Establishment of high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array method for 43 weight loss agents and effect of basic environment on bisacodyl degradation.

RATIONALE: The demand for weight loss products is increasing as slimness emerges as the new aesthetic standard and people's desire to achieve it increases. In addition, the distribution and sale of products containing illegal ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals for which safety is not guaranteed and that cannot be used as foods or dietary supplements are increasing. Thus, the development of an analytical method that could monitor these illegal products is required. METHODS: A high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array method capable of rapid and reliable qualitative and quantitative analyses of 43 weight loss agents was established and validated. RESULTS: The process involved dividing analytes into three groups for rapid analysis; when bisacodyl was mixed with chlorocyclopentylsibutramine, it decomposed into its metabolites: monoacetyl bisacodyl and bis-(p-hydroxypheny)-pyridyl-2-methane. This decomposition was due to NaOH that was used to prepare the chlorocyclopentylsibutramine standard solution. Bisacodyl did not degrade when mixed with neutralized chlorocyclopentylsibutramine, whereas when NaOH was added, it rapidly degraded. We identified the bisacodyl degradation products using liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap/mass spectrometry. MS2 spectra with proposed structures of fragment peaks were also obtained. CONCLUSIONS: The developed method could be used to regulate slimming products that threaten public health, and knowledge of bisacodyl degradation will be used as the basis for developing an analytic method.

Potential Antiaging and Hepatoprotective Effects of Acanthopanax senticosus Extracts in Adult Rat Models.

Data regarding plant extracts with antiaging properties, particularly through the biological process involving telomeres and telomerase, are limited. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Acanthopanax senticosus extract (ASE) supplementation on leukocyte telomere length (LTL), telomerase, and inflammatory and metabolic markers in adult animal models. A freeze-dried product of ethanol extracts was prepared using a mixture product of stem and root ASE. In a 24-week experiment that included 24-week-old Sprague Dawley male rats, experimental rats (n = 10) were administrated with 7 mg/day of ASE dissolved in saline and control rats (n = 10) with saline. All rats had access to chow and tap water ad libitum. Their LTL and plasma levels of telomerase and inflammatory and metabolic markers were assayed and compared between the two groups. The experimental rats showed significantly longer LTL (p < 0.05) and lower plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase (p < 0.05) and aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.08) compared with the control. In addition, LTL was correlated with the aforementioned biochemical parameters of liver function test among experimental rats only. No significant differences in plasma levels of telomerase and inflammatory and metabolic markers were observed. These findings indicate that ASE supplementation may attenuate LTL shortening and reduce liver biochemical parameters, indicating its potential antiaging and hepatoprotective effects without any adverse metabolic response.