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Eurycoma longifolia or Tongkat Ali (family: Simaroubaceae) has the potential to be utilised as an antimicrobial and antiparasitic agent that correlated with its traditional use to treat jaundice, malaria, antiseptic agent, and many more. This review is aimed at systematically sieving through articles regarding the antimicrobial and antiparasitic activity of E. longifolia. A total of 123 studies have been found using suitable keywords and manually searched from previous studies through the four databases. After title screening and abstract examination, 56 articles were excluded due to duplication and not meeting the acceptance criteria. 67 articles were assessed on full-text accessibility, 31 studies remained, and this number decreased to 20 articles after a careful examination of the full-text articles. Among the 20 articles selected, 17 articles proved the potential of E. longifolia as an antimicrobial and antiparasitic agent efficiently. 2 selected articles showed partial positive results, which specified specific microorganisms tested. In contrast, another 1 article gave a completely negative result. As for the conclusion, current studies highlighted by this review may shed light on the future direction of studies concerning E. longifolia as a novel antimicrobial and antiparasitic agent. However, more research should be done in the future focusing on the efficiency of E. longifolia for veterinary medicine utilisation.

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are illnesses that affect the nervous system and heart, all of which are vital to the human body. To maintain health of the human body, vegetable diets serve as a preventive approach and particularly Brassica vegetables have been associated with lower risks of chronic diseases, especially NDDs and CVDs. Interestingly, glucosinolates (GLs) and isothiocyanates (ITCs) are phytochemicals that are mostly found in the Cruciferae family and they have been largely documented as antioxidants contributing to both cardio- and neuroprotective effects. The hydrolytic breakdown of GLs into ITCs such as sulforaphane (SFN), phenylethyl ITC (PEITC), moringin (MG), erucin (ER), and allyl ITC (AITC) has been recognized to exert significant effects with regards to cardio- and neuroprotection. From past in vivo and/or in vitro studies, those phytochemicals have displayed the ability to mitigate the adverse effects of reactive oxidation species (ROS), inflammation, and apoptosis, which are the primary causes of CVDs and NDDs. This review focuses on the protective effects of those GL-derived ITCs, featuring their beneficial effects and the mechanisms behind those effects in CVDs and NDDs

Propolis is a resinous substance collected by stingless bees containing bioactive compounds which exert various biological properties. The present study focused on the evaluation of chemical profiles produced by three Indo-Malayan stingless bee propolis extracted using water. Fresh propolis was collected from the same area and ecosystem conditions in Selangor, Malaysia, namely Tetrigona apicalis, Tetrigona binghami, and Heterotrigona fimbriata. The bioactive compounds and chemical composition of propolis extracts were then analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Results showed that propolis from the three different stingless bee species consisted of major groups such as sugar (31.4%), carboxylic acid (17.1%), terpenoid (14.3%), sugar alcohol (11.4%), hydrocarbon (5.7%), aldehyde (5.7%) amino acid (2.9%) and other constituents (11.4%). Heterotrigona fimbriata displayed the highest amount for both total phenolics (13.21 mg/mL) and flavonoids (34.53 mg/mL) compared to other propolis extracts. There is also no significant difference detected between all samples since p ≤ 0.05. In conclusion, this study shows that Malaysian stingless bee propolis contain bioactive components that have great potential to be used for their therapeutic and medicinal benefits. However, more investigations and analysis of stingless bee propolis need to be carried out in order to enhance the understanding and applications of propolis in the future.

With the increase in the global buffalo herd, the use of supplementation in the ruminant feeding has become an important area for many researchers who are looking for an isocaloric and isonitrogenous diet to improve production parameters. In order to improve the performance of the Asian water buffalo, the optimal balance of all nutrients, including energy and protein, are important as macronutrients. Dietary supplementation is one of the alternatives to enhance the essential nutrient content in the buffalo diet and to improve the rumen metabolism of the animal. Researchers have found that supplementation of concentrate and rumen bypass fat could change growth performance and carcass traits without causing any adverse effects on the buffalo growth. Some studies showed that dry matter intake, body condition score and some blood parameters and hormones related to growth responded positively to concentrate and rumen bypass fat supplementation. In addition, changes of feeding management by adding the supplement to the ruminant basal diet helped to increase the profit of the local farmers due to the increased performance and productivity of the animals. Nevertheless, the effects of dietary supplementation on the performance of ruminants are inconsistent. Thus, its long-term effects on the health and productivity of buffaloes still need to be further investigated.

The deposition and distribution of buffalo body fats play a vital role in the quality of the buffalo carcass and are of great commercial value, since the carcass quality influences the profitability and consumer acceptability of ruminant meat. The current study examined the effect a mixture of 4% bypass fat and 26% concentrate supplementations in buffalo basal diet had on both the carcass characteristics and the proximate and fatty acid composition in longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL), supraspinatus (SS) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles of Murrah cross and swamp buffaloes. In addition, profit and loss analyses were performed to determine the profitability. This study employed a completely randomized 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two diets, two breeds and four replicates per treatment. A total of sixteen buffaloes (eight buffaloes per breed, bodyweight 98.64 ± 1.93 kg) were randomly assigned into two dietary groups. The first group was given Diet A, which consisted of 70% Brachiaria decumbens + 30% concentrate, whereas the second group was given Diet B, which consisted of 70% Brachiaria decumbens + 26% concentrate + 4% bypass fat. The buffaloes were fed for 730 days before slaughter. The results showed that supplemented bypass fat significantly (p < 0.05) increased the pre-slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weights, meat:fat ratio, pH at 24 h, moisture and crude protein of LTL, ST and SS, the ether extract of LTL and ST and the meat fatty acid of C16:0, C16:1, C18:1, PUFA n-6/n-3 and total MUFA. The carcass yield and carcass fat percentages, the ash content in ST, the EE in the SS muscle and the meat fatty acid of C18:3, total PUFA n-3, UFA/SFA and PUFA/SFA were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased. Furthermore, Murrah cross showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher pre-slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weights, carcass bone percentage and total fatty acid, but a lower (p < 0.05) meat:bone ratio, ash of LTL and CP of LTL and ST when compared to swamp buf

This study was conducted to compare the growth and economic performances between Swamp and Murrah crossbred buffaloes. The records of 108 Swamp and 276 Murrah crossbred buffaloes born between January 2010 and December 2015 were used in this study. The farm was practicing an extensive grazing system without supplementation from January 2010 to December 2011 (pre-intervention) and a new implementation of supplement in the feeding regime from January 2012 to December 2015 (post-intervention). The birth, weaning, and body weight at three monthly intervals, number of calves born, and mortality rate of calves at different years and during pre- and post-intervention were analyzed using a general linear model procedure. The interventions in 2012 had a positive effect on increasing the number of calves born for both breeds, average birth weight, economic performance, and reduce mortality calf rate. As a result, the birth weight of Murrah crossbred buffaloes was higher (36.63 ± 0.50 kg) than Swamp buffaloes (34.69 ± 0.40 kg) (p < 0.05). The average pre-weaning daily weight gain for Swamp and Murrah crossbred buffaloes was 0.73 and 0.98 kg/day (p < 0.05), while the average post-weaning daily weight gain was 0.39 and 0.44 kg/day, respectively (p < 0.05). The Swamp and Murrah crossbred buffaloes achieved the targeted market weight of 250 kg at 18 and 15 months old, respectively, while the targeted breeding weight of 385 kg was achieved at 30 and 26 months old, respectively. In this farm, on average a total of 64 calves were born yearly, with the ratio number of born calves per number of mated dams recorded higher in Murrah crossbred buffaloes as compared to Swamp buffalo (0.64 vs. 0.37) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the average number of calves born in the post-intervention period (January 2012–December 2015) was significantly higher than in the pre-intervention period (January 2010–December 2011), respectively (Swamp: 23 vs. 8 and Murrah crossbred: 53 vs. 31, respectively) (p < 0.05

The involvement of veterinary medicine in wildlife research has played an important role in understanding the health status of various wildlife species. Health status is a very important aspect of species conservation. However, it requires a widely employed knowledge of veterinary clinical pathology, as a diagnostic tool in diagnosing the various disease conditions of wildlife species. Notwithstanding, a gap exists in the literature about the clinical pathology of the false gharial, due to the lack of normal reference values for hematological and serum biochemical analysis. The present study investigated the normal blood profile of 10 healthy false gharials, from two different zoos, and wildlife conservation centers located in three different states of Peninsular Malaysia. Blood samples were collected from the lateral caudal vein and divided into a vacutainer without anticoagulant for biochemical analysis, and a lithium heparin vacutainer (containing sodium heparin) for hematological studies. The results of the study indicated that the false gharial has a smaller erythrocyte dimension compared to other crocodilian species. At the same time the study revealed that the false gharial in a natural captive pond showed more leukocytes than false gharial kept in zoos, hence, habitat and environmental factors significantly affect hematological values. The biochemistry values also showed differences between the false gharial in different environmental conditions. Total protein, albumin (Alb), globulin (Glob), and Alb: Glob ratio were higher in false gharials kept in wildlife conservation centers than in false gharials kept in zoos. The values obtained in this study provide baseline data of hematological and serum biochemical values of the false gharial for future research and routine clinical diagnosis.

This study investigates the effects of supplementation of the basal diet with concentrate and rumen bypass fat on the dry matter intake (DMI), growth performance, blood metabolites and hormonal changes, and the feeding cost of feedlot water buffaloes. Thirty-six healthy, three- to four-month-old male Murrah crossbred (n = 18) and Swamp (n = 18) buffaloes with a similar average initial body weight of 98.64 ± 1.93 kg were each randomly allocated into three dietary experimental groups. Buffaloes were fed with Diet A, which consisted of 100% Brachiaria decumbens, Diet B, consisting of 70% Brachiaria decumbens and 30% concentrate, and Diet C, consisting of 70% Brachiaria decumbens, 26% concentrate, and 4% rumen bypass fat for a period of 730 days. Feed intake was measured daily, while blood samples were collected for every eight months. Furthermore, body scores were noted prior to and at the end of the experimental period. The results showed that the average daily gain for buffaloes fed with Diet C was the highest. The DMI, BCS, FI, and FCR for the three groups showed significant (p < 0.05) differences, in the following order: Diet C > Diet B > Diet A. At the end of the two-year feeding trial, buffaloes fed with Diet B had significantly (p < 0.05) higher cholesterol levels than Diet A and Diet C. In addition, buffaloes fed with Diet C had significantly (p < 0.05) higher levels of serum total protein, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor-I hormone compared to Diet A and Diet B. On the other hand, buffaloes fed with Diet B and Diet C showed significant (p < 0.05) decrease in glucose levels. Supplemented diet improved the buffalos’ weight gain to achieve the market weight in a shorter period of time, thus, giving farmers a greater return. In conclusion, concentrate and bypass fat supplementations in the diet of water buffaloes improved the growth performance without adverse effect on the blood metabolites, which enabled better farmer profitability.

Context: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of bone diseases including osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. We have previously demonstrated that Ficus deltoidea Jack (Moraceae) is capable of reducing hyperglycaemia. However, whether F. deltoidea could protect against diabetic osteoporosis remains to be determined. Objective: The study examines the effect of F. deltoidea on bone histomorphometric parameters, oxidative stress, and turnover markers in diabetic rats. Materials and methods: Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6 animals per group) received one of the following treatments via gavage for 8 weeks: saline (diabetic control), metformin (1000 mg/kg bwt), and methanol leaves extract of F. deltoidea (1000 mg/kg bwt). A group of healthy rats served as normal control. The femoral bones were excised and scanned ex vivo using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for histomorphometric analysis. The serum levels of insulin, oxidative stress, and bone turnover markers were determined by ELISA assays. Results: Treatment of diabetic rats with F. deltoidea could significantly increase bone mineral density (BMD) (from 526.98 ± 11.87 to 637.74 ± 3.90). Higher levels of insulin (2.41 ± 0.08 vs. 1.58 ± 0.16), osteocalcin (155.66 ± 4.11 vs. 14.35 ± 0.97), and total bone n-3 PUFA (2.34 ± 0.47 vs. 1.44 ± 0.18) in parallel with the presence of chondrocyte hypertrophy were also observed following F. deltoidea treatment compared to diabetic control. Conclusions: F. deltoidea could prevent diabetic osteoporosis by enhancing osteogenesis and inhibiting bone oxidative stress. These findings support the potential use of F. deltoidea for osteoporosis therapy in diabetes.

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is one of the expensive functional foods in herbal medicine. One of the major glyconutrients in EBN is sialic acid, which has a beneficial effect on neurological and intellectual capability in mammals. The aims of this research were to study the effects of sialic acid from EBN on cell viability and to determine its effect on mitochondria membrane potential (MtMP) in Caco-2, SK-N-MC, SH-SY5Y, and PC-12 cell lines. Fourteen samples of raw EBN were collected from four different states in Malaysia. The confluency of the epithelial monolayers measurement of the tight junction for all the cell lines was determined using transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), and the sialic acid uptake study in cell lines was determined by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). The MTT assay was conducted for cell viability study. The MtMP in cell lines was determined using the Mito Probe JC-1 Assay by flow cytometer analysis. We have recorded a statistically significant difference between the uptake of sialic acid from EBN and the standard solution. A higher amount of sialic acid was absorbed by the cells from extract of EBN compared to the standard solution. The amounts of sialic acid uptake in Caco-2, SK-N-MC, SH-SY5Y, and PC-12 cell lines were (0.019 ± 0.001), (0.034 ± 0.006), (0.021 ± 0.002), and (0.025 ± 0.000) µmol/L, respectively. The MTT results indicated that the concentration of sialic acid increased the cell viability and showed no cytotoxicity effects on cell lines when they were exposed to the sialic acid extract and sialic acid standard at all the tested concentrations. The number of active mitochondria was found to be significantly higher in SH-SY5Y cell lines with a 195% increase when treated with sialic acid from EBN. Although many researchers around the globe use SHSY5Y and SK-N-MC for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) study, based on our finding, SH-SY5Y was found to be the most suitable cell line for AD study by in vitro work

Tigers in a natural life are nocturnal and preys during the dark. This study was performed to observe the effect of illumination on predatory behaviour of captive tigers. Furthermore, it was also to compare the agility of different individual, gender and age in catching their prey. The subjects were four captive tigers (N=4) in National Wildlife Rescue Centre (NWRC), Sungkai, Perak comprising of two males and two females Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni and Panthera tigris ssp.) of different ages. This study was conducted at night for a dark setting while spotlights were used to provide illumination in each animal enclosure. Average time to reach for prey was faster without spotlight compared to with spotlight at 21.44 ± 4.70 minutes and 41.75 ± 5.23 minutes respectively (P<0.05). Individual variability in time response was obviously faster in dark setting, however it was only statistically significant in one wild-caught adult female tiger compared to all the other three tigers. Time response among gender and genetic trait (purebred or hybrid) of Malayan tigers were not significant, while age factor showed old-aged tiger has a significantly slower response in dark settings as compared to an average adult aged tiger at 41.75 ± 13.98 minutes and 14.67 ± 2.39 minutes respectively. In conclusion, research in captive settings showed the agility of the tiger approaching the preys were more rapid in dark settings, simulating a better night vision. Individual variability in the time response needs further investigation and these findings should be considered in designing feeding management in a captive setting to enrich and stimulate normal predatory behaviour.

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) infection is highly infectious respiratory disease in poultry industry with significant economic importance. The prevalence of IBV in quail industry in Malaysia was not well documented; therefore, its actual role in the epidemiology of the disease is relatively unknown. This study was to determine the susceptibility of Japanese quail, as one of the species in commercial poultry industry, toward IBV. In addition, it will also give a potential impact on the overall health management in the quail industry even though it had been established that quail are resistant to diseases affecting poultry. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, it is the first experimental study on IBV inoculation in quail. In this experimental study, 20 quails were divided into 4 groups (n = 5 for group A, B, and C, n = 5 for control group). The quails in group A, B, and C were infected via intraocular and intranasal routes with 0.2 mL of 10 × 5 EID50 of the virus. Clinical signs, gross lesions, positive detection of virus, and trachea histopathological scoring were used to assess the susceptibility of these Japanese quails. The results have indicated mild ruffled feathers and watery feces in these inoculated birds. Trachea, lung, and kidney were subjected to one-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for virus detection. The virus was found from trachea and lung samples, whereas it was absent from all kidney samples. Only 3 quails were found with gross lesions. There was a significant difference of tracheal lesion by 0.009 ± 0.845 (P < 0.05) within the treatment groups. In summary, Japanese quails might be susceptible to IBV.

Eucalyptus globulus is an aromatic medicinal plant which known for its 1,8-cineole main pharmacological constituent exhibits as natural analgesic agent. Eucalyptus globulus-loaded micellar nanoparticle was developed via spontaneous emulsification technique and further evaluation for its analgesic efficacy study, in vivo analgesic activity assay in rats. The nanoemulsion system containing Eucalyptus-micelles was optimized at different surfactant types (Tween 40, 60 and 80) and concentrations (3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0, 15.0, and 18.0 wt. %). These formulations were characterized by thermodynamically stability, viscosity, micelles particle size, pH, and morphology structure. The spontaneous emulsification technique offered a greener micelles formation in nanoemulsion system by slowly titrated of organic phase, containing Eucalyptus globulus (active compound), grape seed oil (carrier oil) and hydrophilic surfactant into aqueous phase, and continuously stirred for 30 min to form a homogeneity solution. The characterizations evaluation revealed an optimized formulation with Tween 40 surfactant type at 9.0 wt. % of surfactant concentration promoted the most thermodynamic stability, smaller micelles particle size (d = 17.13 ± 0.035 nm) formed with spherical shape morphological structure, and suitable in viscosity (≈2.3 cP) and pH value (6.57) for transdermal purpose. The in vivo analgesic activity assay of optimized emulsion showed that the transdermal administration of micellar nanoparticle of Eucalyptus globulus on fore and hind limb of rats, possessed the central and peripheral analgesic effects by prolonged the rats pain responses towards the heat stimulus after being put on top of hot plate (55 °C), with longest time responses, 40.75 s at 60 min after treatment administration. Thus, this study demonstrated that micellar nanoparticle of Eucalyptus globulus formed in nanoemulsion system could be promising as an efficient transdermal nanocarrier for the analgesic therapy alter

Background: In Malaysia, the domestic water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are classified into the swamp and the murrah buffaloes. Identification of these buffaloes is usually made via their phenotypic appearances. This study characterizes the subspecies of water buffaloes using karyotype, molecular and phylogenetic analyses. Blood of 105 buffaloes, phenotypically identified as swamp, murrah and crossbred buffaloes were cultured, terminated and harvested using conventional karyotype protocol to determine the number of chromosomes. Then, the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA of 10 swamp, 6 crossbred and 4 murrah buffaloes which were identified earlier by karyotyping were used to construct a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Results Karyotypic analysis confirmed that all 93 animals phenotypically identified as swamp buffaloes with 48 chromosomes, all 7 as crossbreds with 49 chromosomes, and all 5 as murrah buffaloes with 50 chromosomes. The D-loop of mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that 10 haplotypes were observed with haplotype diversity of 0.8000 ± 0.089. Sequence characterization revealed 72 variables sites in which 67 were parsimony informative sites with sequence diversity of 0.01906. The swamp and murrah buffaloes clearly formed 2 different clades in the phylogenetic tree, indicating clear maternal divergence from each other. The crossbreds were grouped within the swamp buffalo clade, indicating the dominant maternal swamp buffalo gene in the crossbreds. Conclusion: Thus, the karyotyping could be used to differentiate the water buffaloes while genotypic analysis could be used to characterize the water buffaloes and their crossbreds.

Growth Hormone (GH) is a single polypeptide chain synthesised and secreted from anterior pituitary gland by somatroph cells. The product of GH gene hastens metabolism and promotes the growth of many organs and tissues especially bone, muscle and visceral organs. It also regulates growth, mammary gland development and lactation. Polymorphism in this gene is associated with increase in growth and development of many tissues in the body. Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene in buffalo bulls (Bubalus bubalis) using the PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism) technique. Design: Genomic DNA was extracted from a total of 10 bulls, consisting of Murrah – Swamp crossbred and pure Swamp buffalo bulls. A The 446 segment of the bGH gene was amplified. The DNA amplicons were detected in 2% agarose gel following 45 minutes of electrophoresis. They were thereafter digesting with AluI endonuclease restriction enzyme, and the digested DNA were detected in 2% agarose gel following electrophoresis for about 45minutes in all samples Results: Similar bands of approximately 300 and 146-bp each, with no variation, were detected in 2% agarose gel following electrophoresis in all the animals tested. Conclusion: Based on the Alu1 digestion result, all samples produced the same allele of the gene, with no polymorphism detected.

Centella asiatica or known as 'pegaga' in Malaysia, is a popular medicinal herb, which is being used as main ingredient or incorporated into various herbal products. Apart from efficacy, the chemical profile and potential toxic effect of the plant are two important aspects of concern towards ensuring product satisfaction and safety of consumers. This paper reports the qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis of the leaf ethanolic extract of C. asiatica using LCMS/MS. The acute toxiciy effect of the extract and selected marker chemical constituents were further analysed using a zebrafish model. Twenty constituents, were identified and the main chemical marker constituents of the plant viz asiaticoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid were further quantified. Asiaticoside was found to be present in higher concentration than the other marker constituents. Meanwhile in the acute toxicity test, the LD50 of the extract on the zebrafish model was determined to be 1250 mg/L while 100% mortality was observed at the highest test concentration of 2500 mg/L. However, acute toxicity evaluation on four marker triterpenoids of the herb, i.e asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside and madecassoside, indicated them to be quite safe on the zebrafish model, with no mortality shown for test concentrations between 10 to 500 mg/kg BW.