Rapid determination and quantification of hair-growth compounds in adulterated products by ultra HPLC coupled to quadrupole-orbitrap MS

Recently, a number of adulterated products, which are advertised as hair-growth enhancer have been emerged among those who suffer hair loss disease. For continuous control of illegal products, in this study, a rapid and sensitive method for simultaneous screening of 12 compounds that enhance hair-growth was established to protect public health by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS). Fragmentation pathways of them were proposed based on $MS^2$ spectral data obtained using the established method. In this analysis, the LODs and LOQs ranged from 0.05 to 50 ng/mL and from 0.17 to 167 ng/mL, respectively. The square of the linear correlation coefficient ($R^2$) was determined as more than 0.995. The intra- and inter-assay accuracies were respective 88-112 % and 88-115 %. Their precision values were measured within 5 % (intra-day) and 10 % (inter-day). Mean recoveries of target compounds in adulterated products ranged from 84 to 115%. The relative standard deviation of stability was less than 12 % at $4^{\circ}C$ for 48 h. The method was employed to screen 14 dietary supplements advertised to be effective for the treatment of hair loss. Some of the products (~21 %) were proven to contain synthetic drugs that promote hair growth such as triaminodil, minoxidil, and finasteride.