Cover Image

Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms

Background: The Philippine cobra (Naja philippinensis) and Samar cobra (Naja samarensis) are two WHO Category 1 medically important venomous snakes in the Philippines. Philippine cobra antivenom (PCAV) is the only antivenom available in the country, but its neutralization capacity against the venoms...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tan, Choo Hock, Palasuberniam, Praneetha, Blanco, Francis Bonn, Tan, Kae Yi
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2021
Subjects:
R Medicine (General)
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/26551/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.um.eprints.26551
record_format eprints
spelling my.um.eprints.265512022-03-17T01:35:34Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/26551/ Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms Tan, Choo Hock Palasuberniam, Praneetha Blanco, Francis Bonn Tan, Kae Yi R Medicine (General) Background: The Philippine cobra (Naja philippinensis) and Samar cobra (Naja samarensis) are two WHO Category 1 medically important venomous snakes in the Philippines. Philippine cobra antivenom (PCAV) is the only antivenom available in the country, but its neutralization capacity against the venoms of N. philippinensis and hetero-specific N. samarensis has not been reported. This knowledge gap greatly hinders the optimization of antivenom use in the region. Methods: This study examined the immunological binding and neutralization capacity of PCAV against the two cobra venoms using WHO-recommended protocols. Results: In mice, both venoms were highly neurotoxic and lethal with a median lethal dose of 0.18 and 0.20 mu g/g, respectively. PCAV exhibited strong and comparable immunoreactivity toward the venoms, indicating conserved venom antigenicity between the two allopatric species. In in vivo assay, PCAV was only moderately effective in neutralizing the toxicity of both venoms. Its potency was even lower against the hetero-specific N. samarensis venom by approximately two-fold compared with its potency against N. philippinensis venom. Conclusion: The results indicated that PCAV could be used to treat N. samarensis envenomation but at a higher dose, which might increase the risk of hypersensitivity and worsen the shortage of antivenom supply in the field. Antivenom manufacturing should be improved by developing a low-dose, high-efficacy product against cobra envenomation. Oxford University Press 2021-01 Article PeerReviewed Tan, Choo Hock and Palasuberniam, Praneetha and Blanco, Francis Bonn and Tan, Kae Yi (2021) Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 115 (1). pp. 78-84. ISSN 0035-9203, DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/traa087 <https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/traa087>. 10.1093/trstmh/traa087
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic R Medicine (General)
spellingShingle R Medicine (General)
Tan, Choo Hock
Palasuberniam, Praneetha
Blanco, Francis Bonn
Tan, Kae Yi
Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
description Background: The Philippine cobra (Naja philippinensis) and Samar cobra (Naja samarensis) are two WHO Category 1 medically important venomous snakes in the Philippines. Philippine cobra antivenom (PCAV) is the only antivenom available in the country, but its neutralization capacity against the venoms of N. philippinensis and hetero-specific N. samarensis has not been reported. This knowledge gap greatly hinders the optimization of antivenom use in the region. Methods: This study examined the immunological binding and neutralization capacity of PCAV against the two cobra venoms using WHO-recommended protocols. Results: In mice, both venoms were highly neurotoxic and lethal with a median lethal dose of 0.18 and 0.20 mu g/g, respectively. PCAV exhibited strong and comparable immunoreactivity toward the venoms, indicating conserved venom antigenicity between the two allopatric species. In in vivo assay, PCAV was only moderately effective in neutralizing the toxicity of both venoms. Its potency was even lower against the hetero-specific N. samarensis venom by approximately two-fold compared with its potency against N. philippinensis venom. Conclusion: The results indicated that PCAV could be used to treat N. samarensis envenomation but at a higher dose, which might increase the risk of hypersensitivity and worsen the shortage of antivenom supply in the field. Antivenom manufacturing should be improved by developing a low-dose, high-efficacy product against cobra envenomation.
format Article
author Tan, Choo Hock
Palasuberniam, Praneetha
Blanco, Francis Bonn
Tan, Kae Yi
author_facet Tan, Choo Hock
Palasuberniam, Praneetha
Blanco, Francis Bonn
Tan, Kae Yi
author_sort Tan, Choo Hock
title Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
title_short Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
title_full Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
title_fullStr Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
title_full_unstemmed Immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of Philippine cobra antivenom against Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis venoms
title_sort immunoreactivity and neutralization capacity of philippine cobra antivenom against naja philippinensis and naja samarensis venoms
publisher Oxford University Press
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/26551/
_version_ 1735409427250413568
score 13.211869

Similar Items