1.Anti-atherosclerotic Effects of Eurycoma Longifolia (Tongkat Ali) in Rats Fed on High-fat Diet
Fakhria Al-Joufi ; Anil K. Saxena ; Imad M. Al-Ani ; Norlelawati A. Talib ; Norsidah Ku -Zaifah
The International Medical Journal Malaysia 2017;16(1):83-90
Atherosclerosis in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a growing health problem, especially in developing
countries. Hyperlipidemia is known as a dominant risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. This
study was designed to investigate the effects of Eurycoma Longifolia (EL) also known as Malaysian Ginseng/
Tongkat Ali on the testosterone level, biochemical changes of lipid profile and intima media thickness (IMT)
in rats fed on high-fat diet. Twenty young, adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were housed for 12 weeks.
After one week of acclimatization, they were randomly divided into four groups of 5 animals each and
treated for 12 weeks as follow: Group ND was given only normal diet, group NDEL was given normal diet and
EL extracts (15mg/kg) dissolved in distilled water, group HFD was given only high fat diet and group HFDEL
was given high fat diet and EL extracts (15mg/kg). Rats which were treated with EL (NDEL and HFDEL)
showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the testosterone levels. There was a significant decrease (p<0.05)
in triglyceride (TG) in HFDEL group compered to HFD group. The histological sections of aortas revealed a
significant decrease (p<0.05) in IMT in HFDEL as compared with HFD group. No histological changes were
observed in NDEL group compared with ND group and there was no significant difference in IMT values
between NDEL and ND. These findings suggest that EL is a promising protective agent against atherosclerosis
induced by high-fat diet.
2.Preliminary study on association of β2 - Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphism with hypertension in hypertensive subjects attending Balok Health Centre, Kuantan
AE Atia ; K Norsidah ; A Nor Zamzila ; M Rafidah Hanim ; D Samsul ; MAM Aznan ; AR Rashidah ; AT Norlelawati
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2012;67(1):25-30
Polymorphisms within the β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2)
gene have been repeatedly linked to hypertension. Among
the ADRB2 polymorphisms detected, Arg16Gly and Gln27Glu
codons are considered the two most important variations.
The amino acid substitution at these codons may lead to
abnormal regulation of ADRB2 activity. The aim of the
present study was to assess the association between ADRB2
polymorphisms and hypertension. This case-control study
consisted of 100 unrelated subjects (50 hypertensive and 50
matched normal controls). Arg16Gly and the Gln27Glu
polymorphisms were analyzed by polymerase chain reactionrestriction
fragment length polymorphism assay. There were
no significant evidence of association in allelic and
genotypes distribution of Arg16Gly and Glu27Gln with
blood pressure and hypertension. These findings suggest
that the variation within codon 16 and 27 of ADRB2 gene
were unlikely to confer genetic susceptibility for
hypertension in our population samples.