Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is one of the common causes of secondary osteoporosis. Piper sarmentosum (Ps) extract possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we determined the correlation between the effects of Ps leaf water extract with the regulation of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) type 1 enzyme activity in serum and bone of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporotic rats. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were grouped into following: G1: sham-operated group administered with intramuscular vehicle olive oil and vehicle normal saline orally; G2: adrenalectomized (adrx) control group given intramuscular dexamethasone (120 μg/kg/day) and vehicle normal saline orally; G3: adrx group given intramuscular dexamethasone (120 μg/kg/day) and water extract of Piper sarmentosum (125 mg/kg/day) orally. After two months, the femur and serum were taken for ELISA analysis. Results showed that Ps leaf water extract significantly reduced the femur corticosterone concentration (p < 0.05). This suggests that Ps leaf water extract was able to prevent bone loss due to long-term glucocorticoid therapy by acting locally on the bone cells by increasing the dehydrogenase action of 11β-HSD type 1. Thus, Ps may have the potential to be used as an alternative medicine against osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture in patients on long-term glucocorticoid treatment.

Glucocorticoids are one of the causes of secondary osteoporosis. The aqueous extract of Piper sarmentosum contains flavonoids that possess antioxidant effects. In this study, we determined the effects of aqueous Piper sarmentosum leaf extract on structural, dynamic and static histomorphometric changes from osteoporotic bones of rats induced with glucocorticoids. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided equally into four groups—Sham control group given vehicles (intramuscular (IM) olive oil and oral normal saline); AC: Adrenalectomised (Adrx) control group given IM dexamethasone (DEX) (120 μg/kg/day) and vehicle (oral normal saline); AP: Adrx group administered IM DEX (120 μg/kg/day) and aqueous Piper sarmentosum leaf extract (125 mg/kg/day) orally; and AG: Adrx group administered IM DEX (120 μg/kg/day) and oral glycyrrhizic acid (GCA) (120 mg/kg/day). Histomorphometric measurements showed that the bone volume, trabecular thickness, trabecular number, osteoid and osteoblast surfaces, double-labelled trabecular surface, mineralizing surface and bone formation rate of rats given aqueous Piper sarmentosum leaf extract were significantly increased (p < 0.05), whereas the trabecular separation and osteoclast surface were significantly reduced (p < 0.05). This study suggests that aqueous Piper sarmentosum leaf extract was able to prevent bone loss in prolonged glucocorticoid therapy. Thus, Piper sarmentosum has the potential to be used as an alternative medicine against osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures in patients undergoing long-term glucocorticoid therapy.

Allergic disease has risen to epidemic proportions since the last decade and is among the most common noncommunicable, chronic diseases in children and adolescents worldwide. Allergic disease usually occurs in early life; thus, early biomarkers of allergic susceptibility are required for preventive measures to high‐risk infants which enable early interventions to decrease allergic severity. However, to date, there is no reliable general or specific allergy phenotype detection method that is easy and noninvasive for children. Most reported allergic phenotype detection methods are invasive, such as the skin prick test (SPT), oral food challenge (OFC), and blood test, and many involve not readily accessible biological samples, such as cord blood (CB), maternal blood, or newborn vernix. Saliva is a biological sample that has great potential as a biomarker measurement as it consists of an abundance of biomarkers, such as genetic material and proteins. It is easily accessible, noninvasive, collected via a painless procedure, and an easy bedside screening for real‐time measurement of the ongoing human physiological system. All these advantages emphasise saliva as a very promising diagnostic candidate for the detection and monitoring of disease biomarkers, especially in children. Furthermore, protein biomarkers have the advantages as modifiable influencing factors rather than genetic and epigenetic factors that are mostly nonmodifiable factors for allergic disease susceptibility in childhood. Saliva has great potential to replace serum as a biological fluid biomarker in diagnosing clinical allergy. However, to date, saliva is not considered as an established medically acceptable biomarker. This review considers whether the saliva could be suitable biological samples for early detection of allergic risk. Such tools may be used as justification for targeted interventions in early childhood for disease prevention and assisting in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by childhood allergy.

Albizia myriophylla (ABZ) is a plant used in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia for the treatment of diabetes mellitus type II. The antioxidant activities of ABZ have been suggested as one of the mechanisms for the observed beneficial effects. Hence, this study examined the phenolic, flavonoid, and saponin contents and antioxidant activity from methanol extract (ME) and its derived fractions hexane (HE), chloroform (CE), ethyl acetate (EAE), butanol (BE), and aqueous fraction of the bark of ABZ (AE). Amongst the extracts, EAE showed the highest total phenolic content of about 0.77 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g of extract (mg GAE/mg). However, the highest flavonoid content was detected in HE at 1.04 µg retinol equivalent ((RE)/g extract), while the saponin content was highest in CE at 1.1 µg diosgenin equivalent ((DE)/g extract). In 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhidrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging test, EAE at 100 µg/mL had the highest percentage of inhibition of about 72.55%. 2-2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS radical scavenging test) showed BE had the highest percentage of inhibition at 100 µg/mL at 82.91%. Ferric reducing antioxidant power elucidated BE as having the highest percentage of inhibition which was 86.04% followed closely by ME at 85.90%. Thus, the different extracts of ABZ displayed various antioxidant capacity with probable free radical scavenging activity, which may be useful for the treatment of chronic inflammatory related metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity.

In the vascular wall, defence against pathogenic damage requires a group of monocytes, the endothelium, dendritic cells, macrophages and a subsequent involvement of pattern recognition receptors anticipating damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) to initiate an innate immune response. The endothelium plays a crucial role in regulating the duration, location and extent of the inflammatory cascade to ensure a definitive immune defence. Molecular changes in the expression of chemokines and cell adhesion molecules ensure protective responses against infection and injury. The multiprotein oligomer complex nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a key role in the activation of inflammatory processes in response to DAMPs and pattern-associated molecular patterns. As a result of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, caspase-1 is activated and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) is produced. Caspase-1 is the main mediator of inflammatory feedback to tissue injury, and it is engaged both in the initiation of the inflammatory response and in the induction of cell death. NLRP3 inflammasome promotes further inflammatory responses and pyroptosis in the vascular endothelium; thus, its optimum regulation is crucial in cardiovascular homeostasis. This review outlines our current perception of the role of NLRP3 in vascular endothelial cells.