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The main focus of   Mohammad Rais’s research are in the areas of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Natural Products and Drug Discovery. He has published several articles in international peer-reviewed journals and at the same time highlighted the pharmacological actions of  several local medicinal plants  including daun ketum (Mitragyna speciosa), cekur (Kaempferia galanga) and kacip Fatimah (Labisia Pumila).  These studies have been made possible by a series of R & D grants which he  successfully obtained under the Malaysian Development Plans and High Impact Research Grants (UM). To promote a more systematic and collaborative research in natural products in University of Malaya, Rais  helped established the Centre for Natural Products Research and Drug Discovery (CENAR) in 2003.  He has also a keen interest in basic science research, particularly in the area of Vascular Pharmacology.  His current research include investigating the role of novel angiotensin peptides, nitrates and nitrites, flavonoids and several phytochemicals in the improvement of endothelial dysfunctions in hypertension and diabetes.  

Selected Publications

• Autophagy through stress-activated signals: a cellular self-defence mechanism against MBIC in human breast cancer cell-lines. Mohadeseh Hasanpourghadi, Nazia Abdul Majid, Mohd Rais Mustafa. Biochemical Pharmacology. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.03.030 (ISI-Indexed)
• Choy KW, Lau YS, Murugan D, Mustafa MR (2017) Chronic treatment with paeonol improves endothelial function in mice through inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum stress- mediated oxidative stress. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0178365. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0178365 (ISI-Indexed)
• Ling WC, Liu J, Lau CW, Murugan DD, Mustafa MR, Huang Y. (2017).Treatment with salvianolic acid B restores endothelial function in angiotensin II-induced hypertensive mice. Biochem Pharmacol. 2017 Jul 15;136:76-85.
• Wei Chih Ling, Mohd Rais Mustafa, Paul M Vanhoutte, Dharmani Devi Murugan. (2017). Chronic administration of sodium nitrite prevents hypertension and protects arterial endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress in angiotensin II-infused mice. Vascul Pharmacol. 2017 May 26. pii: S1537-1891(16)30268-3
• Choy KW, Mustafa MR, Lau YS, Liu J, Murugan D, Lau CW, Wang L, Zhao L, Huang Y. 2016.Paeonol protects against endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced endothelial dysfunction via AMPK/PPARδ signaling pathway. Biochem Pharmacol. 2016 Sep 15;116:51-62.