Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Chronic asthma is commonly resistant to steroid therapy. Acupuncture has an anti-inflammatory effect and has been widely used as an add-on therapy for asthma. Objective: To evaluate the effects of acupuncture on the inflammatory response and airway remodelling in the bronchioles of an asthma mouse model. Methods: A chronic asthma model was produced in female BALB/c mice by ovalbumin (OVA) sensitisation. 32 mice were randomised into four groups: control; asthma (OVA); OVA+BL13; and OVA+BL13+ST36. OVA was administered by intraperitoneal injection on days 0 and 14 followed by aerosol exposure of 1% OVA three times a week for 6 weeks. Manual acupuncture (MA) was performed three times a week for 6 weeks at BL13 alone, or BL13 in combination with ST36, in the two MA-treated groups. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected to determine eosinophil and neutrophil counts and lung tissue was prepared for histological examination. Results: A pronounced reduction in the neutrophil count was achieved after MA at BL13+ST36 (P=0.005) while the eosinophil count was lowered after MA both at BL13 (P=0.007) and BL13+ST36 (P=0.006). Reduction in the bronchiolar epithelial and smooth muscle thickness and the number of goblet cells was observed after MA at BL13 (P=0.001, P=0.001 and P=0.002, respectively) and BL13+ST36 (P=0.001, P=0.002 and P=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Acupuncture can reduce the inflammatory response and prevent airway remodelling in a chronic asthma mouse model.

Ocktarini R, Prasetyo DH, Sjarifah I. 2011. Effect of herbal extract of anting-anting (Acalypha australis) on blood glucose level of Balb/C mice with induction of Streptozotocin. Biofarmasi 9: 12-16. This study was conducted to determine the effect of herbal extract of anting-anting (Acalypha australis L.) on the decrease of blood glucose level of Balb/C mice induced with Streptozotocin. This research was an experimental laboratory with pre and post-test control group design, conducted in Laboratory of Biochemistry and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta. The test animals used were 16 male mice, about 4-6 weeks of age with approximately 20-30 grams induced with Streptozotocin in 0.02 M citric buffer solution, and a dose of 65 mg/kg body weight. Furthermore, the mice were divided into two groups (Metformin in a dose of 1.3 mg/mice/day and herbal extract of anting-anting 1000 mg/kg BB/day) randomly, each group consisted of 8 mice. All mice were observed for GDS level after 14 days treatment period. The data obtained was processed by using the Independent-Samples T-test statistical test (unpaired t-test) with SPSS for Microsoft Windows Release 18.0. Mean of decreased GDS levels on Metformin group vs herbal extract of anting-anting (145.87 mg/dl vs 144.62 mg/dl, p=0.965). The treatment of herbal extract of anting-anting in a dose of 1000 mg/kg body weight/day could decrease blood glucose level of Balb/C mice induced with Streptozotocin that equal with Metformin.

AbstrakPeran propolis lebah sebagai terapi adjuvan pada pengelolaan sepsis telah dievaluasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari efek perlindungan propolis pada sepsis akibat inokulasi cecal, derajat inflamasi intestinal, dan kadar malondialdehid (MDA) serum. Penelitian dilakukan di Laboratorium Histologi dan Biomedik, Fakultas Kedokteran, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, selama periode April-September 2011. Empat puluh tikus Rattus norvegicus L jantan dibagi menjadi lima kelompok: kontrol, sepsis, sepsis+antibiotik, sepsis+propolis, dan sepsis+antibiotik+propolis. Pada hari kedelapan, semua hewan coba dikorbankan untuk diukur konsentrasi MDA serum dan perubahan histopatologi di intestinal. Uji konsentrasi MDA serum menggunakan analysis of variance (ANOVA), sedangkan derajat inflamasi intestinal dengan Uji Kruskall-Wallis, dan untuk menentukan perbedaan kemaknaan digunakan p<0,05. Kadar MDA serum masing-masing kelompok: kontrol 0,27±0,07 µmol/L; sepsis 0,39±0,05 µmol/L; sepsis+antibiotik 0,15±0,03 µmol/L; sepsis+propolis 0,09±0,05 µmol/L; dan sepsis+antibiotik+propolis 0,21±0,11 µmol/L. Derajat inflamasi intestinal menunjukkan kelompok kontrol derajat 0-3; sepsis derajat 3-4; sepsis+antibiotik derajat 1-3; sepsis+propolis 1-3; dan sepsis+antibiotik+propolis derajat 0-2. Simpulan, ekstrak etanol propolis menurunkan derajat inflamasi intestinal dan kadar MDA serum pada hewan coba model sepsis. [MKB. 2013;45(3):161-6] Kata kunci: Inflamasi, malondialdehid, propolis, sepsis Ethanol extract of Propolis Reduces the Level of Inflammation and Serum Malondialdehyde in Sepsis Rats Model AbstractThe role of bee propolis as a adjuvant therapy in the management of sepsis was evaluated. The aim of the study was to investigate the protective effect of propolis against cecal inoculum induced sepsis, the level of intestinal inflammation, and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations. The study was conducted at School of Medicine, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, in April to September 2011. Forty male Rattus norvegicus L rats were divided into five groups: control, sepsis, sepsis+antibiotic, sepsis+propolis and propolis+antibiotic+sepsis groups. On the eighth day, all experimental animals were sacrificed. Serum concentrations of MDA were evaluated. In addition, the histopathological changes in intestinal were assessed. Kruskall-Wallis test with Mann-Whitney analysis were used to determine significant differences. Results were expressed as mean±standard error of the mean, and value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Malondialdehyde serum means levels were control group 0.27±0.07 µmol/L, sepsis 0.39±0.05 µmol/L, sepsis+antibiotic 0.15±0.03 µmol/L, sepsis+propolis 0.09±0.05 µmol/L, and sepsis+antibiotic+propolis 0.21±0.11 µmol/L respectively. The levels of intestinal inflammation were control groups 0 to 3, sepsis 3 to 4, sepsis+antibiotic 1 to 3, sepsis+propolis 1 to 3, and sepsis+antibiotic+propolis 0 to 2, respectively. In conclusions, ethanol extract of propolis reduces the levels of intestinal ...

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a life-threatening disease which remains one of the causes of high morbidity and mortality despite the current advances in treatment. The relationship between the serum uric acid (SUA) level and ischemic heart disease continues to be controversial and still has not been established as a cardiovascular risk factor. The cooperative interaction between the two factors has not yet fully understood. Prior epidemiological evidence of the causal relationship between the too is still argumentative. Various studies have been done using the same methods; yet, the outcomes were different. This study aimeds to conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize the results of recent studies in order to obtain accurate quantitative data. This systematic study followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guideline and studies published in the period of January 2010 to May 2020 were screened using the Cochrane Library, Ebsco, Medline/PubMed, ProQuest and Science Direct as the sources. Meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the association between the SUA level and severity of coronary artery stenosis using random effect model to account for possible study heterogeneity. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 and the meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta Analysis Version 3 (CMA3) software. Five studies (n = 601 subjects) identified a correlation between serum uric acid level and Gensini score (r = 0.548; p <0.001) in ACS patients. Heterogeneity bias was found in the analysis, whereas publication bias was not found. Thus, the severity of coronary artery stenosis in patients with ACS is positively correlated with serum uric acid level.

AbstrakSepsis mengubah mikrobiologi saluran pencernaan, menyebabkan hilangnya flora komensal dan pertumbuhan bakteri patogen yang berlebih. Pemberian probiotik penderita sepsis dapat mengembalikan keseimbangan mikrobiota dan memiliki efek positif pada fungsi imunitas tubuh serta struktur dan fungsi gastrointestinal. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan efek pemberian probiotik terhadap mortalitas, inflamasi intestinal, dan kadar imunoglobulin A (IgA) serum pada mencit model sepsis. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian eksperimental laboratoris, dengan sampel 36 ekor mencit Balb/C jantan dibagi menjadi kelompok: kontrol, sepsis, dan sepsis+probiotik. Sepsis results in changes to the microbiology of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to a loss of commensal flora and an overgrowth of potentially pathogenic bacteria. Administering probiotics to sepsis patients may restore balance to the microbiota and have positive effects on immune function and gastrointestinal structure and function. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of probiotic on mortality, intestinal inflammation and immunoglobulin A (IgA) serum level in mice model of sepsis. This study was an experimental research laboratory, with 36 male Balb/C mice were divided into: control, sepsis, and sepsis+probiotic groups. The study was conducted at Histology and Biomedical Laboratory, School of Medicine, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, in January to April 2012. Sepsis was induced in the male Balb/C mice using an intraperitoneally (i.p) injection of cecal inoculum (200 mg/ kgBW), for sepsis mice model and sepsis with probiotic. Control mice were not inoculation during the study.