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BMC Ecology Nov 2020Invasive plant species pose a significant threat for fragile isolated ecosystems, occupying space, and consuming scarce local resources. Recently though, an additional...
BACKGROUND
Invasive plant species pose a significant threat for fragile isolated ecosystems, occupying space, and consuming scarce local resources. Recently though, an additional adverse effect was recognized in the form of its secondary metabolites entering the food chain. The present study is elaborating on this subject with a specific focus on the Nicotiana glauca Graham (Solanaceae) alkaloids and their occurrence and food chain penetrability in Mediterranean ecosystems. For this purpose, a targeted liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS/MS) analytical method, encompassing six alkaloids and one coumarin derivative, utilizing hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was developed and validated.
RESULTS
The method exhibited satisfactory recoveries, for all analytes, ranging from 75 to 93%, and acceptable repeatability and reproducibility. Four compounds (anabasine, anatabine, nornicotine, and scopoletin) were identified and quantified in 3 N. glauca flowers extracts, establishing them as potential sources of alien bio-molecules. The most abundant constituent was anabasine, determined at 3900 μg/g in the methanolic extract. These extracts were utilized as feeding treatments on Apis mellifera honeybees, resulting in mild toxicity documented by 16-18% mortality. A slightly increased effect was elicited by the methanolic extract containing anabasine at 20 μg/mL, where mortality approached 25%. Dead bees were screened for residues of the N. glauca flower extracts compounds and a significant mean concentration of anabasine was evidenced in both 10 and 20 μg/mL treatments, ranging from 51 to 92 ng/g per bee body weight. Scopoletin was also detected in trace amounts.
CONCLUSIONS
The mild toxicity of the extracts in conjunction with the alkaloid and coumarin residual detection in bees, suggest that these alien bio-molecules are transferred within the food chain, suggesting a chemical invasion phenomenon, never reported before.
Topics: Alkaloids; Animals; Bees; Ecosystem; Reproducibility of Results; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Nicotiana
PubMed: 33158433
DOI: 10.1186/s12898-020-00325-3 -
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Aug 2015While nicotine is the primary addictive compound in tobacco, other tobacco constituents including minor alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anabasine) may also contribute to...
BACKGROUND
While nicotine is the primary addictive compound in tobacco, other tobacco constituents including minor alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anabasine) may also contribute to tobacco addiction by mimicking or enhancing the effects of nicotine. Further evaluating the behavioral effects of minor alkaloids is essential for understanding their impact on tobacco addiction and informing development of tobacco product standards by the FDA.
METHODS
This study compared the addiction-related effects of nicotine and the minor alkaloids nornicotine, anabasine, myosmine, anatabine, and cotinine on intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds in rats.
RESULTS
Acute injection of nicotine produced reinforcement-enhancing (ICSS threshold-decreasing) effects at low to moderate doses, and reinforcement-attenuating/aversive (ICSS threshold-increasing) effects at high doses. Nornicotine and anabasine produced similar biphasic effects on ICSS thresholds, although with lower potency compared to nicotine. Myosmine only elevated ICSS thresholds at relatively high doses, while anatabine and cotinine did not influence ICSS thresholds at any dose. None of the alkaloids significantly influenced ICSS response latencies, indicating a lack of nonspecific motoric effects.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that some minor tobacco alkaloids can either fully (nornicotine, anabasine) or partially (myosmine) mimic nicotine's addiction-related effects on ICSS, albeit at reduced potency. These findings emphasize the need for further study of the abuse potential of minor alkaloids, including evaluation of their effects when combined with nicotine and other tobacco constituents to better simulate tobacco exposure in humans. Such work is essential for informing FDA regulation of tobacco products and could also lead to the development of novel pharmacotherapies for tobacco addiction.
Topics: Alkaloids; Anabasine; Animals; Brain; Cotinine; Male; Nicotine; Pyridines; Rats; Self Stimulation
PubMed: 26094184
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.005 -
PloS One 2015The impact of consuming biologically active compounds is often dose-dependent, where small quantities can be medicinal while larger doses are toxic. The consumption of...
The impact of consuming biologically active compounds is often dose-dependent, where small quantities can be medicinal while larger doses are toxic. The consumption of plant secondary compounds can be toxic to herbivores in large doses, but can also improve survival in parasitized herbivores. In addition, recent studies have found that consuming nectar secondary compounds may decrease parasite loads in pollinators. However, the effect of compound dose on bee survival and parasite loads has not been assessed. To determine how secondary compound consumption affects survival and pathogen load in Bombus impatiens, we manipulated the presence of a common gut parasite, Crithidia bombi, and dietary concentration of anabasine, a nectar alkaloid produced by Nicotiana spp. using four concentrations naturally observed in floral nectar. We hypothesized that increased consumption of secondary compounds at concentrations found in nature would decrease survival of uninfected bees, but improve survival and ameliorate parasite loads in infected bees. We found medicinal effects of anabasine in infected bees; the high-anabasine diet decreased parasite loads and increased the probability of clearing the infection entirely. However, survival time was not affected by any level of anabasine concentration, or by interactive effects of anabasine concentration and infection. Crithidia infection reduced survival time by more than two days, but this effect was not significant. Our results support a medicinal role for anabasine at the highest concentration; moreover, we found no evidence for a survival-related cost of anabasine consumption across the concentration range found in nectar. Our results suggest that consuming anabasine at the higher levels of the natural range could reduce or clear pathogen loads without incurring costs for healthy bees.
Topics: Anabasine; Animals; Bees; Crithidia; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Herbivory; Host-Parasite Interactions; Parasite Load; Plant Nectar; Plants, Medicinal; Nicotiana
PubMed: 26545106
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142496 -
Archives of Pathology & Laboratory... Jun 2023Consequences related to nicotine (NIC) use remain a major health concern, leading to demand for testing to detect NIC, metabolites such as cotinine (COT), and related...
CONTEXT.—
Consequences related to nicotine (NIC) use remain a major health concern, leading to demand for testing to detect NIC, metabolites such as cotinine (COT), and related tobacco alkaloids, including anabasine (ANAB). NIC-related testing is not standardized among laboratories, nor are there clinical or regulatory guidelines to inform decisions such as appropriate screening cutoffs or limits of quantitation.
OBJECTIVE.—
To evaluate analytical performance and reporting practices of laboratories that perform NIC-related testing by reviewing participant responses to the Nicotine and Tobacco Alkaloid (NTA) Proficiency Testing Survey.
DESIGN.—
NTA results were retrieved from 2017 (the first year of the survey) through 2020. Survey participants, methodologies, and results were evaluated for all analytes, and simulated grading was performed for COT. Additional data, including limits of quantitation, qualitative cutoffs, and reasons for testing, were reviewed.
RESULTS.—
Participant growth was steady for qualitative COT testing. Participation was stable for NIC, ANAB, and quantitative COT testing. Overall, participants performed well on survey challenges. However, reporting thresholds were widely divergent, ranging from 10 to 3000 ng/mL and 0.5 to 300 ng/mL, respectively, for qualitative and quantitative COT testing. Screening cutoffs were as high as 100 ng/mL for ANAB and 1000 ng/mL for NIC.
CONCLUSIONS.—
Although participating laboratories performed well on the NTA Survey, the wide diversity of qualitative and quantitative reporting thresholds creates substantial risk for misinterpretation of results, and could lead to analytical concerns such as excessively high false-negative or false-positive rates. NIC-related testing would benefit from evidence-based guidelines to drive standardization of reporting.
Topics: Humans; Nicotine; Nicotiana; Pathologists; Alkaloids; Cotinine; Laboratory Proficiency Testing
PubMed: 36223222
DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2022-0094-CP -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2022Jin-Gu-Lian (JGL) is traditionally used by Miao for the treatment of rheumatism arthralgia. At the same time, the combination of (Oliv.) Rehd. et W (SC) and (Lour.)...
Jin-Gu-Lian (JGL) is traditionally used by Miao for the treatment of rheumatism arthralgia. At the same time, the combination of (Oliv.) Rehd. et W (SC) and (Lour.) Harms (AC), the core drug pair (CDP) in the formula of JGL, is used at high frequencies in many Miao medicine prescriptions for rheumatic diseases. However, previous research lacks the pharmacokinetic study of JGL, and study on the compatibility of its CDP with other medicinal herbs in the formula is needed. This study aims to establish a simple, rapid, and sensitive Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of four main bioactive components of JGL in rat plasma, including Salidroside (Sal), Anabasine (Ana), Chlorogenic Acid (CA), and Protocatechuic Acid (PCA), and compare the pharmacokinetic properties of two groups of rats after being orally administrated with JGL and its CDP extracts, respectively. The results showed that area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), mean retention time (MRT), and clearance rate (CL), of Sal, Ana, CA and PCA in the two groups of rats were changed in different degrees. The CDP combined with other drugs could significantly increase the absorption of Sal and Ana, prolong its retention time in vivo, and may accelerate the absorption rate of CA and PCA. This indicated that the combination of CDP and other herbs may affect the pharmacokinetics process of active components in vivo, increase the exposure and bioavailability of compounds in the JGL group, and prolong the retention time, which may be the reason why JGL has a better inhibitory effect on inflammatory cytokines, providing a viable orientation for the compatibility investigation of herb medicines.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Administration, Oral; Alangiaceae; Chlorogenic Acid; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Melia azedarach; Plants, Medicinal; Prescriptions; Ranunculales; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 35807271
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27134025 -
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior Feb 2018The ability of smoking to reduce body weight serves as motivation for continued smoking. It is unclear to what extent non-nicotine constituents in cigarettes are...
The ability of smoking to reduce body weight serves as motivation for continued smoking. It is unclear to what extent non-nicotine constituents in cigarettes are contributing to the weight-reducing effect of smoking. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of nicotine and four minor tobacco alkaloids (nornicotine, cotinine, anatabine, and anabasine) on food intake, one of the key regulators of body weight. In addition, a smokeless tobacco extract (STE) and e-cigarette (EC) refill liquid were used to model the effects of actual tobacco product exposure on food intake. Male Holztman rats were trained to lever press for food pellets during daily 2h sessions in operant chambers. In Experiment 1, the effects of subcutaneous injections of saline, nicotine (0.25-1.00mg/kg), nornicotine (0.50-6.00mg/kg), cotinine (1.00-100.00mg/kg), anatabine (0.25-3.00mg/kg), and anabasine (0.50-4.00mg/kg) were assessed. In Experiment 2, rats from Experiment 1 were used to examine the effects of nicotine, STE, and EC liquid. All alkaloids, except cotinine, produced a dose-dependent reduction in overall food intake. The highest doses of all drugs significantly reduced latency and response rate to obtain the first pellet. At some doses, nicotine, anatabine, and nornicotine reduced food intake within the first 45min without compensatory increases in intake later in the session. STE and EC liquid produced dose dependent decreases in food intake similar to nicotine alone. These data suggest that minor tobacco alkaloids have appetite suppressant effects and warrant further investigation into their effects on body weight, energy intake, and energy expenditure under free-feeding conditions. However, findings with STE and EC liquid suggest that nicotine is the primary constituent in these products to affect food intake, whereas levels of minor alkaloids in these products may be too low to influence food intake.
Topics: Alkaloids; Animals; Appetite Depressants; Conditioning, Operant; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Feeding Behavior; Food Deprivation; Male; Nicotine; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Nicotiana; Tobacco Products; Tobacco, Smokeless
PubMed: 29196096
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2017.11.004 -
Toxins Jul 2016Teratogenic alkaloids can cause developmental defects due to the inhibition of fetal movement that results from desensitization of fetal muscle-type nicotinic... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Teratogenic alkaloids can cause developmental defects due to the inhibition of fetal movement that results from desensitization of fetal muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). We investigated the ability of two known teratogens, the piperidinyl-pyridine anabasine and its 1,2-dehydropiperidinyl analog anabaseine, to activate and desensitize peripheral nAChRs expressed in TE-671 and SH-SY5Y cells. Activation-concentration response curves for each alkaloid were obtained in the same multi-well plate. To measure rapid desensitization, cells were first exposed to five potentially-desensitizing concentrations of each alkaloid in log10 molar increments from 10 nM to 100 µM and then to a fixed concentration of acetylcholine (ACh), which alone produces near-maximal activation. The fifty percent desensitization concentration (DC50) was calculated from the alkaloid concentration-ACh response curve. Agonist fast desensitization potency was predicted by the agonist potency measured in the initial response. Anabaseine was a more potent desensitizer than anabasine. Relative to anabaseine, nicotine was more potent to autonomic nAChRs, but less potent to the fetal neuromuscular nAChRs. Our experiments have demonstrated that anabaseine is more effective at desensitizing fetal muscle-type nAChRs than anabasine or nicotine and, thus, it is predicted to be more teratogenic.
Topics: Anabasine; Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic; Cell Line, Tumor; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Tolerance; Humans; Membrane Potentials; Muscle Cells; Neurons; Nicotine; Nicotinic Agonists; Pyridines; Receptors, Nicotinic; Risk Assessment; Teratogens; Time Factors
PubMed: 27384586
DOI: 10.3390/toxins8070204 -
Scientific Reports Jun 2015Pyridine-type alkaloids are most common in Nicotiana species. To study the effect of alkaloid composition on bacterial community composition in floral nectar, we...
Pyridine-type alkaloids are most common in Nicotiana species. To study the effect of alkaloid composition on bacterial community composition in floral nectar, we compared the nicotine-rich wild type (WT) N. attenuata, the nicotine biosynthesis-silenced N. attenuata that was rich in anatabine and the anabasine-rich WT N. glauca plants. We found that the composition of these secondary metabolites in the floral nectar drastically affected the bacterial community richness, diversity and composition. Significant differences were found between the bacterial community compositions in the nectar of the three plants with a much greater species richness and diversity in the nectar from the transgenic plant. The highest community composition similarity index was detected between the two wild type plants. The different microbiome composition and diversity, caused by the different pyridine-type alkaloid composition, could modify the nutritional content of the nectar and consequently, may contribute to the change in the nectar consumption and visitation. These may indirectly have an effect on plant fitness.
Topics: Alkaloids; Bacteria; Phylogeny; Plant Nectar; Plants, Genetically Modified; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Principal Component Analysis; Pyridines; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Nicotiana
PubMed: 26122961
DOI: 10.1038/srep11536 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2018Tobacco smoking is the major cause of many chronic diseases, especially lung cancer. Knowledge about population-wide tobacco use and exposure is essential to...
Levels of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) in raw wastewater as an innovative perspective for investigating population-wide exposure to third-hand smoke.
Tobacco smoking is the major cause of many chronic diseases, especially lung cancer. Knowledge about population-wide tobacco use and exposure is essential to characterise its burden on public health and evaluate policy efficacy. Obtaining such knowledge remains challenging with current methods (e.g., surveys, biomonitoring) but can be achievable with wastewater analysis, a promising tool of retrieving epidemiology information. This study examined population-wide exposure to tobacco toxicants and carcinogens through wastewater analysis and explored relationships among these chemicals. Cotinine, trans-3'-hydroxycotinine, anabasine, anatabine and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) were analysed in samples from Greece, Switzerland and Belgium, where tobacco control policies are different. Measured per-capita mass loads were ranked as: nicotine biomarkers ≫ tobacco markers > carcinogens. Relationships between nicotine biomarkers and tobacco markers implied substantial use of non-tobacco nicotine items besides tobacco products. Geographic profiles of tobacco markers revealed higher levels in Geneva and Athens than Geraardsbergen and Ninove. Environmental third-hand smoke led to NNK detection, with elevated levels observed in Athens where indoor smoking is widespread, posing potential health risks to the population. Our novel outcomes are relevant for public health authorities as they provide indications about external exposure and can thus be used to plan and evaluate tobacco control policies.
Topics: Alkaloids; Anabasine; Belgium; Carcinogens; Cotinine; Greece; Humans; Nitrosamines; Public Health; Pyridines; Switzerland; Tobacco Products; Tobacco Smoke Pollution; Wastewater
PubMed: 30185880
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31324-6 -
Water Research Feb 2024Previous wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) studies have reported decreasing trends of nicotine and tobacco use in Australia before 2017, but there is concern that...
Previous wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) studies have reported decreasing trends of nicotine and tobacco use in Australia before 2017, but there is concern that increasing illicit use of nicotine in vaping products and illicit tobacco could reverse this progress. This study aimed to assess temporal trends of nicotine consumption and specifically tobacco consumption via wastewater analysis in a population in Australia between 2013 and 2021. One week of daily wastewater samples were analyzed every two months from February 2013 to December 2021 in a regional city serving ∼100,000 people. A total of 340 daily samples were analyzed for anabasine (tobacco specific biomarker) and nicotine metabolites, cotinine and hydroxycotinine, using direct injection method by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Daily consumption estimates were calculated from daily flow data, population estimates and previously reported excretion factors. Linear spline regression was performed to identify periods when significant change of slopes occurred and to evaluate the temporal trends. Tobacco use monitored using anabasine as a biomarker, showed a decreasing trend over the whole period with a higher rate of decrease during the first two years (2013-2014, 21 % decrease) compared to the later 7 years (2015-2021, 10 % decrease). Nicotine use, monitored using cotinine and hydroxycotinine, showed a downward trend between 2013 and 2018 (2013-2014: 18 % decrease, p < 0.05; 2015-2016: 6 % increase, p = 0.48; Feb-Dec 2017: 15 % decrease, p = 0.39) followed by a significant increase from 2018 to 2021 (40 % increase, p < 0.001). This finding suggests the increasing use of non-tobacco nicotine-based products. Additionally, the tobacco use estimate by wastewater analysis was higher than the tobacco sales data, which suggests the use of illicit tobacco in the catchment.
Topics: Humans; Nicotine; Cotinine; Wastewater; Anabasine; Queensland; Australia; Biomarkers
PubMed: 38154341
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.121040