Relationship between hair nicotine levels with blood pressure, body composition, lipid profile and leptin among healthy male smokers in Kelantan

Objectives: Cigarette smoking has been reported to cause acute blood pressure elevation. Therefore, it is important to assess the relationships between chronic smoking and blood pressure, body composition, and the metabolic profile to gain an understanding of the long-term effects of smoking on an individual's body weight and health. This study examined the relationships between the hair nicotine level, blood pressure, body composition, lipid profile, and leptin in healthy male smokers

Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 107 male smokers aged between 20 and 50 years old were recruited as volunteers. The nicotine levels in the volunteers' hair were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Moreover, the subjects' blood pressure, body composition [weight, height, body mass index, body fat percentage, visceral fat, waist and hip circumferences, and basal metabolic rate], lipid profile, and leptin concentration were also measured

Results: The means for age and BMI among the subjects were 37.00 [9.42] years and 24.59 [4.33] kg/m[2], respectively. The average length of time as a smoker was 16.91 years. The hair nicotine level was found to be positively correlated with the total cholesterol [r = 0.314, r[2] = 0.099, p = 0.028] and triglyceride [r = 0.351, r[2] = 0.0.123, p = 0.013] levels. However, no significant correlations were found between the hair nicotine level and blood pressure, body composition, or leptin concentration

Conclusion: The positive correlations between the hair nicotine level and total cholesterol and triglyceride levels highlighted the harmful effects of chronic smoking, even among healthy male subjects

Nutraceuticals as potential therapeutic agents for colon cancer: a review

Colon cancer is a world-wide health problem and the second-most dangerous type of cancer, affecting both men and women. The modern diet and lifestyles, with high meat consumption and excessive alcohol use, along with limited physical activity has led to an increasing mortality rate for colon cancer worldwide. As a result, there is a need to develop novel and environmentally benign drug therapies for colon cancer. Currently, nutraceuticals play an increasingly important role in the treatment of various chronic diseases such as colon cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer׳s disease. Nutraceuticals are derived from various natural sources such as medicinal plants, marine organisms, vegetables and fruits. Nutraceuticals have shown the potential to reduce the risk of colon cancer and slow its progression. These dietary substances target different molecular aspects of colon cancer development. Accordingly, this review briefly discusses the medicinal importance of nutraceuticals and their ability to reduce the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis.

effect of psidium guajava and piper betle extracts on the morphology of dental plaque bacteria

It has been reported that the aqueous extracts of Psidium guajava and Piper betle leaves showed anti-plaque activities during the early stages of dental plaque formation. The aim of the study was to elucidate if such anti-plaque activities involve any ultra-structural changes to the morphology of three early dental plaque bacteria, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus mitis and Actinomyces sp. Pure cultures of the bacteria were suspended in BHI medium and treated with the test herbal extracts at the sub-lethal concentrations. The growth mixtures were incubated at 37°C. At the logarithmic growth phase [t1], aliquots of 1 ml of the growth mixtures were fixed and used in the preparation of specimens for SEM studies. Ultra-structural alterations to the morphology of the treated cells noted were compared to those of the cells cultured under untreated conditions. Following exposure of the bacteria to the two test herbal extracts, profound ultra-structural changes to their morphology were observed. The observed structural or morphological alterations could attribute to the bacteria being less active in performing normal physiological metabolic functions and thus rendering them less efficient to multiply. The changes noted included [i] reduced sizes of the bacteria, and [ii] majority cells at the non-dividing state as compared to those cultured under controlled conditions. This study has shown anti-plaque effects of aqueous extract of both P. betle and P. guajava