Adulteration of Weight Loss Supplements by the Illegal Addition of Synthetic Pharmaceuticals.

ABSTRACT: Weight loss supplements that have illegal additives of pharmaceutical drugs or analogues have additional health risks, and customers may not be aware of what they are taking. This research is an essential investigation and quantification of illegally added pharmaceuticals or prescription medications, specifically fluoxetine, phenolphthalein, and sibutramine, in herbal weight loss supplements offered for sale in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this case, 137 weight loss supplements were collected and analyzed in this study. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with UV absorption detection coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC-MS/MS) analyses were used to determine the presence of the pharmaceutical chemicals. Among the weight loss supplements, 15.3% (95% CI: 9.2-2

SUBMITTER: Jairoun AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8621677 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature