A high-performance liquid chromatography method using pre-column derivatization with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate was developed to determine the content of 15 amino acids in the medicinal snakes Bungarus Parvus, Agkistrodon, and Zaocys. The results showed that the total amino acid(TAA) content ranged from 277.13 to 515.05 mg·g~(-1), with the top four amino acids in all three species being glutamic acid(Glu), glycine(Gly), aspartic acid(Asp), and lysine(Lys). The essential amino acid(EAA) content ranged from 74.56 to 203.94 mg·g~(-1), with Agkistrodon exhibiting the highest content. The non-essential amino acid(NEAA), semi-essential amino acid(semi-EAA), and medicinal amino acid(MAA) content ranged from 189.06 to 318.23, 12.89 to 33.53, and 179.83 to 342.33 mg·g~(-1), respectively, with Zaocys having the highest content in these categories. Amino acid nutritional value was evaluated using the amino acid ratio(RAA), amino acid ratio coefficient(RCAA), and amino acid ratio coefficient score(SRCAA), and the results indicated that all three medicinal snakes possessed good nutritional value. The amino acid composition was similar across the species, though significant differences in content were observed. Based on these differences, an orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) model was established, which could clearly distinguish between the three medicinal snake species. The key differences in amino acid content included Gly, tyrosine(Tyr), Glu, and serine(Ser), which may be related to the observed clinical application differences among the species. Further research into the mechanisms of these differential amino acids is expected to provide more insights into the clinical application disparities of these three medicinal snake species.
Amino Acids/chemistry* ; Animals ; Nutritive Value ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Snakes/classification* ; Bungarus

Objectives: This study aims to determine the healthcare workers’ (HCWs) attitudes, perceptions, and practices regarding Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) at the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study employed a validated online survey. Results: The study included 288 healthcare workers, predominantly female (77.35% ) and aged 31-40 years (47.74%), with physicians being the largest professional group (57.14%). HCWs had positive attitudes toward AMS. They perceived moderate to high antimicrobial resistance (AMR) levels in different contexts but believed the hospital had lower AMR levels than the country. HCWs agreed that AMR impacts antimicrobial choices, patient outcomes, and safety. Contributors to AMR were prescribing inappropriate antimicrobials, unnecessary prescriptions, poor patient adherence, and inadequate infection control measures. HCWs, except medical technologists, were aware of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) and its interventions. Only nurses and pharmacists were aware of the hospital policies against AMR. Barriers to AMS implementation include inadequate training in antimicrobial use, lack of infectious disease/ microbiology services, lack of electronic medication management services, and personnel shortages. HCWs had high self-reported AMS practices, but a practice gap in single-dose surgical antibiotic prophylaxis was identified, with low physician adherence (50.6%). Conclusion This study revealed positive attitudes and high self-reported AMS practices among HCWs. They also perceived moderate to high AMR in different contexts but believed that the hospital has lower AMR levels than the country. Addressing the identified barriers to implementation and practice gaps is crucial for achieving antimicrobial stewardship goals.
Antimicrobial Stewardship ; Viperidae ; Health Personnel

Bungarus Parvus, a precious animal Chinese medicinal material used in clinical practice, is believed to be first recorded in Ying Pian Xin Can published in 1936. This study was carried out to analyze the names, geographical distribution, morphological characteristics, ecological habits, poisonousness, and medicinal parts by consulting ancient Chinese medical books and local chronicles, Chinese Pharmacopeia, different processing standards of trditional Chinese medicine(TCM) decoction pieces, and modern literatures. The results showed that the earliest medicinal record of Bungarus Parvus was traced to 1894. In 1930, this medicinal material was used in the formulation of Annao Pills. The original animal, Bungarus multicinctus, was recorded by the name of "Bojijia" in 1521. The morphological characteristics, ecological habits, and poisonousness of the original animal are the same in ancient and modern records. The geographical distribution is similar between the ancient records and modern documents such as China Medicinal Animal Fauna. The dried body of young B. multicinctus is used as Bungarus Parvus, which lack detailed references. As a matter of fact, it is still inconclusive whether there are differences between young snakes and adult snakes in terms of active ingredients, pharmacological effects, and clinical applications. This study clarified the medicinal history and present situation of Bungarus Parvus. On the basis of the results, it is suggested that systematic comparison on young and adult B. multicinctus should be carried out to provide references for revising the medicinal parts of B. multicinctus.
Animals ; Bungarus ; Snakes ; China ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibitory effect of agkistrodon halys venom antitumor component-I (AHVAC-I) on vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation in triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells and explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: CCK8 assay was used to determine the optimal concentration of AHVAC-I for cell treatment based on its halfinhibitory concentration (IC₅₀). MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with different concentrations of AHVAC-I or 5-Fu, and the changes in vasomimetic capacity of the cells were examined using Matrigel assay. The expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and MMP9 in the treated cells were detected using quantitative PCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with the control treatment with culture medium, treatment with 5, 10 and 20 μg/mL AHVAC-I significantly reduced vasomimetic ability of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.01). MMP2 supplementation obviously restored the vasomimetic ability of the cells inhibited by AHVAC-I. CONCLUSION AHVAC-I inhibits VM formation in triplenegative breast cancer cells in vitro by down-regulating MMP2 production.
Agkistrodon/metabolism* ; Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Healthy Life Expectancy ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2/metabolism* ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/metabolism* ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Venoms

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect between long-snake moxibustion combined with western medication and simple medication on diarrhea type irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) of spleen and kidney METHODS: A total of 60 patients with IBS-D of spleen and kidney RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the symptom scores of abdominal pain, defecation frequency, mucous stool and appetite reduction were decreased ( CONCLUSION Long-snake moxibustion combined with western medication can effectively treat the IBS-D of spleen and kidney
Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Diarrhea/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Kidney ; Moxibustion ; Quality of Life ; Snakes ; Spleen ; Yang Deficiency/drug therapy*

As a precious traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), snake bile has been widely used in numerous Chinese medicine prescriptions. Bile acid(BA) derivatives have been demonstrated as the primary chemical family in snake bile. In-depth chemical characterization of BAs is of great importance towards the establishment of quality standards and clarification of the effective material basis for snake bile. This study firstly employed ~1H-NMR to preliminarily analyze the chemical profiles of snake bile, an automated fraction collector was subsequently implemented to obtain the fractions-of-interest. The fraction was then concentrated and re-analyzed by LC-MS. Based on ~1H-NMR, BAs were found to be the main components of snake bile, and six BAs including CDCA, CA, TCDCA, TCA, TDCA and GCA were tentatively identified from the representative spectrum with the assistance of literature and reference compounds. Whereas the content of TCA in snake bile was too great, resulting in a great obstacle for the detection of trace components, the automated fraction collector was subsequently implemented to obtain the fractions-of-interest for LC-MS analysis. According to matching MS/MS information and retention time with reference compounds as well as database retrieval, a total of 57 BAs were detected and annotated. Because of the combination of ~1H-NMR and LC-MS platforms, the findings are beneficial for the in-depth characterization of BAs in snake bile, which provides references for the establishment of quality control and evaluation methods of snake bile.
Animals ; Bile ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Snakes ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Agkistrodon acutus is a traditional Chinese herb medicine which has immunological regulation,anti-tumor,anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects,which is mainly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,ankylosing spondylitis,sjogren's syndrome and tumors. In order to excavate more important functional genes from A. acutus,the transcriptome of the venom gland was sequenced by the Illumina Hi Seq 4000,and 32 862 unigenes were assembled. Among them,26 589 unigenes were mapped to least one public database. 2 695 unigenes were annotated and assigned to 62 TF families,and 5 920 SSR loci were identified. The majority of mapped unigenes was from Protobothrops mucrosquamatus in the NR database,which revealed their closest homology. Three secretory phospholipase A_2 with different amino acid sequences showed similar spatial structures and all had well-conserved active sites. The 3 D structural models of C-type lectin showed conserved glycosylation binding sites( Asn45). This study will lay the foundation for the further study of the function of snake venom protein,and promoting the development and utilization of genome resources from A. acutus.
Agkistrodon/genetics* ; Animals ; Crotalid Venoms ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Snake Venoms/genetics* ; Snakes ; Transcriptome

PURPOSE: This study examined the most effective exercise while performing shoulder abduction below ninety degrees. METHODS: Thirty two healthy individuals (17 males, 15 females) participated and performed four exercises, 1) Posterior fly, 2) Prone row, 3) Modified prone cobra, and 4) External rotation in the prone position. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to measure the electrical activities for the lower, middle and upper fiber of trapezius and serratus anterior. RESULTS: A significant difference in the muscle activities of the upper/middle/lower trapezius and serratus anterior was observed among the three different positions in terms of the PF (posterior fly), PR (prone row), and MPC (modified prone cobra) (p<0.05). In post-hoc analysis, the activities of the lower and upper trapezius were significantly higher than those of the upper trapezius and serratus anterior (p<0.05). In addition, in ERP (external rotation in prone), there was a significant difference in each activity of the muscles. Post-hoc results indicated that the upper trapezius showed greater EMG activity than the other three muscles. CONCLUSION: External rotation in the prone position revealed the highest activation of the lower trapezius compared to upper trapezius muscle activity. This may be particularly useful in isolating the lower trapezius in cases where excessive scapular elevation is noted. Therefore, the most effective lower trapezius exercise should be performed below ninety degrees of shoulder abduction.
Adult ; Diptera ; Elapidae ; Electromyography ; Exercise ; Humans ; Male ; Muscles ; Prone Position ; Shoulder ; Superficial Back Muscles

PURPOSE: Agenesis of the septum pellucidum (ASP) is a very rare disease that can be isolated or associated with other brain abnormalities. The neurological prognosis of isolated ASP remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of neonates with ASP. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 12 neonates with isolated ASP or ASP combined with other brain abnormalities who were born at Cheil General Hospital & Women's Healthcare Center between January 2007 and December 2017. RESULTS: Of the 12 neonates, six were identified prenatally and six were identified postnatally. Isolated ASP was found in eight neonates; of these, four were detected antenatally. ASP associated with other brain abnormalities was found in four neonates. ASP was complete in nine neonates, including six with isolated ASP, and partial in three, including two with isolated ASP. Six of the eight neonates with isolated ASP had normal neurological development, except two who were lost to follow-up. Among the four neonates with other associated brain abnormalities, two had delayed motor development and a seizure, one had normal development, and one was lost to follow-up. In all neonates, ophthalmological examination revealed no optic nerve abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Isolated ASP seems to have a good neurological prognosis without ocular problems. This result needs to be confirmed by larger prospective studies over a longer developmental timeline.
Brain ; Delivery of Health Care ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Medical Records ; Optic Nerve ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Rare Diseases ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Septum Pellucidum ; Viperidae

Sparganosis is a parasitic infestation caused by sparganum, a plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Since the first case of human sparganosis reported in 1908, sparganosis has been a global disease, and is common in China, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. Consumption of raw snakes, frogs, fish, or drinking contaminated beverages are sources of human infections. Human sparganosis usually manifests in subcutaneous fat in areas such as the abdomen, genitourinary tract, and limbs. Breast sparganosis cases are rare, representing less than 2% of total cases of human infections. Complete surgical extraction of the sparganum is the treatment of choice. Because of the rarity of the disease, clinical suspicion is vital to reach the diagnosis of breast sparganosis. Here we report 2 rare cases of breast sparganosis presenting with a painless breast lump, both treated with surgical excision and sparganum extraction.
Abdomen ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Beverages ; Breast ; Cestoda ; China ; Diagnosis ; Drinking ; Extremities ; Humans ; Japan ; Larva ; Snakes ; Sparganosis ; Sparganum ; Spirometra ; Subcutaneous Fat