Objective The aim of the study is to determine the demographic data of local psoriasis patients treated with NBUVB, their responses and complication to the treatment, factors which affect the effectiveness of NBUVB and duration of remission post treatment. Material and Methods A retrospective analysis of patients with chronic plaque psoriasis treated with NBUVB between January 2005 to December 2009 was conducted at the dermatology clinic, Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban Hospital. Patients’ demographic data and clinical characteristics, concurrent topical treatment, responses to NBUVB, complications and recurrences were reviewed. Results A total of 33 chronic plaque psoriasis patients treated with NBUVB were reviewed. There were 14 female patients and 19 male patients in the group. Their ages ranged from 27 to 78 years old (mean age = 51.8, sd = 12.7). 16 of them were Malays (Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV generally), 12 of them were Chinese (skin phototype III) and only 5 of them were Indians (skin phototype V and VI). The duration of disease before starting phototherapy ranged from 3 to 30 years (mean = 12.3, sd = 6.5). All patients had improvement after phototherapy where 9 of them achieved grade 4 response (complete flattening of plaque), 12 had grade 3 response (complete flattening except border of plaque), 11 had grade 2 response (partial flattening, less scale and erythema) while 1 with grade 1 response(slightly less scale and erythema). Only 1 of the patients had adverse reaction from phototherapy with pruritus post phototherapy. Durations of remission of plaque in response to phototherapy ranges from 1 month to 60 months (mean = 10, sd = 12.9). Conclusion NBUVB is a good treatment option for patients with chronic plaque psoriasis as most of the patients have some remission of plaques. It is safe and well tolerable with only 1 patient from our study had adverse reaction from the treatment.

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus ointment 0.1% in adult and 0.03% in pediatric patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in Malaysia. Methods This is an open-labeled and single arm multi-center study. 36 adult and 37 pediatric patients were enrolled. Tacrolimus ointment is applied twice daily for four weeks. The primary efficacy outcome is based on the Physician’s Global Evaluation of Clinical Response (PG) at Week 4. The secondary efficacy outcomes are Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score, changes from baseline in individual scores of signs and symptoms and body surface area affected and Patients Assessment of Treatment Effects. Results Overall success rate were 97.1% and 91.2% in the adult and pediatric groups respectively. The decline in EASI, percentage of total BSA affected and patient’s assessment of pruritus were significant (P<0.001). Of adults and pediatric patients, 97.2% and 75.7% respectively reported adverse effect. The most common adverse effect reported was skin burning sensation in 91.7% adult patients and pruritus in 67.6% pediatric patients. Conclusion Tacrolimus ointment 0.1% in adult and 0.03% in pediatric patients is effective for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in Malaysia.

Marine sponges have been considered as a drug treasure house with respect to great potential regarding their secondary metabolites. Most of the studies have been conducted on sponge's derived compounds to examine its pharmacological properties. Such compounds proved to have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, antitumor, immunosuppressive, and cardiovascular activity. Although, the mode of action of many compounds by which they interfere with human pathogenesis have not been clear till now, in this review not only the capability of the medicinal substances have been examined in vitro and in vivo against serious pathogenic microbes but, the mode of actions of medicinal compounds were explained with diagrammatic illustrations. This knowledge is one of the basic components to be known especially for transforming medicinal molecules to medicines. Sponges produce a different kind of chemical substances with numerous carbon skeletons, which have been found to be the main component interfering with human pathogenesis at different sites. The fact that different diseases have the capability to fight at different sites inside the body can increase the chances to produce targeted medicines.
Carbon ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Pharmacokinetics ; Porifera* ; Skeleton

The authors request to correct the title of Table 3.

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) has been used in regenerative medicine and dentistry. Recently, its use has been advocated for regenerative periodontics and wound healing. The randomized control trials have assessed the regenerative efficacy of the PRF for restoring intrabony periodontal defects.The objectives are to critically analyze and appraise the currently available literature, focusing on the use of PRF in regenerating periodontal bone defects. An electronic search was conducted (PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, ISI-WOS). Various combinations of following keywords were used: ‘ platelet-rich fibrin’, ‘ intrabony’, ‘ periodontal’, ‘ bone defect’ and ‘ guided tissue regeneration’.Asecondary search was conducted by analyzing the reference lists of the articles obtained in initial search. The final search resulted in 13 randomized controlled trials being included. Inmajority of studies, PRF resulted in better clinical/radiographic outcomes than open flap debridement and augmented therapeutic effects of bone grafts. The combination of bovine bone substitutes and PRF resulted in better performance compared to alone. Similarly better outcomes were observed while using PRF in combination with nanohydroxyapatite, metformin and demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft. It can be concluded that PRF produces better outcomes than open flap debridement alone and augments the regenerative effects of bone substitutes.
Allografts ; Blood Platelets* ; Bone Substitutes ; Debridement ; Dentistry ; Fibrin* ; Metformin ; Periodontics ; Regeneration ; Regenerative Medicine ; Therapeutic Uses ; Tissue Engineering ; Transplants ; Wound Healing

Inguinal herniation of urinary bladder is uncommon and usually an incidental finding in asymptomatic patients. In some of these patients, residual urine volume and consequently, urinary tracer activity can be higher in the herniated bladder than the native bladder, in which case interpretation can be challenging on conventional planar imaging.We describe an interesting case of physiological activity in a herniated bladder simulating a “tear-drop”. This case serves an important reminder that whilst F-18NaF PET-CT has a similar spectrum of urinary activity to conventional bone scintigraphy; morphological correlation on hybrid imaging is invaluable in ensuring the physiological nature of uptake.
Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Sodium Fluoride ; Sodium ; Urinary Bladder

Aims: The study was aimed to isolate and characterize the mycotoxin-producing filamentous Aspergillus parasiticus from the feed samples. The sensitivity pattern of the isolates was assessed against different disinfectants. Methodology and results: Fifty different feed samples were screened for A. parasiticus isolation. Isolates were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic characterization. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to confirm the isolates at the genomic level. Mycotoxin producing potential of the isolates was assessed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). To quantify the toxins, high performance liquid (HPLC) was employed. The antifungal potential of disinfectants was determined by the well diffusion method followed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) calculation. Out of twenty isolates of A. parasiticus, 11(55%) isolates were observed positive for toxin production. Three toxigenic isolates (AspP2, AspP4 and AspP8) were selected to evaluate their susceptibility against disinfectants by well diffusion method. AspP2 produced maximum (5.90 ng/mL) toxin, followed by AspP4 (3.11 ng/mL) and AspP8 (18.47 ng/mL). Terralin showed maximum fungicidal activity with 29.66 ± 8.08 mm zone of inhibition at 0.42 μg/mL MIC. Hypochlorite and Instru Star showed 99% disinfection with 30, 60 and 90 min contact time (6 mean log reduction) for all A. parasiticus isolates. Alpha Guard inhibited growth after 15 min contact time for all the isolates. Conclusion, significance and impact of study This study provides data indicating the contamination of feed samples with mycotoxin-producing A. parasiticus isolates and their sensitivity against commercially available disinfectants. Use of these disinfectants in appropriate concentrations and time could help prevent the contamination of food, feed and healthcare settings with the fungal species.
Mycotoxins ; Aspergillus

Objective: To investigate the analgesic effect of Boswellia sacra (B. sacra), which could support the Omani traditional uses of frankincense for muscle, stomach, and arthritis pain. Methods: The crude extract, the essential oils and various sub-fractions of the crude methanol extract (each 300 mg/kg of the body weight of the animal) obtained from the resin of B. sacra were administered orally, and were evaluated for their analgesic activities by using two well known models of pain in mice, viz. acetic acid induced writhing test and formalin induced pain test in mice. Results: Of 13 samples, almost all of them were effective at an orally administered dose of 300 mg/kg of the body weight. The acetic acid induced writhes were inhibited in all the three phases with comparable values to the standard drug aspirin (300 mg/kg of body weight) with inhibition of 67.6% in phase I, 66.8% in phase II, and 37.9% in phase III. At the same time, all the tested samples were found effective in both the early and the late phases of formalin test. In formalin test, most of the tested samples showed more inhibitory effects as compared to the standard drug aspirin (300 mg/kg of body weight), which showed 36.2% and 29.6% inhibition in early and late phases respectively. Among the tested samples, the most significant inhibition was produced by Shabi frankincense oil (57.5% in early phase, and 55.6% in late phase). Interestingly, the extracts showed comparable percentage of inhibition to the oil and found in the following order: 60% chloroform. /n-hexane sub-fraction (55.3% in early phase, and 66.7% in late phase), and 70% chloroform. /n-hexane sub-fraction (59.6% in early phase, and 63.0% in late phase). Conclusions: The present study provided the scientific justification about the analgesic properties of the essential oils, extract, and various sub-fractions obtained from the resin of B. sacra, thus validating its use in traditional folk medicines and other products; and hence supporting the development in the analgesic properties of bioactive natural substances.

The present study was conducted to investigate the antimicrobial potential of essential oils of Curcuma longa and Syzygium aromaticum against multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. Four identified bacterial isolates including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii were selected and their antibiotic sensitivity was checked by disc diffusion assay. C. longa and S. aromaticum were subjected to steam distillation to obtain their essential oils. The crude essential oils were fractioned by employing column chromatography. Crude essential oils and their fractions were evaluated for their antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentrations were calculated. All the selected bacterial isolates showed resistance to three or more than three antibiotic groups and were declared as multidrugresistant (MDRs). Crude essential oils of C. longa and S. aromaticum exhibited antimicrobial activity against all selected isolates but S. aromaticum activity was better than the C. longa with a maximum 19.3±1.50 mm zone of inhibition against A. baumannii at 1.04 µL/mL MIC. GC/MS analysis revealed the abundance of components including eugenol, eugenyl acetate, b- caryophyllene, and a- Humulene in both crude oil and fractions of S. aromaticum. While the main components of C. longa essential oil were Ar-tumerone, a–tumerone, b- Tumerone, I-Phellandrene, a-zingibirene, b- sesquiphellandrene, and p- Cymene. This study highlights that plant-based essential oils could be a promising alternative to antibiotics for which pathogens have developed resistance. C. longa and S. aromaticum carry compounds that have antimicrobial potential against multiple drug-resistant bacteria including MRSA. E. coli, K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii.