Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine

232-239

Authors: Marjan Zare, Abbas Rezaianzadeh, Hamidreza Tabatabaee, Hossain Faramarzi, Mohsen Aliakbarpour, Mostafa Ebrahimi

Objective: To establish an early warning system for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Fars province, Iran in 2016. Methods: Time-series data were recorded from 29 201 cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in 25 cities of Fars province from 2010 to 2015 and were used to fit and predict the cases using time-series models. Different models were compared via Akaike information criterion/ Bayesian information criterion statistics, residual analysis, autocorrelation function, and partial autocorrelation function sample/model. To decide on an outbreak, four endemic scores were evaluated including mean, median, mean + 2 standard deviations, and median + interquartile range of the past five years. Patients whose symptoms of cutaneous leishmaniasis began from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2015 were included, and there were no exclusion criteria. Results: Regarding four statistically significant endemic values, four different cutaneous leishmaniasis space-time outbreaks were detected in 2016. The accuracy of all four endemic values was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: This study presents a protocol to set early warning systems regarding time and space features of cutaneous leishmaniasis in four steps: (i) to define endemic values based on which we could verify if there is an outbreak, (ii) to set different time-series models to forecast cutaneous leishmaniasis in future, (iii) to compare the forecasts with endemic values and decide on space-time outbreaks, and (iv) to set an alarm to health managers.

249-256

Authors: Wan Suriyani Wan-Ibrahim, Norzila Ismail, Siti Farhanah Mohd-Salleh, Aidy Irman Yajid, Michael Pak-Kai Wong, Mohd Nizam Md Hashim

Objective: To determine the anti-proliferative activity of Abrus precatorius (A. precatorius) leaf extracts and their effect on cell death. Methods: A. precatorius leaves were extracted successively with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol by Soxhlet extraction. Aqueous extract was prepared by decoction at 50 C. Extracts of A. precatorius leaves were used to treat selected cancer and normal cell lines for 72 h. Furthermore, 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl) 2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay was performed to determine cell viability. Analysis of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis assay and apoptosis protein expressions were determined by flow cytometry. Results: Methanolic extract of A. precatorius leaves showed the lowest IC50 on MDA-MB-231 cells at (26.40±5.40) μg/mL. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that cell arrest occurred at G0/ G1 phase and the apoptosis assay showed the occurrence of early apoptosis at 48 h in MDA-MB-231 cells treated with methanolic extract of A. precatorius leaves. Methanolic extract of A. precatorius leaves induced apoptosis by upregulation of Bax, p53 and caspase-3 and downregulation of Bcl-2. Conclusions: Methanolic extract of A. precatorius leaves promotes MDA-MB-231 cell death by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis possibly via the mitochondrial-related pathway.

263-270

Authors: Pukar Khanal, BM Patil

Objective: To identify alpha-glucosidase inhibitors from Ficus benghalensis and analyze gene set enrichment of regulated protein molecules. Methods: The phytoconstituents of Ficus benghalensis were queried for inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase, also identified as aldose reductase inhibitors. Druglikeness score, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity profile, biological spectrum, and gene expression were predicated for each compound. Docking study was performed to predict the binding affinity with alpha-glucosidase and aldose reductase and compared with clinically proven molecules. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis was performed for the regulated genes to identify the modulated pathways. Results: Apigenin, 3,4’,5,7-tetrahydroxy-3’-methoxyflavone, and kaempferol were identified as inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase and aldose reductase. Kaempferol was predicted to possess the highest binding affinity with both targets. The p53 signaling pathway was predicted to modulate the majority of protein molecules in diabetes mellitus. All the alpha-glucosidase inhibitors were also predicted as membrane integrity agonist and anti-mutagenic compounds. Conclusions: The current study indicates alpha-glucosidase inhibitors from Ficus benghalensis can act as aldose reductase inhibitors after absorption from the intestinal tract. Furthermore, these phytoconstituents are involved in the regulation of numerous protein molecules and pathways. Hence, the anti-diabetic efficacies of these compounds are due to their action on multiple protein molecules and synergistic effects which should be confirmed by future investigations.