The high frequency of CYP2C9*3 and the absence of CYP2C9*2 in Jahais suggest that genetic drift may be occurring in this ethnic group. This is the first study to determine the CYP2C9 polymorphisms in an aboriginal population in Malaysia.

In the past decades, nanoparticles (NP) have shown tremendous potential for biomedical applications, such as targeted therapeutics, medical imaging, and biosensors. After administration, NP will directly interact with various biological components in the body, forming a protein corona (PC) on their surface. The PC composition affects the NP identity and behavior, including its stability, targeting ability, cellular uptake, toxicity, biodistribution, and elimination. Thus, a more profound understanding of the nano-bio-interface is crucial to improving the NP design for theranostic applications. The personalized PC (PPC) concept allows specific PC characteristics identification for early disease diagnosis and personalized therapeutics. However, accurate PC characterization is challenging due to its dynamic and complex nature. Until now, most studies have been focused on the NP PC characterization in vitro yet put less emphasis on its translational aspects. In this mini-review, the author will discuss various challenges surrounding PPC research, strategies to bridge that gap, clinical relevance, and future outlook. PPC's application for biomarker discoveries and recent advances in PPC analysis methodologies such as multiomics approach, Proteograph workflow, and machine learning algorithm will also be explored. Overall, PPC technology keeps evolving, and it holds a promising future in the personalized medicine era.

Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) defined by chronic or recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort and changes in bowel habits, is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder. Studies proved that polymorphisms in the genes were one of the key roles in the underlying IBS. This study aimed to investigate the genotypes and allele frequencies of the IBS-associated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from the genes GNB3 (rs54443) and SCN5A (rs8015124) in unrelated, healthy Malays of Malaysia. Material and Methods: The genomic DNA of 404 subjects was set to nested, multiplex, and allele-specific PCR to determine the aforementioned SNPs. The PCR results were validated through the Sanger sequencing analysis. Results: Malays possessed a slightly higher frequency of wild (C) than mutant (T) alleles in the rs5443 with 56.3 vs 43.7%. However, the frequencies of the alleles were equivalent in the subset of Malay females (C-50%, T-50%). For rs1805124, only 18.6% of Malays carried the mutant allele G with less than 10 subjects being homozygous mutant GG carriers. Concurrently, the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium of the SNPs in the study was not deviated. Conclusion: IBS is a common gastrointestinal problem that has significantly reduced the life quality of oneself and become an economic burden to societies. Though the mutant alleles were rather low, the IBS-associated polymorphisms, rs5443 and rs1805124 were noted to be commonly present in the Malays. Further research on the local IBS patients is recommended to affirm the association of rs5443 and rs1805124 polymorphisms and the syndrome.

Polymorphisms in the genes of G-protein subunit beta 3 (GNB3); rs5443, tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1); rs211105 and rs4537731, tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2); rs4570625 and sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 5 (SCN5A); rs1805124, have known to cause the abnormalities in the gastrointestinal tract that are implicated to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) predisposition. Upfront genetic polymorphism genotyping in IBS-related gene polymorphisms will help to intervene and guide the decision-making in the management of IBS patients. This study aimed to develop a genotyping method to detect the respective polymorphisms using nested allele-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction (NASM-PCR). A combination of nested and allele-specific multiplex PCR method was developed to determine the five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mentioned. Annealing temperature, annealing and extension times, and the concentrations of MgCl2, primers, and DNA samples were optimized in the PCR. Sanger sequencing was performed to validate the genotyping results. NASM-PCR for IBS-related gene polymorphisms were successfully developed. DNA bands which correspond to the genes and SNPs have shown 100% homologous with the gene database. The developed method of NASM-PCR was reproducible and specific to be used for determining the respective polymorphisms of IBS. Notably, the described method can easily be integrated into other laboratories for population study or clinical use.

Smilax myosotiflora is one of the well-known plants in Malaysian’s folk medicines for its aphrodisiac effect. The leaves and fruits were also claimed able to treat syphilis and rheumatism. This article aims to systematically provide an overview on the traditional uses, pharmacology, toxicology and chemical constituents of S. myosotiflora. The e-searching of previous literature of the plant was conducted from its inception to end of 2021 according to the study’s criteria. The development of this review was based on the Cochrane Collaboration framework and PRISMA guidelines. As the result, it was found that over half of 43 eligible articles have discussed on its aphrodisiac attribution while others reported on the synergistic, sex reversal, antioxidant, anthelmintic activities and so forth. Two stilbenoid compounds were successfully isolated from the plant; trans-resveratrol and trans-3,3’,5,5’-tetrahydroxy-4’-methoxystilbene. Other than the detection of aurones and phytosterols, S. myosotiflora was delineated to be high in alkaloids, saponins and flavonoids. This systematic review can be a platform for other researchers to explore more on S. myosotiflora as it still has more pharmacology potentials to be discovered. Further studies are required prior to the development of S. myosotiflora-based drug for medicinal usages in the future.