Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole

Blastocystis sp. infection, although many remain asymptomatic, there is growing data in recent studies that suggests it is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in children and adults. This proposes that treatment against this infection is necessary however metronidazole (MTZ), which is the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Girish, Sonal, Kumar, Suresh, Aminudin, Norhaniza, Hashim, Najihah Mohd
Format: Article
Published: Nature Research 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/26382/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Universiti Malaya
id my.um.eprints.26382
record_format eprints
spelling my.um.eprints.263822022-02-24T08:15:28Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/26382/ Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole Girish, Sonal Kumar, Suresh Aminudin, Norhaniza Hashim, Najihah Mohd Q Science (General) R Medicine (General) Blastocystis sp. infection, although many remain asymptomatic, there is growing data in recent studies that suggests it is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in children and adults. This proposes that treatment against this infection is necessary however metronidazole (MTZ), which is the current choice of treatment, has expressed non-uniformity in its efficacy in combating this infection which has led to the study of alternative treatment. In our previous study, it was established that Tongkat Ali fractions exhibited promising anti-protozoal properties which leads to the current aim of the study, to further narrow down the purification process in order to identify the specific active compound promoting the anti-protozoal effect through HPLC analysis. Based on the data analysis and in-vitro susceptibility assay, the collected Tongkat Ali fraction that demonstrated anti-blastocystis property was shown to contain eurycomanone. Previous studies have suggested that there is a mechanism in Blastocystis sp. that regulates the apoptotic process to produce higher number of viable cells when treated. In reference to this, our current study also aims to investigate the apoptotic response of Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone across different subtype groups with comparison to MTZ. Based on our investigation, both Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone induced the high apoptotic rate however exhibited a reduction in viable cell count (p < 0.05) when compared to MTZ. This study suggests that there is potential in developing a standardized treatment regardless of subtype variations which makes Tongkat Ali extract a promising anti-protozoal treatment against all Blastocystis sp. subtype groups. Nature Research 2021-04 Article PeerReviewed Girish, Sonal and Kumar, Suresh and Aminudin, Norhaniza and Hashim, Najihah Mohd (2021) Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole. Scientific Reports, 11 (1). ISSN 2045-2322, DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81418-x <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81418-x>. 10.1038/s41598-021-81418-x
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic Q Science (General)
R Medicine (General)
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
R Medicine (General)
Girish, Sonal
Kumar, Suresh
Aminudin, Norhaniza
Hashim, Najihah Mohd
Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
description Blastocystis sp. infection, although many remain asymptomatic, there is growing data in recent studies that suggests it is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in children and adults. This proposes that treatment against this infection is necessary however metronidazole (MTZ), which is the current choice of treatment, has expressed non-uniformity in its efficacy in combating this infection which has led to the study of alternative treatment. In our previous study, it was established that Tongkat Ali fractions exhibited promising anti-protozoal properties which leads to the current aim of the study, to further narrow down the purification process in order to identify the specific active compound promoting the anti-protozoal effect through HPLC analysis. Based on the data analysis and in-vitro susceptibility assay, the collected Tongkat Ali fraction that demonstrated anti-blastocystis property was shown to contain eurycomanone. Previous studies have suggested that there is a mechanism in Blastocystis sp. that regulates the apoptotic process to produce higher number of viable cells when treated. In reference to this, our current study also aims to investigate the apoptotic response of Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone across different subtype groups with comparison to MTZ. Based on our investigation, both Tongkat Ali extract and eurycomanone induced the high apoptotic rate however exhibited a reduction in viable cell count (p < 0.05) when compared to MTZ. This study suggests that there is potential in developing a standardized treatment regardless of subtype variations which makes Tongkat Ali extract a promising anti-protozoal treatment against all Blastocystis sp. subtype groups.
format Article
author Girish, Sonal
Kumar, Suresh
Aminudin, Norhaniza
Hashim, Najihah Mohd
author_facet Girish, Sonal
Kumar, Suresh
Aminudin, Norhaniza
Hashim, Najihah Mohd
author_sort Girish, Sonal
title Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
title_short Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
title_full Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
title_fullStr Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of apoptotic responses in Blastocystis sp. upon treatment with Tongkat Ali and Metronidazole
title_sort comparison of apoptotic responses in blastocystis sp. upon treatment with tongkat ali and metronidazole
publisher Nature Research
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/26382/
_version_ 1735409405402284032