Effects of zerumbone on cisplatin-induced clastogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rats bone marrow cells

Zerumbone (ZER) is derived from Zingiber zerumbet smith from the Zingiberaceae family. It has been shown to have anti-cancer and apoptosis-inducing properties against various human tumour cells. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of ZER on cisplatin-induced clastogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rat bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) using micronucleus test (MN). Animals treated with two ZER doses for 4 consecutive days plus a single dose of cisplatin following treatment, presented a non-significant effects of ZER on cisplatin-induced clastogenesis. The results also indicated that ZER has no clastogenic effects on rat bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes after 4 days treatment with 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight when compared to one dose cisplatin of 45 mg/kg body weight. On the other hand, significant decrease in the number of PCE was observed in all treatment groups, indicating cytotoxicity of ZER and cisplatin. Under the present experimental conditions, ZER could not prevent cisplatin-induced clastogenesis in rat.Key words: Clastogenicity, micronucleus, micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs), zerumbone

Boerhaave\u27s syndrome: a diagnostic dilemma in the emergency room

Boerhaave\u27s syndrome is a potential lethal condition which presents not only a diagnostic but also a therapeutic challenge. Errors in diagnosis are usually caused by unawareness of its varied and atypical presentations. All clinicians need to be aware of this lethal disease, its frequent unusual presentations and the importance of early diagnosis

Validated high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for analysis of zerumbone in plasma

Zerumbone (ZER) is a sesquiterpene derived from Zingiber zerumbet smith, family Zingiberaceae. It has been shown to possess anti-cancer and apoptosis-inducing properties against various human tumour cells as well as in vivo against a number of induced malignancies in mice. In this study a simple, specific and accurate high performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of ZER in micro-volumes human plasma (| 1.5 ml) was developed and validated. ZER and its analogue -Humuleneas internal standard were easy recovered by simple one step plasma protein precipitation using acetonitrile and separated in isocratic mobile phase, on reverse phase-C18 column. The effluent was monitored by Photodiode Array (PDA) detector and at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The linearity of proposed method was 2 – 15 ìg/ml. The intra-day and inter-day coefficient of variation and percent error values of the method were less than 15% and mean recovery was more than 90% for both ZER and -Humulene. This method was found to be precise, specific, accurate and robust for detection and analysis of ZER in human plasma

Morphological and molecular characterization of fungus isolated from tropical bed bugs in Northern Peninsular Malaysia, Cimex hemipterus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

Objective: To investigate some morphological and molecular characteristics of fungal parasites isolated from wild tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus. Methods: A series of culture methods were used to obtain fungal isolates from field-collected bed bugs. Characteristics of the isolates such as colony appearance, mycelial texture and pigmen-tation were studied to explore their morphology. Isolates were also subjected to a PCRbased genotyping test. Results: There were noticeable differences in morphological characteristics among the four isolates. Conidial areas of one isolate were dark green, whereas those of the remaining colonies were olive-green, black or dark brown. Conidia of the dark green isolate were globose, while those of olive-green, black and dark brown isolates were globose to subglobose, globose to spherical and globose to subglobose/finely roughened, respectively. These morphological specificities and the molecular analyses showed that the fungal internal transcribed spacer ribosomal region and β-tubulin gene sequences of the isolates shared clade with Trichoderma and Aspergillus sequences. Conclusions: Overall, the new discovery of common pathogens in agricultural field developed in live bed bugs storage tank may initiate the use of biological agents in later years

Morphological and molecular characterization of fungus isolated from tropical bed bugs in Northern Peninsular Malaysia, Cimex hemipterus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

Objective: To investigate some morphological and molecular characteristics of fungal parasites isolated from wild tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus. Methods: A series of culture methods were used to obtain fungal isolates from field-collected bed bugs. Characteristics of the isolates such as colony appearance, mycelial texture and pigmentation were studied to explore their morphology. Isolates were also subjected to a PCR-based genotyping test. Results: There were noticeable differences in morphological characteristics among the four isolates. Conidial areas of one isolate were dark green, whereas those of the remaining colonies were olive-green, black or dark brown. Conidia of the dark green isolate were globose, while those of olive-green, black and dark brown isolates were globose to subglobose, globose to spherical and globose to subglobose/finely roughened, respectively. These morphological specificities and the molecular analyses showed that the fungal internal transcribed spacer ribosomal region and β-tubulin gene sequences of the isolates shared clade with Trichoderma and Aspergillus sequences. Conclusions: Overall, the new discovery of common pathogens in agricultural field developed in live bed bugs storage tank may initiate the use of biological agents in later years