Identification of Erectile Dysfunction Drugs in Dietary Supplements by Liquid Chromatography Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

With the rise in consumption of dietary supplements for various ailments such as erectile dysfunction (ED), there is concern that these supplements may contain illegally added phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitor and its analogs. HPLC or LC is a general separation method, and MS is a detection technique, together LC/MS/MS technology provides the mass spectral confirmation in identifying sildenafil, vardenafil, tadalafil and their analogs. In our present study, a sample extraction technique with 1:1 acetonitrile: water solvents and sonication was used for screening, then identification was performed using an LC coupled with Velos Pro linear ion trap mass spectrometry. This was a simple and reliable method for a variety of matrices of dietary supplements and pharmaceutical formulations in tablet, capsule or liquid form. The run time is only 6.5 min, allowing for a quick screening and identification of all of analytes of ED drugs using full scan and data-dependent scan MS/MS, except for tadalafil and aminotadalafil (MS/MS/MS). To conclude this study, Sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil, and other 16 analogs in dietary supplements could be quickly screened and identified by HPLC coupled with ion trap MS using data dependent scanning function. The main method using the short column is very rapid, and saves a lot of running time and solvents, and the identification is further confirmed by MS/MS information. The current study develops and validates a quick and reliable method to screen for ED drugs.