Intensive cancer chemotherapy is known to cause bone defects, which currently lack treatments. This study investigated the effects of polyphenol resveratrol (RES) in preventing bone defects in rats caused by methotrexate (MTX), a commonly used antimetabolite in childhood oncology. Young rats received five daily MTX injections at 0.75 mg/kg/day. RES was orally gavaged daily for seven days prior to, and during, five-day MTX administration. MTX reduced growth plate thickness, primary spongiosa height, trabecular bone volume, increased marrow adipocyte density, and increased mRNA expression of the osteogenic, adipogenic, and osteoclastogenic factors in the tibial bone. RES at 10 mg/kg was found not to affect bone health in normal rats, but to aggravate the bone damage in MTX-treated rats. However, RES supplementation at 1 mg/kg preserved the growth plate, primary spongiosa, bone volume, and lowered the adipocyte density. It maintained expression of genes involved in osteogenesis and decreased expression of adipogenic and osteoclastogenic factors. RES suppressed osteoclast formation ex vivo of bone marrow cells from the treated rats. These data suggest that MTX can enhance osteoclast and adipocyte formation and cause bone loss, and that RES supplementation at 1 mg/kg may potentially prevent these bone defects.

In Malaysia, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) was the second highest in Perlis. Prevention and management of DM are largely dependent on self-care in our daily lives. Nonetheless, we have little information concerning factors influencing public engagement in DM self-practice, which might have contributed to the high prevalence of DM in Perlis. This study was conducted to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and factors associated with self-practice towards DM among the public in Kangar, Perlis. A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2018 for three months. Eligible participants were invited to complete a selfadministered questionnaire in public areas in Kangar. Descriptive analyses on the sociodemographic, medical backgrounds, knowledge, attitudes, and self-practice towards DM were performed. Independent t-test and Spearman’s correlation were performed to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, knowledge, and attitudes with self-practice towards DM. Multiple linear regression was used to adjust for potential confounding variables. A total of 319 respondents consented and participated in this study. Most of the respondents were female (66.5%), Malay (94%), and had tertiary education (51.7%). Overall, most participants had good scores on knowledge (80.3%), attitudes (98.4%), and self-practice (97.2%) towards DM. A statistically significant positive association was found between age, education level, and attitudes score with DM self-practice (p<0.05). This study suggests a well-structured educational program on diabetes self-care should start as early as in school to clarify public misconceptions on DM management.

Pharmacy value-added services were developed to make it easier for patients to refill their chronic prescriptions in public health facilities in Malaysia. However, little is known about patients’ awareness, attitudes and practice towards pharmacy value-added services provided by health clinics. This study was conducted to investigate factors associated with the usage of pharmacy value-added services at public health clinics in Perlis, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2021 at the pharmacy waiting area of all public health clinics in Perlis. All patients (≥18 years old) taking chronic medications and with the need to follow-up at the health clinic in Perlis were recruited in this study using quota sampling. Data was collected using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive analyses on the usage, awareness and attitudes of respondents were performed, followed by multiple logistic regression. A total of 582 patients responded to this study (response rate, 97.0%). Only 12.9% of respondents used pharmacy value-added services offered by health clinics. Age, gender, ethnicity, education level, occupation, monthly household income, length of stay in Perlis, distance from home to the clinic, total awareness and attitudes scores were factors significantly associated with the practice of pharmacy value-added services after adjusting for other variables (p<0.05). In conclusion, the proportion of patients using pharmacy value-added services at health clinics in Perlis is still low. The study’s findings suggest that a more extensive promotion of pharmacy value-added services is needed to ensure more patients could benefit from these services.