Dietary Supplement Analytical Methods and Reference Materials Program (AMRM)

Education and Outreach

two scientists looking at a laptop AMRM includes education and training initiatives to improve analytical proficiency skills; quality assurance programs to help improve laboratory performance; and dissemination of information via meeting presentations and journal publications.

NIST Quality Assurance Programs (QAPS)

Health Assessment Measurements Quality Assurance Program (HAMQAP)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) established the Health Assessment Measurements Quality Assurance Program (HAMQAP) to support the measurement needs of the food, dietary supplement, and clinical communities.

Participant laboratories measure concentrations of elements (nutritional or toxic), vitamins, fatty acids, bioactive or marker phytochemicals compounds, and/or contaminants in samples distributed by NIST. Samples represent either human intake (e.g., foods, dietary supplements) or human output (e.g., serum, plasma, urine). The information gained through participation may be used by labs to identify and resolve measurement issues, aid in analyst training and improve analytical capabilities, and demonstrate appropriateness of analytical methodology to regulatory agencies.

Participant data is compiled at NIST and analyzed for accuracy, precision, and concordance within the community. Reports and certificates of completion are sent to participants, and workshops and webinars are held to discuss results as well as methodological advancements in the area of health assessment measurements.

Historical Quality Assurance Programs
- Dietary Supplement Laboratory Quality Assurance Program (DSQAP).
  Participants measured concentrations of a large variety of bioactive and/or marker compounds and nutritional and toxic elements in dietary ingredient and supplement product samples. Over 80 laboratories participated in 15 exercises from 2007 to 2017. In 2017 the ongoing activities of the DSQAP were organized within the HAMQAP (see above) in an effort to better serve analyst community needs.
- Vitamin D Metabolites Quality Assurance Program (VitDQAP)
  The ODS/NIST Vitamin D Metabolites Quality Assurance Program (VitDQAP) supported improvements in the reliability of vitamin D measurements in human serum and plasma. Results from the comparison studies helped participants make to maintain and improve their measurement comparability and thus generate more accurate clinical determinations, which in turn supports better informed health-care decisions. Interlaboratory comparison studies were directed toward the measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D₂, 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃, and 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ in selected serum and plasma matrices as well as method-appropriate control materials. As other international quality assurance programs transitioned to the kinds of accuracy-based assessments modeled by the VitDQAP, this program concluded in 2015.
- Fatty Acids in Human Serum and Plasma Quality Assurance Program (FAQAP)
  Interlaboratory comparison studies were directed toward the measurement of 24 fatty acids in selected serum and plasma matrices. NIST recommends using Standard Reference Materials (SRM) 2378 - Fatty Acids in Frozen Human Serum and 1950 - Metabolites in Human Plasma to validate fatty acid measurement methodologies and to value-assign in-house control materials. In 2017 the ongoing activities of the FAQAP were organized with the HAMQAP (see above) in an effort to better serve analyst community needs.

Natural Product Characterization and Integrity for Dietary Supplement Research

Dietary supplements and natural product preparations must be rigorously identified and sufficiently characterized to support the replicability of research on their health effects. A description of resources and select references to aid investigators in assessing the identity, purity, composition, and strength of natural products can be found at the ODS Natural Product Characterization and Integrity webpage: https://ods.od.nih.gov/Research/ProductQualityResources.aspx

Botanical Identification and Documentation Resources

The funding of initiatives at AOAC International and at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have resulted in publications on the following topics:

Guidelines for validation of botanical identification methods.
J AOAC Int. 2012 95(1): 268-272.
Statistical model for the validation of qualitative botanical identification methods.
J AOAC Int. 2012 95(1):273-285.
Standard operating procedures for the collection and preparation of voucher plant specimens.
J Anal Bioanal Chem. 2007 389(1):13-7.
Microscopic characterization of botanicals.
American Herbal Pharmacopoeia: Botanical Pharmacognosy - Microscopic Characterization of Botanical Medicines. Upton, Graff, Jolliffe, Langer, and Williamson Eds. CRC Press, 2011.
Partially funded by ODS and includes an atlas providing detailed text and graphic descriptions of more than 140 medicinal plant species and their adulterants.