Medicinal plants of Moraceae family have been well-recognized traditionally due to their versatile applications in various fields including agriculture,cosmetic and food as well as in pharmaceutical industries. Their biomedical and medicinal importance is reflected from their broad range of pharmacological activities for treatment of various inflammatory conditions,cancer,infectious diseases,and gastrointestinal disorders.The present review was aimed to summarize and critically discuss the biomedical implications of Morus species,their bioactive compounds,and phytochemicals.Bioactivity guided fractionation of these medicinal plants revealed that different types of bioactive phytochemicals and secondary metabolites such as steroids, saponins, alkaloids, glycosides and phenolic compounds including terpenoids,flavonoids,anthocyanins and tannins were present.The critical analysis of the literature revealed that the aqueous,methanolic,and ethanolic ex-tracts of Morus species and their bioactive compounds exhibit remarkable anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic, anti-stress, nephroprotective, antimicrobial, anti-mutagenic, anticancer, anxiolytic, hepatoprotective, anthelmintic, antimicrobial, immune-modulatory and cholesterol lowering effects.Based on the literature review and bioactivity guided inves-tigation of Morus species and their phytomedicinal effects,we anticipate that these herbal products hold excellent potential for future research.

Nitric oxide (NO) in general plays a beneficial physiological role as a vasorelaxant and the role of NO is decided by its concentration present in physiological environments. NO either facilitates cancer-promoting characters or act as an anti-cancer agent. The dilemma in this regard still remains unanswered. This review summarizes the recent information on NO and its role in carcinogenesis and tumor progression, as well as dietary chemopreventive agents which have NO-modulating properties with safe cytotoxic profile. Understanding the molecular mechanisms and cross-talk modulating NO effect by these chemopreventive agents can allow us to develop better therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.
Carcinogenesis ; Chemoprevention* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; Nitric Oxide*

Introduction: Specific health warning placed on the tobacco product packages is considered as an effective and low-cost method for increasing the knowledge and awareness among the community. Thus, a study was conducted to assess the perception of pictorial health warnings (PHWs) against smoking among the adult rural population of Sarawak. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 10 villages in Kota Samarahan and Kuching Division by face to face interview using modified Global Adult Tobacco Survey questionnaire. Nonprobability sampling method was adopted to select the villages. All the households of the selected villages were visited and an adult member was selected randomly from each house irrespective of the sex. After missing value imputation, 1000 data were analysed using statistical software IBM SPSS 20.0 version. Results: Analysis showed that 28.8% of the respondents were current smokers, 7.8% were past smokers and the rest were non-smokers. Six items of pictorial health warnings were evaluated with five point Likert’s scales for attractiveness, fearfulness and adequacy of the information. Analysis revealed that the majority of the respondents had perceived awareness on PHWs, but the smokers believed that this was not adequate to make them quit smoking. Only one-fifth (19.7%) of them reported that current pictorial health warnings were sufficient to motivate people to quit smoking. Conclusion: Though the PHWs on cigarette packages are appealing, it is not sufficient as a reason to stop smoking. Thus, an approach using an integrated anti-tobacco public health programme should be focused into the specific targeted community.

Intracranial non-galenic pial arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) is an extremely rare vascular malformation, where one or more pial arteries feeds directly into a cortical vein without any intervening nidus. Though occasionally they can be asymptomatic, neurological symptoms such as headache, seizure, or focal neurological deficit are more common presenting features. Life threatening or fatal hemorrhage is not uncommon, hence needed to be treated more often than not. Spontaneous occlusion of PAVF is reported only four times before. We report a 49-year-old gentleman, who was diagnosed to have a PAVF, possibly secondary to trauma. He presented 5 months and 22 days from initial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for treatment, and follow-up angiogram showed complete obliteration. He denied any significant event, medication or alternate treatment during this period. His clinical symptoms were stable as well. We postulate iodinated contrast medium induced vasculopathy as a possible cause, which has been described for other vascular pathologies, but never for PAVF.

Medicinal plants of Moraceae family have been well-recognized traditionally due to their versatile applications in various fields including agriculture, cosmetic and food as well as in pharmaceutical industries. Their biomedical and medicinal importance is reflected from their broad range of pharmacological activities for treatment of various inflammatory conditions, cancer, infectious diseases, and gastrointestinal disorders. The present review was aimed to summarize and critically discuss the biomedical implications of Morus species, their bioactive compounds, and phytochemicals. Bioactivity guided fractionation of these medicinal plants revealed that different types of bioactive phytochemicals and secondary metabolites such as steroids, saponins, alkaloids, glycosides and phenolic compounds including terpenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins and tannins were present. The critical analysis of the literature revealed that the aqueous, methanolic, and ethanolic extracts of Morus species and their bioactive compounds exhibit remarkable anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic, anti-stress, nephroprotective, antimicrobial, anti-mutagenic, anticancer, anxiolytic, hepatoprotective, anthelmintic, antimicrobial, immune-modulatory and cholesterol lowering effects. Based on the literature review and bioactivity guided investigation of Morus species and their phytomedicinal effects, we anticipate that these herbal products hold excellent potential for future research.

Objective To investigate the hepatoprotective efficacy of cranberry extract (CBE) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl

A multi-centred study was designed to collect dengue epidemiologic data from government and registered private hospitals/clinics and maintained archive of frozen specimens in bio-bank to be used for future dengue epidemic control program, and assess the epidemiology of dengue fever (DF) by evaluating biochemical and oxidative status of patients. ELISA IgM antibodies test was done to confirm DF. From August 2010 to December 2011, 101 confirmed blood samples of DF patients referred to pathology lab of Jinnah Hospital Lahore were subjected to the epidemiologic assessment by evaluating the biochemical and physiological indices and alterations of circulating antioxidants. Clinical features of DF patients and effect of fever on blood components and serum proteins of liver were recorded. The hospital stay in DF, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) showed significant difference. Significant increases in serum alanine amino transferase (ALT) (P=0.000), aspartate amino transferase (AST) (P=0.000), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (P=0.000), malondialdehyde (MDA) along with significant decreases in total protein (TP) (P=0.000), reduced glutathione (GSH) (P=0.000), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) (P=0.000), and sialic acid contents (P=0.016) were observed. A positive correlation existed between bound sialic acid levels, liver enzymes and circulating antioxidants (r=0.656, P=0.016). In the present study, alterations of circulating antioxidants in DF suggest that DF might be a metabolic response to an acute, self-limiting tropical viral infection, and a consequence of the viral inflammatory process.
Adult ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Biomarkers ; blood ; China ; Dengue ; classification ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Introduction: SABINA III assessed short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) prescription patterns and their association with asthma-related outcomes globally. Herein, we examined SABA prescription and clinical outcomes in the Malaysian cohort of SABINA III. Methods: In this observational, cross-sectional study, patients (≥12 years) were recruited between July and December 2019 from 15 primary and specialty care centres in Malaysia. Prescribed asthma treatments and severe exacerbation history within 12 months prior and asthma symptom control during the study visit were evaluated. Associations of SABA prescription with asthma control and severe exacerbation were analysed using multivariable regression models. Results: Seven hundred thirty-one patients (primary care, n=265 [36.3%]; specialty care, n=466 [63.7%]) were evaluated. The prevalence of SABA over-prescription (≥3 SABA prescriptions/year) was 47.4% (primary care, 47.1%; specialty care, 47.6%), 51.8% and 44.5% among all patients and patients with mild and moderate-to-severe asthma, respectively. Altogether 9.0% (n=66) purchased SABA without a prescription; among them, 43.9% (n=29) purchased ≥3 inhalers. The mean (standard deviation) number of severe asthma exacerbations was 1.38 (2.76), and 19.7% (n=144) and 25.7% (n=188) had uncontrolled and partly controlled symptoms, respectively. Prescriptions of ≥3 SABA inhalers (vs 1–2) were associated with lower odds of at least partly controlled asthma (odds ratio=0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.27–0.67) and higher odds of having severe exacerbation(s) (odds ratio=2.04; 95% CI=1.44–2.89). Conclusion The prevalence of SABA over-prescription in Malaysia is high, regardless of the prescriber type, emphasising the need for healthcare providers and policymakers to adopt latest evidence-based recommendations to address this public health concern.
Asthma ; Malaysia