Hibiscus tiliaceus is one of the herbal medicines that have been used as traditional medicine for a long time. Antioxidant and anticancer potencies of this plant have reported by some researchers. However, there are no studies reported on antioxidant and anticancer potencies of H. tiliaceus leaves collected from Terengganu-Malaysia, especially against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Different solvents in the extraction process and different sampling areas were chosen in this study compared to other studies. These could affect the chemicals content of H. tiliaeus leaves as well as on their bioactivities. Hence, the objectives of this study were to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer potencies of H. tiliaceus leaves from Terengganu, Malaysia, against MCF-7. The sample was extracted by solvent-solvent partitioning using hexane and ethyl acetate. Antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties were carried out by DPPH free radical scavenging activity and MTT, respectively. The morphological features were stained by Annexin-V/PI and DAPI. Results revealed that H. tiliaceus leaves exhibited strong DPPH free radical scavenging and cytotoxic activities against MCF-7. Morphological features showed the cells were put to death by both early and late apoptosis. Our results found that H. tiliaceus leaves have potency as antioxidant and anticancer agents against MCF-7 cells.

<abstract> <p>Glioblastoma (GB) is the most malignant subtype of brain cancer derived from astrocytes in the brain. Radiotherapy is one of the standard treatments for GB patients, but its effectiveness is often limited by the radioresistance of aggressive GB cells. Higher dose of radiation needs to be applied to GB patients to eliminate these stubborn cells, but this also means higher side effects on the adjacent healthy cells because the radiation beam could indistinguishably harm all cells exposed to it. In order to address this problem, various strategies have been studied to enhance the radiosensitivity among the radioresistant cell populations for targeted eradication of GB without harming other surrounding healthy cells. One of the promising strategies for radiosensitization is to use gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) which can enhance photoelectric effects within the radioresistant cells for higher killing efficiency even at low doses of radiation. Nonetheless, there is no evidence showing the capability of these nanoparticles to travel to brain tumor cells specifically, therefore, the application of this nanotechnology is very much dependent on the development of a suitable carrier to deliver the AuNPs to the GB tumor sites specifically. In this review article, we discussed the potentials of neural stem cells (NSCs) as biological carriers to carry AuNPs to targeted GB tumor sites and provided new insights into the potential of NSC-based targeted delivery system for GB treatment. The information reported here may pave a new direction for clinical transformation of next-generation nanoparticle-assisted radiotherapy to optimize the efficacy of radiotherapy for GB treatment.</p> </abstract>

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Background: A Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed as a control measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus in Malaysia, eventually led to the closing of all public premises including educational institutions nationwide. The purpose of this study is to offer an understanding of undergraduate medical students’ perception towards the occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of MCO and their impacts on education. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from 772 medical students over 2 weeks in September 2020 through an online self-reported survey. Results: In total, 80% of the participants were aware about the COVID-19 outbreak ranging from the modes of transmission, global and local scenario of the pandemic, its seriousness and measures to break the chain of transmission. Conclusions: Majority of them agreed on the implementation of MCO in the country, however it’s reported to have caused psychological and physical distress in various degrees. The present finding also provides evidence of a high prevalence of anxiety and worriness in regard to the teaching and learning process during the MCO and agreed that online teaching is not as effective as face-to-face teaching.