Tocotrienols and Oxidative stress in oocytes and developing embryos / Yuhaniza Shafinie Kamsani and Mohd Hamim Rajikin.

This review summarizes the impact of tocotrienols (TCTs) as antioxidants in minimizing oxidative stress (OS), particularly in embryos exposed to OS causing agents. OS level is increased, for example, by nicotine, a major alkaloid content in cigarette, which is also a source of exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS). Increased nicotine-induced OS increases cell stress response, which is a common trigger leading to embryonic cell death. Having more profound anti-oxidative stress effects than its counterpart tocopherol, TCTs improve blastocyst implantation, foetal growth, pregnancy outcome and survival of the neonates affected by nicotine. In reversing cell developmental arrest caused by nicotine-induced OS, TCTs enhances PDK-1 expression in the P13K/Akt pathway and permit embryonic development beyond the 4- cell stage with the production of more morulae. At the cytoskeletal level, TCTs increase the number of nicotine-induced apoptotic cells, through caspase 8 activation in the mitochondria. TCTs facilitate rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) stress-mediated apoptosis and autophagy, resulting from nicotine-induced OS. Reduced vesicular population in TCT supplemented oocytes on the other hand may suggest reduced secretion of apoptotic cell bodies thus probably minimizing vesicular apoptosis during oocyte maturation. Further extensive research is required to develop TCTs as a tool in specific therapeutic approaches to overcome the detrimental effects of OS

The influence of tocotrienol on the development of preimplantation embryos, implantation sites and pregnany outcomes in corticosterone-treated mice / Dr Nuraliza Abdul Satar, Professor Dr Mohd Hamim Rajikin and Dr Nor Ashikin Mohamed Noor Khan

Stress is an attribute of modern life style. Stress is a daily problem encountered by men and women where it affects reproductive system and could influence fertility (Senders & Bruce, 1997; Vilar, 1993). Fertility issues on couples have been widely discussed around the world. It has been estimated that in 2002, about 35 to 70 million couples worldwide are infertile and have turned to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to overcome their infertility (Schultz & Williams, 2002). Stress results in enhanced release of glucocorticoid due to activation of sympathoadrenals and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Increased glucocorticoid levels, i.e. cortisol in human and corticosterone (CORT) in rodents are indication of stress (Joels et al., 2007). Several stages of normal reproductive process could be disturbed by stress (Euker & Riegle, 1973). Adrenocortical activation during the preimplantation phase may inhibit fertility in women (Rowel, 1970). “Stress” was defined as teratogenic and CORT is the most probable adrenal steroid hormone involved in mouse under stress condition (Hackman & Brown, 1972). In human, early pregnancy loss is attributed by maternal stress as indicated by increased cortisol levels (Nepomnaschy et al., 2006). Exogenous CORT administration during second term of pregnancy in rodents resulted in an increased frequency of totally resorbed litters, where the effect seen is directly proportional to the dose of CORT administration (Hackman & Brown, 1972). However, the mechanisms that affect the reproductive system in that study remain unclear

TOCOTRIENOL-RICH FRACTION MODULATE THE PHOSPHOINOSITIDE 3-KINASES/AKT SIGNALING PATHWAY GENES AND PREVENT OXIDATIVE STRESS IN NICOTINE-INDUCED PRE-IMPLANTATION EMBRYOS

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of the tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) on the regulations of phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/Aktpathways related genes in preimplantation embryos induced by nicotine (Nic).Methods: Twenty-four female BALB/c mice were divided into four groups with Nic and TRF supplementation for 7 consecutive days. Animalswere superovulated before mating with fertile males. Plasma malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase weredetermined and analyzed accordingly. Embryos with two and eight blastomeres were assessed for gene expression analysis.Results: The levels of endogenous antioxidative enzymes for the group with TRF intervention and TRF only group showed no significant changes whencompared to the control group. The level of oxidative stress (OS) biomarkers was also significantly decreased when compared to the Nic-induced group.At 2-cell stage, Pten gene was significantly upregulated while Akt1, GSK3β, and Mapk1 were significantly downregulated almost similar to the baseline(control) in the Nic-induced mice. Intervention with TRF resulted in a significant downregulated of Pten gene followed by a significant upregulationof other genes. The same pattern was shown at the 8-cell stage.Conclusion: This showed that TRF evidently has OS protection capacity and it could be through modulating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

How student feedback resulted in marked improvement in examination performance of the pioneer batch of UiTM medical students / Edariah Abu Bakar … [et al.]

Universiti Teknologi MARA is a young university with lofty ideals to be among the best as a world class institution of higher learning. The Medical Faculty is still an infant, being born recently in June 2003 when the first batch of 20 students began their 5-year medical program at the Jalan Othman Campus in Petaling Jaya. Being pioneers, we had to struggle against all odds, especially in terms of infrastructure and staff shortage. So despite their high CGPA score in the Matriculation examination, students' performance in the First Continuous Assessment was a dismal 65% failure rate. Analysis of the data from their performance in each paper and their feedback identified the problems as: 1) non-conducive learning and examination situations, 2) inadequate time for the essays and practical examinations, 3) unclear labeling of some practical specimens, and 4) inadequate mastery of English. Recommendations were made to address the problems. The interventions instituted resulted in tremendous improvement with 100% pass rate in the Second Continuous Assessment and the First Professional Examination. In the medical program, student feedback, examination performance and question analyses are adopted as routine monitoring and continuing improvement tools in student assessment, on top of the thorough vetting of questions, in line with ISO and international accreditation requirement

Elucidation of the identification mechanism of murine embryonic cryotolerance through metabolomic analyses and the study of cellular ultrastructures / Nor Ashikin Mohamed Noor Khan

Cryopreservation of embryos is an essential procedure in all assisted conception units. Prediction of embryonic cryotolerance and developmental capacity after cryopreservation has previously relied on morphological assessment and observation on developmental capacity (Kuleshova et al., 2001; Han et al., 2003). Technological advancements in recent years has allowed for high-resolution microscopy in which details of ultrastructure at the organelle level may be used to select viable embryos for transfer (Dailey et al., 2006; Yamagata et al., 2009). In these studies, disruption to cytoskeletal components and mitochondrial distribution are observed and used in the selection of viable embryos. Although selection done based on qualitative morphological criteria produces valuable information on the physical damages after cryopreservation, the use of quantitative methods has proven to be more accurate in predicting survivability (Stokes, et al., 2007). Metabolomics is a useful quantitative tool to predict viability of embryos for transfer (Katz-Jaffe et al., 2009). With regard to metabolomics, amino acid turnover in the culture media (Houghton et al. 2002: Brison et al. 2007) and measurements of key functional groups using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) (Vergouw et al. 2009) has been used effectively to predict embryo developmental capacity

THE DISAPPEARANCE CHANGES OF SERUM PREGNANT WOMEN OF SLEEP- RELATED PROLACTIN IN

Serum prolactin (hPRL) levels in nonpregnant, pregnant and postpartum women during sleep were investigated. The study showed that in non-pregnant women, there is an immediate shift of hPRL release with reversal of sleeping period. Thus, the nocturnal surge for prolactin is sleeprelated. In pregnant women, however, tohile there is an increase in hPRL level during pregnancy, the nocturnal rise of this hormone is not detected and this is observed as early as the first trimester of pregnancy

Vitamin E as an Antioxidant in Female Reproductive Health

Vitamin E was first discovered in 1922 as a substance necessary for reproduction. Following this discovery, vitamin E was extensively studied, and it has become widely known as a powerful lipid-soluble antioxidant. There has been increasing interest in the role of vitamin E as an antioxidant, as it has been discovered to lower body cholesterol levels and act as an anticancer agent. Numerous studies have reported that vitamin E exhibits anti-proliferative, anti-survival, pro-apoptotic, and anti-angiogenic effects in cancer, as well as anti-inflammatory activities. There are various reports on the benefits of vitamin E on health in general. However, despite it being initially discovered as a vitamin necessary for reproduction, to date, studies relating to its effects in this area are lacking. Hence, this paper was written with the intention of providing a review of the known roles of vitamin E as an antioxidant in female reproductive health