Open AccessAdulteration of the Herbal Weight Loss Products by the Illegal Addition of Synthetic Antiobesity Medications: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Farzin Firozian,
Amir NiliAhmadabadi,
Shirin Moradkhani,
Miad Moulaei,
Zohreh Fasihi,
Davoud Ahmadimoghaddam
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 2090-0716
pISSN - 2090-0708
DOI - 10.1155/2021/9968730
Subject(s) - sibutramine , medicine , weight loss , traditional medicine , pharmacology , obesity
Background Some anorexic agents are used to fraudulent augmentation herbal weight loss formulations. This study was designed to evaluate the potential existence of illicit substances in 63 herbal weight loss formulations collected from local apothecaries in Hamadan, Iran.Methods The thin-layer chromatography method was applied for the primary screening of potential illicit substances in the samples. The positive samples were analyzed using an isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography method.Results The results showed that 26.98% of the samples contained 17.76 ± 6.02 mg/cap of sibutramine. Daily therapeutic dose intake of sibutramine is in the range of 5 to 15 mg daily.Conclusion Since apothecaries have advised consumers to take at least two capsules a day, it seems that the blood concentration of sibutramine will likely rise beyond the therapeutic concentration and become toxic. Therefore, the usage of such products could pose serious risks to consumers' health.