Data from: Deep sequencing of plant and animal DNA contained within traditional Chinese medicines reveals legality issues and health safety concerns

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been practiced for thousands of years, but only within the last few decades has its use become more widespread outside of Asia. Concerns continue to be raised about the efficacy, legality and safety of many popular complementary alternative medicines, including TCMs. Ingredients of some TCMs are known to include derivatives of endangered, trade-restricted species of plant and animal and therefore contravene the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) legislation. Chromatographic studies have detected the presence of heavy metals and plant toxins within some TCMs, and there are numerous cases of adverse reactions. It is in the interests of both biodiversity conservation and public safety that techniques are developed to screen medicinals like TCMs. Targeting both the p-loop region of the plastid trnL gene and the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene over 50,000 amplicon sequence reads were generated from 15 TCM samples presented in the form of powders, tablets, capsules, bile flakes and herbal teas. Here we show that Second Generation, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of DNA represents an effective means to genetically audit organic ingredients within complex TCMs. Comparison of DNA sequence data to reference databases, revealed the presence of 68 different plant families, and included genera, such as Ephedra and Asarum, which are potentially toxic. Similarly, four animal families were identified, that include genera that are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, including Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), and Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica). Bovidae, Cervidae, and Bufonidae DNA were also detected in many of the TCM samples, and were rarely declared on the product packaging. This study demonstrates that deep sequencing via HTS is an efficient and cost-effective way to audit highly processed TCM products and will assist in monitoring their legality and safety especially when plant reference databases become better established.

传统中医药（Traditional Chinese Medicine，以下简称TCM）拥有数千年的应用历史，但直至近数十年，其在亚洲以外地区的应用才逐渐普及。目前，包括TCM在内的多款热门补充替代疗法药品，其疗效、合法性与安全性始终饱受争议。部分TCM的成分已知包含濒危、受贸易限制的动植物物种衍生物，因此违反《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》（Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora，以下简称CITES）相关立法。色谱研究已在部分TCM样本中检测出重金属与植物毒素，且已有多起不良反应案例被报道。研发针对TCM类药品的筛查技术，既符合生物多样性保护的需求，也能保障公众安全。本研究针对质体trnL基因的p-loop区域与线粒体16S核糖体RNA基因，从15份剂型涵盖粉剂、片剂、胶囊剂、胆片与草本茶饮的TCM样本中，生成了超过50000条扩增子序列读数。本研究证实，DNA第二代高通量测序（High-Throughput Sequencing，以下简称HTS）可作为一种有效的手段，对复杂TCM中的有机成分开展基因层面的溯源与审核。将DNA序列数据与参考数据库进行比对后，共检测到68个不同的植物科，其中包括麻黄属（Ephedra）与细辛属（Asarum）等具有潜在毒性的类群。同样，本研究共鉴定出4个动物科，其中包含被列为易危、濒危或极危物种的属类，如亚洲黑熊（Ursus thibetanus）与赛加羚羊（Saiga tatarica）。研究还在多份TCM样本中检测到牛科（Bovidae）、鹿科（Cervidae）与蟾蜍科（Bufonidae）的DNA，但此类成分极少在产品包装上进行标注。本研究证实，通过HTS开展的深度测序是一种高效且经济的方式，可用于审核高度加工的TCM产品，且有助于监控其合法性与安全性；尤其是在植物参考数据库进一步完善后，该方法的应用价值将更为显著。