Molecular Characterisation of Very Virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus and the Effects of Its Viral Proteins on Cancer Cell Lines

Infectious bursa1 disease virus (IBDV) is an immunosuppressive virus causing bursa lesions and atrophy. There are several strains of IBDVs, namely classical, variant, attenuated and very virulent strains. Viral proteins, VP2 and VP5, from attenuated strain had been shown to induce apoptosis in chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) and African green monkey cell line (BSC40). The objective of this study is to characterise local isolate IBDV namely, UPMOIIIO and to determine the apoptotic effect of VP2 and VP5 proteins in neoplastic and normal cell lines. UPMOIIIO was successfully characterised as vvlBDV, based on the molecular methods. The VP2 sequence of UPMOIIIO isolate had amino acid substitutions at Ala[222], [lle]256, [He1294 and [Ser]299, similar to other reported vvlBDV. This isolate did not have Lys[249] and Ser[254] amino acid residues which had been reported to be present in variant strains. The deduced amino acids of VP2 showed that the two hydrophilic regions and the serine-rich heptapeptide region were conserved in UPMOll10. Similar finding was reported for other vvlBDVs such as UK661, HK46 and OKYM. The VP2 nucleotides sequence of UPMO1110 could be cut by restriction enzymes Taql, Accl, Styl, Spel but not by Sacl. UPMO1/10 showed highest homologous similarity in nucleotides and amino acids to the reported Malaysian vvlBDVs. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nucleotides sequence of the VP2 and VP5 revealed that UPMO1110 isolate was clustered with other very virulent strains but distanced with classical, variant and attenuated strains. Serial samples of Chang, HepG2 and MCF-7 cells transfected with VP2 or VP5 at the interval of 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours were examined, respectively, in order to identify the onset of apoptosis. VP2 and VP5 of UPMO1110 were successfully expressed in Chang, HepG2 and MCF-7 cells. VP2 or VP5 alone was capable of triggering apoptotic response in Chang, HepG2 and MCF-7 cells. The onset of apoptosis started at 6 hours and preceded to necrosis at 24 hours. Both Chang and HepG2 cells were significantly susceptible to either VP5 or VP2 as compared to MCF-7 cells. VP5 induced significantly prominent apoptosis in HepG2 as compared to Chang cells at 6 hours, followed by maintaining similar level of apoptosis in both cells from 12 to 24 hours. However, VP2 induced higher level of cell death significantly in Chang cells as compared to HepG2 cells with exception at 6 hours. VP5 may be possible to be taken into consideration as candidate for liver cancer therapy as compared to VP2

Screening of Streptococcus suis in swine workers of selected states in Peninsular Malaysia

Background and Aim: Streptococcus suis is a zoonotic pathogen that is highly associated with contact between live pigs and raw pig material. In view of the recent reports of human infections in Malaysia, epidemiological data on the status of S. suis in the human population, especially among people working closely with pigs and/or raw pork, should be provided. The aim of this study was to detect S. suis among individuals working in the swine industry in several major pig production areas in Peninsular Malaysia. Materials and Methods: Demographic information, exposure determinants, and oral swabs were collected from swine personnel, including farmers, butchers, and veterinarians. Oral swabs were subjected to bacterial isolation and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for S. suis detection. Results: The study included 40 participants working in the swine industry, with a predominant representation of males (62.5%) and Malaysian Chinese individuals (60.0%) who consumed pork (92.5%). Notably, none of the participants reported consuming raw or partially cooked pork. In spite of their occupational exposure risk, none of the oral swabs showed positive results for S. suis infection. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report and detection study of S. suis using oral swabs obtained from swine personnel in Peninsular Malaysia

Wound Healing Property of Curcuminoids as a Microcapsule-Incorporated Cream

Curcuminoids have been used for the management of burns and wound healing in traditional Chinese medicine practices but the wide application of curcuminoids as a healing agent for wounds has always been a known problem due to their poor solubility, bioavailability, colour staining properties, as well as due to their intense photosensitivity and the need for further formulation approaches to maximise their various properties in order for them to considerably contribute towards the wound healing process. In the present study, a complex coacervation microencapsulation was used to encapsulate curcuminoids using gelatin B and chitosan. This study also focused on studying and confirming the potential of curcuminoids in a microencapsulated form as a wound healing agent. The potential of curcuminoids for wound management was evaluated using an in vitro human keratinocyte cell (HaCaT) model and the in vivo heater-inflicted burn wound model, providing evidence that the antioxidant activities of both forms of curcuminoids, encapsulated or not, are higher than those of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene in trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) (DPPH) studies. However, curcuminoids did not have much impact towards cell migration and proliferation in comparison with the negative control in the in vitro HaCaT study. The micoencapsulation formulation was shown to significantly influence wound healing in terms of increasing the wound contraction rate, hydroxyproline synthesis, and greater epithelialisation, which in turn provides strong justification for the incorporation of the microencapsulated formulation of curcuminoids as a topical treatment for burns and wound healing management as it has the potential to act as a crucial wound healing agent in healthcare settings