Development of rapid screening method for inspection of weight loss supplements contaminated with pharmaceutical adulterants and clarification of commercial distribution.

• Project/Area Number: 25871238
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits; Hygiene and public health
• Research Institution: Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health
• Principal Investigator: NAKAMURA Akihiko 大阪府立公衆衛生研究所, その他部局等, 研究員 (20416241)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000)
• Keywords: ダイエット食品 / MALDI-TOF/MS / 痩身用医薬品 / 違法配合 / 健康食品 / ＭＡＬＤＩ－ＴＯＦ／ＭＳ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Presence of pharmaceutical adulterants in weight loss supplements can sometimes result in serious risk to human health. In this study, we investigated a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS)-based method to analyze thirteen pharmaceutical adulterants (lorcaserin, phenformin, fenfluramine, propranolol, N-mono-desmethyl sibutramine, sibutramine, mazindol, chlordiazepoxide, fluoxetine, phenolphthalein, yohimbine, bisacodyl and rimonabant) in weight loss supplements. In this analysis, we detected these pharmaceutical adulterants by using α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid and a positive ion and reflector mode.