Three popular medicinal plants regarded as improving human sexual function in some parts of Southeast Asia were analysed for their mutagenic properties using modified Ames test (fluctuation test). Extract of one of the plants, Tacca integrifolia Ker-Gawl., was found to be mutagenic using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. Extract of T. integrifolia, Eurycoma longifolia Jack and Helmintostachys zeylanica (L.) Hook were cytotoxic to human cell lines, Hep2 and HFL1, with IC50 ranging from 11 mug/ml to 55 mug/ml. Extract of E. longifolia was the most cytotoxic with IC50 of 11 mug/ml and 13 mug/ml on Hep2 and HFL1 cell lines respectively. Combined extract of T. integrifolia and H. zeylanica was more cytotoxic than single extract on both Hep2 and HFL1 cell lines while combined extract of E. longifolia and H. zeylanica was more cytotoxic than single extract on Hep2 cell lines. Under the conditions of this study it can be concluded that T. integrifolia is mutagenic and the combined extracts of the medicinal plants was highly cytotoxic.
Short repetitive regions in autosomal and Y chromosomes known as short tandem repeats (STRs) are currently used for DNA profiling in crime investigations. However, DNA profiling requires a sufficient quality and quantity of DNA template, which is often not obtained from trace evidence or degraded biological samples collected at the scene of a crime. Here, we assessed autosomal and male DNA components extracted from crime scene and mock casework samples using the Casework Direct Kit, Custom and compared the results against those obtained by extraction of matching samples using well-established Maxwell 16 System DNA IQ Casework Pro Kit. The quantity and quality of extracted DNA obtained using both Casework Direct Kit, Custom and Maxwell 16 System DNA IQ Casework Pro Kit were analyzed using PowerQuant Systems followed by autosomal and Y-chromosome STR profiling using GlobalFiler Express PCR Amplification Kit and PowerPlex Y23 System, respectively. Our results showed that the Casework Direct Kit and Maxwell 16 DNA IQ Casework Pro Kit have more or less equal capacity to extract inhibitor free DNA, but that the latter produces slightly better quality and more DNA template and subsequently higher numbers of STR allele calls for autosomal and Y-STR analyses. Nonetheless, the Casework Direct Kit, Custom is the quicker and cheaper option for extraction of good, clean DNA from high content material and might best be used for extraction of reference samples. Such reference DNA samples typically come from buccal swabs or freshly drawn blood. So, in general, they can confidently be expected to have a high nucleic acid content and to be inhibitor-free.