Research progress on content and detection methods of microplastics/nanoplastics in biological samples / 环境与职业医学

Plastic products are widely used in various fields, and the discarded plastics in the environment can be degraded into microplastics (MPs) or even nanoplastics (NPs), which significantly increases the risk of organism exposure. MPs/NPs have been found in aquatic organisms, birds of prey, and even humans. The detection of plastic particles in biological samples is more complicated than that in environmental samples. Biological samples are mainly composed of various organic substances such as proteins and lipids, which makes the pretreatment process particularly critical. Effective detection and accurate quantification of MPs/NPs are crucial to health risk assessment. In this paper, the exposure levels and composition of MPs/NPs in different tissues and organs of the human body, aquatic organisms, and birds of prey were reviewed. The digestion of biological samples (acids, bases, enzymes, and hydrogen peroxide digestion protocols) and MPs/NPs identification methods (spectroscopy and chromatography) were compared and their advantages and disadvantages were assessed, providing a methodological basis for plastic exposure risk assessment and pollution control.

Progress in Research on Chemical Constituents and Quality Control METHODS: of Calculus Bovis and Its Substitutes / 中国药学杂志

Calculus Bovis is one precious traditional Chinese medicine used widely in clinical practice. Because of its high price and lack of resources, the substitutes of Calculus Bovis artificial Calculus Bovis, in vivo cultured Calculus Bovis and in vitro cultured Calculus Bovis also have been widely used in clinical practice. In order to understand the difference in chemical composition between Calculus Bovis and its substitutes, and determine whether all kinds of Calculus Bovis medicinal materials have special detection METHODS:, the chemical constituents and quality control METHODS: of Calculus Bovis and its substitutes were reviewed in this paper. Through the review of literature it was found that artificial Calculus Bovis mainly contain hyodeoxycholic acid and only a small amount of free bilirubin, and the chemical components of the other three kinds of Calculus Bovis medicinal materials are different. The chemical compositions of natural Calculus Bovis and in vitro cultured Calculus Bovis are similar, but the proportions of different types of bilirubin are different. At present, no characteristic ingredients of natural Calculus Bovis have been found to distinguish it from in vitro cultured Calculus Bovis and in vivo cultured Calculus Bovis.

Study on the Improvement of Quality Standard of Compound Shougong Powder / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To improve the quality standard of Compound shougong powder.METHODS:Gekko japonicas and Armeniaca mume were identified by microscopic identification.TLC method was adopted to identify processed Fallopia multiflora qualitatively.The content of 2,3,5,4-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (stilbene glycoside) was determined by HPLC.The determination was performed on Agilent Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water (19 ∶ 81,V/V) at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The detection wavelength was set at 320 nm,and column temperature was 25 ℃.The sample size was 10 μL.RESULTS:Microscopic characteristics of skin fragments and scales of G.japonicas and the pollen grains of A.mume were significant without interference from negative control.TLC spots of F.multiflora were clear and well-separated without interference from negative control.The linear range of stilbene glucoside were 23-368 μg/mL (r=0.999 9).RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were all lower than 1.0％.The recoveries ranged 98.69％-101.61％ (RSD=0.94％,n =9).CONCLUSIONS:Improved standard can effectively control the quality of Compound shougong powder.

Study on the Improvement of Quality Standard of Compound Shougong Powder / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To improve the quality standard of Compound shougong powder.METHODS:Gekko japonicas and Armeniaca mume were identified by microscopic identification.TLC method was adopted to identify processed Fallopia multiflora qualitatively.The content of 2,3,5,4-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (stilbene glycoside) was determined by HPLC.The determination was performed on Agilent Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water (19 ∶ 81,V/V) at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The detection wavelength was set at 320 nm,and column temperature was 25 ℃.The sample size was 10 μL.RESULTS:Microscopic characteristics of skin fragments and scales of G.japonicas and the pollen grains of A.mume were significant without interference from negative control.TLC spots of F.multiflora were clear and well-separated without interference from negative control.The linear range of stilbene glucoside were 23-368 μg/mL (r=0.999 9).RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were all lower than 1.0％.The recoveries ranged 98.69％-101.61％ (RSD=0.94％,n =9).CONCLUSIONS:Improved standard can effectively control the quality of Compound shougong powder.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry based identification of Edwardsiella ictaluri isolated from Vietnamese striped catfish (Pangasius hypothalamus)

Edwardsiella (E.) ictaluri is a major bacterial pathogen that affects commercially farmed striped catfish (Pangasius hypothalamus) in Vietnam. In a previous study, 19 strains of E. ictaluri collected from striped catfish were biochemically identified with an API-20E system. Here, the same 19 strains were used to assess the ability of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS; applied using a MALDI Biotyper) to conduct rapid, easy and accurate identification of E. ictaluri. MALDI-TOF MS could directly detect the specific peptide patterns of cultured E. ictaluri colonies with high (> 2.0, indicating species-level identification) scores. MALDI Biotyper 3.0 software revealed that all of the strains examined in this study possessed highly similar peptide peak patterns. In addition, electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and subsequent immuno-blotting using a specific chicken antibody (IgY) against E. ictaluri revealed that the isolates had highly similar protein profiles and antigenic banding profiles. The results of this study suggest that E. ictaluri isolated from striped catfish in Vietnam have homologous protein compositions. This is important, because it indicates that MALDI-TOF MS analysis could potentially outperform the conventional methods of identifying E. ictaluri.

Genetic and chemical discrimination of traditional Tibetan medicine seabuckthorn based on DNA barcode and ¹H-NMR metabolic method / 中国中药杂志

To differentiate three medicinal Hippopahe species of seabuckthorn, a combined genetic and chemical identification method was established in this study. ITS2 and psbA-trnH were tested for identification of 3 species of seabuckthorn. Detection of the kimura 2-parameter (K2P) distance, the neighbor-joining (NJ) tree and the barcoding gap were used to assess the identification efficiency. ¹H-NMR based metabolic method was applied to acquire the profile of metabolites. PCA was used to analysis the metabolite data. The results indicated that DNA barcode combined ¹H-NMR based metabolic method is a powerful tool for the identification of 3 medicinal Hippopahe species of seabuckthorn. The finding demonstrated that different genetic variation and chemical constituents existed among 3 medicinal Hippopahe species of seabuckthorn. The combined identification method will improve the reliability of species discrimination and could be applicable to much other ethnic medicine which has various origins in China.

Identification of chemical composition in traditional Chinese medicine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry / 中国生化药物杂志

Objective To identify the chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.Methods Chemical components of 86 traditional Chinese medicines were identified by two methods,observation group with LC-MS method and control group with traditional LC methods.The identification efficacy,accuracy,and identification time between two methods were compared. Results The excellent rate in observation group was 76.74% (66/86),the excellent and good rate was 90.70%(78/86),which were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05 ).83 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine were successfully identified in observation group,the success rate was 96.5 1%,significantly higher than control group(P<0.05).The identification tine,retention time after correction of errors in observation group were significantly less than control group(P<0.05 ).Conclusion LC-MS has high accuracy,short identification time and wide adaptation range in identification of chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine.

Performance of methods for identification of yeasts isolated fromblotted water: High prevalence of Candida parapsilosis / Desempenho dos métodos de identificação de leveduras de águaengarrafada: alta prevalência deCandida parapsilosis

Yeasts of the Candida genus can colonize epithelium and mucosa of the vertebrate organisms; howeverthese can cause infection in a broad range of body sites. Candida species also can be found in drinking water and they are considered as a potential indicator of water quality. In this study were evaluated three methods to identify yeasts isolated from blotted water (seminested PCR, culture on CHROMagar Candida medium, and Candifast identification system). For this propose, we used 27 isolates fromblotted water and compared with 22 clinical isolates from vaginal fluid. Seminested PCR has shown specificity and sensitivity for identification of the Candida species. Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis were the prevalent species from vaginal fluid and blotted water, respectively. Culture onCHROMagar and Candifast system had low agreement with snPCR (40.9% and 45.5%, respectively) in the yeasts identification from vaginal fluid. On the other hand, CHROMagar Candida can be used in the presumptive identification of yeasts isolated from bottled water and it had agreement’s percentage of 81.5% with snPCR method.

Leveduras do gênero Candida podem colonizar epitélio e mucosa dos organismos vertebrados, entretanto, podem causar infecções em vários lugares do corpo. Espécies de Candida, também, podem ser encontradas em água e são consideradas um potencial indicador da qualidade de água. Neste trabalho, foram avaliados três métodos de identificação de leveduras isoladas de água engarrafada (seminestedPCR, cultura no meio CHROMagar Candida e sistema de identificação Candifast). Foram utilizados 27 isolados de água engarrafada e comparados com 22 isolados clínicos de fluido vaginal. Seminested PCR tem mostrado especificidade e sensibilidade para a identificação das espécies de Candida. Candida albicans e Candida parapsilosis foram as espécies prevalentes do fluido vaginal e da água engarrafada,respectivamente. Cultura em CHROMagar e o sistema Candifast tiveram baixa concordância com snPCR(40,9% e 45,5%, respectivamente) na identificação de leveduras de fluido vaginal. Em contrapartida, CHROMagar Candida pode ser usado em identificação presuntiva de leveduras de água engarrafada apresentando concordância de 81,5% com o método snPCR.

Identification Method of Four Chemicals in Antiasthmatic and Antitussive Chinese Patent Medicine / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the identification of four chemicals-Ephedrina Hydrochloridum,prednisone acetate,codeine phosphate and dexamethasone acetate in antiasthmatic and antitussive Chinese patent medicine.METHODS:With Kening capsule(an antitussive) as positive control,the chemicals which were illegally added into the antiasthmatic and antitussive Chinese patent medicine were determined by HPLC with octadecylsilane chemically bonded silica as loading agent.RESULTS:Under the same chromatographic condition,the four chemicals could all be detected.CONCLUSION:The method is simple,practical and specific,and it can be applied to detect the illegally added chemicals in antiasthmatic and antitussive Chinese patent medicine.