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Okra pods were widely consumed by Indonesians to maintain health. The aim of this study was at investigating the potential of crude polysaccharides from okra pods on immune response in mice infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Thirty male Balb/C mice were divided into six groups: normal control, negative control, and treatment groups (administration of crude polysaccharides at doses of 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/kg). Crude polysaccharides were administrated for fourteen days. Furthermore, mice were exposed to S. aureus at the fifteenth day. Two weeks after the end of treatment, the parameters were measured. This study showed that crude polysaccharides at a dose of 75 and 100 mg/kg improved phagocytic activity, spleen index, and splenocytes proliferation. Rising of TNF-α levels was shown in groups treated with crude polysaccharides at doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg. All treatment groups showed a decreasing level of IL-17. Crude okra polysaccharides also showed a slight increase in NK cells activity and IFN-γ level. Thus, crude okra polysaccharides could act as an effective material to enhance immune response including phagocytic activity, spleen index, splenocytes proliferation, and control immune responses through cytokine production.

In this study, we determine the curative effects of okra pods (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) extract against lead acetate toxicity in mice kidney. n-Hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol solvent were used for extracting okra pods. The role of the extract as an antioxidant was tested by DPPH and FRAP methods. The methanol extract was used for experiments in animals. A total of 30 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six equal groups: normal control, negative control (lead-induced), and treatment groups (lead-induced for 28 days and administration of methanol extract at doses of 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW for the 28 days). The following were analyzed in all groups: activity of the antioxidant enzymes, namely, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT); oxidant level, namely, malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO); and markers of kidney injury, namely, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cre). Kidney histopathology was also evaluated. This study showed that the methanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 is 35.21 µg/mL, and FRAP is 57.58 µM Fe2+/g). The CAT and SOD activities increased significantly in okra-treated groups (P<0.05). The okra administration groups experienced a significant decrease in MDA, NO, BUN, and Cre levels (P<0.05). Thickness of the epithelial proximal tubule, diameter of the proximal tubule, and percentage of necrotic cells in proximal tubule decreased, but the diameter ratio of glomerular Bowman’s capsule in mice treated with okra was optimally improved and repaired like normal control (P<0.05). The results of this study reveal that methanol extract has a very strong antioxidant effect and can reduce the influence of toxicity induced by lead acetate in mice kidney.

Background and Aim: Natural products are currently widely used as alternative treatments for liver disease. The study aimed to determine the hepatoprotective effect of crude polysaccharides extracted from Ganoderma lucidum against liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Materials and Methods: Twenty-four male BALB/C mice were randomly divided into six groups. Serum and liver samples were taken on day 10 after G. lucidum administration. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and the histology of the liver was evaluated using light microscopy. Results: G. lucidum extract significantly decreased the levels of ALT, AST, and MDA and significantly increased the levels of SOD and CAT. In the histological evaluation, the liver tissue of CCl4-treated mice exhibited hydropic degeneration, necrosis, and sinusoidal dilatation. G. lucidum extract administration improved this liver tissue histopathology. Conclusion: Crude polysaccharides extracted from G. lucidum showed a hepatoprotective effect, regenerating damaged liver tissue.

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Wound infection on the skin surface is colonized a wide variety of microorganisms. Microorganisms that cause inflammation of the skin surface is group of pyogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the class of pyogenic bacteria that produce β-lactamase enzyme and eliminate the antibacterial activity, especially penicillin. The existence of this enzyme will destroy β-lactam ring, so that antibiotics become inactive. This study aimed to detect presence of Staphylococcus aureus on pus from wound infection on the skin surface. This study was descriptive qualitative. Three samples of pus was isolated and identified by culture and biochemical testing using RapID STAPH PLUS. The results of the study identified two isolates of Staphylococcus aureus with a probability >99.9% and 1 isolate of Staphylococcus hyicus with a probability 86.92%.

Background and Aim: For many years, people use natural products from the plant and fungal to improve immune response against microorganism. This study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory properties of polysaccharides (PS) from Coriolus versicolor in mice infected by intracellular bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six female BALB/C mice were divided into six groups: Normal control, negative control, positive control, P1 (PS before infection), P2 (PS after infection), and P3 (PS before and after infection). PS were administrated for 10 days. N. gonorrhoeae was infected twice with 2 weeks gap from the first to second exposure with a dose of 106 cells. 1 week after the end of treatment, level of oxidants, innate immune responses, and adaptive immune responses were measured. Results: This study showed that PS administration could restore the number of leukocytes as normal but could not enhance the number of phagocytes and its activity. PS administration also showed immunosuppression activity by lowering nitric oxide levels in P2 and P3 groups (p<0.05). This result showed that PS prevent over-expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines by decreasing phagocytic activity. Contrast with innate immune response result; PS administration could significantly increase interferon-gamma level in P1, P2, and P3 groups (p<0.05). Level of antibodies was significantly increased in the P3 group (p<0.05). PS administration also showed an increased level of tumor necrosis factor-a, but the difference was not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: PS enhance adaptive immunity due to the capability of N. gonorrhoeae that able to survive and replicate in phagocytes. Thus, PS from C. versicolor could be potentially be used as a natural immunomodulator against intracellular bacteria.

Kanker merupakan salah satu penyebab utama kematian. Estimasi insiden kanker payudara di Indonesia sebesar 36 per 100.000 perempuan. Lebih dari 80% kasus ditemukan berada pada stadium yang lanjut. Salah satu cara untuk mengurangi angka kejadian kanker payudara adalah dengan melakukan pemeriksaan payudara sendiri (SADARI). Deteksi dini dapat menekan angka kematian sebesar 25-30%. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang berhubungan dengan perilaku pemeriksaan payudara sendiri (SADARI) pada mahasiswi Fakultas Kedokteran UPN “Veteran” Jakarta tahun 2017. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain cross sectional, menggunakan kuesioner dengan sampel 108 orang. Metode pengambilan sampel menggunakan metode probability sampling dengan teknik proportionate stratified random sampling. Hasil analisis menggunakan uji Chi-square menunjukkan adanya hubungan antara BMI, sumber informasi, sikap, pengetahuan dan dukungan keluarga dengan perilaku pemeriksaan payudara sendiri (SADARI). Tidak ada hubungan antara riwayat penyakit keluarga, umur dan pendapatan dengan perilaku pemeriksaan payudara sendiri (SADARI). Hasil analisis regresi logistik menunjukkan faktor yang paling dominan mempengaruhi  perilaku pemeriksaan payudara sendiri (SADARI) adalah pengetahuan (OR=10,889). Kata kunci : kanker payudara, pengetahuan, perilaku, SADARI