Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25667559›Full record

ArticleGhana medical journal2014

Rapid detection of microbial contamination in Ghanaian herbal medicines by PCR analysis.

D Dei-Tutuwa, P Amuna, M A Rahman

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ghana medical journal, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Prevalence of Antibiotic-ResistantFrontiers in microbiology · 2017
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

D Dei-TutuwaSchool of Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime Medway, Kent ME4 4TB, United Kingdom.
P AmunaSchool of Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime Medway, Kent ME4 4TB, United Kingdom.
M A RahmanSchool of Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime Medway, Kent ME4 4TB, United Kingdom.
University of Greenwich · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is widespread use of herbal medicines across the world and the need for regulatory measures to ensure their safety, efficacy and quality is therefore imperative. Conventional microbiological methods are used in carrying out quality control analysis of herbal medicines but these are often slow, may be less sensitive or specific and labour-intensive. In this study we investigated the ability to use Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) as a fast, accurate and inexpensive novel method to detect the presence of common pathogens in herbal medicines from Ghana.

methodsWe employed different DNA extraction techniques including TE buffer, boiling method for DNA extraction as well as commercially available DNA extraction kits from Qiagen, UK: Gentra Pure-gene Yeast/Bact. Kit and DNeasy™ Tissue Kit which is column based to identify Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella sp. in herbal products from Ghana in local African shops on the UK market.

resultsThe TE buffer and boiling methods did not yield any bacterial DNA, however both commercial kits yielded significant amounts of DNA. PCR was able to detect pathogens present in the samples directly. Escherichia coli could be detected at 10 cfu/ml whilst Staphylococcus aureus was detectable at a threshold of up to 10(3) cfu/ml when samples were enriched overnight. Salmonella sp. could not be detected in DNA samples extracted from herbal medicines.

conclusionWe conclude that PCR and similar new molecular techniques such as Real Time PCR have the potential as rapid microbiological analytical techniques especially in busy clinical settings and for quality control of herbal medicines.

Indexed as

Drug ContaminationPlant PreparationsBacteriaBacteriological TechniquesDNA, BacterialGhanaPolymerase Chain ReactionTime FactorsDNA, BacterialPlant PreparationsGhanaHerbal medicineMicrobial contaminationPCR

Identifiers

PMID25667559
PMCPMC4310335
OpenAlexW2122982948

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.