scholarly journals Improved Protocols of ITS1-Based Metabarcoding and Their Application in the Analysis of Plant-Containing Products

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Omelchenko ◽  
Anna Speranskaya ◽  
Andrey Ayginin ◽  
Kamil Khafizov ◽  
Anastasia Krinitsina ◽  
...  

Plants are widely used for food and beverage preparation, most often in the form of complex mixtures of dried and ground parts, such as teas, spices or herbal medicines. Quality control of such products is important due to the potential health risks from the presence of unlabelled components or absence of claimed ones. A promising approach to analyse such products is DNA metabarcoding due to its high resolution and sensitivity. However, this method’s application in food analysis requires several methodology optimizations in DNA extraction, amplification and library preparation. In this study, we present such optimizations. The most important methodological outcomes are the following: 1) the DNA extraction method greatly influences amplification success; 2) the main problem for the application of metabarcoding is DNA purity, not integrity or quantity; and 3) the “non-amplifiable” samples can be amplified with polymerases resistant to inhibitors. Using this optimized workflow, we analysed a broad set of plant products (teas, spices and herbal remedies) using two NGS platforms. The analysis revealed the problem of both the presence of extraneous components and the absence of labelled ones. Notably, for teas, no correlation was found between the price and either the absence of labelled components or presence of unlabelled ones; for spices, a negative correlation was found between the price and presence of unlabelled components.

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1601101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Aydιn ◽  
Göknur Aktay ◽  
Erdem Yesilada

Herbal remedies have been used for thousands of years in worldwide traditional medicines for their potential health benefits. Although they are generally presumed safe unless a significant risk has been identified in humans, increasing number of case reports notify acute or chronic intoxications resulting from their use. This study aims to produce a scientific guide for the evaluation of traditional herbal medicines (THMs) in terms of their toxicity risks based on the published regulatory documents. For this purpose recommended in vitro and in vivo toxicity tests on medicinal products for human use issued by the international regulatory bodies are overviewed and they are then adopted to be used for the toxicity assessment of THMs. Accordingly, based on compilation of these issued regulations, the following tests are recommended for the toxicity assessment of THMs; in vitro cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, acute and repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, local tolerance tests, toxicokinetic studies, and additional toxicity tests including safety pharmacology, immunotoxicity and antigenicity, endocrine system toxicity, gastro-intestinal toxicity, renal and hepatotoxicity, and drug interaction studies. This study describes and discusses the applicability of these tests for the risk assessment in THMs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Majaneva ◽  
Ola H. Diserud ◽  
Shannon H.C. Eagle ◽  
Mehrdad Hajibabaei ◽  
Torbjørn Ekrem

Characterisation of freshwater benthic biodiversity using DNA metabarcoding may allow more cost-effective environmental assessments than the current morphological-based assessment methods. DNA metabarcoding methods where sorting or pre-sorting of samples are avoided altogether are especially interesting, since the time between sampling and taxonomic identification is reduced. Due to the presence of non-target material like plants and sediments in crude samples, DNA extraction protocols become important for maximising DNA recovery and sample replicability. We sampled freshwater invertebrates from six river and lake sites and extracted DNA from homogenised bulk samples in quadruplicate subsamples, using a published method and two commercially available kits: HotSHOT approach, Qiagen DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit and Qiagen DNeasy PowerPlant Pro Kit. The performance of the selected extraction methods was evaluated by measuring DNA yield and applying DNA metabarcoding to see if the choice of DNA extraction method affects DNA yield and metazoan diversity results. The PowerPlant Kit extractions resulted in the highest DNA yield and a strong significant correlation between sample weight and DNA yield, while the DNA yields of the Blood & Tissue Kit and HotSHOT method did not correlate with the sample weights. Metazoan diversity measures were more repeatable in samples extracted with the PowerPlant Kit compared to those extracted with the HotSHOT method or the Blood & Tissue Kit. Subsampling using Blood & Tissue Kit and HotSHOT extraction failed to describe the same community in the lake samples. Our study exemplifies that the choice of DNA extraction protocol influences the DNA yield as well as the subsequent community analysis. Based on our results, low specimen abundance samples will likely provide more stable results if specimens are sorted prior to DNA extraction and DNA metabarcoding, but the repeatability of the DNA extraction and DNA metabarcoding results was close to ideal in high specimen abundance samples.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (08) ◽  
pp. 4754
Author(s):  
Tanushree Mitra* ◽  
Shivshankar Kumdale ◽  
Sameer Chowdhary ◽  
Amol D. Raut

The main objective of this study was to make sure whether randomly taken 12 samples were sensitive to abacavir. The genomic DNA from 12 blood sample were extracted by phenol chloroform DNA extraction method, extracted genomic DNA were amplified and sequenced, thereafter SNPs were detected. Every sample had shown the presence of normal base at SNP position. This study indicated, those randomly taken 12 patients were sensitive to abacavir, so they can consume abacavir if they get infected with HIV.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
Oliviero Bruni ◽  
Luigi Ferini-Strambi ◽  
Elena Giacomoni ◽  
Paolo Pellegrino

Sleep is an essential component of physical and emotional well-being, and lack, or disruption, of sleep due to insomnia is a highly prevalent problem. The interest in complementary and alternative medicines for treating or preventing insomnia has increased recently. Centuries-old herbal treatments, popular for their safety and effectiveness, include valerian, passionflower, lemon balm, lavender, and Californian poppy. These herbal medicines have been shown to reduce sleep latency and increase subjective and objective measures of sleep quality. Research into their molecular components revealed that their sedative and sleep-promoting properties rely on interactions with various neurotransmitter systems in the brain. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that plays a major role in controlling different vigilance states. GABA receptors are the targets of many pharmacological treatments for insomnia, such as benzodiazepines. Here, we perform a systematic analysis of studies assessing the mechanisms of action of various herbal medicines on different subtypes of GABA receptors in the context of sleep control. Currently available evidence suggests that herbal extracts may exert some of their hypnotic and anxiolytic activity through interacting with GABA receptors and modulating GABAergic signaling in the brain, but their mechanism of action in the treatment of insomnia is not completely understood.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Omagha ◽  
Emmanuel Taiwo Idowu ◽  
Chibuisi Gideon Alimba ◽  
Adetoro Olubunmi Otubanjo ◽  
Adeniyi Kazeem Adeneye

Abstract Background Combination of different antimalarials has become the popular method of care for malaria morbidity in conventional and traditional treatment approaches due to the need to increase the efficacy and reduce the selection of drug resistance. A worrisome concern is the critical gaps with regards to the information available on antimalarial herbal cocktails. This study presents cocktail herbal remedies in ethnomedicinal approaches to malaria treatment in Oyo and Ogun states, South West Nigeria. Ethnobotanical information on indigenous antimalarials used in combination remedies was collected from herbal practitioners using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results Findings showed majority of respondents treat malaria with combination herbal remedies. They sighted their beliefs and customs, the efficacy, affordability and availability of these herbs as reasons for their adoption of herbal medicines as their preferred mode of treating malaria. Enquiry revealed 26 sets of cocktail antimalarials from a variety of plant species. The plants and ingredients are extracted and used as decoction, infusion or steam baths. Oral route was the most popular mode of administration. Respondents reported they drink one to two medium-sized cups of the recipe on an average of two times daily within a duration of about 10 days. Conclusions Herbal antimalarial remedies continue to be the popular treatments option in our localities. This study provides knowledge of the diverse ways respondents combine medicinal herbs and other local ingredients for malaria treatment. Pharmacological screening is urgently needed to validate their safety and efficacy in order to protect the health of our locals heavily relying on them to combat high burdens of malaria.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (16) ◽  
pp. 5211-5217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arine Fadzlun Ahmad ◽  
James Lonnen ◽  
Peter W. Andrew ◽  
Simon Kilvington

PEDIATRICS ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 112 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 240-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Woolf

More parents are considering the use of herbal remedies to maintain their children’s good health and to treat their illnesses. They look to pediatricians and other primary care clinicians for advice concerning the safety and efficacy of herbal products for children. This article reviews principles for the clinician to keep in mind while investigating the literature on herbal medicine and addressing the use of herbal medicines with parents.


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