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Keshvari M, Nedaeinia R, Nedaeinia M, Ferns GA, Nia SN, Asgary S. Assessment of heavy metal contamination in herbal medicinal products consumed in the Iranian market. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2021; 28:10.1007/s11356-021-13020-7. [PMID: 33638076 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-13020-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Herbal medicines have been reported to contain many contaminants that are potential harmful to health. These include heavy metals, such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg). Therefore, this study aimed to measure the levels of Pb, Cd, As, and Hg in several orally administered herbal products available in the Iranian market. Fifteen products labeled (A-O) of different brands from three different production batches (n = 45) were purchased from traditional herbal medicine factories in Iran. Each sample was digested with nitric acid by the wet digestion method, and the resultant solutions were used to determine the concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, and Hg. These measurements were performed using flame atomic absorption spectrometry, graphite furnace atomic absorption, or cold vapor atomic absorption. The lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury contents in the investigated samples did not show significant levels that may be associated with toxicity. All four metals were present at concentrations below the limits recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization), American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), and Canadian standard, but in several herbal products, the concentrations of these trace elements exceeded the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, and Hg in commercially available herbal remedies were well below the acceptable intake recommended by global recommendations. Our findings revealed that at present, the amount of heavy metals in medicinal herbs processed at the level of supply by pharmacies licensed is favorable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahtab Keshvari
- Département de Pharmacologie et Physiologie, Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Sherbrooke, QC J1H 5N4, Sherbrooke, Canada
| | - Reza Nedaeinia
- Pediatric Inherited Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mozhdeh Nedaeinia
- Applied Physiology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Gordon A Ferns
- Division of Medical Education, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 9PH, UK
| | - Sasan Nedaee Nia
- Department of Agricultural Engineering and Weed Science, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Sedigheh Asgary
- Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, No. 24, Shahid Rahmani Alley, Salman-e-Farsi, Isfahan, Iran.
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Nourmohammadi E, Hosseinkhani S, Nedaeinia R, Khoshdel-Sarkarizi H, Nedaeinia M, Ranjbar M, Ebrahimi N, Farjami Z, Nourmohammadi M, Mahmoudi A, Goli M, Ferns GA, Sadeghizadeh M. Construction of a sensitive and specific lead biosensor using a genetically engineered bacterial system with a luciferase gene reporter controlled by pbr and cadA promoters. Biomed Eng Online 2020; 19:79. [PMID: 33076919 PMCID: PMC7574304 DOI: 10.1186/s12938-020-00816-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A bacterial biosensor refers to genetically engineered bacteria that produce an assessable signal in the presence of a physical or chemical agent in the environment. Methods We have designed and evaluated a bacterial biosensor expressing a luciferase reporter gene controlled by pbr and cadA promoters in Cupriavidus metallidurans (previously termed Ralstonia metallidurans) containing the CH34 and pI258 plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, and that can be used for the detection of heavy metals. In the present study, we have produced and evaluated biosensor plasmids designated pGL3-luc/pbr biosensor and pGL3-luc/cad biosensor, that were based on the expression of luc+ and under the control of the cad promoter and the cadC gene of S. aureus plasmid pI258 and pbr promoter and pbrR gene from plasmid pMOL30 of Cupriavidus metallidurans. Results We found that the pGL3-luc/pbr biosensor may be used to measure lead concentrations between 1–100 μM in the presence of other metals, including zinc, cadmium, tin and nickel. The latter metals did not result in any significant signal. The pGL3-luc/cad biosensor could detect lead concentrations between 10 nM to 10 μM. Conclusions This biosensor was found to be specific for measuring lead ions in both environmental and biological samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esmail Nourmohammadi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.,Research Center of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
| | - Saman Hosseinkhani
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Nedaeinia
- Pediatric Inherited Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Hoda Khoshdel-Sarkarizi
- Research Center of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
| | - Mozhdeh Nedaeinia
- Applied Physiology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Maryam Ranjbar
- Advanced Materials Research Center, Department of Materials Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran
| | - Neshat Ebrahimi
- Laboratory of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zahra Farjami
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Mohammad Nourmohammadi
- Department of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Ali Mahmoudi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Mohammad Goli
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Gordon A Ferns
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Division of Medical Education, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH, Sussex, UK
| | - Majid Sadeghizadeh
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
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Nedaeinia R, Faraji H, Javanmard SH, Ferns GA, Ghayour-Mobarhan M, Goli M, Mashkani B, Nedaeinia M, Haghighi MHH, Ranjbar M. Bacterial staphylokinase as a promising third-generation drug in the treatment for vascular occlusion. Mol Biol Rep 2019; 47:819-841. [PMID: 31677034 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-019-05167-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Vascular occlusion is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity. Blood vessel blockage can lead to thrombotic complications such as myocardial infarction, stroke, deep venous thrombosis, peripheral occlusive disease, and pulmonary embolism. Thrombolytic therapy currently aims to rectify this through the administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. Research is underway to design an ideal thrombolytic drug with the lowest risk. Despite the potent clot lysis achievable using approved thrombolytic drugs such as alteplase, reteplase, streptokinase, tenecteplase, and some other fibrinolytic agents, there are some drawbacks, such as high production cost, systemic bleeding, intracranial hemorrhage, vessel re-occlusion by platelet-rich and retracted secondary clots, and non-fibrin specificity. In comparison, bacterial staphylokinase, is a new, small-size plasminogen activator, unlike bacterial streptokinase, it hinders the systemic degradation of fibrinogen and reduces the risk of severe hemorrhage. A fibrin-bound plasmin-staphylokinase complex shows high resistance to a2-antiplasmin-related inhibition. Staphylokinase has the potential to be considered as a promising thrombolytic agent with properties of cost-effective production and the least side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Nedaeinia
- Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Habibollah Faraji
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran. .,Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Para-Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
| | - Shaghayegh Haghjooye Javanmard
- Applied Physiology Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Gordon A Ferns
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Division of Medical Education, Falmer, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 9PH, UK
| | - Majid Ghayour-Mobarhan
- Metabolic Syndrome Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Mohammad Goli
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Baratali Mashkani
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Mozhdeh Nedaeinia
- Young Researchers and Elite Club, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran
| | - Mohammad Hossein Hayavi Haghighi
- Department of Health Information Management, Faculty of Para-Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
| | - Maryam Ranjbar
- Advanced Materials Research Center, Department of Materials Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.,Deputy of Food and Drug, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
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