Questions about Libidus and Maxidus
Version 1.0, September 2009
I have recently done research about two products claiming to be
tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia), Libidus and Maxidus.
There are indications that the two are the same, with Libidus being
renamed Maxidus. Among other indications (such as similarities in
Internet marketing), I have seen a paid Google ad that says "Libidus
is now Maxidus".
The products or product claim to be mostly tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia):
On another Maxidus website, it is claimed that the product is entirely
herbal, and that it's other enhancers that contain chemicals.
http://www.maxidus-usa.com/faq.htm
This article is carefully worded as I assume that Libidus and Maxidus
are big business. This article is carefully worded as people who want
to protect their big income may resort to all kinds of measures,
including legal, to silence people who raise questions on the source
of said big income.
Libidus and Maxidus have been associated with a new chemical compound:
hydroxythiohomosildenafil (hydroxythiohomo-sildenafil). The name of
this compound suggests that it is a derivation (or analog) of
sildenafil.
There has been one scientific study into this matter. I accessed it
via Google Scholar Search. The URL through which this scientific
article can be accessed is:
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/ The study and investigation was done in affiliation with the Faculty
of Science, Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore
and the Centre for Analytical Science, Health Sciences Authority,
Singapore.
content/tandf/tfac/
2009/00000026/00000002/art00001
It concluded that:
Quote
An unknown compound is detected and isolated from two herbal dietary
supplements bought on the internet. The structure of the unknown
compound is elucidated using ESI-MS/MS, NMR, UV and IR. The compound,
named hydroxythiohomosildenafil, is identified as an analogue of
sildenafil in which the oxygen atom is substituted with a sulfur atom
in the pyrazolopyrimidine moiety, and a hydroxyethyl group instead of
a methyl group is attached to the piperazinyl nitrogen.
Unquote
Only the abstract is accessible for free on the Internet. The full
article was puplished in the scientific journal Food Additives and
Contaminants, Volume 26, Number 2, February 2009 , pp. 145-151(7). One
can purchase the full article online through Ingenta Connect, but it
costs some 45 US dollar to do so.
However, one can do a Google search for: Libidus hydroxythiohomosildenafil
And for: Maxidus hydroxythiohomosildenafil
In both cases, I obtained just one return that linked to the following site:
http://www.informaworld.com/ An abstract is here:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/
smpp/ftinterface?
content=a905455228&rt=0&format=pdf
content~db=all~content=a905455228
The full article is also not available online (though through this
source, one can purchase it for 37 dollar). But the Google search
engine apparently had access to the full version, and actually, one
can read snippets of this article for free if one does a Google search
that is restricted to this URL. For example:
site: http://www.informaworld.com/ Libidus
The Google reference then goes to the same scientific article.
Now, what is hydroxythiohomosildenafil?
For one thing, its something one can buy from companies that
distribute chemicals.
For example here:
http://www.tlcpharmachem.com/
tlc_item.php?upc=S-0611
&li=&sub=
Hydroxythiohomosildenafil is also spelled: hydroxy thio homosildenafil
It seems to have a similar effect as Pfizer's patented sidenafil
citrate. But it appears that it hasn't been studied as rigorously as
sildenafil citrate. Changing a pharmacological compound only slightly
can result in hugely different side effects.
For those who want to dig deeper into the problem of pharmacological
analogs, there is an interesting article here:
http://rivm.openrepository.com/
rivm/bitstream/10029/
16459/1/370030001.pdf
The title of the above article is:
Recent developments in counterfeits and imitations of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra
And one of the statements made in this article right at the beginning is:
Quote
However, a high health risk is posed by the increased use of potent
active substances, mixtures thereof, and the rising number of active
substances in adulterated herbal aphrodisiacs that have no known
safety or toxicological profile (analogs). Consumers can not be
certain of any of these products as to their pharmacological and
toxicological safety. Unquote
I haven't seen any research in as how far as hydroxythiohomosildenafil
alias hydroxy thio homosildenafil has been studied as a medication for
humans. The substance is definitely not registered as such.
Chemically and pharmacologically, hydroxythiohomosildenafil is
considered an analog of sildenafil citrate, the approved Pfizer drug.
On Quote
All analogs of sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil can reasonably be
assumed to be potent PDE-5 inhibitors that also act on other enzymes.
However important, potency only partially contributes to the resulting
health risk. Small differences in molecular structure may have drastic
effects on their absorption in the body, their distribution,
metabolism and excretion. Onset of action, blood levels, halflives,
brain penetration and metabolism may all be very different. All of
these factors could give rise to (un)expected side-effects and do
permanent health damage after single or repeated exposure.
Unquote
http://rivm.openrepository.com/
rivm/bitstream/10029/
16459/1/370030001.pdf
one can read this about analogs:
After this research, I must say that consuming alleged herbal extracts
that contain the synthetic chemical hydroxythiohomosildenafil sounds
very unappetizing indeed. And all those who did have unknowingly been
human guinea pigs for an untested chemical that may indeed produce
erections, but apart from that may or may not cause more or less
severe health problems in the short or long range. No, thank you.
For all those who want to benefit from the proven positive health
effects of tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia) my advice is to buy from
a GENUINE tongkat ali company, and not from a Internet spam site. Even
if the spam site sells a product that does what it claims, and even if
this product is cheaper than genuine tongkat ali extract, to buy from
a spam site is simply not worth the damage that one may do to one's
overall health.
Amazingly enough, not only spam sites have been selling Maxidus. Even
at Amazon.com, it could be bought.
http://www.amazon.com/
Maxidus-Libidus-Erectile-
Maxdus-Enhancement/dp/B000U8Q7HC
Amazon.com, of course, is also only a trader, and for sure, they will
not be liable. A genuine tongkat ali company, in my understanding, is
a company that can document, for example through photos, that indeed,
they are an original source, with legitimate stock, and a legitimate
production site.
On websites that sell Maxidus, I only saw spam photos on "doctorss",
chemistry, tablet production, and people or couples who allegedly use
it, but none of these photos were conclusively associated with a
particular source. They were just illustration photos of the kind that
can easily be copied from anywhere on the Internet.