Curcumin as adjuvant treatment in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to determine the effect of curcumin on the liver ultrasonographic morphology, and the effectiveness of curcumin as adjuvant treatment for NAFLD. METHODS: The Cochrane library and PubMed were searched systematically to identify randomized controlled trials from 2000 to January 2021. The primary outcomes were NAFLD severity, liver steatosis resolution, liver scarring, liver enzymes, also lipid profiles. 16 RCTs with a total of 1028 participants were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Curcumin improved NAFLD severity (RR: 3.52, 95 % CI 1.27-9.72; P = 0.02) and increased the liver steatosis resolution (RR 3.96, 95 % CI 1.54-10.17; P = 0.004) based on the liver ultrasonographic finding. Curcumin supplementation reduced aspartate aminotransferase (MD - 4.00, 95 % CI - 5.72 to - 2.28; P < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (MD - 7.02, 95 % CI - 9.83 to - 4.20; P < 0.001), total cholesterol (MD - 11.86, 95 % CI - 19.25 to - 4.46; P = 0.002) and BMI (MD: - 0.41, 95 % CI - 0.75 to - 0.07; P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Curcumin supplementation has a favorable effect on liver ultrasonographic findings, reduced serum liver enzymes, total cholesterol, and BMI in participants with NAFLD. Therefore, promoting curcumin as adjuvant treatment on NAFLD patients might be justified.

Multiplex sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 genome directly from clinical samples using the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM).

Various methods have been developed for rapid and high throughput full genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we described a protocol for targeted multiplex full genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA directly extracted from human nasopharyngeal swabs using the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM). This protocol involves concomitant amplification of 237 gene fragments encompassing the SARS-CoV-2 genome to increase the abundance and yield of viral specific sequencing reads. Five complete and one near-complete genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were generated with a single Ion PGM sequencing run. The sequence coverage analysis revealed two amplicons (positions 13 751-13 965 and 23 941-24 106), which consistently gave low sequencing read coverage in all isolates except 4Apr20-64- Hu. We analyzed the potential primer binding sites within these low covered regions and noted that the 4Apr20-64-Hu possess C at positions 13 730 and 23 929, whereas the other isolates possess T at these positions. The genome nucleotide variations observed suggest that the naturally occurring variations present in the actively circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains affected the performance of the target enrichment panel of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS CoV 2 Research Panel. The possible impact of other genome nucleotide variations warrants further investigation, and an improved version of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS CoV 2 Research Panel, hence, should be considered.

Multiplex sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 genome directly from clinical samples using the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM)

@#Various methods have been developed for rapid and high throughput full genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we described a protocol for targeted multiplex full genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA directly extracted from human nasopharyngeal swabs using the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM). This protocol involves concomitant amplification of 237 gene fragments encompassing the SARS-CoV-2 genome to increase the abundance and yield of viral specific sequencing reads. Five complete and one near-complete genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were generated with a single Ion PGM sequencing run. The sequence coverage analysis revealed two amplicons (positions 13 751-13 965 and 23 941-24 106), which consistently gave low sequencing read coverage in all isolates except 4Apr20-64Hu. We analyzed the potential primer binding sites within these low covered regions and noted that the 4Apr20-64-Hu possess C at positions 13 730 and 23 929, whereas the other isolates possess T at these positions. The genome nucleotide variations observed suggest that the naturally occurring variations present in the actively circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains affected the performance of the target enrichment panel of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS CoV 2 Research Panel. The possible impact of other genome nucleotide variations warrants further investigation, and an improved version of the Ion AmpliSeq™ SARS CoV 2 Research Panel, hence, should be considered.

A Rare Case of an Infant with Left Hemiparesis: A Case Report of Bilateral Open-lip Schizencephaly.

Schizencephaly is a very rare congenital birth defect. It is characterized by a cortical brain malformation that manifests as a grey-matter-lined cleft extending from the ependyma to the pia mater. It is a rare condition, and few cases have been reported in the literature. The exact cause is unknown. Herein, we report a case of an infant presenting with left side hemiparesis. The CT scan of her brain revealed right fronto-temporal and left parieto-temporal open-lip schizencephaly; thus, urgent referral to a pediatric neurologist was made for early intervention.

Psychometric Properties of the Malay Language Version of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Questionnaire among Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

Introduction: This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt a Malay version of Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and Methods: The English version KOOS was translated into a Malay version using forward and backward translation process, followed by face validity and content validity. Two hundred and twenty-six knee OA patients attending the Outpatient and Orthopaedic Clinics, Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital, completed the Malay version KOOS. Construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis and internal reliability assessment were performed. Results: The results showed that the original five-factor model with 42 items failed to achieve acceptable values of the goodness of fit indices, indicating poor model fit. A new five-factor model of 26 items demonstrated acceptable level of goodness of fit (comparative fit index= 0.929, incremental fit index= 0.930, Tucker Lewis fit index= 0.920, root mean square error of approximation= 0.073 and Chisquared/degree of freedom= 2.183) indices to signify a model fit. The Cronbach's alpha value for the new model ranged from 0.776 to 0.946. The composite reliability values of each construct ranged between 0.819 and 0.921, indicating satisfactory to high level of convergent validity. Conclusion: The five-factor model with 26 items in the Malay version of KOOS questionnaire demonstrated a good degree of goodness of fit and was found to be valid, reliable and simple as an assessment tool for symptoms, pain, activity of daily living, sports and recreational activity and quality of life for Malaysian adults suffering from knee osteoarthritis.

Newcastle diseases virus strain V4UPM displayed oncolytic ability against experimental human malignant glioma.

INTRODUCTION: Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a virus of paramyxovirus family and lately has been studied for the treatment of cancer in human. In this study, we successfully determined the oncolysis potential of NDV vaccine, V4UPM tested on the human glioblastoma multiform cell line (DBTRG.05MG) and human glioblastoma astrocytoma cell line (U-87MG) in vitro and in vivo. The V4UPM strain is a modified V4 strain developed as thermostable feed pellet vaccine for poultry. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were mainly to evaluate the cytolytic effect and subsequently determine the brain tumor regression potential induced by this strain in athymic mice model. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: V4UPM, the avirulent strain of NDV, was propagate and screened for the cytolytic activity towards DBTRG.05MG and U-87MG using MTT assay. The inhibition concentration 50% (IC(50)) values by monolayer method measured at hour 72 were 23 and 9 HAU/ml, respectively. Further study was carried out to observe an apoptosis of the infected cells by AO/PI staining and revealed the apoptosis features of the treated cells. Subcutaneous human brain tumors grown on the nude mice were treated by V4UPM at IC(80) and complete regression of U-87MG-bearing tumor mice was observed. TUNEL assay analysis of treated tumor tissues from treated mice showed an occurrence of apoptosis. CONCLUSION: From this study, NDV strain V4UPM inhibits the proliferation of experimental human gliomas in tissue culture and IC(80) at 520 HAU V4UPM gives potent effect to induced tumor regression and apoptosis in malignant gliomas.