Drug Testing and Analysis

Detection assays for drugs and methods of sports doping published between 2009 and 2010 are critically reviewed and evaluated in context with the Prohibited List 2010 as established by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Early considerations of doping control analysis by means of chromatographic methods are discussed. These include paper, thin layer, and gas chromatographic approaches predominantly employed for the detection of drugs with stimulating properties.

In this article, the phase one and two metabolism of seven of the most important classes of drugs monitored in horseracing is reviewed. A summary of the literature relating to the enzymology of drug metabolism in this species is also presented.

Anabolic and androgenic steroids (AAS) are widely abused in both human and equine athletes to enhance performance. This paper describes a high-throughput LC-MS/MS method for the detection, identification and confirmation of 60 AAS in equine plasma for doping control of these agents in racehorses. The method is rapid, sensitive, reproducible and reliable.

Methods have been developed to screen for and confirm EPO analogs in horse plasma. The methods screen samples with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirm by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). This report focuses on PEG-epoetin β.

Results of in vitro experiments to demonstrate the metabolism in the equine of 8 designer steroids found on the internet are presented. The use of high-resolution accurate-mass LC-MS along with in vitro methods provide a means of detailing the metabolism of designer steroids which have not been clinically tested and therefore prove to be difficult to obtain ethical approval for in vivo metabolism studies.