Eko Supriyanto

Antiproliferative and molecular mechanism of eugenol-induced apoptosis in cancer cells.

Phenolic phytochemicals are a broad class of nutraceuticals found in plants which have been extensively researched by scientists for their health-promoting potential. One such a compound which has been comprehensively used is eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol), which is the active component of Syzigium aromaticum (cloves). Aromatic plants like nutmeg, basil, cinnamon and bay leaves also contain eugenol. Eugenol has a wide range of applications like perfumeries, flavorings, essential oils and in medicine as a local antiseptic and anesthetic. Increasing volumes of literature showed eugenol possesses antioxidant, antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. Molecular mechanism of eugenol-induced apoptosis in melanoma, skin tumors, osteosarcoma, leukemia, gastric and mast cells has been well documented. This review article will highlight the antiproliferative activity and molecular mechanism of the eugenol induced apoptosis against the cancer cells and animal models.

Tangible nanocomposites with diverse properties for heart valve application

Abstract Cardiovascular disease claims millions of lives every year throughout the world. Biomaterials are used widely for the treatment of this fatal disease. With the advent of nanotechnology, the use of nanocomposites has become almost inevitable in the field of biomaterials. The versatile properties of nanocomposites, such as improved durability and biocompatibility, make them an ideal choice for various biomedical applications. Among the various nanocomposites, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-poly(carbonate-urea)urethane, bacterial cellulose with polyvinyl alcohol, carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide and nano-hydroxyapatite nanocomposites have gained popularity as putative choices for biomaterials in cardiovascular applications owing to their superior properties. In this review, various studies performed utilizing these nanocomposites for improving the mechanical strength, anti-calcification potential and hemocompatibility of heart valves are reviewed and summarized. The primary motive of this work is to shed light on the emerging nanocomposites for heart valve applications. Furthermore, we aim to promote the prospects of these nanocomposites in the campaign against cardiovascular diseases.

Biomaterials in cardiovascular research: applications and clinical implications.

Cardiovascular biomaterials (CB) dominate the category of biomaterials based on the demand and investments in this field. This review article classifies the CB into three major classes, namely, metals, polymers, and biological materials and collates the information about the CB. Blood compatibility is one of the major criteria which limit the use of biomaterials for cardiovascular application. Several key players are associated with blood compatibility and they are discussed in this paper. To enhance the compatibility of the CB, several surface modification strategies were in use currently. Some recent applications of surface modification technology on the materials for cardiovascular devices were also discussed for better understanding. Finally, the current trend of the CB, endothelization of the cardiac implants and utilization of induced human pluripotent stem cells (ihPSCs), is also presented in this review. The field of CB is growing constantly and many new investigators and researchers are developing interest in this domain. This review will serve as a one stop arrangement to quickly grasp the basic research in the field of CB.

An insight on electrospun-nanofibers-inspired modern drug delivery system in the treatment of deadly cancers

In spite of ample researches and admirable achievements, there are still a significant number of deaths happening every year due to cancer. Furthermore, the number of new cases recorded is also not reduced despite the advent of various preventive measures. Though current clinical approaches yield commendable results, they elicit severe systemic side-effects and also fail to avoid the recurrence of the disease. To address these issues, nanotechnology-empowered modern drug delivery systems showcase excellent properties for the targeting and controlled delivery of biomolecules over a period of time. In the past decade, the materials-based cancer research field has witnessed the exploration of several attractive drug delivery approaches for the administration of synthetic drugs to genetic materials. Among those, the electrospinning-based nanofibrous mesh has attracted several works on treating common deadly cancers such as those of the lung, breast and colon. The capability of nanofibers to enable increased drug loading, maintenance of significant bioactivity, excellent drug encapsulation, controlled and targeted delivery, has helped the researchers to achieve successful administration of a variety of anti-cancer agents. This review gives an insight into the process of electrospinning, its essential parameters, the types of drug incorporation and the works reported on common deadly cancers. Moreover, the future direction of this effective alternative is also delineated, making electrospun nanofibers as a suitable vehicle for delivering drugs to the cancer sites.

Role of pomegranate and citrus fruit juices in colon cancer prevention

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Recent studies prove that though chemotherapeutic agents are being used for the treatment of colon cancer, they become non-effective when the cancer progresses to an invasive stage. Since consumption of certain dietary agents has been linked with various cancers, fruit juices have been investigated for their consistently protective effect against colon cancer. The unique biochemical composition of fruit juices is responsible for their anticancer properties. In this review, the chemo-preventive effect of fruit juices such as pomegranate and citrus juices against colon cancer are discussed. For this purpose, the bioavailability, in vitro and in vivo effects of these fruit juices on colorectal cancer are highlighted. Moreover, there is a scarcity of studies involving human trials to estimate the preventive nature of these juices against colon cancer. This review will support the need for more preclinical tests with these crude juices and their constituents in different colorectal cancer cell lines and also some epidemiological studies in order to have a better understanding and promote pomegranate and citrus juices as crusaders against colon cancer.

Preclinical and Clinical Effects of Mistletoe against Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is among the most frequent types of cancer in women worldwide. Current conventional treatment options are accompanied by side effects. Mistletoe is amongst the important herbal medicines traditionally used as complementary remedies. An increasing number of studies have reported anticancer activity of mistletoe extracts on breast cancer cells and animal models. Some recent evidence suggests that cytotoxic activity of mistletoe may be mediated through different mechanisms. These findings provide a good base for clinical trials. Various studies on mistletoe therapy for breast cancer patients revealed similar findings concerning possible benefits on survival time, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), remission rate, and alleviating adverse reactions to conventional therapy. This review provides an overview of the recent findings on preclinical experiments and clinical trials of mistletoe for its cytotoxic and antitumor activity and its effect on HRQoL in breast cancer patients. Moreover, studies investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying antitumor activity of mistletoe are discussed in this paper. The analyzed trials provided evidence that there might be a combination of pharmacological and motivational aspects mediated by the mistletoe extract application which may contribute to the clinical benefit and positive outcome such as improved HRQoL and self-regulation in breast cancer patients.

Comparative Evaluation of Ultrasound Kidney Image Enhancement Techniques

Evaluation have been done to different enhancement techniques applied to ultrasound kidney images to see which enhancement techniques is the most suitable techniques that can be applied to the kidney images before segmenting the edge of the kidney. Five common enhancement techniques have been used including the spatial domain filtering, frequency domain filtering, histogram processing, morphological filtering and wavelet filtering. The techniques applied were assessed by few methods which are the observer sensitivity, measuring the image quality by calculating the MSE and PSNR of the image and applying one of the segmentation techniques to the output images. In conclusion, for ultrasound kidney image, if the whole image were taken into consideration (by measuring MSE and PSNR), morphological filtering seems to be the best option in enhancing the image. If the evaluator is concerning more on the kidney edges, enhancement techniques that should be taken into consideration are median filtering and histogram equalization.

Review: Radiation-induced surface modification of polymers for biomaterial application

The field of biomaterials is one of the fast growing and continuously dominating in medical arena for the last five decades. Biomaterials utilize various kinds of materials ranging from metals, polymers, ceramics and biological substances as an alternative for replacing/assisting the functions of different parts of human system. Major issues associated with biomaterials are their properties and the biocompatibility which have to be addressed and resolved before promoting it to the market or clinical setting. In this scenario, polymers have emerged as a better candidate with versatile properties that make them ideal choice for biomedical applications. However, still the problem of biocompatibility limits the use of polymers in the human body. Several surface modification strategies are continuously evolving to improve the biocompatibility of polymers. This review initially outlines the polymers’ biomedical applications and also elicits the immune aspects of biocompatibility. Further, a thorough attempt is made to summarize the radiation-induced surface modification of the polymers. This review will help us to keep abreast of the recent advances in the radiation-induced surface modification and also in promoting radiation as a probable candidate to enhance the biocompatibility of polymers.

Role of OpenEHR as an open source solution for the regional modelling of patient data in obstetrics

This work investigates, whether openEHR with its reference model, archetypes and templates is suitable for the digital representation of demographic as well as clinical data. Moreover, it elaborates openEHR as a tool for modelling Hospital Information Systems on a regional level based on a national logical infrastructure. OpenEHR is a dual model approach developed for the modelling of Hospital Information Systems enabling semantic interoperability. A holistic solution to this represents the use of dual model based Electronic Healthcare Record systems. Modelling data in the field of obstetrics is a challenge, since different regions demand locally specific information for the process of treatment. Smaller health units in developing countries like Brazil or Malaysia, which until recently handled automatable processes like the storage of sensitive patient data in paper form, start organizational reconstruction processes. This archetype proof-of-concept investigation has tried out some elements of the openEHR methodology in cooperation with a health unit in Colombo, Brazil. Two legal forms provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Health have been analyzed and classified into demographic and clinical data. LinkEHR-Ed editor was used to read, edit and create archetypes. Results show that 33 clinical and demographic concepts, which are necessary to cover data demanded by the Unified National Health System, were identified. Out of the concepts 61% were reused and 39% modified to cover domain requirements. The detailed process of reuse, modification and creation of archetypes is shown. We conclude that, although a major part of demographic and clinical patient data were already represented by existing archetypes, a significant part required major modifications. In this study openEHR proved to be a highly suitable tool in the modelling of complex health data. In combination with LinkEHR-Ed software it offers user-friendly and highly applicable tools, although the complexity built by the vast specifications requires expert networks to define generally excepted clinical models. Finally, this project has pointed out main benefits enclosing high coverage of obstetrics data on the Clinical Knowledge Manager, simple modelling, and wide network and support using openEHR. Moreover, barriers described are enclosing the allocation of clinical content to respective archetypes, as well as stagnant adaption of changes on the Clinical Knowledge Manager leading to redundant efforts in data contribution that need to be addressed in future works.

Review: physico-chemical modification as a versatile strategy for the biocompatibility enhancement of biomaterials

A biomaterial can be defined as a material intended to interface with biological systems to evaluate, treat, augment or replace any tissue, organ or function of the body. Major problems associated with biomaterials are their properties and biocompatibility, which need to be tackled and resolved before promoting a particular biomaterial to the market or implanting it into a biological system. To enhance the biocompatibility of the biomaterials, several surface modification strategies, such as physico-chemical, mechanical and biological modifications, have been explored. In this review, some recent applications of physico-chemical modification technologies, such as alteration in the structure of a molecule by chemical modification, surface grafting, abrasive blasting and acid etching, surface coatings, heat and steam treatment for medical materials such as polymers, metals, ceramics and nanocomposites are discussed. This article will promote physico-chemical modification as a versatile technology in surface engineering to improve the properties and biocompatibility of medical materials. Furthermore, it will instigate the growth of the biomaterial market with various high quality biomaterials.