Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2020 Jun 15;34(11):e8771. doi: 10.1002/rcm.8771.
Natural plant products have been used to promote health, prevent sickness, and treat various ailments. These products often consist of leaves, flowers, bark, roots, seeds, and/or other parts of the plant. Many of the pharmacologically active constituents of these products are known, but the pharmacology of these constituents may not be fully elucidated. Natural plant-based products are also available in various forms other than the raw plant material. A wide array of commercial products such as capsules, powders, extracts, and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) electronic liquids (e-liquids) are readily available and can be purchased from various outlets, both store-based retailers and online. Newer e-cigarettes are often advertised as "heat not burn" and are used for "vaping" various forms of extracts including "waxes" and "dabs" and raw plant material.
A single manufacturer was found online selling "24 different herbs" in powders, extracts, or e-liquids. These were advertised as "legal in the USA" and each product listed multiple effects. Eight e-liquids, six extracts (resins), and four powders from eight different "herbs," namely African dream, areca nut, blue lotus, damiana, kra thum na, kra thum kok, klip dagga, and wild lettuce, were purchased. An advertisement for these products stated, "Most people use the leaves, powder or resin in vaporizers." Direct analysis in real time AccuTOF™ mass spectrometry (DART-MS) was used to identify the psychoactive components in the natural products.
The psychoactive compounds that were identified in only two of the eight e-liquids, three of the five resins, and three of the four powders were arecaidine, arecoline, coumarin, entadamide, mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and nuciferine.
Psychoactive and potentially harmful substances were present in the powders and resins of the natural products. The newer types of e-cigarettes made for consuming natural products may increase their abuse potential.
天然植物产品一直被用于促进健康、预防疾病和治疗各种疾病。这些产品通常由叶子、花朵、树皮、根、种子和/或植物的其他部分组成。这些产品中许多具有药理活性的成分已被人们所了解，但这些成分的药理学可能尚未完全阐明。天然植物产品也有多种形式，不仅限于原始植物材料。各种胶囊、粉末、提取物和电子烟（电子烟）电子液体（电子液体）等商业产品都很容易获得，可以从各种零售商处购买，包括实体店和网店。新型电子烟通常被宣传为“加热不燃烧”，用于吸食各种形式的提取物，包括“蜡”和“烟弹”以及原始植物材料。
在网上找到了一家单一制造商，销售各种粉末、提取物或电子液体形式的“24 种不同的草药”。这些产品被宣传为“在美国合法”，每种产品都列出了多种功效。从八种不同的“草药”（即非洲之梦、槟榔、蓝莲花、达玛烷、Kra Thum Na、Kra Thum Kok、Klip Dagga 和野生生菜）中购买了八种电子液体、六种提取物（树脂）和四种粉末。这些产品的广告称，“大多数人在蒸发器中使用叶子、粉末或树脂。”直接实时分析 AccuTOF™质谱（DART-MS）用于鉴定天然产品中的精神活性成分。
仅在八种电子液体中的两种、五种树脂中的三种和四种粉末中的三种中鉴定出了精神活性化合物：槟榔碱、槟榔次碱、香豆素、恩达酰胺、美登木碱、7-羟基美登木碱和育亨宾。
天然产品的粉末和树脂中存在精神活性和潜在有害物质。新型电子烟可能会增加对天然产品的滥用风险。
