The mould phenomenon occurred commonly in the cultivation, processing and storage period of medicinal materials, which may result in production of mycotoxins. Mycotoxin contaminations caused by fungi are major issues related to the quality and safety of Chinese herbal medicine. This review summarized the work published in aflatoxins contamination of Chinese herbal medicine in China through the previous decade. The conclusion to be drawn from this survey is that aflatoxin exposure remains an important aspect of Chinese herbal medicine safety which needs to be paid great attention. We raised some points that should be focused on in future. The strategies of changing environment to suppress growth of toxin-producing fungus, so as to reduce aflatoxins are the most practical and effective ways, while biological control in the field production is a promising approach.
Aflatoxins ; analysis ; toxicity ; Animals ; China ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Drug Contamination ; prevention & control ; Fungi ; chemistry ; Herbal Medicine ; ethics ; Mycotoxins ; analysis ; toxicity

One of effective measures for controlling toxic reactions is to use toxic herbs according to corresponding indication syndrome. It is important to develop toxicity theory of Chinese medicine in a sound and international way using modern language to elucidate its scientific connotation. We expect to explain scientific connotation of controlling toxic reaction while toxic herbs are used to the indication syndrome by using holistic research ideas and methods capable of reflecting governing exterior to infer interior, establish appropriate corresponding syndrome animal models by cutting into dose-effect/toxicity of toxic Chinese herbs, construct and analyze multi-layer molecular network using theories and technologies of metabonomics, network biology, and bioinformatics.
Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; toxicity ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods

Heavy metals, such as cadmium, copper, lead, chromium and mercury, are important environmental pollutants, particularly in areas with high anthropogenic pressure. Their presence in the atmosphere, soil and water, even in traces can cause serious problems to all organisms, and heavy metal bioaccumulation in the food chain especially can be highly dangerous to human health. Heavy metals enter the human body mainly through two routes namely: inhalation and ingestion, ingestion being the main route of exposure to these elements in human population. Heavy metals intake by human populations through food chain has been reported in many countries. Soil threshold for heavy metal toxicity is an important factor affecting soil environmental capacity of heavy metal and determines heavy metal cumulative loading limits. For soil-plant system, heavy metal toxicity threshold is the highest permissible content in the soil (total or bioavailable concentration) that does not pose any phytotoxic effects or heavy metals in the edible parts of the crops does not exceed food hygiene standards. Factors affecting the thresholds of dietary toxicity of heavy metal in soil-crop system include: soil type which includes soil pH, organic matter content, clay mineral and other soil chemical and biochemical properties; and crop species or cultivars regulated by genetic basis for heavy metal transport and accumulation in plants. In addition, the interactions of soil-plant root-microbes play important roles in regulating heavy metal movement from soil to the edible parts of crops. Agronomic practices such as fertilizer and water managements as well as crop rotation system can affect bioavailability and crop accumulation of heavy metals, thus influencing the thresholds for assessing dietary toxicity of heavy metals in the food chain. This paper reviews the phytotoxic effects and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in vegetables and food crops and assesses soil heavy metal thresholds for potential dietary toxicity.
Biological Availability ; Biological Transport, Active ; Food Contamination ; analysis ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Metals, Heavy ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Plants, Edible ; drug effects ; growth & development ; metabolism ; toxicity ; Soil Pollutants ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; toxicity ; Vegetables ; drug effects ; growth & development ; metabolism ; toxicity

The aim of this paper was to systematically evaluate the toxicity-reducing effect of Tripterygium-licorice in animal experiments,and also to provide evidence for basic research on the toxicity reduction of Tripterygium wilfordii. The PubMed,EMbase,Web of Science,CBM,CNKI and Wan Fang Databases from their establishment to August 31 th,2018 were searched. Two independent reviewers screened the papers,extracted the data,assessed the risk of bias using SYRCLE assessment tool and conducted Meta-analysis with Rev Man 5. 3 software. A total of 10 papers involving 31 studies were finally included,15 studies of which were used for Meta-analysis. Four studies were included for chronic hepatotoxicity animal model. In experimental group( 34 animals),Tripterygium was administered at dose of 0. 09-0. 1 mg·kg-1·d-1,and glycyrrhizic acid was administered at dose of 90-100 mg·kg-1,both for 2 weeks; in control group( 34 animals),glycyrrhizic acid was replaced with equal volume of normal saline. Eleven studies were included for acute hepatotoxicity animal model. In experimental group( 66 animals),glycyrrhizic acid was administered at dose of 75-480 mg·kg-1 for 7 days,then glycyrrhizic acid was stopped,and Tripterygium began to be administered at dose of 0. 6-1. 0 mg·kg-1 per 24 h or 48 h for a total of 1-2 times; in control group( 66 animals),glycyrrhizic acid was replaced with equal volume of normal saline or corresponding solvent. The results of Meta-analysis showed that in both chronic hepatotoxicity animal model and acute hepatotoxicity animal model,the transaminase levels in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group( P < 0. 05). Subgroup analysis of acute hepatotoxicity animal model showed that the transaminase levels in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group for every subgroup except " glycyrrhizic acid 75 mg·kg-1" subgroup. However,in terms of the mean difference( MD) and confidence interval( CI),there was no significant difference in transaminase decline between each subgroup. Low dose of glycyrrhizic acid( 90-100 mg·kg-1) has a toxicity-reduction effect on chronic hepatotoxicity induced by tripterygium( 0. 09-0. 10 mg·kg-1). Middle and high doses of glycyrrhizic acid( 120-480 mg·kg-1) have a toxicity-reduction effect on acute hepatotoxicity induced by tripterygium( 0. 6-1. 0 mg·kg-1),but with no significant dose-effect relationship.
Animals ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; prevention & control ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; toxicity ; Glycyrrhiza ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; administration & dosage ; Tripterygium ; chemistry ; toxicity

Humans ; Lymphocytes ; cytology ; drug effects ; Micronucleus Tests ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; toxicity ; Population Surveillance ; methods

The objective of this study is to define the population dynamics of Semiaphis heraclei in the main-producing district of Lonicera japonica in Shandong, and screen for highly efficient, safety control technique. Through fixed field investigation, we tested the toxicity of eight kinds of insecticides by using dipping methods, and carried out the field experiment. The results showed that the aphids' emergence peak appeared in May. The aphids on the Sijihua variety of L. japonica was more susceptible and the peak was also seven days earlier than Damao variety of L. japonica. The aphid populations on Sijihua were 1 fold than those on the Daomao in happened peak. Comparing the eight kinds of insecticides, the LC50 of lambda-cyhaothrin, abamectin, imidacloprid and pyrethrin to wingless aphids were 1.494, 1.690, 2.840, 2.861 mg x L(-1), respectively, whose toxicity were higher, the toxicity of matrine, pymetrozine and azadirachtin were also high. The field efficacy trials indicated that during the period of aphids occurred, 25% imidacloprid wettable powder, 1.8% abamectin missible oil, 2.5% lambda-cyhaothrin missible oil, 25% pymetrozine wettable powder, 5% pyrethrin missible oil, 1% matrine water aqua were sprayed at concentrations of 20,000, 2,000, 2,500, 5,000, 500 and 50 times, respectively,the control effect achieved 91.69%, 98.90%, 96.18%, 95.06%, 99.24%, 90.10%, respectively, after 5 days. During the growing period of L. japonica in spring, application of thiamethoxam, thiacloprid, pymetrozine and imidacloprid, all of the control effect against aphids achieved above 98.88% after 50 days. The result indicated that May was the S. heraclei Takahashi's emergence peak in Pingyi, Shandong. The efficient safety and environmentally friendly insecticides by spraying and systemic insecticide of pymetrozine and imidacloprid by root application were all efficient controlled aphids. These insecticides were long for controlling S. heraclei Takahashi and worthy of being widely applied.
Animals ; Aphids ; drug effects ; physiology ; Insect Control ; Insecticides ; toxicity ; Lonicera ; parasitology ; Plant Diseases ; parasitology ; prevention & control ; Population Dynamics

Amifostine ; pharmacology ; Anemia, Aplastic ; chemically induced ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Animals ; Benzene ; toxicity ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Male ; Mice

BACKGROUNDMorphine has become the preferred drug for analgesia. However, analgesic doses of morphine can result in urinary retention, which is an intractable problem in clinical practice. Though bladder catheterization is one available therapeutic option, data supporting the technique's effectiveness are controversial. As a novel anti-cholinergic medicine developed in China, penehyclidine hydrochloride (PHC) exhibits greater selectivity for M(3)/M(1) receptors than M(2) receptors. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the efficacy of PHC in treating urinary retention.

METHODSThirty-two healthy male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided in four groups (n = 8 each) as follows: control group (C group), PHC low-dose group (PL group, 0.01 mg/kg of PHC intramuscularly), PHC middle-dose group (PM group, 0.02 mg/kg of PHC intramuscularly), and PHC high-dose group (PH group, 0.05 mg/kg of PHC intramuscularly). All rabbits were injected intravenously with morphine (1 mg/kg) to induce urinary retention and different doses of PHC were injected intramuscularly in the PL, PM and PH groups. In the C group, 1 ml saline was administered instead of PHC. The bladder pressure and the bladder sphincter pressure were recorded at different time points. The plasma concentration of PHC was measured at different time points with high performance liquid chromatography. Arterial blood pressure and heart rate (HR) were recorded at different time points.

RESULTSBladder pressure and urinary bladder sphincter pressure rose significantly from 30 minutes after morphine administration until the end of the experiment. PHC markedly attenuated the elevations in pressure induced by morphine. Morphometric analysis also revealed histological damage, erythrocytes and ruptures of the microcirculation in regions of the submucosa and smooth muscle. Morphometric damage was ameliorated with PHC but not with saline. Hemodynamic data (mean arterial pressure (MAP) and HR) did not differ between groups over the observation period.

CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrated that intravenous morphine significantly increased bladder pressure and urinary bladder sphincter pressure and induced histological damage in the bladder and urinary bladder sphincter. Importantly, preliminary data showed that PHC could decrease the extent of these changes.

Analgesics, Opioid ; toxicity ; Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Hemodynamics ; drug effects ; Male ; Morphine ; toxicity ; Pressure ; Quinuclidines ; blood ; therapeutic use ; Rabbits ; Urinary Bladder ; drug effects ; pathology ; Urinary Retention ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; prevention & control

N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAc) is a widely used organic solvent in modern chemical industry with low to moderate hepatotoxicity to occupational health of employees. But so far, there are fewer and less conclusive data concerning its pathogenic mechanism in detail. In current study, the toxicity of DMAc was firstly investigated on human normal hepatocytes (LO-2), using a series of molecular biology measurements to ananlyze the effect and mechanism of DMAc-induced hepatic cell injury and explore effective prophylactic measures. We found that DMAc triggered LO-2 apoptosis in a obviously dose-dependent manner, caused by increased ROS generation and activation of Bcl-2 pathway. Significantly, glutathione (GSH) rather than vitamin C (Vit C) could partially inhibit DMAc-induced apoptosis thus showing potential as a effective precaution for workers.
Acetamides ; toxicity ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Line ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Glutathione ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects

OBJECTIVECalcium Glucarate (Cag), Ca salt of D-glucaric acid is a naturally occurring non-toxic compound present in fruits, vegetables and seeds of some plants, and suppress tumor growth in different models. Due to lack of knowledge about its mode of action its uses are limited in cancer chemotherapy thus the objective of the study was to study the mechanism of action of Cag on mouse skin tumorigenesis.

METHODSWe have estimated effect of Cag on DMBA induced mouse skin tumor development following complete carcinogenesis protocol. We measured, epidermal transglutaminase activity (TG), a marker of cell differentiation after DMBA and/or Cag treatment and [3H] thymidine incorporation into DNA as a marker for cell proliferation.

RESULTSTopical application of Cag suppressed the DMBA induced mouse skin tumor development. Topical application of Cag significantly modifies the critical events of proliferation and differentiation TG activity was found to be reduced after DMBA treatment. Reduction of the TG activity was dependent on the dose of DMBA and duration of DMBA exposure. Topical application of Cag significantly alleviated DMBA induced inhibition of TG. DMBA also caused stimulation of DNA synthesis in epidermis, which was inhibited by Cag.

CONCLUSIONCag inhibits DMBA induced mouse skin tumor development. Since stimulation of DNA synthesis reflects proliferation and induction of TG represents differentiation, the antitumorigenic effect of Cag is considered to be possibly due to stimulation of differentiation and suppression of proliferation.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene ; toxicity ; Administration, Topical ; Animals ; Anticarcinogenic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Carcinogens ; toxicity ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; DNA ; biosynthesis ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; toxicity ; Female ; Glucaric Acid ; therapeutic use ; Mice ; Skin Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; enzymology ; prevention & control ; Thymidine ; metabolism ; Transglutaminases ; metabolism