời tiết, do đó họ đã có những thích ứng riêng. Trong khi người Tày sử dụng giống cây trồng địa phương và thay đổi lịch thời vụ thì người Dao và Hmong chọn phương pháp xen canh và áp dụng kỹ thuật bản địa trên đất ruộng bậc thang và sử dụng gióng vật nuôi bản địa. Các phát hiện của chúng tôi giúp hiểu được tầm quan trọng của việc sử dụng IK trong thích ứng với BĐKH của các dân tộc thiểu số, từ đó có thể hướng đến mục tiêu tốt hơn việc sử dụng các nguồn lực địa phương trong các chính sách và dự án quốc gia trong tương lai

Steroids from the blood cockle Anadara granosa

Using various chromatographic experiments, four sterols as 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(S)-ethylcholest-6-en-3β-ol (1), (22E,24S)-5α,8α-epidioxy-24-ethyl-cholesta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (2), 7-oxocholesterol (3), and (22E)-3β-hydroxycholesta-5,22-dien-7-one (4) were isolated from the methanol extract of the blood cockle Anadara granosa. The structures of isolated compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D-NMR experiments in comparison with reported data. This is the first report of these compounds from A. granosa

Establishing and validating noninvasive prenatal testing procedure for fetal aneuploidies in Vietnam

Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal aneuploidies has been widely adopted in developed countries. Despite the sharp decrease in the cost of massively parallel sequencing, the technical know-how and skilled personnel are still one of the major limiting factors for applying this technology to NIPT in low-income settings. Here, we present the establishment and validation of our NIPT procedure called triSure for detection of fetal aneuploidies.We established the triSure algorithm based on the difference in proportion of fetal and maternal fragments from the target chromosome to all chromosomes. Our algorithm was validated using a published data set and an in-house data set obtained from high-risk pregnant women in Vietnam who have undergone amniotic testing. Several other aneuploidy calling methods were also applied to the same data set to benchmark triSure performance.The triSure algorithm showed similar accuracy to size-based method when comparing them using published data set. Using our in-house data set from 130 consecutive samples, we showed that triSure correctly identified the most samples (overall sensitivity and specificity of 0.983 and 0.986, respectively) compared to other methods tested including count-based, sized-based, RAPIDR and NIPTeR.We have demonstrated that our triSure NIPT procedure can be applied to pregnant women in low-income settings such as Vietnam, providing low-risk screening option to reduce the need for invasive diagnostic tests

Severe malaria not responsive to artemisinin derivatives in man returning from Angola to Vietnam.

Resistance to artemisinin derivatives, the most potent antimalarial drugs currently used, has emerged in Southeast Asia and threatens to spread to Africa. We report a case of malaria in a man who returned to Vietnam after 3 years in Angola that did not respond to intravenous artesunate and clindamycin or an oral artemisinin-based combination

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Global Research Trend in Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment remains a major health threat globally that requires the understanding of socioeconomic and cultural contexts to craft effective interventions. However, little is known about research agendas globally and the development of knowledge-producing networks in this field of study. This study aims to explore the bibliometric overview on child maltreatment publications to understand their growth from 1916 to 2018. Data from the Web of Science Core Collection were collected in May 2018. Only research articles and reviews written in the English language were included, with no restrictions by publication date. We analyzed publication years, number of papers, journals, authors, keywords and countries, and presented the countries collaboration and co-occurrence keywords analysis. From 1916 to 2018, 47, 090 papers (53.0% in 2010–2018) were published in 9442 journals. Child Abuse & Neglect (2576 papers; 5.5%); Children and Youth Services Review (1130 papers; 2.4%) and Pediatrics (793 papers, 1.7%) published the most papers. The most common research areas were Psychology (16, 049 papers, 34.1%), Family Studies (8225 papers, 17.5%), and Social Work (7367 papers, 15.6%). Among 192 countries with research publications, the most prolific countries were the United States (26, 367 papers), England (4676 papers), Canada (3282 papers) and Australia (2664 papers). We identified 17 authors who had more than 60 scientific items. The most cited papers (with at least 600 citations) were published in 29 journals, headed by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (7 papers) and the Lancet (5 papers). This overview of global research in child maltreatment indicated an increasing trend in this topic, with the world’s leading centers located in the Western countries led by the United States. We called for interdisciplinary research approaches to evaluating and intervening on child maltreatment, with a focus on low-middle income countries (LMICs) settings and specific contexts

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019 : a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Ending the global tobacco epidemic is a defining challenge in global health. Timely and comprehensive estimates of the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden are needed to guide tobacco control efforts nationally and globally. Methods We estimated the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden for 204 countries and territories, by age and sex, from 1990 to 2019 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. We modelled multiple smoking-related indicators from 3625 nationally representative surveys. We completed systematic reviews and did Bayesian meta-regressions for 36 causally linked health outcomes to estimate non-linear dose-response risk curves for current and former smokers. We used a direct estimation approach to estimate attributable burden, providing more comprehensive estimates of the health effects of smoking than previously available. Findings Globally in 2019, 1.14 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1.13-1.16) individuals were current smokers, who consumed 7.41 trillion (7.11-7.74) cigarette-equivalents of tobacco in 2019. Although prevalence of smoking had decreased significantly since 1990 among both males (27.5% [26. 5-28.5] reduction) and females (37.7% [35.4-39.9] reduction) aged 15 years and older, population growth has led to a significant increase in the total number of smokers from 0.99 billion (0.98-1.00) in 1990. Globally in 2019, smoking tobacco use accounted for 7.69 million (7.16-8.20) deaths and 200 million (185-214) disability-adjusted life-years, and was the leading risk factor for death among males (20.2% [19.3-21.1] of male deaths). 6.68 million [86.9%] of 7.69 million deaths attributable to smoking tobacco use were among current smokers. Interpretation In the absence of intervention, the annual toll of 7.69 million deaths and 200 million disability-adjusted life-years attributable to smoking will increase over the coming decades. Substantial progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking tobacco use has been observed in countries from all regions and at all stages of development, but a large implementation gap remains for tobacco control. Countries have a dear and urgent opportunity to pass strong, evidence-based policies to accelerate reductions in the prevalence of smoking and reap massive health benefits for their citizens. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe