[Hazard for human health and life by unintentional use of synthetic sibutramine, which was sold as Chinese herbal product "meizitanc"].
Problem of adulteration of herbal medicines with synthetic drugs is getting a common and dangerous phenomenon in Poland. The purpose of this study was the qualitative estimation of content of the Chinese herbal medicine for slimming "Meizitanc" as well as the estimation of hazard for human health and life. Twenty herbal packages which were secured by police in the 2006 year were investigated. The main ingredient of herbal medicine "Meizitanc" was sibutramine. The average mass of sibutramine hydrochloride in the "Meizitanc" capsule was about 10 mg. Additionally the trace amount of xylene and a starch were detected in the capsules. The presence of mentioned above substances were confirmed by different analytical methods like: gas chromatography with mass spectrometry GC/MS, thin layer chromatography TLC, high-pressure liquid chromatography HPLC/UV-DAD and infrared spectrometry IR. There were not determined any herbal-originated substances, which were mentioned on the packages. It was not found any pharmacologically active substance in one of the twenty examined packages.


CONCLUSIONS
The medicine containing sibutramine should be used under the strict medical control. For safety of the patients all herbal products should be buy from authorized her
Wiergowski
Marek
M
Katedra i Zakład Medycyny Sadowej, Akademii Medycznej w Gdańsku marwier@amg.gda.pl
Galer-Tatarowicz
Katarzyna
K
Nowak-Banasik
Livia
L
Rutkowska
Jolanta
J
Kucułyma
Grazyna
G
Waldman
Wojciech
W
Chodorowski
Zygmunt
Z
Jankowski
Zbigniew
Z
Sein Anand
Jacek
J
D001067:Appetite Depressants / Q000032:analysis*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003503:Cyclobutanes / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004348:Drug Labeling / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011044:Poland; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D001067:Appetite Depressants; D003503:Cyclobutanes; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; C525839:meizitanc; C058254:sibutramine