Simultaneous Determination of Five Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Two Glucocorticoids in Adulterated Traditional Herbal Medicines for the Treatment of Rheumatism

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy as a powerful method for the analysis of Chinese herbal medicines

Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) derived from nature have received increasing attention and become more popular. Due to their diverse production processes, complex ingredients, and different storage conditions, it is highly desirable to develop simple, rapid, efficient and trace detection methods to ensure the drug quality. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy has the advantages of being time-saving, non-destructive, usable in aqueous environments, and highly compatible with various biomolecular samples, providing a promising analytical method for CHM. In this review, we outline the major advances in the application of SERS to the identification of raw materials, detection of bioactive constituents, characterization of adulterants, and detection of contaminants. This clearly shows that SERS has strong potential in the quality control of CHM, which greatly promotes the modernization of CHM.

Liquid chromatography-quadrupole orbitrap and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system for rapid identification and quantitation of thirty nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen in illegal products

RATIONALE

As the public interest in healthcare increases, illegal dietary supplements, foods, and drugs containing unauthorized pharmaceutical ingredients, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen, have been identified. Excessive and unintentional consumption is toxic to the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, and liver; therefore, these pharmaceuticals must be monitored using analytical methods.

METHODS

A rapid and reliable analysis system involving liquid chromatography-quadrupole orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-Q-Orbitrap/MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was established and validated to identify and quantify 30 NSAIDs and acetaminophen. In addition, we obtained the MS² spectrum for each component with the proposed structure of the fragment ions.

RESULTS

The analytical method was applied to 505 samples of illicitly distributed dietary supplements, foods, and pharmaceuticals. Non-steroidal analgesics were detected in 126 samples. Carbamazepine (42.9%) and diclofenac (30.2%) were the most detected components in the samples; other pharmaceutical adulterants were also detected in some cases. Additionally, we present the identification of an unknown component, dexamethasone (799 μg/g), using LC-Q-Orbitrap/MS in a sample containing the unknown component with meloxicam (15.4 mg/g).

CONCLUSIONS

The developed analysis system, consisting of qualitative analysis using LC-Q-Orbitrap/MS and quantitative analysis using LC/MS/MS, can rapidly and accurately identify and quantify NSAIDs and acetaminophen while also identifying non-analytical components.

Assessment of Undeclared Synthetic Drugs in Dietary Supplements in an Analytical View: A Comprehensive Review

Dietary supplements have gained widespread attention globally as they are supposed to be healthier than synthetic pharmaceutical compounds with fewer side effects. Unlike common prescription drugs, dietary supplements are readily available to the general public. However, over the past few years, all kinds of legal and illegal drugs, have been detected in dietary supplements without labeling to defraud consumers, resulting in serious public health consequences. Due to the increasing number of drug frauds in dietary supplements, their consumption will undoubtedly risk consumers. Therefore; the importance of high-tech analytical methods in their assessment for controlling food quality seems undeniable. The current review examines the analytical techniques that focus on adulterating health products with undeclared pharmaceuticals, including registered and banned drugs. The present study referred to a survey from 2004 to 2021 based on articles in the Scopus database.