In vitro growth and content of vincristine and vinblastine of Catharanthus roseus L. hairy roots in response to precursors and elicitors

Catharanthus roseus L. is a medicinal plant that produces numerous indole terpenoid alkaloids, including vincristine and vinblastine, which are used for cancer treatment. The effect of specified precursors (L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine) and elicitors (chitosan, methyl jasmonate) on C. roseus hairy roots (CHR) growth has been examined in order to increase the content of vincristine and vinblastine. Our results showed that CHR generated by an Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain isolated in Vietnam was capable of producing both vincristine and vinblastine when subjected to precursors, but only vinblastine when exposed to elicitors. However, both precursors and elicitors were evaluated to have an effect on increasing the accumulation of TIAs in CHR. In particular, the use of elicitors required more time to find the appropriate induction conditions, while the use of precursors gave outstanding efficiency in the treatment with 1 µM phenylalanine. The greatest yields of vincristine (51.99 µg g-1 DW) and vinblastine (699.92 µg g-1 DW) were obtained in the 7th week (with 0.306 g DW biomass). This result is the first time we might boost the levels of vincristine and vinblastine in our CHR clone generated by the Vietnam strain of A. rhizogenes

Genetic variation of Nang Thom Cho Dao rice variety based on whole genome sequencing

High-performance sequences are generating increasingly comprehensive catalogs of crop genetic variation. To make optimal use of this vast collection of data for research purposes, a robust and reproducible analytical pipeline discipline is required that is capable of accurately detecting and favoring variants. The entire genome sequencing data from the rice variety Nang Thom Cho Dao was analyzed using the appropriate bioinformatic pipeline. A total of 21 million reads with 6,6 GB of data were analyzed. SNPs and indels from the Nang Thom Cho Dao genome were found to be variable when compared to the Nipponbare reference rice genome. The result showed that the novel Indel of BADH2 gene in Nang Thom Cho Dao genome. The study will contribute valuable information to the development of genetic markers for rice breeding strategies using Nang Thom Cho Dao rice varieties

Effect of Camellia flava (Pitard) Sealy flower extract on the degeneration of Islets of Langerhans and insulin resistance in alloxan-induced hyperglycemia model on Swiss albino mice

Diabetes has always been a matter of concern to health experts as well as the community due to the increasing number of patients with diabetes and the severe consequences it may cause. Many attempts have been made to discover new treatment options for diabetes, and herbal medicines are currently considered to have great potential. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Camellia flava flower extract on the degeneration of the islets of Langerhans and insulin resistance in an alloxan-induced hyperglycemia model in Swiss albino mice. Hyperglycemic conditions were induced by alloxan (55 mg/kg, i.v.). The animals were then treated with glibenclamide (10 mg/kg, p.o.) and flower extract at doses of 1.09 and 2.19 g/kg, p.o. The results showed that the blood glucose, AUC, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR levels of two groups of mice receiving flower extract were considerably lower than those of the hyperglycemic untreated group (p < 0.05). The body weights of these two groups were also lower than the untreated group on the last day of the experiment, though the differences were not significant (p > 0.05). However, this was not observed when assessing insulin levels as well as relative organ weights. In biochemical tests, creatinine and AST and ALT concentrations were evaluated. There was no significant variation in creatinine and AST concentrations between the five experimental groups, whereas mice treated with glibenclamide and flower extract at both doses showed a remarkable decline in ALT concentration (p < 0.05). The hepatic histomicrographs were consistent with ALT results, while the H&E staining of kidneys showed no difference between groups. Histomicrographs of the pancreas revealed that the treatment groups using glibenclamide and flower extract had larger islets of Langerhans than those of the alloxan-treated group. Based on these results, this study demonstrated that Camellia flava flower extract exerted several beneficial effects, including blood sugar level reduction, weight loss promotion, and organ protection, hence making it a new potential herbal medication for the management of diabetes

NURSES’ COMPLIANCE ON PATIENT HANDOVER PROCESS IN THE PRE-OPERATIVE ROOM OF THE HOSPITAL IN VIETNAM

Background: Ineffective handover is considered a major factor that endangers patient safety in hospitals. Preparing and handing over patients before surgeries directly impact the outcome of the surgery. If errors occur, they could jeopardize the patient’s life. Objectives: To determine the level of nurses’ compliance during the pre-operative patient handover process at the anesthesia department. To examine nurses’ evaluation on using a pre-operative patient handover checklist. Methods: This was a descriptive observational study with a cross-sectional approach to examine 196 cases of handing over pre-operative patients performed by 53 nurses from the surgical department, maternity department, obstetrics and gynecology department, emergency department, and anesthesia department. Data were collected from November 2019 to February 2020 using “The Checklist of Assessing Nurse’s Compliance on Pre-Operative Patient Handover” and “The Survey Form of Nurse’s Evaluation on Using Pre-Operative Patient Handover Checklist.” Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were used for data analysis. Results: Nurses’ compliance on handing over pre-operative patients with a high level was 71.9%, and with an average level was 28.1%. The handover areas with low compliance rate included: the patients need to be isolated (63.3%), identifying patient information verbally (75%), identifying patient information by hospital bracelet (77%), time to use antibiotics (78.1%), and marked surgical site (79.6%). Over 90% of nurses agreed on the usefulness of the pre-operative handover checklist. Conclusion: The process of handing over pre-operative patients was performed relatively well, but there were still shortcomings to overcome. Nurses positively evaluated the use of the handover checklist for preparing pre-operative patients

The Potential of Rhizobacteria for Use of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) Peel as Organic Fertilizer

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) production is growing worldwide so the treatment and utilization of Rambutan by-products has become a concern of manufacturers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential application of rhizobacteria to decompose Rambutan peel for organic fertilizer production. After the rhizospheric soil samples were selectively proliferated and preadded on agar medium containing only Rambutan peel, the rhizobacterial colony isolates were screened based on their ability to grow on this agar medium and then to degrade cellulose in Rambutan peel. The LD7.3 isolate from the Rambutan rhizosphere showed the highest efficiency in degrading Rambutan peel with 5.6% degraded cellulose content and was identified by the MALDI-TOF technique as belonging to Klebsiella. Klebsiella sp. LD7.3 grew well and maintained the same degrading activity after three times of subculturing in liquid medium. Notably, the supplementation of grinded Rambutan fruit peel to the liquid medium had a positive effect on the growth and the degrading activity of Klebsiella sp. LD7.3. This was the primary report on the application of rhizobacteria to degrade Rambutan peel and the results showed that this was a potential approach to reuse this waste source

Pharmacist-Led Interventions to Reduce Drug-Related Problems in Prescribing for Pediatric Outpatients in a Developing Country:A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a pharmacist-led intervention’s effectiveness in reducing drug-related problems (DRPs ) related to prescriptions for pediatric outpatients. METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial. We recruited and randomly assigned 31 physicians to control or intervention groups. We collected 775 prescriptions (375 from the control group and 400 from the intervention group) at the start. For 3 weeks, intervention physicians received additional information and meetings with pharmacists in addition to the usual practices of the hospital. We then collected prescriptions at the end of the study. We classified DRPs, based on reliable references (Supplemental Table S1) at baseline and endpoint (a week after the intervention). The primary outcome was the proportion of prescriptions with DRPs, and secondary outcomes were the proportions of prescriptions with specific DRP types. RESULTS The influence of the intervention on general DRPs and specific DRPs was the study’s main finding. The pharmacist-led intervention helped reduce the prescriptions with DRPs proportion in the intervention group to 41.0%, compared with 49.3% in the control group (p &lt; 0.05). The DRPs proportion related to the timing of administration relative to meals, unlike the other DRP types, increased in the control group (from 31.7% to 34.9%) and decreased in the intervention group (from 31.3% to 25.3%), with a significant difference between the 2 groups at endpoint (p &lt; 0.01). Patients aged &gt;2 to ≤6 years (OR, 1.871; 95% CI, 1.340–2.613) and receiving ≥5 drugs (OR, 5.037; 95% CI, 2.472–10.261) were at greater risk of experiencing DRPs related to prescribing. CONCLUSIONS A pharmacist-led intervention improved DRP occurrence related to physicians’ prescribing. Pharmacists could be involved in in-depth research with physicians in the prescribing process to provide tailored interventions.</p

Phenolic Profiles, Antioxidant, Antibacterial Activities and Nutritional Value of Vietnamese Honey from Different Botanical and Geographical Sources

Honey is a natural product made by honeybees, its composition depends on factors such as climate, soil and plant source. In this study, the nutritional parameters, phenolic composition, antioxidant activity and antibacterial ability of 30 different types of honey of different botanical and geographical origins in Vietnam were investigated. The study focused on the characterization and evaluation of the influence of plant origin and geographical location on physical–chemical properties and biological activities (antioxidant and antibacterial). The obtained results show that all honey samples meet quality standards according to international standards and Vietnamese standards, except for some exceptions recorded in moisture, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) value and ash. These samples were explored for the detection of 13 polyphenols by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The classification of honey samples collected from different regions and botanical sources was performed by principal component analysis (PCA), and it was observed that certain phenolic compounds contributed to the identification of honey samples. In addition, the correlation between physicochemical properties, chemical composition and biological activity of most honeys was also first clarified in this study. Overall, our data provide an overview data set and essential results in creating a database on the world honey trait map

The protective effects of young pomelo fruits extract against acute hyperlipidemia and high-fat diet-induced obese mice

Introduction: Pomelo (柚 in Mandarin) (Citrus grandis L. Osbeck), a long-used fruit in Asia and China, is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Pomelo is also a culturally significant fruit tree in Vietnam, renowned for its culinary and medicinal value. Young pomelo fruits possess high levels of flavonoids, but their research significance remains limited. Due to its relatively unknown potential, young pomelo is usually discarded during gardening maintenance leading to waste. This study aims to determine the naringin content and investigate the ameliorative effect on lipid profile of young pomelo extracts. Methods: Two mouse models of hyperlipidemia, specifically tyloxapol and a high-fat diet (HFD) model, were utilized to assess the effects of young pomelo extracts. Tyloxapol decreases the clearance of lipoprotein and leads to acute endogenous hyperlipidemia, while a high fat diet causes obesity among mice. The hypolipidemic effect of young pomelo extract was assessed through the level of serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c), while its ameliorative effect was assessed through physical changes of mice and histological changes of their livers. Results: In the tyloxapol model, the naringin-rich young pomelo extracts exhibited promising effects in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. Notably, they significantly reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-c levels while elevating HDL-c levels. In the HFD model, the young pomelo extracts demonstrated similar effects on the biochemical lipid profiles. Moreover, the young pomelo extracts possess a protective effect against HFD-induced hepatosteatosis and hepatic necroinflammation. These findings align with existing literature, highlighting the potential utilization of young pomelo fruits. Discussion: The findings have significant implications for the development of novel therapeutic approaches targeting obesity and related metabolic disorders. Furthermore, the study contributes to promoting sustainable agriculture practices by emphasizing the utilization of young pomelo fruits that would otherwise go to waste. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into establishing a high-fat diet-induced obesity model, tyloxapol-induced hyperlipidemia and demonstrates the potential of young pomelo as a rich source of naringin

Medication Adherence in Vietnamese Patients with Cardiovascular and Endocrine&ndash;Metabolic Diseases

(1) Background: COVID-19 has significantly affected the quality of life and the medication adherence of patients with chronic diseases. Attitudes towards the disease and preventive measures are the things that need to be considered for patient adherence to medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to evaluate the rate and compare the medication adherence and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medication adherence in Vietnamese patients with cardiovascular and endocrine&ndash;metabolic diseases. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on outpatients having chronic diseases such as cardiovascular or/and endocrine&ndash;metabolic diseases in some southern provinces in Vietnam. In each group of patients, medication adherence was measured and assessed with the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS), adjusted and validated in Vietnam. In addition, the study also investigated attitudes and practices to prevent COVID-19. (3) Results: Out of 1444 patients in our study, the level of adherence was recorded in 867 cases, accounting for 61.1%. The group of patients with only cardiovascular disease and patients with only endocrine&ndash;metabolic disease had relatively similar compliance rates of 62 and 61.1%, respectively. The leading cause of non-adherence to treatment in all three groups of patients in the study, as assessed by the GMAS, was non-adherence due to financial constraints. Our study showed that 71.6% of patients felt anxious when going to the hospital for a medical examination. However, only 53.7% identified the COVID-19 pandemic as obstructing treatment follow-up visits. The research results showed that the COVID-19 epidemic influences the patient&rsquo;s psychology with regard to re-examination and treatment adherence, with p coefficients of 0.003 and &lt;0.001, respectively. (4) Conclusion: Medication adherence rates in two disease groups are close, and financial constraint is the fundamental reason for medication non-adherence. Regulatory agencies must take care of people&rsquo;s welfare to improve adherence in the epidemic context