Rapid detection of trace Hg~(2+) in animal matrix by specific DNA electrochemical sensor / 中国中药杂志

A highly specific electrochemical biosensor based on T-Hg~(2+)-T structure for fast screening trace Hg~(2+) in complex animal drug matrix was constructed by cyclic voltammetry(CV) and differential pulse voltammetry(DPV). In the presence of Hg~(2+), it can be specifically binded to the T base of DNA sequence on the surface of modified gold electrode, which changes the conformation of DNA molecule and the electrochemical signal. The concentration ratio of EDC/NHS, the concentration ratio of FC-DNA and the reaction time of the biosensor were optimized by the index of sensitivity and reproducibility in CV. The results showed that the stability of the biosensor was good within 3 days(RSD≤1.3%), the difference between batches was low(RSD=4.7%), and the specificity of the biosensor was high in the presence of interfering ions(As~(3+), Cd~(2+), Cu~(2+), Pb~(2+), Zn~(2+) and Fe~(3+)). DPV results showed that the peak current signal value has a linear relationship with the lgC_((Hg)) over a concentration range from 0.1 nmol·L~(-1) to 1.0 μmol·L~(-1) with a detection limit of 0.066 nmol·L~(-1). Finally, the recovery rate tested in the matrix of animal medicine was satisfactory as 99.17%-101.3%, which can meet the needs of the determination of trace Hg~(2+) in the matrix of Bombyx Batryticatus, and provide a new idea for the rapid screening of trace heavy metals in the matrix of other types of complex traditional Chinese medicine.

Determination of arsenic speciation in 17 commonly used traditional Chinese herbal medicines by HPLC-ICP-MS / 中国中药杂志

The element speciation analysis for heavy metals in herbal medicines is still in the beginning stage. In this study,the total amount of arsenic( As) in 103 batches of 17 commonly used Chinese medicines( including 16 plant medicines and 1 medicinal fungus) was detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS). Furthermore,based on HPLC-ICP-MS,the simultaneous detection methods of six As speciation kinds in traditional Chinese medicines were established. An AS7 anion exchange column was selected and the As forms in 17 traditional Chinese medicines was systematically analyzed. The results showed that the method of pretreatment of medicinal materials by microwave digestion and the detection of total amount of As by ICP-MS was stable and reliable. As for the speciation analysis of As,the high-speed ultrasonic extraction method was adopted,and it showed that the linear relationship of the six As speciation was satisfied with the correlation coefficient R2>0. 999 9. The LOQ of six kinds of As speciation were 0. 20,0. 10,0. 15,0. 10,0. 25,0. 10 μg·L~(-1) for arsenic betaine( As B),arsenious acid [As( Ⅲ) ],dimethyl arsenic( DMA),arsenic choline( As C),monomethyl arsenic( MMA),arsenic acid[As( Ⅴ) ],respectively. The recoveries were between 84. 24% and 121. 5%,and the relative standard deviations were 2. 7% to 11%. Among the 103 batches of medicinal materials,only one batch of sample As exceeded the Chinese Pharmacopoeia limit standard; As( Ⅲ) and As( Ⅴ) had high detection rate in 103 batches of Chinese herbal medicines,within which As( Ⅴ) was the main detected form,and inorganic As accounted for the ratio reached 80. 90%-98. 73%; some samples detected DMA,MMA and As B,As C was not detected in any batch. This study established an analytical method suitable for the speciation of As in Chinese herbal medicines,and provided basic data for As residual residue in Chinese herbal medicines,which can provide important reference for the risk assessment and quality standards.

Safety evaluation of heavy metals contaminated Astragalus membranaceus using health risk assessment model / 中国中药杂志

To evaluate the safety of heavy metals contaminated Astragalus membranaceus,an appropriate protocol was established to study the heavy metals pollution level by health risk assessment. This study provided a detailed procedure to assess the medicinal herbs in quality control and safety evaluation,and expected to create awareness among the public on the safety of consuming of A. membranaceus or any other kinds of medicinal herbs. The heavy metals content of Cu,As,Cd,Pb and Hg in a total of 45 batches of A. membranaceus were carefully analyzed with a developed inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry( ICP-MS). Besides,the heavy metal contamination level was further evaluated through 4 main assessment parameters,including maximum residue limit( MRL) set by International Standard Organization,estimated daily intake( EDI) set by IUPAC,target hazard quotients( THQ) and Total THQ set by USEPA and total THQs in raw herbs of A. membranaceus. In addition,the recommended MRLs of 5 main heavy metals aimed to A. membranaceus were calculated based on the regulated consumption quantity. The result showed that,under the ISO international standard of Chinese medicine-Chinese herbal medicine heavy metals,the unqualified rate was 8. 89% for A. membranaceus,which including 4 batches of A. membranaceus exceeded the MRL of As. Here,the standard THQ value of A. membranaceus was firstly proposed as 0. 02 and 0. 011 25 for adults and children,respectively,which were calculated with the recommended consumption quantity of 30 g and 9 g for adults and children. Furthermore,the values of THQ for As and total THQs in adults and children were exceeded the standard THQ in A. membranaceus,and the recommended MRLs of Pb,Cd,Hg and Cu in above medicinal materials that calculated based on health risk assessment model were higher than the regulated MRLs that set by ISO and Chinese Pharmacopeia. The research showed that the contents of heavy metals in A. membranaceus were not in the safe range and the certain non-carcinogenic risks to human body cannot be neglected. Based on above investigation result,it is easily known that the common evaluation method for raw herbs based on the comparison of MRL of heavy metals was not precise enough,and the international model of health risk assessment should be built for each medicinal herb. Above all,this study provided a more realistic research approach for safety evaluation of any other kinds of heavy metals contaminated medicinal herbs,including the establishment of heavy metals standard limit in a specified medicinal herb under recommended consumption quantity,and it is expected to create awareness among the public on the safety of consuming any other medicinal herbs.

Research progress of chromium and its speciation analysis / 中国中药杂志

Chromium has been discovered for more than two hundred years, and it has advantages of wear-resisting, high temperature, corrosion resistance and so on. Chromium has been widely used in industrial production and received extensive attention in China and abroad. Detailed limit standards have been set for chromium in food and fishery product, and chromium can also be enriched in many traditional Chinese medicines. Besides, the toxicities of different chromium speciation are quite different, and thus morphological analysis is necessary. However, the transformation or migration is easily happened among different speciation which brings difficulties to research and analysis. This article summarizes the research status of chromium and its aims to provide reference for scientific research and pollution prevention of chromium.

Research progresses and formulation development of natural anti-mildew agents based on Chinese herbal medicines / 中国中药杂志

Owing to the intrinsic factors and some extrinsic environmental conditions, many foods, agricultural products and Chinese materia medicas (CMMs), if not handled properly in the processes of growth, harvesting, processing and storage, can be easily contaminated by all kinds of molds to produce mycotoxins of serious toxicity, which will not only affect the quality, safety and effectiveness of CMMs, but also result in potential threatens to human and animal's health and life. Therefore, in recent decades, it has become the focus on how to prevent and control the foods, agricultural products and CMMs from being moldy and producing toxicity for scientific preservation. Many Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) especially those with high content of volatile oils with strong antifungal activities have been applied for the scientific preservation of foods, agricultural products and CMMs. Based on these situations, natural anti-mildew agents have been further developed and made into some useful dosage forms, such as tablets, aerosol, liposomes and inclusion, which will not only greatly expand the application scope of CHMs to make the use of anti-mildew agents more convenient, but also achieve the sustained or controlled release of the antifungal effect for scientific preservation of foods, agricultural products and CMMs.

Advances on nanoparticles-tagged visual test strips for the rapid detection of pesticides / 中国中药杂志

The residue of the pesticides affects seriously the quality and safety of traditional Chinese medicine. Pesticide residue has caused ever-growing attention of people at home and abroad. Rapid detection techniques used for rapid screening of pesticide residues have expanded in a fast progress. As one of the fast development methods of rapid detection, visualization test strip based on nanoparticle has received much concern in recent years. This article focused on the classification of detection test strips and key factors on the fabrication of nanoparticle-based visualization test strips used in small molecule pesticides. Moreover, a wide application of nanoparticles-tagged test strips on pesticide residue was reviewed including single residue detection, multi residue detection, as well as quantitative analysis. Finally, the future application of visual test strip for detecting of pesticide residues in traditional Chinese medicine was forecasted, intending to provide the reference for rapid detection techniques on pesticide residues screening in herbal medicine industry.

In vitro effect and mechanistic study of compound E23869 on lipid metabolism / 药学学报

This study was designed to identify inducers of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1(ABCA1) and CD36 and lysosomal integral membrane protein-II analogous-1(CLA-1) and to evaluate the in vitro effect of the active compound on lipid metabolism. Among 20000 compounds screened, E23869 was found as a positive hit using cell-based high throughput screening models. The up-regulating activities of E23869 in ABCA1p-LUC and CLA-1p-LUC HepG2 cells were 196% and 198%, respectively. The EC50 values of E23869 in ABCA1p-LUC and CLA-1p-LUC HepG2 cells were 0.25 μmol·L-1 and 0.66 μmol·L-1, respectively. E23869 significantly upregulated the protein levels of ABCA1, scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI)/CLA-1 and ATP-binding cassette transporter G1(ABCG1) in both macrophages RAW264.7 and L02 cells by Western blotting analysis. Foam cell assay showed that E23869 inhibited lipids accumulations in macrophages RAW264.7. Cholesterol efflux assay showed that E23869 induced HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux in macrophages RAW264.7. Moreover, E23869 up-regulated ABCA1, SR-BI/CLA-1 and ABCG1 expressions through activation of PPARα and PPARγ. In addition, E23869 weakly promoted in vitro differentiation of mouse preadipocytes 3T3-L1. In conclusion, E23869 up-regulated ABCA1, SR-BI/CLA-1 and ABCG1 expressions to promote cholesterol efflux, which is a good leading compound for regulation of lipid metabolism.