DOES QURANIC RECITATION WORK ON A NON-AUDIBLE CELL? AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN A MONOLAYER CELLS CULTURE MODEL

There has been a dearth in modern scientific literature addressing the effect of Quranic recitation on the physical context of beings compared to a psychological or spiritual dimension. Muslims believe that the Holy Qurʾān is Kalamullah (the words of God). This study distances itself from arguing the truthfulness of the Qurʾān. Instead, it is an effort out of curiosity to appreciate the Creator’s greatness from a scientist’s perspective. It is always room for improvement in seeking knowledge. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Quranic recitation on non-audible primary cells using a monolayer cell culture model. Cartilages were harvested from commercially available rabbits’ knee joints (n=6). The cartilage cells (chondrocytes) were isolated, cultured, and assigned to five groups. Three cultured chondrocyte groups were exposed to Sūrat l-Fātiĥah (The Opening), ‘Arabic poem’ and ‘Western poem’ recitals. Two other groups served as controls. One was exposed to a muted sound speaker (but switched on), and another group had no exposure. All recitations were recorded and exposed to the cells in a standardized, controlled condition to allow scientific rigor and a systematic approach. A scratch assay was also performed to mimic a simple wound healing model. Post-exposure evaluations included basic cellular staining, immunocytochemistry against collagen I and II, sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) production, and cartilage-specific gene expression analysis. All cells groups showed positive reactions to the various recitals exposures. However, based on the overall findings and chondrogenic properties preservation, the group exposed to the Qurʾān exhibited better structure and function than the other groups. The results showed that the non-audible chondrocytes devoid of spiritual dimension could respond to vocal sounds. This non-invasive study indicates that a proper Quranic recitation has a healing effect and could impact physical cells better than the other recitals

Regeneration of human body parts via tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: a brief insight into the technology from Islamic perspective

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (or, T.E.R.M.) field has been progressing well during the last few decades. Most of T.E.R.M. related studies indicated promising research findings in tissue reconstruction and regeneration. Successful tissue reconstruction and regeneration requires a great balancing acts of the three T.E.R.M. elements or principles namely (1) quality cells source, (2) appropriate biomaterial scaffolds and (3) adequate signalling factors i.e. physical and/or chemical stimuli. From its theoretical framework, this multidisciplinary biomedical technology will enable us to restore, delay or even reverse the aetiology of diseases. It is anticipated that T.E.R.M. will augment current practices in tissue or organ transplantations. It would serve as a potential solution for the lack of tissues or organs donor. Taking advantage of a fully autologous system or approach, T.E.R.M. will help minimize the risk of infection and the issues of rejection (or, adverse host reaction). It is expected that millions of people would be benefited from T.E.R.M. in the near future. This initiative is worth to explore and must be given due consideration by Muslims since there are growing demands for a shari’ah compliance biomedical application. Despite much hopes and expectations, T.E.R.M. has been confronted with some questions arising from the social, cultural and/or religious implications of this new-found knowledge and technology. Based on the available literatures, most of the countries around the world support this highly technical T.E.R.M. research for it is rapidly advancing the understanding of the human tissue regeneration. Although T.E.R.M. is potentially beneficial to improve the health of people, this newly found technology can also be misused. In some cases, it is difficult to differentiate whether T.E.R.M. falls under a pure scientific research or a medical technology innovation that can be applied directly onto patient. The choice in relation to scientific or legal aspects could raise ethical dilemmas as well as religious issues. It affects various stakeholders i.e. patients, medical professionals, and public at large. In order to address the complexity, this present paper intends to explore the principles of T.E.R.M. in terms of tissue regeneration aspects in modern science and Islam, based on the two sources of knowledge i.e. the Qur’an and Hadith (sayings and actions of the Prophet S.A.W.). Emphasis is given on the usage of foreign materials as well as the issues of seeking best treatment and utilizing unlawful things. Refraining from giving an ultimate Islamic decree, the approach is taken to nudge or instigate a discussion on certain issues pertaining to research and application of T.E.R.M. which is still under-represented. Initiation on the foundation of the subject should be ventured further. It is also hoped that the content of this paper will be well received by the readers, and the brief discussion will be enlightening and educational for those who are interested in this important subject

Engineered Meniscus Scaffolds using Sonication Decellularization Treatment System

Meniscus located in the weight-bearing area responsible for the movement and functions of the knee. However, the frequent injuries within the avascular region of meniscus have lack of healing capability. Thus, the emerging decellularized scaffolds serve as one the interventions for the regeneration of new tissues to treat early degenerative joint disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of sonication treatment system in decellularization of meniscus tissues. The decellularization process was conducted in 40 kHz frequency with 0.1% SDS solution for 10 hours and proceeds with five days washing process. The decellularization efficiency was evaluated through histology, gel electrophoresis and biochemical assays to observe the cellular components removal and preservation of extracellular matrix (ECM). Compared to the control group, the histological evaluation of sonication decellularized scaffolds based on staining van Gieson showed complete removal of cellular components. Picrosirius red and Safranin O/fast green staining revealed the well preservation of the distribution of collagen and glycosaminoglycan networks (GAGs) in sonication decellularized scaffolds and no visible of DNA bands in the electrophoresis of agarose gel. Biochemical assessment for DNA quantification illustrated a significant decrement of DNA residues and GAGs for sonication decellularized scaffolds while maintained in collagen content. Based on the results, it can be deduced that sonication decellularization treatment system successfully prepared scaffolds with low cellular contents and maintained extracellular matrix components. Therefore, sonication decellularization treatment system can serve as one of the potential physical decellularization method in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields

Healing with sound: exploring possible applications of Qur’anic recitation in cell culture

There are evidences of research done in relation to sound healing in dealing with various health problems. Brain, auditory cells and other cells in the human body have been shown to react to sound. The use of Qur’anic recitation for therapeutic purposes can be traced back to the times of Prophet Muhammad (s. a. w.). Listening to the Qur’anic recitation can have therapeutic effects even on individuals who do not understand the meaning of the verses. However, there is little to suggest the effect of Qur’anic recitation on cell cultures. The Scopus database was examined for scientific writings that involve the effect of sound, with higher emphasis on “Healing with Qur’anic recitation”. The positive effects of sound identified from the literatures support future studies to examine the effects of Qur’anic recitation on cell cultures. However, this paper adopted a cautious approach to associating Qur’anic recitation to sound healing

Effect of Qur’anic recitation on chondrocytes growth using scratch wound assay: work in progress

Purpose: This study aims to identify the potential effects of the Qur’anic recitation,particularly Surah Al-Fatihah on the wound healing activity of chondrocytes derived from rabbit articular cartilage. Methods: A serially cultured and expanded chondrocytes was used in this study. A cellular model was established in vitro and divided into four groups. The first and second groups were exposed to recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and an Arabic poem respectively.The third group was exposed to a Western poem recitation. The exposure duration of the recitations to all groups was standardized to 14 minutes. The fourth group was not exposed to any sound and serves as control. As the cells reach 80-90% confluency, a single line or scratch wound was introduced. Growth kinetics assessment was performed to study the healing activities within each group. Any significant changes were recorded as photomicrograph. Results: Initial findings showed that the cells exposed to Qur’anic recitation showed faster and favourable healing effect compared to Arabic and Western poem. Growth rate, cell viability and total number of doubling were found to be increased with the Qur’anic recitation. Future work involving more samples will be conducted to validate these initial findings. It is found that the Qur’anic recitation was able to increase the proliferation and reduce the time to heal. The use of the Qur’anic recitation can be utilized to facilitate the cartilage regeneration in tissue engineering studies. Conclusion: This preliminary study exerts the positive effect of Qur’anic recitation on the wound healing activity of chondrocytes

Histological and biochemical evaluations of decellularized meniscus tissues using sonication treatment system

Meniscus plays fundamental roles in the knee mechanisms and functions but injuries happen in meniscus have poor healing ability that requires great interventions. Tissue engineered scaffolds serve as one of the interventions to regenerate the required tissue to treat early degenerative joint disease. The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of sonication treatment system in complete cellular components removal with preserved extracellular matrix (ECM) compositions in meniscus tissues through histological and biochemical evaluations. Meniscus tissues were decellularized using sonication treatment system for 10 hours treatment time and continued with extensive washing process. Histological evaluations were based on van Gieson and Picrosirius red staining that portrayed complete cellular components removal and preserved collagen networks distribution within sonicated scaffolds respectively. Biochemical evaluations showed markedly reduction in the residual DNA content for sonicated scaffolds while maintain in collagen content. Lastly, agarose gel electrophoresis showed no visible DNA bands for sonicated scaffolds. Therefore, the results concluded that the prepared bioscaffolds by sonication treatment system managed to reduce the immunogenicity of scaffolds by removing most of the cellular components and successfully retained the properties of the extracellular matrix. Thus, it is a suitable decellularization method to be used in tissue engineering applications

In vitro and in vivo gene expression studies of cartilage-like tissue engineered construct using a combination of transiently transfected human osteoarthritic chondrocytes and tissue engineering technique

Purpose: To evaluate the formation of cartilage-like tissue engineered constructs (TECs) using human osteoarthritic chondrocytes overexpressed with SOX9 gene seeded on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with and without fibrin scaffolds through cartilaginous genes expression analysis. Methods: Upon approval by the IREC18; NMRR-12-1383-14531 and IIUM/IACUCApproval/2015/[5][22], six cartilage samples were obtained from consented patients after joint replacement surgery. The cells were isolated, cultured and transfected with pcDNA3-SOX9 using Lipofectamine 2000™. Prefabricated disc-shaped porous PLGA with and without fibrin were used as scaffolds. The ‘cells-scaffolds’ TECs were formed and cultured for 3-week and implanted subcutaneously at the dorsum of athymic mice for 4-week. Collagens I, II, IX, X, XI, SOX9 and aggrecan expression were evaluated using a qualitative two-step reverse-transcriptase PCR. GAPDH and β-actin genes were used as internal controls. Results: Presence of cartilaginous markers can be detected in all TECs with various expression intensity. Collagen II, the cartilage-specific marker was down-regulated in vitro but re-expressed in vivo. Collagen I, X, SOX9 and aggrecan were steadily expressed in all TECs. Although collagen IX and XI are closely associated with collagen II, their expressions were almost untraceable except for few cases. Presence of GAPDH and β-actin genes indicated the reliability of the analysis. Conclusion: Cartilage-like TECs have been successfully formed based on genes expression analysis

Bioartificial Articular Cartilage Substitute (BACS): advancing functional tissue engineered medical product

Articular cartilage has poor repair capacity due to its avascular and aneural properties. To date, there is no definitive treatment that can delay or reverse the degenerative process in cartilage. Therefore this bioartificial articular cartilage substitute is one of the alternatives that employ essential tissue engineering triad, which consist of i) quality cell source i.e. autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), ii) biomaterial scaffolds i.e. synthetic poly(lactic-co-glycolic)acid (PLGA) [+] natural fibrin and iii) signalling factors (chemical and/or physical stimuli) i.e. selected growth medium. All threecomponents are combined together forming PLGA-based scaffolds and BMSCs to restore damaged joint cartilage. Our implant model demonstrated promising findings with satisfactory structural and functional cartilaginous tissue restoration based on the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) classification and the modified O’Driscoll histological grading scale. This reliable autologous matrix-induced cartilage implantation system uses one’s own cells, therefore the approach can be used to bypass certain social and scientific issues surrounding the conventional tissue or organ transplantation

Identifying the potential of Qur’anic recitation on the proliferation of chondrocytes derived from rabbit articular cartilage: work in progress

Introduction: In Islamic practice, the use of Qur’anic recitation in treatment can be traced back to the times of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This preliminary study aims to identify the potential of Qur’anic recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah on the proliferation of chondrocytes derived from rabbit articular cartilage. Cartilage tissue engineering offers an alternative way to facilitate cartilage regeneration in-vitro. Materials and Methods: The cellular model was established using a serially cultured and expanded chondrocytes in-vitro. The model was assigned into three groups. The first group was exposed to the Surah Al-Fatihah, recited 17 times based on the five times daily prayer unit (Raka’ah) obligated upon Muslims. The second group was exposed to an Arabic poem recitation. The third group was not exposed to any sound and served as the control. All groups were subjected to the growth profile analysis. The analysis was conducted at different passages starting from passage 0 to passage 3. Results: The results showed that the cells proliferation based on the growth kinetic analysis is higher for the cells exposed with Qur’anic recitation as compared to the Arabic poem and control groups. Conclusions: The proliferation process of the rabbit articular cartilage might be influenced with the use of Qur’anic recitation and as well as Arabic poem recitation. Exposure to the Western poem recitation and mute sound will be added for future study. It is hoped that this study could shed some light on the potential use of the Qur’anic recitation to facilitate cartilage regeneration in tissue engineering studies