Chemical analysis of Hemidactylus frenatus (Gekkonidae) Schlegel, 1836 tail: An emerging substance of abuse in Nigeria
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Abstract
Background: The campaign against substance abuse requires empirical validation. This study investigates the psychoactive and toxic chemical content of Hemidactylus frenatus tail, a substance increasingly abused by Nigerian youth.
Methods: H. frenatus tail were collected by cutting off the tails of live H. frenatus caught in buildings at the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa state. Collected samples were sun dried for ten days, pulverized and then processed for analysis. The chemical constituents of the concentrated extracts of H. frenatus tail were determined with a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) machine.
Results: The result showed twenty-four compounds along with their nomenclature, chemical formula, structure, molecular weight, retention time and peak area, amongst which four are psychoactive and six are toxic. The most abundant constituent by peak area was shown to be 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (10.56%). The constituent with the highest retention time (21.500mins) is shown to be cyclopentanetridecanoic acid and it was also the constituent with the highest molecular weight (356Da). Identified psychoactive compounds among the discovered constituents in H. frenatus tail were 9-octadecenamide, indolizine, 2-furan-methanamine and 2- piperidinone while the toxic chemicals identified among the constituents of H. frenatus tail includes indolizine, propanenitrile, 9-octadecenamide, oleic acid, 2-piperidinone and 2-furanmethenamine.
Conclusion: These findings highlight significant health risks and underscore the need for targeted public interventions to curb this trend.
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