The use of herbal medicinal products and supplements has increased tremendously over the past three decades with not less than 80% of people worldwide relying on them for some part of primary health care. Although therapies involving these agents have shown promising potential with the efficacy of a good number of herbal products clearly established, many of them remain untested and their use are either poorly monitored or not even monitored at all. The consequence of this is an inadequate knowledge of their mode of action, potential adverse reactions, contraindications and interactions with existing orthodox pharmaceuticals and functional foods to promote both safe and rational use of these agents. Since safety continues to be a major issue with the use of herbal remedies, it becomes imperative, therefore, that relevant regulatory authorities put in place appropriate measures to protect public health by ensuring that all herbal medicines are safe and of suitable quality. This review discusses toxicity related-issues and major safety concerns arising from the use of herbal medicinal products and also highlights some important challenges associated with effective monitoring of their safety.

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The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety

https://chemistry.mdma.ch/hiveboard/rhodium/pdf/archive/merbst/quinoline1999.pdf

Quinoline, quinazoline and acridone alkaloids

F. Ginseng (Panax ginseng) is planted in the forest to enhance the natural ginseng resources, which have an immense medicinal and economic value. The morphology of the cultivated plants becomes similar to that of wild growing ginseng (W. Ginseng) over the years. So far, there have been no studies highlighting the physiological or functional changes in F. Ginseng and its wild counterparts. In the present study, we used proteomic technologies (2DE and iTRAQ) coupled to mass spectrometry to compare W. Ginseng and F. Ginseng at various growth stages. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on protein abundance revealed that the protein expression profile of 25-year-old F. Ginseng was more like W. Ginseng than less 20-year-old F. Ginseng. We identified 192 differentially expressed protein spots in F. Ginseng. These protein spots increased with increase in growth years of F. Ginseng and were associated with proteins involved in energy metabolism, ginsenosides biosynthesis, and stress response. The mRNA, physiological, and metabolic analysis showed that the external morphology, protein expression profile, and ginsenoside synthesis ability of the F. Ginseng increased just like that of W. Ginseng with the increase in age. Our study represents the first characterization of the proteome of F. Ginseng during development and provides new insights into the metabolism and accumulation of ginsenosides.

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Proteomic Analyses Provide Novel Insights into Plant Growth and Ginsenoside Biosynthesis in Forest Cultivated Panax ginseng (F.Ginseng)

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673699064570.pdf

Herb-drug interactions

Epidemiological studies have revealed that a diet rich in plant-derived foods has a protective effect on human health. Identifying bioactive dietary constituents is an active area of scientific investigation that may lead to new drug discovery. Kaempferol (3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) is a flavonoid found in many edible plants (e.g. tea, broccoli, cabbage, kale, beans, endive, leek, tomato, strawberries and grapes) and in plants or botanical products commonly used in traditional medicine (e.g. Ginkgo biloba, Tilia spp, Equisetum spp, Moringa oleifera, Sophora japonica and propolis). Some epidemiological studies have found a positive association between the consumption of foods containing kaempferol and a reduced risk of developing several disorders such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Numerous preclinical studies have shown that kaempferol and some glycosides of kaempferol have a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-osteoporotic, estrogenic/antiestrogenic, anxiolytic, analgesic and antiallergic activities. In this article, the distribution of kaempferol in the plant kingdom and its pharmacological properties are reviewed. The pharmacokinetics (e.g. oral bioavailability, metabolism, plasma levels) and safety of kaempferol are also analyzed. This information may help understand the health benefits of kaempferol-containing plants and may contribute to develop this flavonoid as a possible agent for the prevention and treatment of some diseases.

A review on the dietary flavonoid kaempferol.

The Use of Lobetyolin and HPLC-UV Fingerprints for Quality Assessment of Radix Codonopsis

The method of direct amplification of length polymorphism (DALP) was applied to authenticate Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius. A 636-bp DALP fragment was present in all P. ginseng but absent in all the P. quinquefolius cultivars examined. We have shown that the use of DALP and conversion of specific polymorphic band to sequence-tagged site (STS) for quick authentication may be applied to authenticate related medicinal materials.

Direct amplification of length polymorphism analysis differentiates Panax ginseng from P. quinquefolius.

DNA fingerprints distinctive among the samples from different localities in China were successfully reproduced for the Chinese herb Dangshen, the roots of CODONOPSIS PILOSULA, (Campanulaceae). Similarity index (S.I.) analysis revealed that C. PILOSULA samples from the same province generated similar DNA fingerprints, while samples of different provinces displayed different DNA fingerprints. This method may be a general and valuable tool for locality authentication of other Chinese herbal medicinal materials.

Random primed polymerase chain reaction differentiates Codonopsis pilosula from different localities.

The rhizomes or roots of Dysosma versipellis (Hance) M. Cheng, Dysosma pleiantha (Hance) Woodson, and Sinopodophyllum emodi (Wall. Ex Royle) Ying under the same name “Gui-jiu”, were widely used for medicinal purposes. Valid quality control of Gui-jiu is desirable due to the fact that they are highly toxic. In the present paper, an accurate fingerprint method was developed to identify the three species. Liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization-multiple stage mass spectrometry were developed to identify the fingerprint components. According to the characteristic fragmentation behavior of known lignans and flavonoids isolated from D. versipellis, a total of 15 constituents in the crude extracts were structurally characterized on the basis of retention time, UV and tandem mass spectrometric analysis. Eight batches of D. versipellis, three batches of D. pleiantha, and two batches of S. emodi were collected from different locations and these representative samples reflected the similar chemical constituent properties. The extracts were separated by a C18 reversed phase LC column, with a gradient solvent system. The proposed method provides a scientific and technical platform to the herbal industry for quality control and safety assurance of herbal preparations that contain this class of poisonous podophyllotoxin-type lignans.

Chemical Fingerprinting of Medicinal Plants “Gui-jiu” by LC-ESI Multiple-Stage MS

A new cytotoxic polyhydroxysterol, 23, 24, -dimethylcholest-16(17)-E-en-3β, 5α, 6β, 20(S)-tetraol (2), together with nine known compounds was isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods. Compound 2 showed potent growth inhibitory activity against human HL60 leukemia, M14 skin melanoma, and MCF7 breast carcinoma cells with EC50 values of 2.8, 4.3, and 4.9 μg/ml, respectively, and exhibited minimal toxicity to normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

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Paul Pui-Hay But

Papers

The Use of Lobetyolin and HPLC-UV Fingerprints for Quality Assessment of Radix Codonopsis

Direct amplification of length polymorphism analysis differentiates Panax ginseng from P. quinquefolius.

Random primed polymerase chain reaction differentiates Codonopsis pilosula from different localities.

Chemical Fingerprinting of Medicinal Plants “Gui-jiu” by LC-ESI Multiple-Stage MS

A new cytotoxic polyhydroxysterol from soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum.