Background. Acmella paniculata has been used as a traditional medicine to treat oral health diseases such as dental caries and periodontitis. Streptococcus mutans is a common bacterium that initiates dental caries at an early stage. Aim. The aim of this study was to determine the mode of action of A. paniculata (extracts) against S. mutans growth. Methods. Time-kill assay has been done to investigate the rate of kill and effectiveness of Acmella paniculata (AP) extracts against S. mutans growth. Phytochemical analysis was done to identify major compounds in AP extracts using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) have been done to observe the morphological changes of treated bacteria. Transcriptomic profile analysis has been done using Next Gene Sequencing. Results. AP flower n-hexane (APFH) and AP flower dichloromethane (APFD) extracts acted as bactericidal agents after killing >3 log10 cfu/mL of S. mutans after 24 hours. Oleic and hexadecenoic acids were found to be the major compounds in APFD and APFH extracts, respectively. Photomicrographs from SEM and TEM of treated S. mutans show that the bacterial cell wall has been lysed and the cytoplasm content was decreased. Pathway analysis revealed that the APFD extract significantly affected biosynthesis peptidoglycan, gene expression, RNA processing, and macromolecule metabolism processes in S. mutans. Conclusion. Data analysis revealed that multiple mechanisms of action were involved in antibacterial activity of A. paniculata extracts toward S. mutans.
Background: Obesity is the most common health concern among the public worldwide. Weight gain among students occurred during their college years, when physical activity and dietary patterns were observed to change. The Health Belief Model (HBM) depicts the role of anticipating and justifying the causes of a person's transformation or maintenance of specific health behaviors. Objective: This study determines the prevalence of obesity and the differences in weight management behaviours with gender among university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Puncak Alam Campus, Selangor, involving 377 respondents (122 males and 255 females) aged 18-26 years from February to April 2021. Health Belief Model (HBM) questionnaire on Weight Management Behaviors was used as a research tool in this study. Results: The findings showed that the majority of the respondents have a normal Body Mass Index (BMI) (n=214, 56.8%), followed by overweight (n=66, 17.5%), underweight (n=63, 16.7%) and obese (n=34, 9.0%). Independent t-test showed that female students significantly have more perceived susceptibility and cues to action than males (p<0.05). While, male students significantly have a high score in weight management behaviour for perceived benefits, perceived self-efficacy in dieting, and behavioural intention of weight management compared to female (p<0.05). Conclusion: Health interventions such as nutrition education regarding healthy food preparation and exercise schedule, including duration and types of activity, should increase female students' motivation and confidence in managing weight. Besides, an awareness campaign regarding the risk of obesity focusing on the male students must be created to generate awareness and prevention of obesity.
Acmella paniculata, also known as 'Subang nenek' in Malaysia, has been used to treat diseases such as toothache and gum infections. People called it a toothache plant, and it has been widely used as traditional medicine. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the antibacterial activities of A. paniculata leaves and flowers extracts towards Streptococcus mutans by using disc diffusion assay, minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods. Besides, the anti-biofilm activity of all the extracts also been determined by using a crystal violet assay. As the results, n-hexane and methanol extracts from leaves showed the highest inhibition zone towards S. mutans when compared to DCM and acetone extracts. Meanwhile, for the flowers extract, n-hexane and DCM showed the highest inhibition zone towards S. mutans compared to methanol and acetone extracts. The best results were then tested for MIC and MBC tests. As for the MIC values of n-hexane and methanol leaves extracts were 25 mg/mL, respectively, and the MBC values were 50 and 100 mg/mL, respectively. Whereas MIC values for n-hexane and DCM flowers extracts were 12.5 mg/mL, respectively, and the MBC values were 50 mg/mL, respectively. Biofilm formation of S. mutans showed decrement up to 70% after exposure to both leaves extract (n-hexane and methanol) and n-hexane flower extract. Still, it differed when exposing to DCM flower extract, and the result showed that the biofilm activities of S. mutans were inhibited at 80% after treated with DCM flowers extracts. In conclusion, n-hexane leaves extract, methanol leaves extract, n-hexane flowers extract, and DCM flowers extract of A. paniculata demonstrated bactericidal properties against S. mutans.
Melastoma malabathricum, also known as 'senduduk' in Malaysia, has been used as traditional medicine for diseases such as toothache, dysentery, haemorrhoids and stomachache. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the biological activity of Melastoma malabathricum stem bark extracts (MMSBE) towards Streptococcus mutans. This investigation involved a few methods, which at first is the determination of minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Next is by analyzing the time-kill curve, anti-biofilm activity, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic analyses. Later, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was done to determine differential regulation genes of treated and non-treated S. mutans. Lastly, confirmation of differential regulation genes was done by RT-PCR analysis. As for the results, M. malabathricum stem bark acetone extract (MMSBAE) showed the greatest inhibition concentrations towards S. mutans, followed by M. malabathricum methanol extract (MMSBME). Values of MIC and MBC (MMSBAE) were 1.25 mg/mL and 5 mg/mL. Meanwhile, MIC and MBC values of MMSBME were 5 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL. MMSBAE was chosen to further analyze its anti-bacterial activity against S. mutans. Time kill curve analysis found that MMSBAE possessed bacteriostatic properties against S. mutans. Besides, SEM and TEM analyses revealed that there were some changes to S. mutans cell morphology after treated with MMSBAE while Next gene sequencing analysis revealed significant (p<0.05) gene expression with multiple targets by MMSBAE, which caused inhibition of S. mutans biofilm formation activity. As for the conclusion, this study highlights the potential of MMSBAE as a new promising anti-S. mutans agents.
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