Ethnobotanical Study and Conservation Status of Plants Used by the Tigwa-hanon-Manobo in Mt. Malimumu, San Fernando, Bukidnon, Philippines

Central Mindanao, Philippines, is a center of the cultural wealth of knowledge and botanical resources in the southern archipelago. However, traditional plant re-sources remain unexplored, and most of the tribal communities remain undocu-mented. Manobo tribeis one of the most populated and diverse tribal communities in the country, including the secluded Tigwahanon-Manobo community in Mt. Malimumu, San Fernando, Bukidnon, Philippines. Hence, this study provides eth-nobotanical information and conservation status of plants along a 1-km transect walk in Mt. Malimumu used by the Tigwahanon-Manobo. A guided field walk with the tribal chieftains and tribal healer documented a total of 23 species in 22 genera belonging to 20 families, of which four species, namely Dillenia philip-pinensisRolfe, Nepenthes cornutaMarwinski, Coritico, Wistuba, Micheler, Gronem., Gieray & V.B.Amoroso, Nepenthes truncataMacfarl., and Pandanus mindanaensisMartelli, are Philippine endemics. Three families, namely Nepen-thaceae, Melastomataceae, and Rubiaceae, are the most represented with two spe-cies each. Based on the combined international (IUCN 2021) and national (DENR DAO 2017-11) listing of conservation status, one species was assessed as Criti-cally Endangered (Aquilaria malaccensisLam.) and another one as Endangered (N. truncata). Two species were assessed as Vulnerable (Agathis philippinensisWarb. and N. cornuta) and one species as Near Threatened (D. philippinensis). Six species were identified as Least Concern while the rest of the species were not yet evaluated. This participatory research provides the first ethnobotanical study and conservation status of traditional plants used by Tigwahanon-Manobo for food and medicine, as well as economic and ecological uses needing conservation and protection of their natural resources

Toxicity study of Gloydius brevicaudus venom on Hela and Hep G2 cells

The purpose of this study was to explore the cytotoxicity of Gloydius brevicauda venom on tumor cells. Hela and Hep G2 cells were used as the research subjects. The MTT assay was employed to investigate the proliferative activity of snake venom on tumor cells. The cell scratch assay was conducted to study the migration ability of tumor cells treated with snake venom. The Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining method was utilized to examine the damage caused by snake venom on tumor cells. The results demonstrated that the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the venom on Hela and Hep G2 cells at 48 hours was 8.176 µg/ml and 12.276 µg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, at a concentration of 4 µg/ml, the venom was able to inhibit the migration of tumor cells. Cell nuclear fluorescence staining revealed that the venom at concentrations of 8 µg/ml and 12 µg/ml induced DNA condensation in Hela and Hep G2 cells, respectively. In conclusion, the venom of Gloydius brevicauda was found to inhibit cell proliferation and migration, as well as induce cell apoptosis

A Quantitative Ethnobotanical Study of Plants Used by the Locals in Camiguin Island, Calayan, Cagayan, Philippines

Traditional knowledge concerning plant utilization in the Philippines is common but is largely underappreciated. Assessment of plant resources by groups of people helps promote valorization of cultural heritage. However, particularly in the Camiguin Is-landof the North, Cagayan (not to be confused with the island province of Camiguin in Mindanao), the use of terrestrial plants remains unknown. As a response, this study aims to identify island terrestrial plants withethnobotanical importance through semi-structured interviews. The data collected were then analyzed using quantitative ethnobotanical methods. A total of 70 species belonging to 65 genera and 44 families were surveyed from the 33 informants. The statistical analysis showed a significant difference between male and female informants in ethnobotan-ical knowledge. Lamiaceae was the most represented plant family with five species recorded. Leaves were the most used plant part (51%), congruent to previous ethno-botanical studies in the Philippines. Most medicinal preparations were done through decoctions (41.03%). Much of the medicinal plants surveyed were administered through topical medication (54.90%), and this is because the occupation of the peo-ple of Camiguin island mostly involves heavy physical activities. Thus, the proba-bility of being wounded in the area is very high. It was found that Vitex negundowas the most used plant in Camiguin island with the used value of 0.15.Furthermore, five ailment/disease categories obtained a 100% fidelity level. This result indicates that the plants used for that disease category are considered the most preferred spe-cies. Respiratory diseases obtained the highest FIC value of 0.40, indicating species within that category are the best candidates to search for bioactive compounds. This documentation provides the first checklist of useful plants in Camiguin island and will serve as a basis for future ethnobotanical studies in the Philippines

Antitumor Effects and Mechanisms of Snake Venom: A Systematic Review

Snake venom, as a natural biotoxin, is widely present in nature and can act in coordination with a variety of signal regulatory proteins, playing a significant role in the regulation of tumor cell proliferation, metastasis, invasion, and angiogenesis. Malignant tumors have long attracted the attention of the medical community as the leading cause of death in humans. In this paper, we focus on reviewing the progress of snake venom in the regulation of apoptosis, proliferation, metastasis, invasion, and angiogenesis of tumor cells in malignant tumors in order to clarify the mechanisms by which snake venom suppresses malignant tumors and to provide a reference for the study of malignant tumors

Phylogenetic Tree of 50 Medicinal Plants in Shandong Province, China

Medicinal plants are a valuable resource for a variety of products which are important for human needs. The fundamental step in the process has always been the characterization of species. This is the reason which connects the phytopharmaceutical sciences with taxonomy and species identification. The DNA-based method of identification has revolutionized this field in taking the taxonomy to the molecular level. 50 medicinal plants were selected. Two nucleotide sequences of each collected plant were selected and 100 nucleotide sequences downloaded from the NCBI database. MEGA11 Software was used to analyze those nucleotide sequences, and then Maximum Likelihood tree was reconstructed to reveal genetic relationship of 50 medicinal plants. The phylogenetic tree showed that majority nucleotide sequences of 50 medicinal plants can be clustered on the same branch with the same plants of their network

Toxicity study of

The purpose of this study was to explore the cytotoxicity of Gloydius brevicauda venom on tumor cells. Hela and Hep G2 cells were used as the research subjects. The MTT assay was employed to investigate the proliferative activity of snake venom on tumor cells. The cell scratch assay was conducted to study the migration ability of tumor cells treated with snake venom. The Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining method was utilized to examine the damage caused by snake venom on tumor cells. The results demonstrated that the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the venom on Hela and Hep G2 cells at 48 hours was 8.176 µg/ml and 12.276 µg/ml, respectively. Furthermore, at a concentration of 4 µg/ml, the venom was able to inhibit the migration of tumor cells. Cell nuclear fluorescence staining revealed that the venom at concentrations of 8 µg/ml and 12 µg/ml induced DNA condensation in Hela and Hep G2 cells, respectively. In conclusion, the venom of Gloydius brevicauda was found to inhibit cell proliferation and migration, as well as induce cell apoptosis

Nine kinds of novel cytokines identified in children with lead exposure

Lead (Pb) is a neurotoxic heavy metal element with many recognized adverse health side effects, and its main target of lead toxicity is the central nervous system. The mechanism of lead toxicity is still uncertain. However, there are few studies investigated the cytokines changes caused by lead exposure in children. The BLLs was quantified using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The novel cytokines were detected by RayBio@ Human Cytokine Antibody Array. A total of 4 children with elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) and 4 children with low BLLs were chosen in the study. Volcano plot analysis was performed to identify significant proteins, with the criteria: P value 1. The mean BLLs of children with elevated BLLs (5.675±1.018 μg/dL) has significant difference compared with those with low BLLs (1.975±0.3966 μg/dL) (P=0.0148, t=3.385). And 9 kinds of novel cytokines were identified. The expression of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-17 was significantly up-regulated, while the expression of BDNF, BMP-4, IGF-1, IL-7, IL-10 and Leptin was significantly down-regulated