Planta Med 2016; 82 - PA5
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1578620

Quantification Of 1, 3-Dimethylbutylamine (DMBA) From Dietary Supplements

B Avula 1, M Wang 1, S Sagi 1, PA Cohen 2, 3, YH Wang 1, PB Lasonkar 1, AG Chittiboyina 1, W Feng 4, IA Khan 1, 5
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Cambridge Health Alliance, Somerville, MA, USA
  • 3Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
  • 4Division of Chinese Materia Medica, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, China Food and Drug Administration, 2 TiantanXili, Beijing 100050, P. R. China
  • 5Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

1, 3-Dimethylbutylamine (DMBA), is a CNS stimulant which has been identified in multiple dietary supplements and sometimes labeled as a natural constituent of Pouchung tea. DMBA is an homologue of 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA) which the US Food and Drug Administration has attempted to remove from all dietary supplements after DMAA consumption was linked to strokes, heart disease and sudden death. To address questions concerning the natural origin of DMBA, three independent analytical methods were developed for analyzing authentic tea samples and dietary supplements. A High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for the fast screening and chemical fingerprint analysis. Chiral Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to determine the enantiopurity and a validated Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QToF-MS) method was developed for the quantification of DMBA. Using these techniques the presence of DMBA was confirmed using a standard compound and was not detected in any of 23 authentic or commercial samples of Camellia sinensis tea leaves (green tea, black tea, oolong tea and pouchung tea). Of 13 dietary supplements tested, 11 contained DMBA in racemic form and ranged from 0.1 to 214 mg per daily dose and one product contained DMAA also.

Acknowledgements: This research is supported in part by “Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements” funded by the Food and Drug Administration grant number 1U01FD004246 – 05, the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58 – 6408 – 1-603 – 07.