engleski

Analysis of illicit herbal dietary supplements: Does a herb need a backup?

Mankind has used plants and herbs for centuries for relaxation and healing. Advances in technology and conventional medicine emphasized the importance of synthetic pharmaceuticals. In recent years, due to the alternative medicine progress, increasing number of herbal supplements has appeared in the world market. Under the guise of “100% natural”, such products are often adulterated with uncontrolled quantities of pharmaceutical substances.1 In our work four herbal dietary supplements for enhancing sexual performance available on Croatian market were analyzed by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. Only one of them was truly natural. Three of analyzed herbal supplements contained at least one structural analog of sildenafil as an adulterant. Sildenafil is phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, the registered erectile dysfunction (ED) drug. By means of accurate mass measurement and tandem mass spectrometry, we confirmed the structures of thiosildenafil, thiohydroxyhomosildenafil, vardenafil and/or lodenafil, that have already been reported adulterants in ED herbal supplements.1-4 For quantification of unapproved PDE-5 inhibitors in herbal formulations HPLC-UV method was developed, preceded by SPE for removal of insoluble herbal material. Since sildenafil analogues have similar UV spectra, adulterants were collected in fractions and identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF. Although the amount of sildenafil analogues in formulations was not high (a few milligrams), a lack of safety profiles and adequate clinical trials make analyzed herbal supplements dangerous to use. For the benefit of public health, more strict supervision and regulations of those products should be provided.

mass spectrometry; herbal supplements

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