Objective: This short study describes the occurrence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in two major wet markets in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: 30 rodents (20 rats and 10 shrews) were caught in 2 wet markets, and a postmortem was performed to extract both kidneys. Molecular diagnosis via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted to detect leptospiral DNA using universal and pathogenic Leptospira primers, respectively. Results: The results showed that 20/28 (72%) rat samples were detected positive for Leptospira spp, and all shrews were negative. Further sequencing analysis identified L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii as the most frequently Leptospirosis species from kidney samples. Conclusions: The presented study here sheds light on the presence of pathogenic leptospires har¬boring the rat population in both wet markets in Kelantan, which presents a great public health risk to wet market workers and visitors.

Oroxylum indicumalso known as ‘pucukbeko’ in Malaysia is often consumed as raw salad (ulam) due to the belief that the plant has numerous therapeutics activities that could improve health. Despite its medicinal potential,however, there has been very limited data on the plant’s safety and toxicity profile particularly for long term consumption. More depth insight and evidence-based studies are needed to verify its safety as a potential herb. Therefore, this study aims to investigate sub acute oral toxicity of ethanol extract of O. indicum in C57BL/6 male mice. Twenty-five mice (n=5) were orally administered at single dose of normal saline (control), vehicle (5% DMSO), extracts (100, 200 and 500 mg/kg bw), respectively in accordance with OECD Guideline 420 for 28 days. Liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, testes, spleen,and blood samples were collected to determine the effects of the extract on the relative organ weight, tissue changes, and blood profile alterations in the end of the study. The sub-acute toxicity results demonstrated no lethal effects and abnormal behavioural changes in mice treated with an expansion dose up to a maximum of 500 mg/kg. No significant (p>0.05) changes in body weights, relative organ weight and haematological evaluation. Nevertheless, there were significant differences (p<0.05) in the urea, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and alanine transaminase (ALT) values but the levels were still within the acceptable range. Histopathological analysis of the liver and kidney tissues also revealed no striking lesions. This study displays that mice treated with an increasing dose ofO. indicum leaf ethanolic extract up to a maximum 500mg/kg bw did not cause any toxicological effects and considered safe to be consumed and used for therapeutic purposes

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Objective: This case report highlights the first detection of Trypanosoma lewisi , a blood protozoan parasite found in an urban rat in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Materials and Methods: Rat trapping was carried out within the Kota Bharu vicinity near a local wet market. A total of 38 rats were captured and subjected to peripheral blood smearing using Giemsa stain. Positive rats were sent for histopathological analysis for the evaluation of the organ samples. Results: The presence of trypanosomes was found in one sample from a blood smear. This was connected to a histological lesion on kidney tissues, which revealed a high concentration of trypanosomes. Additionally, the positive sample was confirmed as T. lewisi based on molecular diagnosis via polymerase chain reaction and subsequent sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Conclusions: This finding serves as a baseline for further surveillance on T. lewisi population among urban rats in Kelantan and possible zoonotic transmission to humans.

Background: Beka (Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz) has been used as a culinary herb and natural remedy by the local communities in Malaysia. The leaf of O. indicum is traditionally used for the treatment of diarrhea, high blood pressure, and improving digestive health.Objectives: The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemical constituents and wound healing properties (in vitro and in vivo models) of aqueous and ethanol extracts of O. indicum leaves.Methods: The total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents in the plant extracts were determined by the spectrophotometric methods. Further, the extract was characterized by Liquid Chromatography Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS/MS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The wound healing activity was assessed using the in vitro scratch wound-healing assay and in vivo excisional wound model.Results: The results show the ethanol leaves extract had the higher TPC (164 mg GAE/g) when compared with the aqueous leaves extract (30 mg gallic acid equivalents/g). The ethanol leaves extract was also found to have higher TFC (101 mg Catechin equivalents/g) than the aqueous leaves extract (76 mg Catechin equivalents/g). The ethanol leaves extract was then used for further chemical analysis. The LC–TOF-MS/MS analysis showed that the leaves extracts of O. indicum contains many important compounds such as Orientin, Chrysin, Pinoquercetin, Cupressuflavone, Puerarin xyloside, Forsythiaside and Paederoside. In GC-MS analysis, 19 compounds were identified in ethanolic leaves extract. The wound healing studies shows that O. indicum has promising wound healing activity by increasing the rate of wound contraction significantly (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: In conclusion, the present study showed that O. indicum leaf contains important phytochemicals and the wound healing potential of the O. indicum extract may probably be as a result of the presence of various phytoconstituents.