Identification and quantification of vinpocetine and picamilon in dietary supplements sold in the United States

Abstract

Vinpocetine and picamilon are drugs prescribed in many countries to treat a variety of cerebrovascular disorders. In the United States, vinpocetine and picamilon have never been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, but they are both available for sale directly to consumers as dietary supplements. We designed our study to determine the accuracy of supplement labels with regard to the presence and quantity of vinpocetine and picamilon. A validated ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode-array method was developed for the quantification of vinpocetine and picamilon. The separation was achieved using a reversed phase (C-18) column, photodiode array detection, and water/acetonitrile as the mobile phase. Vinpocetine and picamilon were detected at concentrations as low as 10 and 50 ng/mL, respectively. The presence of vinpocetine and picamilon was confirmed using reference standards. Twenty-three supplements labelled as containing vinpocetine were available for sale at two large supplement retail chains; 17 contained vinpocetine with quantities ranging from 0.3 to 32 mg per recommended daily serving. No vinpocetine was detected in six of the sampled supplements. The supplement label implied that vinpocetine was a constituent of lesser periwinkle in three of the supplements. Of the 31 picamilon supplements available for sale from a variety of retailers: 30 contained picamilon in quantities ranging from 2.7 to 721.5 mg per recommended daily serving. We found that consumers cannot obtain accurate information from supplement labels regarding the presence or quantity of vinpocetine and picamilon.

Getting More Than You Paid For: Unauthorized “Natural” Substances in Herbal Food Supplements on EU Market

“…LC with UV detection, either in form of a single-wavelength detection or PDA, was also used in several applications. For example, it was found suitable for quantification of yohimbine [111,112], vincamine [44,113], evodiamine [114][115][116], and synephrine [105,[117][118][119][120][121] in FSs. In addition to that, UV detection was used in CE and capillary electrochromatography methods for analysis of synephrine [122], octopamine [88], and yohimbine [111].…”

“…Trials aimed at assessing safety of vinpocetine did not report serious adverse effects [38,40]. Minor side effects such as gastrointestinal problems, flushing, rashes, headaches, and decreased blood pressure have been described [43,44]. No serious adverse effects have been reported in connection with use of FSs containing vinpocetine and other vincamine derivatives so far.…”

Advancing supplement science: challenges and solutions

“…identified β‐methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA) in supplements labelled to contain Acacia rigidula extracts and Avula et al . found vinpocetine sold as a constituent of lesser periwinkle . In a separate investigation, Brown et al .…”

“…Avula et al . found picamilon ( N ‐nicotinoyl‐γ‐aminobutyric acid), a prescription drug used in Russia, in multiple supplement brands . Zeng et al .…”

“…Following the publication of research confirming the presence of the synthetic stimulant BMPEA in supplements, the FDA declared BMPEA an illegal ingredient and sent warning letters to companies selling BMPEA supplements . The research finding picamilon in supplements has spurred the FDA to declare picamilon an illegal ingredient and to send warning letters to manufacturers to cease sales of picamilon‐containing supplements…”