Analysis of erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues in counterfeit drugs and herbal medicines by LC-ESI-MS/MS

Distribution of various illegal or counterfeit drugs of seven approved erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues has been increased, causing health problems such as cardiovascular disorder, tachycardia, headache, or vision disturbance. We used liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) to determine the erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues in various counterfeit drugs. Eleven erectile dysfunction drugs and their analogues were detected, with sildenafil and its analogues being the most counterfeited compounds (73.8 %), followed by tadalafil and its analogues (25.4 %). The limits of detection (LOD) and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) of liquid-type and solid-type negative samples ranged from 0.1 to 3.3 ng/mL or ng/g and from 0.3 to 10.0 ng/mL or ng/g, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 84.3 to 112.3 % and 83.2 to 110.2 %, respectively. The contents of sildenafil and tadalafil in the various counterfeit drugs ranged from 21.0 to 947.5 mg/g and from 0.2 to 170.2 mg/g, respectively.