Anticholinergic syndrome induced by toxic plants

Plant intoxication constitutes an issue of greatinterest in the literature, concerning both human andanimal poisoning. Different herbs may produce multipleeffects from human organ systems, depending on specifi cingredients and metabolites that they contain. These effectsmay vary from gastroenteritis, hepatotoxicity, peripheralneuropathy, psychosis, rhabdomyolysis and blood countabnormalities to cardiotoxicity and multisystemic organfailure.

Erratum to “Census Ethnobotanical Study of Some Plants Used in Traditional Medicine in the City of Meknes” [American Journal of Plant Sciences 5 (2014) 2480-2496]

An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in the city of Meknès over a period of two years, from 2009 to 2011 with 1000 people (615 women, 385 men). Through the questionnaire, schedules were established to collect information on the use of therapeutic medicinal plants by the local population. This research has focused primarily on the general population, herbalists and healers. The present investigation has enumerated 194 species distributed in 165 genera and 72 families. The most represented families are Lamiaceae (18%), the Aseraceae, (17%), the Apiaceae (14%) and the Fabaceae (10%). The results of the survey show that 54% of individuals use both herbal medicine and modern medicine, 26% of individuals use herbs and 20% use modern medicine. We are interested in the use of plants in different ages and sexes. We report that 31% of the population is aged between 51 and 60 years, 29% between 41 and 50 years, 23% between 31 and 40 years, 10% between 21 and 30 years, 3% less than 20 years and 4 % > 60 years. We note the predominance of women over men. Women use up to 61% against 39% of men. The analysis of our results shows that herbal medicine takes a place in the self-medication of the population studied. However, we emphasize an important point: Ignorance of toxic plants, in fact, only 19% of the target population recognizes these plants.

Toxic Plant Resources in Panxi Area

Panxi Area is abundant in plant resources, among which toxic plants are of great value in terms of exploitation. This paper is an initiative study （via field as well as literature investigation） of the categories, distributions, and reserves of toxic plant resources in Panxi Area. The study reveals that there are 51 families （210 species） of toxic plants evenly distributed in Panxi Area, of which more than 40 species grow in all counties in the area, and more than 14 species total a reserve more than 1.0×10^5 kg. These toxic plants are of great applications to medicine, gardening, biopesticide industry, environmental engineering, and oil manufacturing. Rhododendron molle, Anisodus acutangulus, Arisaema erubesocens, Stellera chamaejasme, Rhytolacca acinosa, Rheum officinale, and Azadiralta indica etc are the typical toxic plants with great value of exploitation in Panxi Area.

Tridepsides from the endophytic fungus colletotrichum gloeosporioides associated with a toxic medicinal plant tylophora ovata

Introduction:Bioactive secondary metabolites from the microbes living in frigid,toxic or other extreme environments are emerging as a new medicinal resource.Here,we report the discovery of new antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory compounds with novel structures from endophytic fungi hosted toxic medicinal plant.Methods:The endophytic fungus isolated from toxic plants was fermented and extracted.The obtained extracts were purified with preparative HPLC to yield pure compounds.The purified compounds were examined by PTP1b inhibition and NO inhibition assays to evaluate their bioactivities.Results:One new tridepsides(Compound 1),one new benzeneacetic acid derivative(Compound 3)and five known compounds(Compounds 2 and 4-7)were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides,an endophytic fungus obtained from a toxic medicinal plant Tylophora ovata.Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data(1D and 2D NMR,HRESIMS)analyses.Compound 2 showed significant inhibitory activity against PTP1b with an IC50 value of 0.84μM.Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited moderate inhibitory activities against the NO(nitric oxide)release in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells at 10μM with percent inhibition of 39%and 33%,respectively.Conclusion:The Compound 2 has potent PTP1b inhibitory effect indicating its antidiabetic potential and thus might be considered a lead compound for antidiabetic drug development.

Contact toxicities of imidacloprid on rice brown plant hopper(Nilaparvata lugens Stal)

Rice brown planthopper (BPH) (Nilaparvata lugens Stal, ) which occurs 4 generations within one year in Jiangsu Province has become a serious pest and causes loss of yield on rice every year in this region. The contact toxicities of imidacloprid and methamidophos to rice BPH were tested by means of immerse topical application method and a field trial from 1993 to 1994. A randomized complete design was laid out in 6 treatments with three replications.

Toxic Gas Put 161 Workers of Jilin Chemical Fiber Plant in Hospital

A news briefing held on May 13 by local government in Jilin city of Jilin province released that 161 workers got sick symptoms as a result of their contact with an unidentified gas emitting from Jilin Chemical Fiber Group Corp.

Quantity:a parameter deciding various health hazards

Plants are vital to the survival of life on e arth and have enormous implications for both the environment and human well-being.Plants carr y both medicinal and toxic properties.The plants were used by people traditionally for medicinal purposes.But people were not aware of the concentration of the dose s.So,excessive quantity of dose s may lead to severe toxic effects on the human body.This topic discusses the potential hazards of toxic plants on human health.There are many plants around the world that can cause adverse effects,ranging from mild irritation to severe organ damage or death.This review focuses on the plants which are available locally used as medicines carrying toxic properties too.It is essential to learn to recognize them and avoid touching or ingesting them.If exposure does occur,prompt medical attention is necessary.Understanding the risks associated with toxic plants can help individuals take the necessary precautions to protect their health.

Accumulation and phytotoxicity of technical hexabromocyclododecane in maize

To investigate the accumulation and phytotoxicity of technical hexabromocyclododecane（HBCD）in maize,young seedlings were exposed to solutions of technical HBCD at different concentrations.The uptake kinetics showed that the HBCD concentration reached an apparent equilibrium within 96 hr,and the accumulation was much higher in roots than in shoots.HBCD accumulation in maize had a positive linear correlation with the exposure concentration.The accumulation of different diastereoisomers followed the orderγ-HBCD〉β-HBCD〉α-HBCD.Compared with their proportions in the technical HBCD exposure solution,the diastereoisomer contribution increased forβ-HBCD and decreased forγ-HBCD in both maize roots and shoots with exposure time,whereas the contribution ofα-HBCD increased in roots and decreased in shoots throughout the experimental period.These results suggest the diastereomer-specific accumulation and translocation of HBCD in maize.Inhibitory effects of HBCD on the early development of maize followed the order of germination rate〉root biomass≥root elongation〉shoot biomass≥shoot elongation.Hydroxyl radical（OH）and histone H2AX phosphorylation（γ-H2AX）were induced in maize by HBCD exposure,indicative of the generation of oxidative stress and DNA double-strand breaks in maize.An OH scavenger inhibited the expression ofγ-H2AX foci in both maize roots and shoots,which suggests the involvement of OH generation in the HBCD-induced DNA damage.The results of this study will offer useful information for a more comprehensive assessment of the environmental behavior and toxicity of technical HBCD.

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes： Formation potential and integrated toxicity

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials（FPs） of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products（DBPs）（including carbonaceous DBPs（C-DBPs）, nitrogenous DBPs（N-DBPs）, and iodinated DBPs（I-DBPs）） with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment（coagulation–sedimentation, pre-sand filtration）, ozone-biological activated carbon（O_3-BAC） advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated.The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide,and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O_3-BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON.After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles（HANs）》haloacetamides（HAMs） 〉haloacetic acids（HAAs） 〉 trihalomethanes（THMs） 〉 halonitromethanes（HNMs） 》I-DBPs（I-HAMs and I-THMs）. I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored.

Inhibitory effect of tea polyphenols on renal cell apoptosis in rat test subjects suffering from cyclosporine-induced chronic nephrotoxicity

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of tea polyphenols on renal cell apoptosis in rat test subjects suffering from cyclosporine A (CsA)-induced chronic nephrotoxicity.Methods Four groups of rats with CsA-induced chronic nephrotoxicity were respectively treated with vehicle olive oil, tea polyphenols, CsA and tea polyphenols plus CsA. At the end of the 28th day of treatment, 24 hours urine and blood samples were obtained, and the animals were then sacrificed. The serum and urine samples were analysed for creatinine clearance, and kidney tissue was used for pathologic analysis of renal tubular injury and interstitial fibrosis. The TUNEL assay, apoptosis-related enzyme caspase-3 mRNA detected by RT-PCR, and its enzymatic activity were analysed for the possible detections of cell apoptosis.Results CsA-treated rats displayed increased apoptosis of the tubular and interstitial cells, in comparison with vehicle-treated controls (18. 3±4. 6 vs 4. 8±1.3 cells/mm2, P < 0. 05 ) . In comparision with animals treated by CsA, animals treated with CsA plus tea polyphenols demonstrated significantly improved levels of creatinine clearance (0. 12 ±0. 03 vs 0. 22±0. 02 ml ·min-1·100g-1 body weight, P < 0. 05), tubular injury (2. 29 ±0. 43 vs 1. 42±0. 26, P < 0. 05), and interstitial fibrosis (2. 83±0. 20 vs 1. 46±0. 19, P <0. 05), and showed a statistically significant decrease in tubular and interstitial cell apoptosis (18. 3±4. 6 vs 7. 7±2.1 cells/mm2, P<0. 05). The expression of caspase-3 mRNA and caspase-3 activity was significantly higher in the CsA-treated group than that of the CsA plus tea polyphenols (TP)-treated group (P<0. 05).Conclusion These results suggested that tea polyphenols significantly inhibits apoptosis of the tubular and interstitial cells in rats with cyclosporine-induced chronic nephrotoxicity, and that tea polyphenols may be useful to prevent CsA-associated kidney toxicity.

Antifungal, phytotoxic and hemagglutination activity of methanolic extracts of Ocimum basilicum

OBJECTIVE: To report some of the pharmacological features of the medicinal plant Ocimum basilicum.METHODS: In the current studies, Antifungal activity of crude methanolic fraction of Ocimum basilicum was determined against eight pathogenic fungal strains using tube dilution assay. The methanolic fraction was also investigated for phytotoxic and hemagglutination activity.RESULTS: Of the eight strains investigated only Candida albicans and Curvilaria lunata were found to be least affected by plant extract while the rest were significantly inhibited. Moderate phytotoxic activity was observed against lemna minor. Hemagglutination activity showed absence of phytolectins and hence no agglutination of erythrocytes.CONCLUSION: The crude extract of Ocimum basilicum has significant properties against fungi and phytotoxic substances.

Vigna radiata var. GM4 Plant Growth Enhancement and Root Colonization by a Multi-Metal-Resistant Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterium Enterobacter sp. C1D in Cr(VI)-Amended Soils

Contamination of agricultural soils by heavy metals has become a major concern due to their toxic effects on plant growth,symbiosis and consequently the yields of crops. In the present study, to enhance plant growth in Cr（VI）-amended soils, novel metalresistant plant growth-promoting bacteria（PGPB） were isolated from a soil contaminated with industrial waste effluent. One of the bacterial isolates, identified as Enterobacter sp. C1 D by 16 S r RNA gene sequencing, was found to be multi-metal resistant in nature with excellent plant growth-promoting（PGP） traits. Mung bean（Vigna radiata var. GM4） inoculation with Enterobacter sp.C1 D significantly（P ＆lt; 0.01） increased root and shoot length, shoot and root weight, and chlorophyll content in a range of Cr（VI）treatments. Plant tolerance towards Cr（VI） measured as effective concentration showed higher values with Enterobacter sp. C1 Dtreated plants compared to un-inoculated plants. Root colonization study was also carried out using green fluorescence protein-labeled Enterobacter sp. C1 D under a hydroponic system. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of the plant roots showed heavy bacterial loads on the surface of the plant root specifically at the root tip and the point of root hair/lateral root formation. The results of PGP traits showed that elevated indole acetic acid levels and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity enabled Enterobacter sp. C1 D to enhance V. radiata growth in Cr（VI）-amended soils, whereby it significantly increased plant tolerance towards elevated Cr（VI） concentrations.