Elimination of ephedrines in urine following administration of a Sho-seiryu-to preparation.
Sho-seiryu-to is one of the most common Traditional Chinese Medicine preparations for the attenuation of colds. Ephedrae Herba is one of the prescriptions of Sho-seiryu-to. The major ingredients of Ephedrae Herba, ephedrines, are banned substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list. The purpose of this study was to investigate the elimination of urinary ephedrines after administering Sho-seiryu-to preparation and to determine the possibility of positive ephedrines test results in urine. Six healthy volunteers took a single 2.5-g dose of concentrated Sho-seiryu-to preparation. All urine was collected for 48 h. The concentrations of urinary ephedrines were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and the elimination half-life of the ephedrines was estimated. The results show that ephedrine and cathine (norpseudoephedrine), the prohibited substances of the WADA, were excreted in the urine after taking a single dose of Sho-seiryuto preparation. The peak concentration of ephedrine was 3.88 +/- 1.87 mg/mL (mean +/- SD), which was lower than the WADA permitted value (10 mg/mL). The estimated elimination half-lives of ephedrine, norephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and norpseudoephedrine following administration of this preparation were 5.3 +/- 1.2, 4.9 +/- 0.9, 4.4 +/- 1.0, and 5.4 +/- 1.8 h, respectively. This study concluded that the urine would not violate the antidoping rules after administering a single dose of Sho-seiryu-to preparation. Nevertheless, an applied multiple-dose study upon administering the preparation for three times per day for three days showed a positive urine ephedrine result (13.7 mg/mL). Athletes should be careful when taking more than a single dose of Sho-seiryu-to preparation.
Graduate Institute of Coaching Sciences, National Taiwan Sport University, 250 Wen Hua 1st Rd., Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Kuei Hui
KH
Chan
Mei-Chich
MC
Hsu
Fu-An
FA
Chen
Ku-Fu
KF
Hsu
D000328:Adult; D001711:Biotransformation; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004300:Doping in Sports; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D029789:Ephedra / Q000737:chemistry*; D004809:Ephedrine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D010665:Phenylpropanolamine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000652:urine
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C090832:sho-seiryu-to; C005331:norpseudoephedrine; D010665:Phenylpropanolamine; D004809:Ephedrine