The developed RP-PDA-HPLC method coupled to PCA is an excellent tool for authentication of the Actaea racemosa herbal drug, and can be a powerful addition to the TLC methods used in the dedicated pharmacopoeias, and is a promising alternative to expensive and lots of expertise requiring methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rhizomes of L. (formerly) gained increasing interest as a plant-derived drug due to its hormone-like activity and the absence of estrogenic activity. According to the Current Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines and pharmacopeial standards, quality assessment of herbal starting materials includes tests on identity and substitution, as well as quantification of secondary metabolites, usually by HPTLC and LC methods. To reduce the laboratory effort, we investigated near-infrared spectroscopy for rapid species authentication and quantification of metabolites of interest.Near-infrared spectroscopy analysis is carried out directly on the milled raw plant material. Spectra were correlated with reference data of polyphenols and triterpene glycosides determined by LC/diode array detection and LC/evaporative light scattering detection, respectively. Quantification models were built and validated by cross-validation procedures. Clone plants, derived by vegetative propagation, and plants of a collection from different geographical origins cultivated in Berlin were analysed together with mixed batches from wild harvests purchased at wholesalers.Generally, good to excellent correlations were found for the overall content of polyphenols with coefficients of determination of R > 0.93. For individual polyphenols such as fukinolic acid, only models containing clone plants succeeded (R > 0.92). For the total content of triterpene glycosides, results were generally worse in comparison to polyphenols and were observed only for the mixed batches (R = 0.93).Next to quantitative analysis, near-infrared spectroscopy was proven as a rapid alternative to other, more laborious methods for species authentication. Near-infrared spectroscopy was able to distinguish different spp. such as the North American and the Asian , and.

Background An objective, non-invasive method for redness detection during acute allograft rejection in face transplantation (FT) is lacking. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed with 688 images of 7 patients with face transplant (range, 1 to 108 months post-transplant). Healthy controls were matched to donor age, sex, and had no prior facial procedures. Rejection state was confirmed via tissue biopsy. An image-analysis software developed alongside VicarVision (Amsterdam, Netherlands) was used to produce R, a measure of differences between detectable color and absolute red. R is inversely proportional to redness, where lower R values correspond to increased redness. Linear mixed models were used to study fixed effect of rejection state on R values. Estimated marginal means of fitted models were calculated for pairwise comparisons. Results Of 688 images, 175, 170, 202, and 141 images were attributable to Banff Grade 0,1,2, and 3, respectively. Estimated change in R value of facial allografts decreased with increasing Banff Grade (p = 0.0001). The mean R value of clinical rejection (Banff Grade ⅔) (16.67, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 14.79–18.58) was lower (p = 0.005) than non-rejection (Banff Grade 0/1) (19.38, 95%CI 17.43–21.33). Both clinical and non-rejection mean R values were lower (p = 0.0001) than healthy controls (24.12, 95%CI 20.96–27.28). Conclusion This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that software-based analysis can detect and monitor acute rejection changes in FT. Future studies should expand on this tool's potential application in telehealth and as a screening tool for allograft rejection.

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The medicinal plant Actaea racemosa is a perennial, whose rhizome (black cohosh rhizome) is usually wild harvested on a multiton scale to meet market requirements. Since this North American species is increasingly endangered, cultivation is needed. Even though studies prove that cultivation is possible, it has not been widely established. This may be due to a different quality of cultivated material, which does not comply with current pharmacopoeial requirements. This study compares contents and chromatographic fingerprints of phenolic acids and triterpene glycosides in different types of black cohosh rhizomes. Commercial batches from wild harvests were compared to individual plants from the wild and from cultivation. Phenolic acidsʼ contents and profiles were generally comparable between wild harvesting and cultivation. On the contrary, the total triterpene glycoside content was significantly lower in cultivation (p ≤ 0.001). In individual plants, different profiles of triterpene glycosides occurred. Possibly, specimen or chemotype selection for cultivation would cause a shift of the triterpene glycoside profile of cultivation batches away from the common pattern found in batches from wild harvesting. Potentially, such differences have an impact on the efficacy of black cohosh herbal products, if cultivated plant material is used for manufacturing.