Prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus infection in individuals with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Malaysia: The first systematic review and meta-analysi.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was the first herpesvirus associated to human malignancies. Despite the well-known association between EBV and malignancies, the prevalence of EBV infection in Malaysians with malignancies is unknown. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was used to conduct a systematic review and meta- analysis of published data in this study. Studies reporting the occurrence of EBV infection in Malaysian malignancy patients were searched in electronic databases like PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar without year or language constraints. The study protocol was filed in PROSPERO (CRD42021273769). A total of 21 studies were included, with 1,036 EBV infection cases among 2,078 malignancy patients. The random-effects model was used to produce summary estimates. The pooled prevalence of EBV infection in Malaysians with malignancy was 36.3% (95% CI, 20.3 - 56.2). When the prevalence estimates were stratified by malignancy type, nasopharyngeal carcinoma has the highest prevalence (90.5%), followed by lymphoma (23.4%), and gastric carcinoma (10.0%). Male patients had a higher cases prevalence and most patients were above the age of 40. In Malaysia, many malignancies are increasingly linked to EBV infection. Screening for EBV infection in malignancy patients is therefore important to determine disease recurrence and metastases.

In vitro Evaluation of Anti-Chikungunya Virus Activities of Tualang Honey.

Chikungunya is an infection caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Although chikungunya has affected many countries in recent times, specific treatment or licensed vaccine are nonexistent. In this study the potential antiviral properties of Tualang honey against in vitro CHIKV infection was evaluated. Cytotoxic test was performed using the XTT Cell Viability assay to determine maximum non-toxic dose (MNTD) in Vero cells. Using plaque assay, the potential antiviral activities of Tualang honey at various non-toxic concentrations and treatment regimens were evaluated. Tualang honey demonstrated virucidal effect with maximum inhibition CHIKV observed was 99.71% (p< 0.05). Tualang honey also had a prophylactic property by conferring protection to Vero cells during pre-treatment assay, resulting in up to 98.22% reduction of CHIKV replication under certain treatment regimen. Furthermore, Tualang honey exhibited anti-viral activities, with as much as 94.87% inhibition following post-treatment assay of Tualang honey in CHIKV-infected Vero cells. Additionally, Tualang honey also affected viral entry up to 82.21% after 48 hours of infection. These results suggest that Tualang honey has wide anti-CHIKV activities in Vero cells and exerts its effect through different mechanisms although these need to be further validated in other cells or model of CHIKV infection.

A hypothetical oxidative stress regulatory role of alpha giardins in the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis.

Giardiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This microaerophilic protozoan is capable of surviving in the host intestine in the presence of both oxygen and reactive oxygen species (ROS), despite the lack of conventional ROS-scavenging enzymes. The understanding of how G. intestinalis tolerates free radicals could help to identify essential biological processes that protect themselves against oxidative stress within the human gut. This review outlines the antioxidant mechanisms that are utilized by G. intestinalis, with an emphasis on the potential novel role of alpha giardins. The comprehensive understanding of the processes involved in oxidative stress management may provide new insights into improved treatments for giardiasis, and other medically important protozoan parasitic diseases.