Determination of some Aristolochic acid and Aristolactam in herbal dietary supplements containing Aristolochiaceae plants

LC-MS/MS method providing high sensitivity for determination of five aristolochic acids (AA) and four aristolactams (AL) was built. Samples were extracted efficiently in Methanol: DMSO solvent. The detection limit of AA A, AL BII is 0.030 ng/g, of AL FI, AL AII is 0.15 ng/g, and of AA B, AA C, AA D, 7-OH AA A, AL I is 3.0 ng/g. Recoveries of nine target compounds were from 80.2 to 110%, and relative standard deviations were below 10.5%. The method was applied to simultaneously determine the content of nine target analytes in capsule, tablet, traditional round pill, and liquid herbal supplements collected from different drug stores in Hanoi, Vietnam. Results show that AA A, 7-OH AAA, and AL I compounds exist in 24 out of 30 health supplements. Among them, it is worth noting that three tablet samples without declaring ingredients belonged to Aristolochiaceae plants on the pack, but still be positive with AA A and AL I.