BACKGROUND: Cases of undernutrition, such as stunting and wasting, in Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), Indonesia, was found to be relatively high. Therefore, local government launched a golden generation program called GEN NTB to improve the quality of human resources by achieving a healthy, intelligent, devout, and productive generation in 2045. One of the genes known to be related with prosocial behavior is the oxytocin transferase (OXTR) gene. This study was conducted to determine the association between OXTR gene mRNA expression and prosocial behavior of the GEN NTB children. METHODS: This was a ..read more

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia adaptation in cancer cells is mediated by hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1 that induces the expression of various proteins. Up to date, the analysis of T47D breast cancer cells-secreted protein is still limited. The aim of this study was to compare the protein profile secreted by T47D breast cancer cells under hypoxic and to normoxic conditions and identify the proteins as candidate for hypoxia marker proteins in T47D breast cancer cells. METHODS: T47D breast cancer cells were cultured under standard conditions. Cells were subcultured in normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Th ..read more

BACKGROUND: Indonesia's tropical forest is home to around 80% of the world's medicinal plants. One of these is Zingiber purpureum, which have traditionally been used to treat joint discomfort, the common cold, and jaundice. The rhizomes of this plant have been suggested to possess antibacterial action in the treatment of infections. In this study, Z. purpureum was screened for antibacterial activity against 13 bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative). METHODS: Z. purpureum rhizomes were obtained and the distillated extracts were made to generate essential oil. The minimum inhibitory concentr ..read more

BACKGROUND: Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, whose endospores stimulate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promote oxidative stress. Propolis, a natural resource that can be found in Indonesia, has been proven to have anti-apoptotic and antioxidant role which might be a potential adjuvant therapy for anthrax treatment. Hence in this study we aimed to investigate effect of propolis as an anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and antioxidant in anthrax rats model by examining the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, caspase-3, and malondialdehyde (MDA), resp ..read more

BACKGROUND: Being located in the global thalassemia belt area, Indonesia is estimated harboring about 10% thalassemia carriers; however, screening program is still diversely scattered across the country. Numerous erythrocyte indices have been introduced to help identifying thalassemia carriers with contradictory results. Therefore, this study had compared the use of mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and/or mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) values and the most erythrocyte indices used in Indonesia which were Mentzer Index (MI) and Shine & Lal Index (SLI), as a first attempt in a mass screening ..read more

BACKGROUND:Purple sweet potato tuber ethanol extract (PSPTEE) has been known to have benefits in various disease, including to prevent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, there has been no research on PSPTEE in preventing the proliferation of nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelial cells induced by formaldehyde through the oxidative stress mechanisms and inflammatory process. Studies have proven the effect of PSP on various cancer cells, but the carcinogenesis process of the nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelium is still limited. Hence, this study aimed to demonstrate the mechanism for preventing h ..read more

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been widely reported to be associated with loss of kidney function. The efficacy of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan as a traditional medicine for the improvement of inflammation and vascular status in obesity has known. However, there have been no further studies that prove the effect of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan in inhibiting kidney injury as an impact of chronic inflammation exposure on obesity. This study aimed to investigate the impact of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan from mycelia extract supplementation on renal function improvement based on serum nitric oxide (NO), ureum, and creatinine levels ..read more

BACKGROUND: The changes in vaginal acidity impact the composition of the vaginal microbiota, either commensal or pathogenic. After menopause, the vaginal tract is more susceptible to infection. Current study was conducted to analyze the effect of vaginal acidity changes on the vaginal microbiota composition in menopausal women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 32 subjects with vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA). Vaginal pH was measured using a strip with colorimetric examination. The detection of Candida sp. was done by using 10% potassium hydroxide. Meanwhile for detection of Trichom ..read more

BACKGROUND: Bifidobacterium is a genus of lactic acid bacteria that lives in the large intestine of humans and animals. The health benefits of this genus are well established; however, the anti-inflammatory activity of this genus, specifically Bifidobacterium lactis, has not been well defined. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated anti-inflammatory activity of B. lactis hydrolysates using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. METHODS: RAW 264.7 cells were cultured using Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium in 5 % CO2 incubator at 37 ℃. One µg/mL of LPS was used to stimulate ..read more

BACKGROUND: Transthyretin protein experiences misfolding and aggregation in preeclampsia due to placental ischemia and inflammation. Placental endothelial damage occurring in preeclampsia stimulates the production of larger young platelets in the bone marrow and can be reflected by an increase in the immature platelet fraction (IPF) and mean platelet volume (MPV). Since the change in these markers in preeclampsia remains controversial, this study was conducted to analyze the differences in levels of transthyretin, IPF, and MPV as easily accessible markers in normotensive and preeclampsia pregn ..read more