Mchallah Flora J, Matinde Raphael, Thomas Adelina, Kihwili Lutugera, Mafuru Tanga, Kapala James, Kimaro Emmanuel, Moyo Alfredi A, Mutagwaba Eugene, Maregesi Sheila M
Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Biomed Res Int. 2025 Jul 4;2025:8222227. doi: 10.1155/bmri/8222227. eCollection 2025.
Herbal products are increasingly utilized for various conditions, including erectile dysfunction (ED), due to their minimal side effects, affordability, and natural properties. Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE 5is) such as sildenafil citrate, tadalafil, vardenafil hydrochloride, and avanafil are synthetic oral medications approved for ED treatment. However, multiple studies have highlighted the contamination of herbal aphrodisiacs with PDE 5i or their conventional analogs. This study evaluated the contamination of aphrodisiac-claimed herbal products available in Mwanza, Tanzania. A total of 40 herbal product samples were collected from local vendors and analyzed by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). Chromatography was performed on a 20 × 10 cm aluminum-backed plate coated with analytical-grade silica gel 60 F. The plates were developed on a 20 × 20 cm 30-min presaturated twin trough tank containing chloroform (9 mL), methanol (1 mL), and diethylamine (0.1 mL) as the mobile phase. The developed plates were scanned at the wavelengths of 292 and 284 nm for sildenafil and tadalafil, respectively. Out of 40 herbal product samples analyzed, 25 samples (62.5%) were found to be adulterated. Among the adulterated samples, 2 (8%) were contaminated with sildenafil, 9 (36%) with tadalafil, and 14 (56%) with both sildenafil and tadalafil. Quantitative analysis indicated that two samples (12.5%) of the sildenafil-adulterated samples contained an amount of sildenafil that exceeded the maximum recommended daily dose of 100 mg. Aphrodisiac-claimed herbal medicinal products are adulterated with conventional medicines, sildenafil and tadalafil. Alarmingly, some of these products contain higher amounts of these pharmaceutical agents beyond the maximum daily dose.
由于草药产品副作用小、价格亲民且具有天然特性，它们在包括勃起功能障碍（ED）在内的各种病症中得到了越来越广泛的应用。磷酸二酯酶5型抑制剂（PDE 5i），如枸橼酸西地那非、他达拉非、盐酸伐地那非和阿伐那非，是被批准用于治疗ED的合成口服药物。然而，多项研究强调了壮阳草药被PDE 5i或其传统类似物污染的情况。本研究评估了坦桑尼亚姆万扎市在售的声称具有壮阳功效的草药产品的污染情况。总共从当地供应商处收集了40个草药产品样本，并通过高效薄层色谱法（HPTLC）进行分析。色谱分析在一块20×10厘米的涂有分析级硅胶60 F的铝背板上进行。薄板在一个20×20厘米、预饱和30分钟的双槽展开缸中展开，该展开缸含有氯仿（9毫升）、甲醇（1毫升）和二乙胺（0.1毫升）作为流动相。展开后的薄板分别在292纳米和284纳米波长下对西地那非和他达拉非进行扫描。在分析的40个草药产品样本中，有25个样本（62.5%）被发现掺假。在掺假样本中，2个（8%）被西地那非污染，9个（36%）被他达拉非污染，14个（56%）同时被西地那非和他达拉非污染。定量分析表明，西地那非掺假样本中有2个（12.5%）所含西地那非的量超过了每日最大推荐剂量100毫克。声称具有壮阳功效的草药产品被传统药物西地那非和他达拉非掺假。令人担忧的是，其中一些产品所含的这些药剂超过了最大日剂量。
