Objective: To assess the antidiabetic and hypolipidemic properties of Lippia nodiflora (L. nodiflora).Methods:Acute toxicity test was done to check the toxicity of L. nodiflora methanol extract and oral glucose tolerance test was performed in normal rats. L. nodiflora methanol extract at three dose levels was administerd orally to streptozotocin (STZ) (40mg/kg bw) induced diabetic rats for 15 days. The various parameters were studied including body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, plasma insulin, lipid profile, glycogen content, glycoslylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and serum marker enzyme levels in normal, treated and diabetic rats. Histochemical analysis of pancreas was also carried out in normal, treated and diabetic rats. Results: The treatment group with the extract at three dose levels showed a significant increase in the liver, muscle glycogen and serum insulin level and a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin levels and serum marker enzyme levels. The total cholesterol and serum triglycerides levels were also significantly reduced and the high density lipoprotein level was significantly increased upon treatment with the L. nodiflora methanol extract. Histochemical study of pancreas also confirmed the biochemical findings. Acute toxicity studies revealed the non-toxic nature of the L. nodiflora methanol extract. Conclusions: The results of the experiments presented here suggest that methanol extract of L. nodiflora exerts significant antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic effect in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Objective: To investigate the phytoconstitutent of ethanol extract of Polycarpaea corymbosa (L.) Lam using GC-MS. Methods : GC-MS analysis of whole plant extract were performed using a Perkin-Elmer GC Clarus 500 system and Gas Chromotograph interfaced to a Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) equipped with a Elite - I, fused Silica Capillary Column (30mmí 0.25mm 1Dí1 μMdf ,composed of 100% Dimethyl polysiloxane). Results: The results of the GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of thirteen compounds. The most prevailing compounds are Furazano [3,4-b] pyrazin-5(4H)-one, 6-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-,1,(2-Acetoxyethyl)-3,6-diazahomoadamantam-9-one oxime, cycloarbital etc. Conclusions: From the results, it can be concluded that the plant extract show the presence of 13 phytocompounds. The presence of various bioactive compounds justifies the use of the whole plant for various ailments by traditional practitioners.

INTRODUCTIONAlthough heart failure (HF) management is available at primary and secondary care facilities in Malaysia, the optimisation of drug therapy is still suboptimal. Although pharmacists can help bridge the gap in optimising HF therapy, pharmacists in Malaysia currently do not manage and titrate HF pharmacotherapy. The aim of this study was to develop treatment algorithms and monitoring protocols for angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and spironolactone based on extensive literature review for validation and utilization by pharmacists involved in HF management.

METHODSA Delphi survey involving 32 panellists, from private and government hospitals that provide cardiac services in Malaysia, was conducted to obtain a consensus opinion on the treatment protocols. The panellists completed two rounds of self-administered questionnaires to determine their level of agreement with all the components in the protocols.

RESULTSConsensus agreement was achieved for most of the sections of the protocols for the four classes of drugs. Panellists' opinions were taken into consideration when amending the components of the protocols that did not achieve consensus opinion. Full consensus agreement was achieved with the second survey conducted, enabling the finalisation of the drug titration protocols.

CONCLUSIONThe resulting validated HF titration protocols can be used as a guide for pharmacists when recommending the initiation and titration of HF drug therapy in daily clinical practice. Recommendations should be made in collaboration with the patient's treating physician, with concomitant monitoring of patient's response to the drugs.

The purpose of this review is to assess the surgical outcomes of two different treatment modalities, endoscopic and open resection, for the management of sinonasal malignancies by comparing the effectiveness of these two methods. A wide search was carried out considering various electronic databases for English language articles from 2013 to 2018 using keywords such as sinonasal malignancies, endoscopic surgery, open resection for sinonasal malignancies, and endoscopic versus open surgery. One thousand articles were identified from the literature for screening. After a thorough systematic assessment and based on the selection criteria, 10 articles with 4,642 patients were included in this quantitative analysis. With a total of 4,642 patients, 1,730 patients were operated on using endoscopic resection and 2,912 patients were operated on using open resection. The endoscopic approach was found to have a shorter hospital stay compared to open surgical resection (P<0.05). The rate of positive margins and the recurrence rate for open surgical resection were both smaller compared to those for endoscopic resection (P>0.05), and the endoscopic approach had smaller complication rates and a higher survival rate compared to open resection (P>0.05). Though endoscopic resection and open surgical resection have comparable postoperative benefits, preoperative evaluation of cases presenting with sinonasal malignancies is necessary for determining the right treatment method to obtain the best possible results postoperatively.

The purpose of this review is to assess the surgical outcomes of two different treatment modalities, endoscopic and open resection, for the management of sinonasal malignancies by comparing the effectiveness of these two methods. A wide search was carried out considering various electronic databases for English language articles from 2013 to 2018 using keywords such as sinonasal malignancies, endoscopic surgery, open resection for sinonasal malignancies, and endoscopic versus open surgery. One thousand articles were identified from the literature for screening. After a thorough systematic assessment and based on the selection criteria, 10 articles with 4,642 patients were included in this quantitative analysis. With a total of 4,642 patients, 1,730 patients were operated on using endoscopic resection and 2,912 patients were operated on using open resection. The endoscopic approach was found to have a shorter hospital stay compared to open surgical resection (P<0.05). The rate of positive margins and the recurrence rate for open surgical resection were both smaller compared to those for endoscopic resection (P>0.05), and the endoscopic approach had smaller complication rates and a higher survival rate compared to open resection (P>0.05). Though endoscopic resection and open surgical resection have comparable postoperative benefits, preoperative evaluation of cases presenting with sinonasal malignancies is necessary for determining the right treatment method to obtain the best possible results postoperatively.

Introduction: Positive oral contrast is no longer deemed necessary for abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) scans. Studies have shown water to be an equally effective oral contrast agent. However, to our knowledge no study has compared effectiveness between gastrografin and water in the same patient, which will provide a more objective evaluation of the two oral contrast agents. We aim to make a head-to-head comparison of water as neutral oral contrast (OC) against gastrografin as positive OC for abdominopelvic CT scans in the same patient. Methods: A retrospective review of 206 abdominopelvic CT scans of 103 patients was performed. The scans were reviewed in consensus by two blinded radiologists. The ability to visualise each abdominopelvic organ, contrastassociated artefacts and small bowel wall delineation, was qualitatively scored on a 5-point scale. Each patient had two sets of scores, one with water and another with gastrografin as OC. Paired scores from the two OCs were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed rank test to determine any significant difference in performance between the two OCs for visualisation of abdominopelvic anatomy on CT. Results: There was significantly better delineation of duodenal wall (p<0.001) and overall visualisation of the duodenum (p=0.011) using water as OC compared to gastrografin. No statistically significant differences were demonstrated between water and gastrografin for visualisation of the rest of the abdominopelvic organs, walldelineation of the rest small bowel and contrast-associated artefacts. Conclusions: Water can be used in place of gastrografin as oral contrast in abdominopelvic CT without compromising visualization of abdominopelvic organs.

A monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for the bluetongue virus (BTV) group specific antigen (VP7) was characterized for its reactivity with purified virus and recombinant BTV VP7 (rVP7) protein and its suitability for use in the sandwich ELISA. The MAb, designated as 5B5 was specific to VP7 and belongs to IgG2a subclass and was selected for the development of the sELISA in this study. The MAb had a titer of 1:25 with BTV and 1:2 with the rVP7 protein. The sELISA is based on capturing of BTV antigen with VP7 specific MAb followed by detection using BTV polyclonal antiserum raised in rabbits. The assay was evaluated with six cell culture adapted serotypes of BTV that have been isolated from India, 1, 2, 15, 17, 18 and 23. The assay could detect BTV antigen as early as day 8 in blood. It was also successfully applied for the detection of BTV group specific antigen in clinical samples of blood, washed RBCs, buffy coat and plasma. A total of 102 field samples from animals, suspected of being infected with BTV, were tested and 29.42% were positive. The blood samples were also amplified in cell culture which improved the sensitivity of the assay. Results confirmed that the sELISA is rapid and specific.

In this study,thermo-adapted(Ta)PPR vaccines were assessed for their stability at 25,37,40,42 and 45℃ in lyophilized form using two extrinsic stabilizers(lactalbumin hydrolysate-sucrose(LS)and stabilizer E)and in reconstituted form with the diluents(1 mol/L MgS04 or 0.85% NaCl). The lyophilized vaccines showed an expiry period of 24-26 days at 25℃,7-8 days at 37℃ and 3-4 days at 40℃. LS stabilizer was superior at 42℃ with a shelf-life of 44 h,whereas in stabilizer E,a 40 h shelf-life with a comparable half-life was observed. At 45℃,the half-life in stabilizer E was better than LS and lasted for 1 day. Furthermore,the reconstituted vaccine maintained the titre for 48 h both at 4℃ and 25℃ and for 24-30 h at 37℃. As both the stabilizers performed equally well with regard to shelf-life and half-life,the present study suggests LS as stabilizer as a choice for lyophilization with 0.85% NaCI diluent,because it has better performance at higher temperature. These Ta vaccines can be used as alternatives to existing vaccines for the control of the disease in tropical countries as they are effective in avoiding vaccination failure due to the breakdown in cold-chain maintenance,as this vaccine is considerably more stable at ambient temperatures.

A sensitive and rapid single step real time (rt) RT-PCR was standardized using one-step Brilliant SYBR Green kit(R) for detection and semi-quantitation of peste des petitis ruminants virus (PPRV) using the virus RNA and matrix (M) protein gene-specific primers and compared with established conventional RT-PCR and TaqMan RT-PCR.The assay amplifies a 124 bp fragment of the PPRV M gene with Tm of 78.28 to 78.50.The assay was linear within a range of 50 ng to 0.5 fg total virus RNA with a detection limit (sensitivity) of 0.5 fg.Based on the serial dilution of the live-attenuated PPR vaccine virus,the detection limit was ～0.0001 cell culture infectious dose 50％ units (TCID50).Additionally,swab materials spiked with known titre of vaccine virus were equally well detected in the assay.The standardized rt RT-PCR was easily employed for the detection of PPRV nucleic acid directly in the field and experimental clinical samples.The assay detected the PPRV nucleic acid as early as 3 day post infection (dpi) and up to 20 dpi in swab materials from the experimental samples.The assay was rapid and more sensitive than TaqMan and conventional RT-PCR in the detection of PPRV nucleic acid from the PPR suspected clinical samples of sheep and goats.Therefore,the established,simplified SYBR green rt RT-PCR is an alternative test to the already existing various diagnostic assays and could be useful for rapid clinical diagnosis with advantage in reducing risk of contamination.

In this study,the decay of maternal peste des petits ruminants virus(PPRV) antibodies in kids born to goats vaccinated with Asian lineage IV PPR vaccine and the efficacy of passive immunity against PPRV was assessed to determine the appropriate period for vaccination in kids.Serum samples collected from kids born to vaccinated,unvaccinated and infected goats at different time intervals were tested by PPR competitive ELISA and serum neutralization test(SNT).Maternal antibodies in kids were detectable up to 6 months with a decline trend from the third month onwards and receded below the protective level by the fourth month.The kid with an SN titre of 1∶8 at the time of immunization showed significant PPRV specific antibody response(percentage inhibition of 76; SN titers ＞1∶16),when tested on 21 day post-vaccination and was completely protected from infection upon virulent PPRV challenge.Similarly,the kid with 1∶8 SN titers was completely protected from PPR infection on active challenge.Therefore,PPR vaccination is recommended in kids,aged 4 months and born to immunized or exposed goats.This could be a suitable period to avoid window of susceptibility in kids to PPRV and the effort to eliminate PPR infection from susceptible populations.