Monitoring of 29 weight loss compounds in foods and dietary supplements by LC-MS/MS.
Because of the rapid growth in dietary supplement availability and public concern for weight control, the investigation of foods and various dietary supplements illegally adulterated with weight loss compounds has become increasingly important. A total of 29 weight loss compounds, including sennoside, sibutramine, ephedrine and their analogues, found to be adulterated in foods and dietary supplements were simultaneously examined by LC-MS/MS. The 188 samples were collected between 2009 and 2012 in South Korea, and method validation was performed to determine the adulterants to the weight loss compounds. LODs, LOQs and linearity ranged from 0.03 to 7.5 ng ml⁻¹, from 0.08 to 30.00 ng ml⁻¹, and from 0.990 to 0.999, respectively. The results showed that nine weight loss compounds, namely bisacodyl, desmethylsibutramine, didesmethylsibutramine, ephedrine, fluoxetine, pseudoephedrine, sennoside A, sennoside B and sibutramine, were detected in 62 of all collected samples and were found in order of frequency as follows: sibutramine, 25.7%; sennoside A, 22.9%; sennoside B, 20.0%; fluoxetine, 8.6%; desmethylsibutramine, 7.1%; bisacodyl, ephedrine, and pseudoephedrine, 4.3%; and didesmethylsibutramine, 2.9%. Sibutramine, which was the most frequently found adulterant, ranged in levels from 0.03 to 132.40 mg g⁻¹ (2010), from 0.88 to 76.2 mg g⁻¹ (2011), and from 0.07 to 0.24 mg g⁻¹ (2012). Although the concentrations of most compounds ranged widely, some compounds such as bisacodyl and fluoxetine were found at high concentrations in several samples.
a Advanced Analysis Team, Toxicological Evaluation and Research Department , National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety , Cheongwon-gun , Chungcheongbuk-do , Korea.
Hyung Joo
HJ
Kim
Ji Hyun
JH
Lee
Hyoung Joon
HJ
Park
So-Hyun
SH
Cho
Sooyeul
S
Cho
Woo Seong
WS
Kim
D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D001067:Appetite Depressants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D002400:Cathartics / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003503:Cyclobutanes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D005506:Food Contamination; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000379:methods*; D057141:Food, Preserved / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D057230:Limit of Detection; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012676:Senna Extract / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D000081226:Sennosides; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D001067:Appetite Depressants; D002400:Cathartics; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D003503:Cyclobutanes; D000081226:Sennosides; D012676:Senna Extract; C058254:sibutramine
LC-MS/MS; dietary supplements; obesity; weight loss compound