Detection of anabolic and androgenic steroids and/or their esters in horse hair using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry

Detection of prohibited substances in equine hair by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry – application to doping control samples

“…lipid constituents contained in sebum. This approach maximises the surface area of the sample and, whilst time consuming, has been shown by our laboratory to increase the response of incurred analytes [unreported], a result which is consistent with those reported by other researchers 20. comm.…”

“…This level of signal reduction as a result of co-extracted matrix components is broadly similar to that described by Kwok et al,20 who reported losses of 0.6 to 64%, despite the use of an additional solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up following the initial LLE. As a screening method, in order to improve sample throughput and reduce costs, the sample clean-up steps in this procedure were purposely kept to a minimum; hence some ion suppression (matrix effect) was apparent.…”

“…18 In 2013, the same group published on the detection of a range of anabolic steroids and steroid esters in equine hair, including the successful detection of both boldenone undecylenate and stanozolol in genuine hair samples. 20 This paper also discusses approaches to the production of suitable quality control materials for equine hair testing, an area which requires further investigation as genuine incurred material is difficult and expensive to obtain. 20 This paper also discusses approaches to the production of suitable quality control materials for equine hair testing, an area which requires further investigation as genuine incurred material is difficult and expensive to obtain.…”

“…validated accordingly. As the outer cuticle of the hair sample is opened by extended exposure to the soaking solution, it is possible for the drug compounds to diffuse into the interior of the hair shaft, partially mimicking the internal incorporation of drug via the blood stream 20,22. Method sensitivity (limit of detection) was estimated by determining at which spiked concentration the primary screening transition produced a minimum signal to noise ratio of 3:1.…”

“…with Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques (France), Racing Analytical Services (Australia) and Kwok et al)20 resulting in a more harmonised approach to equine hair testing.When drugs are internally incorporated into the growing hair shaft, either directly via the bloodstream or indirectly via their excretion in sweat and sebum, they can be challenging to extract from the sample matrix. The removal of lipophilic compounds from the outside of the hair surface also assists in minimising the potential for a presumptive positive screening result to be as a result of deposition of analyte on the outside of the hair rather than internal incorporation of analyte via the blood stream.The use of a surfactant-based wash procedure is in line with the approach adopted by selected other laboratories undertaking equine hair analysis, (pers.…”