1. Counterfeit Herbal Products – A Global Risk
- Author
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MA Naji and M Kamil
- Subjects
Pharmacology ,Adulterant ,Traditional medicine ,Intentional adulteration ,business.industry ,Rapid expansion ,Organic Chemistry ,food and beverages ,Pharmaceutical Science ,Pharmacy ,complex mixtures ,Analytical Chemistry ,Counterfeit ,Complementary and alternative medicine ,Drug Discovery ,medicine ,Molecular Medicine ,Adverse effect ,business ,Global risk ,Sibutramine ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Any medicine – herbal or otherwise, might have adulteration and has the potential to cause adverse effects. In the case of herbal medicinal products (HMP), the adulterated chemicals are obviously not shown in the list of ingredients; hence, its severity can be manyfold as physicians and pharmacists are not aware of the adulterant chemicals causing serious risk to public health. With the constant increase of the use of herbal medicines worldwide and the rapid expansion of its global market, the safety and quality of herbal medicinal products has become a major concern for pharmaceutical industries, health authorities and the public. Requirements and methods for quality control of HMP's, particularly for mixture herbal products, are far more complex than for chemical drugs. The intentional adulteration, for making herbal products more effective, is on its peak and needs urgent attention. The objectives of this paper are to: Promote the safety of herbal medicinal products by contributing some examples of quality control analyses for a number of HMP in our laboratories, e.g. presence of PD-5 inhibitors; Sildenafil citrate (Viagra), Verdenafil Citrate (Levitra), Tadalafil (Cialis) their derivatives in aphrodisiac and erectile dysfunction (ED) herbal drugs. The slimming herbal drugs have been found adulterated with Sibutramine HCl and Acomplica, whereas, Sulphonyl ureas were found in antidiabetic herbal medicines. Counterfeit herbal medicines are less frequently, but perhaps of more concern, discovered in the regulated supply chains through licensed wholesalers, parallel traders and pharmacies.
- Published
- 2010