Determination of higenamine in common natural spices by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Higenamine (HG) is a β receptor agonist and was explicitly added to the Prohibited List of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2017. This compound is prohibited in both in- and out-of-competition athletes and falls under the category of nonthreshold substances. Because of HG presence in numerous plants, as evidenced by a growing body of research data, an exception was made for HG in the TD2017MRPL document, in which adverse analytical findings (AAFs) were not reported if the urinary HG concentration was less than 10 ng/mL.

Use of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for determination of higenamine in urine following oral administration of traditional Chinese medicine.

Since higenamine (HG) was first included in the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) 2017 Prohibited List, an increasing number of plants have been found to contain this ingredient. As a result, doctors are hesitant to prescribe traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to athletes. Thus, it is very important to assess the risks of doping violations due to HG following the oral administration of TCM.