한의 비만 클리닉에서 확인된 마황 함유 한약 복용 중 암페타민 면역측정법의 위양성 사례 및 휴약 후 음성 사례의 후향적 분석연구

Retrospective Analysis Study of False-Positive Amphetamine Immunoassay Cases and Negative Cases after Withdrawal while Taking Herbal Medicine-Containing Ephedra Sinica Confirmed in a Korean Medicine Obesity Clinic

Herbal medicine (HM)-containing Ephedra Sinica (ES) has been associated with false-positive amphetamine immunoassay (FP IA) results. This study retrospectively evaluated the effects of dose, duration, and withdrawal instructions on FP IA and the safety of HM-containing ES at a clinic in Seoul from 2022 to 2023. The study included 6 patients in the FP IA group and 5 patients in the withdrawal instruction negative (Neg) group. The pre-test ephedrine alkaloids dose in the FP IA group was 95.17±31.90 mg, compared with 88.6±20.43 mg in the Neg group. The FP IA group had taken HM for 226.67±152.87 days before testing, and testing was performed while taking HM. In contrast, the Neg group had taken HM for 147.6±23.49 days and had 5.4±1.50 days of withdrawal period before the test following instructions of Korean medicine doctors. All adverse events (AEs) were moderate in severity, and the number of occurrences was similar: 5 in the FP IA group and 7 in the Neg group. AEs included constipation, insomnia (3 cases each), and palpitations (2 cases). The results of this study show that ES-induced FP IA can be resolved with withdrawal instructions and ES can be safely prescribed and administered by Korean medicine doctors. Further studies are needed to determine how to prevent FP IA after taking ES.