Secondhand smoke in public places in Vietnam: An assessment 5 years after implementation of the tobacco control law.

OBJECTIVES: This study quantified the secondhand smoke (SHS) concentration in a sample of public places in Vietnam to determine changes in SHS levels 5 years after a public smoking ban was implemented. METHODS: Two monitoring campaigns, one in 2013 (before the tobacco control law was implemented) and another in 2018 (5 years after the implementation of the law) were conducted in around 30 restaurants, cafeterias and coffee shops in major cities of Vietnam. Concentrations of PM2.5, as an indicator of SHS, were measured by portable particulate matter monitors (TSI SidePak AM510 and Air Visual Pro). RESULTS: The geometric mean PM2.5 concentration of all monitored venues was 87.7 µg/m3 (83.7-91.9) in the first campaign and 55.2 µg/m3 (53.7-56.7) in the second campaign. Pairwise comparison showed the PM2.5 concentrations in the smoking observed area was triple and double those in the non-smoking area and the outdoor environment. After adjusting for sampling locations and times, the SHS concentration 5 years after the implementation of the tobacco control law reduced roughly 45%. CONCLUSION: The study results indicate an improvement in air quality in public places in Vietnam via both the reduction in PM2.5 levels and the number of people observed smoking. However, greater enforcement of the free-smoke legislation is needed to eliminate SHS in public places in Vietnam.

Novel 3-substituted-2-oxoindoline-based N-hydroxypropenamides as histone deacetylase inhibitors and antitumor agents.

Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are currently a group of validated targets for anticancer drug discovery and development. In our research program to find novel small molecules targeting these enzymes, we designed and synthesized two series of 3-hydroxyimino-2-oxoindoline- and 3- methoxyimino-2-oxoindoline-based N-hydroxypropenamides (3a-g, 6a-g). The results show that these propenamides potently inhibited HDAC2 with IC50 values in sub-micromolar range, approximately 10-fold lower than that of SAHA (also known as suberoylanilohydroxamic acid). Evaluation of cytotoxicity of these compounds in three human cancer cell lines revealed that most of the synthesized compounds were up to 5-fold more cytotoxic than SAHA. Docking studies showed that the compounds bound to HDAC2 at the binding site with higher binding affinities compared to SAHA. Our present results demonstrate that these novel 3-substituted-2-oxoindoline-based N-hydroxypropenamides are potential for further development as anticancer agents.