Atropa belladonna neurotoxicity: Implications to neurological disorders.

Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, ranks among one of the most poisonous plants in Europe and other parts of the world. The plant contains tropane alkaloids including atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine, which are used as anticholinergics in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs and homeopathic remedies. These alkaloids can be very toxic at high dose. The FDA has recently reported that Hyland's baby teething tablets contain inconsistent amounts of Atropa belladonna that may have adverse effects on the nervous system and cause death in children, thus recalled the product in 2017. A greater understanding of the neurotoxicity of Atropa belladonna and its modification of genetic polymorphisms in the nervous system is critical in order to develop better treatment strategies, therapies, regulations, education of at-risk populations, and a more cohesive paradigm for future research. This review offers an integrated view of the homeopathy and neurotoxicity of Atropa belladonna in children, adults, and animal models as well as its implications to neurological disorders. Particular attention is dedicated to the pharmaco/toxicodynamics, pharmaco/toxicokinetics, pathophysiology, epidemiological cases, and animal studies associated with the effects of Atropa belladonna on the nervous system. Additionally, we discuss the influence of active tropane alkaloids in Atropa belladonna and other similar plants on FDA-approved therapeutic drugs for treatment of neurological disorders.

Label-free pharmacological profiling based on dynamic mass redistribution for characterization and authentication of hazardous natural products.

Natural products are becoming increasingly popular in multiple fields involving medicines, foods and beverages. However, due to the frequent occurrence of poisoning incidents, their toxicity and safety have caused a serious concern. Here we report a method of biosensor-based two-phase pharmacological profiling (BTPP) for discovery, monitor and control of receptor-targeted natural products. BTPP uses a resonant waveguide grating biosensor for label-free and non-invasive detection of intracellular dynamic mass redistribution (DMR), a phenomenon caused by protein relocalization after receptors receiving stimulation from toxicants. The method can not only facilitate the identification of hazardous materials but also quantify their bioactivity by EC50. As a proof of concept, the method was successfully applied to recognize Daturae Flos (DF), an herb that can antagonize muscarinic acetylcholine M2 receptor and further cause poisoning, from other easily confused species. BTPP combined with high performance liquid chromatography revealed that scopolamine and hyoscyamine in DF were the key marker compounds. Moreover, the method accurately picked out 2 M2 receptor antagonists from 25 natural compounds, displaying its potential in high-throughput screening. This study provides a systematic illustration about the establishment, applicability and advantages of BTPP, which contributes to the safety assessment of natural products in related fields.