Pomegranates are an antioxidant-rich superfood with alternative and natural medicine resources for the natural health community. From the perspective of ancient medical practice, pomegranate is in a highest ranking of healthy fruits because of its diverse beneficial in curing diseases. Trend research publications pomegranates were studied. The study focused on content analysis, especially in the field of primary research on pomegranate. Referring to the results of 'literature review' on pomegranate, researchers found that the majority of previous research on pomegranate dominated by journal articles by 85.5 percent. Research on the method of analysis conducted in the previous studies found that most studies on pomegranate done on a scientific analysis (laboratory studies). Studies on aspects of science has been divided into seven areas. Focus areas include scientific discussion of pomegranate is pharmaceutical, Food Science, Botany, Bio-Medical, Bio-Chemistry and Microbiology. Only one field of study that focuses on the analysis of Islamic view focusing on Islamic Education. Additional fields of Environmental Education (Flora) are also included by researchers to collect data and find a results on plants that contain pomegranate. Comparative evaluation of research found that a total of 188 kinds of studies involves the study of the scientific aspects compared to only 11 studies based on Islam (Islamic Education) and 10 studies based on environmental education. Thus, the efforts of researchers from Universiti Malaya through grants TRGS (TR001A-2014) entitled 'Safe and Health Uses of Fruits and Herbs Mentioned in Al-Quran and Ahadith: An Analysis of ethnomedicinal Importance in Islamic Products in Malaysia' are very significant in the development of science. Advanced new study of henna is expected to produce benefits to Malaysia as a whole.

In many developing countries, a large proportion of the population relies on traditional practitioners and their armamentarium of medicinal plants in order to meet healthcare needs. This situation implies that the local culture is very fond of practicing a healthy lifestyle through the consumption of plants as a source of food and the use of herbs as food ingredients and medicinal treatment. In-depth analysis of the Quran and Hadith have founded a large number of herbs mentioned in both texts have existed and grown in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia. To determine the relationship between the benefits and the procedures used in accordance with the religion of Islam and Malay culture in treating women and occupational health, the main aim of this study is to document the knowledge of ethno botanical importance of herbs in the light of Islam. This study will also investigate the herbs in the Holy Quran and Hadith that was mentioned in the Malay manuscript texts name Kitab Tibb written by Haji Ismail bin Haji Mustafa Pontianak. This study will also list the benefits cited by the Malay manuscripts on herbs in the Holy Quran and the Hadith and medicinal uses of them to women and occupational health cure using traditional treatment according to the Malay culture perspectives.

Delima (pomegranate) merupakan bahan perubatan semulajadi yang amat bernilai. Dalam amalan perubatan kuno (ancient healing benefits), delima berada pada senarai teratas disebabkan manfaat kegunaannya yang verstail. Trend penerbitan penyelidikan berkenaan delima telah dikaji. Kajian ditumpukan kepada analisis kandungan terutamanya dalam bidang penyelidikan utama berhubung delima. Merujuk hasil tinjauan literatur, pengkaji mendapati majoriti penyelidikan lepas mengenai delima didominasi oleh artikel jurnal sebanyak 85.5%. Melihatkan metode analisis yang pernah dilakukan, penyelidikan lepas berkenaan delima kebanyakannya berkisar tentang analisis saintifik (kajian makmal). Bagi kajian sains sahaja, telah terbahagi kepada enam bidang kajian. Fokus aspek perbincangan saintifik terhadap delima meliputi bidang farmasi, sains pemakanan (food science), sains botani, bio-perubatan, bio-kimia dan mikrobiologi. Hanya satu bidang yang memfokuskan analisis berasaskan pengajian Islam (Islamic Studies). Tambahan bidang pendidikan alam sekitar (flora) turut dimuatkan pengkaji bagi mengumpulkan hasil kajian yang bersifat data umum tentang tumbuhan termasuk delima. Justeru, usaha terkini para penyelidik dari Universiti Malaya melalui geran TRGS (TR001A-2014A) bertajuk �Safe and Health Uses of Fruits and Herbs Mentioned in Al-Quran and Ahadith: An Analysis of Ethnomedicinal Importance in Islamic Products in Malaysia� amat signifikan dalam perkembangan ilmu. Lanjutan kajian baru terhadap delima diharapkan menghasilkan sesuatu bagi manfaat Malaysia seluruhnya.

Terdapat buah-buahan dan herba yang disebut secara khusus dalam al-Quran dan al-Hadith. Kelebihan dan keistimewaan buah-buahan dan herba ini telah dibincangkan oleh para ulama dalam kitab-kitab turath mereka khususnya dalam kitab al-Tibb al-Nabawi. Penulisan kitab-kitab ini telah membuka ruang kepada kajian-kajian ilmiah yang lebih saintifik dan mendalam. Walau bagaimanapun umat Islam pada hari ini kurang mengetahui kewujudan kitab-kitab al-Tibb alNabawi yang menjadi satu cabang ilmu Islam. Oleh itu, artikel ini bertujuan untuk memberi pendedahan terhadap beberapa aspek dalam bidang al-Tibb alNabawi khususnya berkaitan dengan buah-buahan dan herba di dalam penerbitan SCOPUS. Kajian ini mengaplikasikan metod kajian perpustakaan, dengan penelitian terhadap sebahagian besar kitab yang berkaitan dengan al-Tibb alNabawi dikumpulkan untuk dianalisis bagi memahami konsep al-Tibb al-Nabawi itu sendiri serta mengenal pasti buah-buahan dan herba yang dibincangkan. Di samping itu, metod pemerhatian terhadap kajian saintifik yang lepas telah dilakukan terutamanya dengan meneliti artikel-artikel dalam pengkalan data SCOPUS. Hasil penelitian awal mendapati bahawa ulama-ulama terdahulu telah menulis pelbagai karya yang khusus tentang al-Tibb al-Nabawi. Walau bagaimanapun pada hari ini kajian yang mendalam terhadap buah-buahan dan herba yang disebutkan dalam al-Tibb al-Nabawi banyak dipelopori oleh pengkaji-pengkaji bukan Islam khususnya daripada Barat.

Background: Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is an agonist mediator in the inflammatory process, which interacts with PAF receptor (PAFR) that eventually causes cancers, respiratory and neurodegenerative diseases. This interaction activates the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, leading to a pro-inflammatory cascade. The pathophysiological conditions due to activation of inflammatory cascade could be inhibited by PAF antagonists. Objectives: In this study, selected naturally derived flavonoids (flavone, biochanin A, and myricetin) with different functional groups were subjected to molecular modelling and experimental studies to investigate their potential as PAF antagonists. Methods: Interactions of flavonoids and PAF were assessed via Autodock Vina for molecular docking and the AMBER program for molecular dynamic simulations. The experimentally antagonistic effects of the flavonoids were also conducted via PAF inhibitory assay to determine the IC50 values. Results: The findings of docking and dynamic simulations have revealed that all selected flavonoids interact with PAFR in the binding site with considerably good binding affinity up to - 9.8 kcal mol-1 as compared to cedrol (- 8.1 kcal mol-1) as a standard natural PAFR antagonist. The PAFR-flavonoid complexes exhibited four conserved active site residues, which included W73, F97, F174, and L279. The stability of all complexes was attained in a 30 ns simulation. The findings of in silico analyses were then compared to the experimental study on PAF inhibitory assay. Inhibitory effects of flavonoids against PAFR showed moderate activities, ranging from 27.8 – 30.8 μgM-1. Conclusion: All studied flavonoids could act as promising PAF antagonists with some enhancement in their structures to exhibit potent antagonistic activity. However, these naturally derived flavonoids demand further investigation at cellular and animal models to develop new PAF antagonist drug candidates for treating PAF-mediated diseases.

Drug resistance presents a challenge in chemotherapy and has attracted research interest worldwide and particular attention has been given to natural compounds to overcome this difficulty. Pulchrin A, a new compound isolated from natural products has demonstrated novel potential for development as a drug. The identification of pulchrin A was conducted using several spectroscopic techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance, liquid chromatography mass spectrometer, infrared and ultraviolet spectrometry. The cytotoxicity effects on CAOV-3 cells indicates that pulchrin A is more active than cisplatin, which has an IC50 of 22.3 ?M. Significant changes in cell morphology were present, such as cell membrane blebbing and formation of apoptotic bodies. The involvement of phosphatidylserine (PS) in apoptosis was confirmed by Annexin V-FITC after a 24 h treatment. Apoptosis was activated through the intrinsic pathway by activation of procaspases 3 and 9 as well as cleaved caspases 3 and 9 and ended at the executioner pathway, with the occurrence of DNA laddering. Apoptosis was further confirmed via gene and protein expression levels, in which Bcl-2 protein was down-regulated and Bax protein was up-regulated. Furthermore, the CAOV-3 cell cycle was disrupted at the G0/G1 phase, leading to apoptosis. Molecular modeling of Bcl-2 proteins demonstrated a high- binding affinity, which inhibited the function of Bcl-2 proteins and led to cell death. Results of the current study can shed light on the development of new therapeutic agents, particularly, human ovarian cancer treatments.