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Atherosclerosis in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a growing health problem, especially in developing countries. Hyperlipidemia is known as a dominant risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Eurycoma Longifolia (EL) also known as Malaysian Ginseng/ Tongkat Ali on the testosterone level, biochemical changes of lipid profile and intima media thickness (IMT) in rats fed on high-fat diet. Twenty young, adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were housed for 12 weeks. After one week of acclimatization, they were randomly divided into four groups of 5 animals each and treated for 12 weeks as follow: Group ND was given only normal diet, group NDEL was given normal diet and EL extracts (15mg/kg) dissolved in distilled water, group HFD was given only high fat diet and group HFDEL was given high fat diet and EL extracts (15mg/kg). Rats which were treated with EL (NDEL and HFDEL) showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the testosterone levels. There was a significant decrease (p<0.05) in triglyceride (TG) in HFDEL group compered to HFD group. The histological sections of aortas revealed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in IMT in HFDEL as compared with HFD group. No histological changes were observed in NDEL group compared with ND group and there was no significant difference in IMT values between NDEL and ND. These findings suggest that EL is a promising protective agent against atherosclerosis induced by high-fat diet.

Introduction: The dopamine hypothesis has earlier dominated the theories for the development of schizophrenia based on the early pharmacologic evidence. The antipsychotic drugs, among others, is thought to interfere with the function of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) resulting in clinical improvement. Accumulating evidence suggest the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Despite this, specific evidence linking the DRD2 DNA methylation with schizophrenia is insufficient mainly due to the poor accessibility and limited brain samples. Of late, new data has suggested the global impact of DNA methylation in the development of schizophrenia, thus methylation in the peripheral blood could infer changes in the brain. The aim of this study was to assess the DRD2 DNA methylation in the peripheral blood of schizophrenia. Materials and method: The case control study consisted of 138 schizophrenia patients and 132 healthy controls. The genomic DNA from the peripheral blood was bisulfite converted. The DRD2 DNA methylation level was quantitatively measured by using the MethyLight Taqman® assay and normalized with the ALU reference control to give the percentage methylation ratio. The demographic data was calculated using descriptive statistics while parametric variables were compared using independent samples t-test or analysis of covariance. Results: There was a significant hypomethylation of DRD2 in schizophrenia compared to the control group (p=0.001). The hypomethylation was also significant in males (p=0.007) and females (p=0.036) patients. Conclusion: This study supports the possible role of DNA methylation of DRD2 gene could contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

Introduction: The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is based on the fact that hyperdopaminergic state is involved in causing psychosis and antipsychotic drugs block the dopamine receptor. COMT regulates the homeostatic levels of neurotransmitter dopamine in the synapses and plays a role in the neurocognitive function. The dysregulation of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex influences the cognitive function and the severity of the psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. During epigenetic event, methylated COMT gene may cause reduction in its expression and contribute to the clinical presentation of schizophrenia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using COMT DNA methylation for the prediction of specific psychotic presentation of schizophrenia. Materials and method: In this study, 138 schizophrenia patients were recruited from the Psychiatry Clinic, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan Pahang. Genomic DNA from peripheral blood was subjected to the Methylight Taqman® analysis for quantitative measurement of the COMT DNA methylation. The psychopathological symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: The regression analysis showed that the Positive and Excited subdomains of PANSS were significant predictors of COMT hypomethylation (β= -0.288, p= -0.031; β= - 0.288, p= -0.031). The Excited subdomain of PANSS was negatively correlated with COMT DNA methylation (r 2 = -0.380, p= 0.000) as well as the Depressed subdomain (r 2 = -0.288, p= 0.001). Conclusion: The relationship between DNA methylation of COMT with the positive, excited and depressed symptoms might indicate the epigenetic role of COMT gene in the manifestation of schizophrenia.

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