Phytochemical Contents and Pharmacological Potential of Parkia speciosa Hassk. for Diabetic Vasculopathy: A Review.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and is considered a major health problem in the world. It is associated with endothelial dysfunction which causes progressive vascular damage. DM is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular complications such as peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, and stroke. Medicinal plants may act as an alternative resource or adjunctive treatment option in the treatment of diabetes and its cardiovascular complications. Parkia speciosa (Fabaceae) is a plant found abundantly in the Southeast Asian region. Its seeds, with or without pods, and roots have long been used as a traditional medicine in this region to treat hypertension and diabetes. Studies have shown its numerous beneficial pharmacological properties. Extracts of P. speciosa, particularly from its seeds and empty pods, show the presence of polyphenols. They also exhibit potent antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertensive properties. Its hypoglycemic properties are reported to be associated with the presence of ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and stigmat-4-en-3-one. The current review aimed to provide an overview of the current status of P. speciosa, its pharmacological potential, and its phytochemical content in attenuating diabetic vasculopathy. Glycemic status, oxidative stress, inflammation, and hyperlipidemia are known to play pivotal roles in the initiation and severity of diabetic cardiovascular diseases; thus, targeting these factors might be beneficial for preventing and/or treating diabetic vasculopathy.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Particleboard: Investigation of the Environmental Parameters.

Particleboard is not entirely a wood replacement but a particular material with its properties, making it more effective at different times than heavy or solid wood. The world's biggest concern is environmental problems with formaldehyde as a particulate board binder that can lead to human carcinogenic agents. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of particleboard production was performed using openLCA software. The impact assessment was carried out according to the software's features. This preliminary investigation aims to analyze the chemical composition of particleboard and identify its environmental impact. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) system was used to track the functional group of aliphatic hydrocarbons, inorganic phosphates, and main aliphatic alcohols found in particleboards made in Malaysia. Based on the FTIR results, aliphatic groups were found in numerous aggravates that the spectroscopic infrared was likely to experience. The most important vibrational modes were C-H, at approximately 3000 cm-1, and -CH deformations around 1460 cm-1 and 1380 cm-1. Eight effect groups demonstrated that 100% of the input and all analyses produced the same relative outcome. The life cycle of a product is determined by pollution of the air, water, and soil. Thus, particleboard has a minimal impact on the environment, except for global warming.

Survey on Heavy Metals Contamination and Health Risk Assessment in Commercially Valuable Asian Swamp Eel, Monopterus albus from Kelantan, Malaysia.

This work investigates the metals concentration in the tissues of Asian swamp eel, Monopterus albus. Five selected tissues, including liver, gill, bone, skin, and muscle were examined for the concentration of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were found high in the muscle tissues of the eels. Additionally, high amounts of Zn and Cu metals were observed in the liver, whereas the Cd, Pb, and Ni metals were highly detected in gill. The accumulation of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni in both skin and bone of the eel seems to vary between seasons. Low levels of Zn, Cu, and Ni were identified in the muscle tissues of the eels. This study revealed that the concentration of Cd and Pb in the muscle tissues of Asian swamp eels exceeded the permissible limits by the US EPA, suggesting the consumption of the muscle may be hazardous and can severely affect one's health.

Checklist of Fishes at Pergau Lake, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia.

A survey was conducted to determine the diversity of fish in Pergau Lake, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia from 2 September to 18 October of 2016. Fish samples were collected at seven random sampling stations around the lake by using setting trap method. The collected samples were preserved in 10% formalin solution and delivered to the laboratory for further identification process. Fourteen species, namely as Hemibagrus nemurus, Hampala macrolepidota, Clarias batrachus, Channa striata, Cyprinus carpio, Poropuntius smedleyi, Pangasius sp., Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochromis mossambicus, Leptobarbus hoevenii, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis, Tor tambroides, Osteochilus hasselti and Neolissochilus soroides, comprising of six families were collected during this study. From this study, family of Cyprinidae was the dominant species in Pergau Lake with exactly 50% of catch percentage, followed by family of Bagridae (29%), Cichlidae (10%), Clariidae (5%), Channidae (3%) and Pangasiidae (3%). This study shows that there is still a diversity of fish species in Pergau Lake, showing that the water and its environmental condition is very good.

Seasonal variation of heavy metals and metallothionein contents in Asian swamp eels, Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793) from Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Levels of toxic metal exposure in indigenous inhabitants are key bioindicators of the severity of environmental contamination. This study measured the seasonal variation of heavy metals and metallothionein (MT) contents in Asian swamp eels (Monopterus albus) from a paddy field situated in Tumpat, Kelantan, Malaysia, to identify prevalence, patterns and associations and togain insight on the suitability of MT as a biomarker for metal exposure. METHODS: Gill, muscle and liver tissues of M. albus (n = 50) sampled during the ploughing, seedling, growing and harvesting phases of rice growing were collected. The concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd) in these tissues were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. MT from each sample was isolated and purified, and subsequently quantitated using UV spectrophotometry. Associations between metal and MT concentrations, season and tissue type were evaluated using Pearson correlation and ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey HSD analysis. RESULTS: Zn was present in higher quantities in gill and liver tissues, while Cu levels were elevated solely in liver. Patterns of non-essential metal accumulation were varied: Cd was detected in low concentrations in all tissues, while Pb and Ni were abundant in gill tissues across all seasons. MT concentration in liver tissue was consistently higher than that found in muscle or gill tissue, except during the growing phase. Moreover, significant correlations (P < 0.05) were observed for Cd, Ni, and Zn when MT was employed as metal exposure biomarker. However, no significant association was found between high Pb and Ni levels and MT concentration in gill tissue.Variation of bioaccumulation rates of heavy metals among the different tissues was observed. Some of these metal concentration differences were found to be associated with MT concentration and, by extension, to its high metal-binding capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Significant liver MT-Zn, MT-Cd, and MT-Ni correlations found in this study emphasised the role of metallothionein as a biomarker for exposure of zinc, cadmium and nickel metals in M. albus.

Lead Concentration in Long-Tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) Hair in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia.

Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) has the potential to be a good biological indicator for toxic exposure because they have an almost similar physiology and behaviour to humans. The objective of this study is to determine the concentration of lead (Pb) in hair samples of long-tailed macaques which were found in and out of the Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP) area. The hypothesis is long-tailed macaques that live in the anthropogenic area (outside KSNP) may be exposed to high levels of lead compared to long-tailed macaques living in the forest area (inside KSNP). Analysis of hair samples were carried out using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study found that the average mean of lead concentration in the anthropogenic area is 6.31 µg/g while for the forest area it is 3.16 µg/g. Lead concentration in the two areas are statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, lead concentration in the anthropogenic area recorded a slightly higher mean concentration than in the forest area. Even so, results of this study indicate that long-tailed macaques in Kuala Selangor are not exposed to high levels of lead. This study is the first in Malaysia to utilise long-tailed macaques as a biological indicator for testing the concentration of toxic substances in the environment. This study is still in its early stages; thus, future research requires improvements.

Nutritional Composition of Fruits Selected by Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia.

Proximate analysis of twelve species of fruits commonly consumed by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), i.e., Arenga pinnata, Areca catechu, Terminalia catappa, Elaeis guineensis, Lagerstroemia tomentosa, Mangifera indica, Cascabela thevetia, Muntingia calabura, Musa sp., Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus tinctoria ssp. gibbosa and Ficus microcarpa, was conducted with the specific objective to determine the nutritional composition of the foodstuffs of long-tailed macaques. The results showed the following order of nutrients: fibre, protein, fat and ash. Based on the results of the chemical analysis, the highest percentage of fibre content (52.7%), protein (9.9%), fat (77.2%) and ash (8.5%) were found in A. catechu, T. catappa, E. guineensis and C. thevetia, respectively. The nutrient composition of these twelve fruit species was found to differ (ANOVA test: crude protein, F (11,24) = 87.978, p < 0.05; crude fibre, F (11,24) = 28.886, p < 0.05; crude fat, F (11,24) = 2081.396, p < 0.05 and ash, F (11,24) = 41.011, p < 0.05). Fibre was found in the highest amount among the four types of nutrients studied. Here, A. catechu had the highest relative fibre content of all tested fruits, E. guineensis had the highest fat content, T. catappa had the highest protein content, and the total mineral content was highest in C. thevetia.