ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To develop a kind of Agkistrodon acutus (Günther) DNA test kit, evaluate its quality indexes including specificity, stability, sensitivity and repeatability, and inspect the qualities of commercialAgkistrodon acutus (Günther) samples. METHODS: The Agkistrodon acutus (Günther) DNA test kit was developed and modified according to the method recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition). EighteenAgkistrodon acutus (Günther) samples were randomly collected from Beijing, Tianjin, and Changchun. The kit assay was performed to identify these samples with the pharmacopoeia method as the standard control. RESULTS: The kit proved effective after 20 times of freezing and thawing, and repeatability test showed same data for three tests. The lower limit of quantitation was 0.025 g. The specificity test confirmed that 14 samples were genuine, and 4 were adulterants. All of the identification results by the kit assay were in accordance with the ones by the pharmacopoeia method. CONCLUSION: The developed DNA test kit is accurate and effective for identification of Agkistrodon acutus (Günther). Compared with the pharmacopoeia method, it is simpler and more rapid, demonstrating broad prospect in quality inspection of Agkistrodon acutus (Günther).