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ABSTRACT
With an increase in the detection of structural and functional analogues of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) in dietary supplements (DS) and foods, public health is threatened. Some products advertise natural ingredients despite containing PDE-5i that can cause serious adverse effects on human health. To avoid detection during routine screening, novel PDE-5i have been synthesised and added to DS and foods. The purpose of this study was to detect, identify, and quantify 94 PDE-5i and related compounds in DS and foods. Furthermore, the study investigated the detection cases and compared them by sample type, formulation, and compounds. The HPLC and LC-MS/MS methods were validated for limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, and recovery in solid and liquid type samples. Both HPLC and LC-MS/MS showed satisfactory results, which were in conformance with the ICH guidelines. A total of 404 samples, including DS (99), and foods (305) were purchased from online and offline markets. Samples divided into 5 types of formulation were analysed; tablet, capsule, pilula (herbal medicine pill), powder and liquid type. Of these 130 samples (47 of 99 DS, and 83 of 305 foods) contained one or more PDE-5i or related compounds. Among the five types of formulation, the tablet type showed the highest detection rate (61.1%) in DS, whereas the capsule type showed the highest detection rate (53.8%) in food samples. This study will be helpful for monitoring illegal ED-related products, providing information to consumers, and ultimately contributing to protecting public health.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.