Anticancer Mechanism of Flavonoids on High-Grade Adult-Type Diffuse Gliomas.

High-grade adult-type diffuse gliomas are the most common and deadliest malignant adult tumors of the central nervous system. Despite the advancements in the multimodality treatment of high-grade adult-type diffuse gliomas, the five-year survival rates still remain poor. The biggest challenge in treating high-grade adult-type diffuse gliomas is the intra-tumor heterogeneity feature of the glioma tumors. Introducing dietary flavonoids to the current high-grade adult-type diffuse glioma treatment strategies is crucial to overcome this challenge, as flavonoids can target several molecular targets. This review discusses the anticancer mechanism of flavonoids (quercetin, rutin, chrysin, apigenin, naringenin, silibinin, EGCG, genistein, biochanin A and C3G) through targeting molecules associated with high-grade adult-type diffuse glioma cell proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, cell cycle arrest, migration, invasion, autophagy and DNA repair. In addition, the common molecules targeted by the flavonoids such as Bax, Bcl-2, MMP-2, MMP-9, caspase-8, caspase-3, p53, p38, Erk, JNK, p38, beclin-1 and LC3B were also discussed. Moreover, the clinical relevance of flavonoid molecular targets in high-grade adult-type diffuse gliomas is discussed with comparison to small molecules inhibitors: ralimetinib, AMG232, marimastat, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. Despite the positive pre-clinical results, further investigations in clinical studies are warranted to substantiate the efficacy and safety of the use of flavonoids on high-grade adult-type diffuse glioma patients.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among undergraduates during emergency remote learning.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic paralyzes the education sector. To minimize the interruption of teaching and learning, most universities in Malaysia shifted to virtual mode during this unprecedented period of the pandemic. With an ever-increasing number of Malaysians fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the education system is expected to switch back to face-to-face mode this year. It is crucial to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of COVID-19 among emergency remote learning undergraduates before reverting to physical teaching and learning. Hence, a study was conducted with this aim in mind. Methods: A total of 299 Malaysian undergraduates were recruited through a snowball sampling approach. The online questionnaire encompassed three main segments: informed consent, sociodemographic information, and KAP questions on COVID-19. Results: The mean scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice were 4.05/6, 11.14/12, and 5.07/7, respectively. The results of the present study showed that year 1 respondents had significantly higher levels (p < 0.05) of KAP scores than year 4 respondents. In addition, the attitude score of science majors respondents was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than those of nonscience majors. The KAP scores showed no significant difference among groups with different sexes, ethnicities, and COVID-19 histories. Partial correlation analysis revealed that the overall knowledge score was positively correlated with attitude (r = 0.193, p = 0.001) and practice (r = 0.343, p < 0.001) scores whereas the total attitude score was positively correlated with the total practice score (r = 0.149, p = 0.010). Conclusion: Our current results suggest that COVID-19 workshops, seminars, or training programs for year 4 students could be conducted to enhance their KAP levels.

Anticancer Mechanism of Curcumin on Human Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor and accounts for most adult brain tumors. Current available treatment options for GBM are multimodal, which include surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapy. Despite the significant advances in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, GBM remains largely resistant to treatment, with a poor median survival rate between 12 and 18 months. With increasing drug resistance, the introduction of phytochemicals into current GBM treatment has become a potential strategy to combat GBM. Phytochemicals possess multifarious bioactivities with multitarget sites and comparatively marginal toxicity. Among them, curcumin is the most studied compound described as a potential anticancer agent due to its multi-targeted signaling/molecular pathways properties. Curcumin possesses the ability to modulate the core pathways involved in GBM cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, autophagy, paraptosis, oxidative stress, and tumor cell motility. This review discusses curcumin's anticancer mechanism through modulation of Rb, p53, MAPK, P13K/Akt, JAK/STAT, Shh, and NF-κB pathways, which are commonly involved and dysregulated in preclinical and clinical GBM models. In addition, limitation issues such as bioavailability, pharmacokinetics perspectives strategies, and clinical trials were discussed.