ABSTRACT
Every year, there are about 13.3 million cases of acute kidney injury (AKI). Although AKI is a preventable and treatable disease, if left untreated, it has high risk of multiple organ failure and progression to end stage kidney disease. Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) has been recognised as one of the major causes of AKI. Till to date, there is no effective supplement or medication in treating or reversing AKI. Most of the treatment strategies involve preventative measure to minimise the occurrence of AKI or to reverse the cause of AKI. Hence one of the primary area of research interests is to explore the potential treatment for AKI. Edible bird nests (EBN) are edible food produce by the swiftlet's saliva, which is rich in sialic acids. Sialic acids are monosaccharides that play a vital role in maintaining the integrity and proper function of the human organs, including kidneys. EBN also contains epidermal growth factor, which is widely believed to have rejuvenation and tissue repairing properties. We initiate this study to study the potential reno-protective effect of edible bird's nests by studying the Wistar rat model of gentamicin-induced AKI. Besides renal profiles, renal histology was also semiquantitatively assessed. In our study, pre-treatment with EBN prevented and ameliorated the gentamicin-induced AKI. To a lesser extent, post-treatment with EBN also protected the kidney from the toxic effect of gentamicin. Our findings are highly indicative that EBN possesses reno-protective properties.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Preventive fogging is defined as space spraying of insecticide against mosquitoes in order to prevent outbreak of mosquito borne infection. Despite provision of various preventive and control activities against dengue and chikungunya infection by Ministry of Health Guideline, the detail on preventive fogging has not yet specified. However, this has been adopted by certain institutions as part of the routine strategies against dengue outbreak. A study on preventive fogging was conducted in one of the hostels in Universiti Putra Malaysia. The research was done for 16 weeks in which one routine fogging activity was done at the mid period of study. The main objectives of this study were to determine the effectiveness of preventive fogging activities against Aedes mosquitoes and to identify the distribution and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes in the area. Method: The fogging activity was carried out by the management staff as part of their preventive measures in the student hostels. Ovitrap was used as an indicator to monitor the impact of fogging activity and its continuous surveillance was monitored weekly. The ovitraps were placed indoors and outdoors. Species identification was carried out in the laboratory. The SPSS program was used to analyse the statistical data on the effectiveness of fogging activity. Larval count (indoors and outdoors) and ovitrap index (OI) readings were identified as ovitrap surveillance data for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that Aedes albopictus was the only species of the genus Aedes found in this hostel. The area had been highly infested by Ae. Albopictus as indicated by high Ovitrap Index ranging between 48.33% to 90.00%. The mean (SD) of Ovitrap Index was reduced from 71.67% (12.73%) (before the preventive fogging), to 69.42% (14.40%) (after the fogging). Overall reduction in mosquito and larval density was also observed between pre and post fogging activity in this study. Conclusion: The implementation of preventive fogging has favourably reduced the dengue vector population up to 5 weeks after the introduction of preventive fogging. However, sole dependency on preventive fogging may lead to insecticide resistance. Revisiting the policy on preventive fogging; and identifying it as an additional tool for preventing dengue infection in higher learning institutions are recommended.
