Survey of the hormones used in cattle fattening based on the analysis of Belgian injection sites

Abstract

Although the illegal use of orally administered compounds in cattle fattening has gained popularity, injection sites are still frequently found during control experiments on the carcasses in the slaughterhouses. The high concentrations of hormones in injection sites enable screening for the presence of 39 different hormones by a simple extraction followed by a fast and simple high-performance thin-layer chromatography analysis. Analysis of injection-site tissue is particularly successful for determining the hormones that are illegally injected. This data can not be obtained by analysis of other biological matrices like faeces, kidney fat or urine, owing to metabolization and selective excretion and/or deposition of these compounds. Since 1989, over 2000 injection sites have been analysed in our laboratory, which yielded a good survey of the hormones that were illegally injected. Over this period, the natural hormones estradiol and testosterone (mostly present as their esters) have obviously been used extensively. It is clear that since 1990 clostebol acetate has remained the most abused exogenous hormone. Additionally, some distinct trends were noticed, e.g., a tendency towards a highly decreased use of nandrolone, an increased use of progesterone and an increased occurrence of certain androgens like stanozolol and fluoxymesterone.

Multi-laboratory study of the analysis and kinetics of stanozolol and its metabolites in treated calves†

“…15,16 In 1995 in 141 positive injection sites Stan was found 72 times. 17 However, Stan has never been detected in other matrices.…”

Nortestosterone is not a naturally occurring compound in male cattle.

“…IAC purification also reduces the probability of spurious false positive results (8) immunoreactive (EIA) concentrations for a-NT in male cattle and relate these to actual (GC-MS) concentrations. Although previous surveys on the incidence of anabolic steroid residues in cattle have been published, most have concentrated on the detection of injection sites (17,29,30). Two studies have examined the incidence of NT in urine and bile.…”

“…However, it has been abused as a growth promoter in cattle since the late 1980's (16,29). Abuse in cattle is detected by post-mortem examination for injection sites and by monitoring either bile or urine for both parent 13-NT and its epimer 17a-19-nortestosterone (a-NT), the major metabolite arising from injection of exogenous P-NT esters in cattle (5,14,7).…”

Comparison of two polyclonal antibodies for the detection of 19‐Nortestosterone in Bovine Bile by ELISA

“…Illegal use of j?-NT, as a growth promoter, has been widely reported throughout Europe (Jansen et al, 1985;Vanoosthuyze et al, 1994). The drug is commonly administered to cattle in the form of esters, e.g.…”

“…The drug is commonly administered to cattle in the form of esters, e.g. phenyl propionate, laurate or decanoate (Jansen et al, 1985;Vanoosthuyze et al, 1994). The metabolism of exogenous j?-NT in cattle has been studied by several workers and it has been established that the 17a-OH epimer (a-NT) conjugated to glucuronic acid is the major metabolite (Benoit et ah, 1989;Haasnoot et al, 1989;Meyer et al, 1989;Van Ginkel et al, 1989).…”