The Level of Cadmium Impurities in Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products with Plantago lanceolata L., folium (Ribwort Plantain Leaves) Available in Polish Pharmacies - Comprehensive Toxicological Risk Assessment Including Regulatory Point of View and ICH Q3D Elemental Impurities Guideline

The Toxicological Risk Assessment (TRA) of Total Chromium Impurities in Menthae piperitae tinctura (Mentha x piperita L., folium) Available in Polish Pharmacies Including Regulatory Approaches with Special Emphasis of Cr Speciation and Genotoxicity

Chromium is pharmacologically active and is not an essential element but is still very intriguing and demanding from the point of view of toxicological risk assessment. Especially as an elemental impurity in final pharmaceuticals. The aim of this article is toxicological risk assessment (TRA) of total Cr impurities in Menthae piperitae tinctura (Mentha x piperita L., folium) available in Polish pharmacies including triple approach. Obtained raw/basal results shows that impurities of total Cr impurities were present in all investigated pharmaceutical with Mentha x piperita L., folium. but at a relatively low level (in the range: 0.39-2.14 µg/L). The regulatory strategy based on the ICH Q3D (R1) elemental impurities guidelines confirms that all the requirements of the analyzed products meet the European Medicine Agency (EMA) requirements. Obtained results obtained show that the estimated maximum daily exposure to Cr (ng/day) are variable between the samples (0.521-3.792 ng/day), but at a relatively low level (< 4.0 ng/day).The final step confirms the safety of analyzed pharmaceuticals, because the comparison of the estimated results with the oral PDE value for Cr in final drugs suggested by the ICH Q3D guideline (10,700 µg/day) show that all the products are below this value. The approach based on the margin of exposure (MoE) for children and adults also confirms the safety of all the products with Mentha x piperita L., (in all cases MoE >  > 10 000). It can be concluded that all the samples analyzed should not represent any health hazard to patients due to Cr impurities. To our knowledge, this is the first study about application of comprehensive TRA of total Cr impurities in phytopharmaceuticals with Mentha x piperita L., folium available in European pharmacies. Additionally, we confirm the safety of Cr impurities by applying triple regulatory strategy without the application of an expansive and demanding HPLC-ICP-MS technique for Cr speciation.

Physiological and molecular mechanisms of medicinal plants in response to cadmium stress: Current status and future perspective

Medicinal plants have a wide range of uses worldwide. However, the quality of medicinal plants is affected by severe cadmium pollution. Cadmium can reduce photosynthetic capacity, lead to plant growth retardation and oxidative stress, and affect secondary metabolism. Medicinal plants have complex mechanisms to cope with cadmium stress. On the one hand, an antioxidant system can effectively scavenge excess reactive oxygen species produced by cadmium stress. On the other hand, cadmium chelates are formed by chelating peptides and then sequestered through vacuolar compartmentalization. Cadmium has no specific transporter in plants and is generally transferred to plant tissues through competition for the transporters of divalent metal ions, such as zinc, iron, and manganese. In recent years, progress has been achieved in exploring the physiological mechanisms by which medicinal plants responding to cadmium stress. The exogenous regulation of cadmium accumulation in medicinal plants has been studied, and the aim is reducing the toxicity of cadmium. However, research into molecular mechanisms is still lagging. In this paper, we review the physiological and molecular mechanisms and regulatory networks of medicinal plants exposed to cadmium, providing a reference for the study on the responses of medicinal plants to cadmium stress.

Lead impurities in traditional herbal medicinal products with Plantago lanceolata L., folium (Ribwort Plantain leaves) available in Polish pharmacies - toxicological risk assessment for adults

Traditional herbal medicinal products (THMP) with Plantago lanceolata L., folium (Ribwort Plantain Leaves) are well-known and very popular among the European population. The aim of our study was the toxicological risk assessment for adults of Pb impurities in THMP with Plantago lanceolata L. obtained from pharmacies in Poland. The estimations of Pb impurities in the single dose (22.1 - 50.7 ng/single dose) and in the daily dose (ng/day) were based on the worst-case scenario (WCS), i.e. based on the posology recommended by manufacturers. The estimated daily exposure (ng/day) meets the standards of the ICH Q3D (R1) guideline on elemental impurities (5.0 µg/day) according to the Pb levels (all results were below 250 ng/day). It can be concluded that all investigated THMPs with Plantago lanceolata L., folium available in pharmacies from Poland should not represent any health risk to the adults.

Nutrient enhancement potentials of moringa (Moringa oleifera), neem (Azadirachta indica), and pawpaw (Carica papaya) fortified composts in contaminated soils

This study assessed the nutrient enhancement potentials of moringa (Moringa oleifera), neem (Azadirachta indica), and pawpaw (Carica papaya) fortified composts in contaminated soils. The composts were formulated from poultry manure; leaves of moringa, neem, and pawpaw; and sawdust for a period of 8 weeks. Contaminated soil samples were collected from a dumpsite in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The contaminated soils were treated with the stabilized composts for a period of 4 weeks. Castor oil plants were introduced to assess the nutrient quality of the composts. Soil and compost parameters (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, P, K, Na, Mg, and Ca) were determined using the standard procedures. Data collected were evaluated for simple descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed non-significance (p > 0.05) of C/N ratios that ranged between 12.75 ± 2.43 and 12.96 ± 1.49. The pH values of moringa- and neem-fortified composts were slightly acidic, while the pawpaw-formulated compost was slightly alkaline. The levels of TN and OC were three times higher in moringa- and pawpaw-fortified composts than in the neem compost. Introduction of the composts to the contaminated soils decreased the soil pH but increased the nutrient quality parameters such as TN (33-50%), OC (56-77%), P (7-20%), Na (89-91%), K (12-25%), and Mg (10-13%). The three compost types increased the physiological properties of the castor oil plants. The study indicated the promising potentials of the three composts for nutrient enhancement of soil.