A review of designer anabolic steroids in equine sports.

This research paper reviews the issue of potential anabolic steroid misuse, particularly designer ones, in equine sports. It presents a summary of existing literature on the metabolism of these steroids in horses and discusses methods to enhance anti-doping screening protocols.

Overview of the Issue

• The research article begins by acknowledging the significantly increased risk of anabolic steroid abuse in equine sports. This problem has escalated due to the higher accessibility of designer steroids online, which are often sold as ‘dietary’ or ‘nutritional’ supplements.
• These substances have not been tested or approved for use in veterinary medicine and often have unusual chemical structures, allowing them to pass unnoticed through existing anti-doping practices. This poses a significant threat to the integrity of the equine sports industry.

Need for Detailed Metabolic Understanding

• The article highlights the need for better understanding of how these steroids are metabolized in horse systems to effectively respond to this misuse issue. Only by identifying specific markers and metabolites can the misuse of these substances be detected.
• A brief overview of current literature on these substances’ metabolism in horses is given, aiming to identify metabolites that can be integrated into future anti-doping testing protocols.

The Future of Equine Anti-doping Research

• The paper proposes that future anti-doping research in equine sports should employ alternative testing matrices in routine screenings.
• According to the paper, there is also a need to improve in vitro technologies to better replicate the in vivo metabolism of horses. This requirement is particularly important for achieving more accurate understandings and testing processes.
• It also suggests enhancing the instrumentation or analytical methods such that untargeted screenings and new metabolomics approaches can be developed for use in anti-doping testing procedures.