Dendrophthoe pentandra (DP) is a semi-parasitic plant. Previous studies showed that this plant possessed diverse medicinal properties. The present study was carried out to determine antiproliferative activity of various DP crude extracts. Extracts of petroleum ether, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol, have been evaluated through IC50 value, which defined by the concentration of drug that is required for the inhibition of 50% of cell population in vitro. The determination of percentage cell viability was conducted by using MTT assay. The screening assay involved the use of malignant cell line MCF-7 (breast cancer cell) whereas the normal cell line was L929 (connective cell). The control drug used was tamoxifen. The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were found to be more effective against MCF-7 cancer cell lines compared to the others. All extracts showed no remarkable effect against normal cell L929 with IC50 values more than 100 µg/mL. In contrast to tamoxifen, all extracts showed less cytotoxicity effect towards normal cells. The data obtained from this study provide notable preliminary information on the cytotoxic/antiproliferative effect of different DP extracts and further study should be carried out to isolate the active compound of the most potential DP extracts.

A B S T R A C TObjective: To investigate the cytotoxicity of Smilax myosotiflora (S. myosotiflora) methanolic extract and its effects on sexual hormone levels and testicular histology in male rats. Methods: The cytotoxicity of S. myosotiflora methanolic extract was investigated by employing brine shrimp lethality assay. Forty eight male rats were randomly divided into four groups (Groups I-IV) of 12 each. Rats in Group I were administered with 0.5 mL of distilled water (vehicle), whilst Groups II, III and IV received 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg of the methanolic extract of S. myosotiflora in 0.5 mL of the vehicle, respectively. Male rats treated with continuous daily dosing were killed and necropsied after a total dose period of 60 days. Sexual hormones were assayed and histological examination of testes was performed according to standard methods. Results: S. myosotiflora extracts did not produce any cytotoxicity to brine shrimp in all concentrations tested. Serum testosterone level was significantly higher in rats treated with high dose of S. myosotiflora. Testicular histology showed normal architecture with all stages of spermatogenesis in all experimental groups. Conclusions: The present work confirmed that S. myosotiflora extract improves reproductive functions, without any cytotoxic activity and produces no histological changes to the testes.

Introduction: The sensorineural acuity level (SAL) test is a valuable clinical assessment for hearing diagnosis, especially when the results of pure tone audiometry (PTA) are incomplete or questionable. Nevertheless, the literature on the SAL test is extremely limited and more research efforts are warranted to promote the application of this test in clinical settings. Essentially, the aim of the present study was to compare the normative data for the SAL test between two different bone vibrators (Radioear B71 and Radioear B81) among Malaysian participants. Materials and Methods: Forty-two healthy Malaysian adults (aged 19 to 27 years) participated in this repeated-measures study. The PTA and SAL test was carried out according to the recommended protocols. The SAL normative data produced by the two bone transducers were then compared at different frequencies. Paired t-test and Bayesian inference were used for data analyses. Results: The normative data for the SAL test gathered in the present study were descriptively higher than those reported among Caucasian adults. Relative to the Radioear B81 bone vibrator, the SAL normative data were significantly higher for the Radioear B71 bone transducer at all tested frequencies (p < 0.001, BF10 ≥ 48.67). Conclusions: The SAL normative data established by the two bone vibrators are statistically different. This information would be beneficial to provide clinicians with appropriate normative data when performing the SAL test on Malaysian patients.

The chemical composition of the essential oil of Knema kunstleri Warb.(Myristicaceae) was investigated for the first time. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and fully characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 36 components were identified in the essential oil, which made up 91.7% of the total oil. The essential oil is composed mainly of β-caryophyllene (23.2%), bicyclogermacrene (9.6%), δcadinene (7.3%), α-humulene (5.7%), and germacrene D (4.3%). The essential oil showed moderate activity towards DPPH free-radical scavenging and lipoxygenase inhibition. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the composition and bioactivities of the essential oil report concerning the genus Knema.

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