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Adulterated dietary supplements commercialized in Brazil: development of a screening method and a preliminary study of cytotoxicity

Thaís Ramos Dal Molin, Lauren Pappis, Alencar Kolinski Machado, Géssica Domingos da Silveira, Michele Rorato Sagrillo, Carolina Gonzalez Urquhart, Leandro Machado de Carvalho, Simone Noremberg et al.

Food Additives & Contaminants Part A, 2024

Abstract

Abstract The high consumption of dietary supplements was a fundamental driver for the creation of the regulatory framework by the Brazilian governmental authorities. However, the regulatory agencies lack official low-cost methodologies to evaluate the quality of food supplements. A preliminary screening method by HPLC-DAD was proposed and validated for screening and quantification of adulterants in dietary supplements. The limits of detection and quantification were <0.11 and 0.37 µg.g−1, respectively. The method was applied for the investigation of ten unauthorized substances (spironolactone, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, clenbuterol, testosterone, testosterone propionate, yohimbine, vardenafil, tadalafil, and sildenafil) with a time of analysis of <5 min. Sixteen percent of the 44 samples analyzed had at least one adulterant at or above therapeutic concentrations. Subsequently, in vitro evaluations were performed of the potential cytotoxicity to evaluate the cell viability, DNA damage, determination of nitric oxide levels, and quantification of reactive oxygen species. Despite the necessity of further studies, the results indicate a relationship between the presence of adulterants in food supplements and a potential cytotoxic effect.

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