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

The study discusses the development and application of a sensitive method using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) for detecting prohibited substances in horse hair, a matrix that hasn’t been traditionally employed for sports drug testing. The 50-prohibited-compound detection technique offers several benefits such as an extended detection window and simplified sample collection and storage.

Advantages of Hair Analysis

The researchers highlight the value of hair samples for doping detection in sports. Unlike traditional methods that focus on urine or blood samples, hair analysis offers:

• A significantly longer detection window, allowing to trace back drug use for a period that can stretch out to months, depending on the length of the hair.
• A simpler and non-invasive sample collection that also offers ease of transportation and storage.

Development and Validation of the Detection Method

The article moves on to cover the formulation and validation of a UHPLC-MS/MS method to detect 50 different compounds linked with equine doping. These compounds include substances of particular interest such as anabolic steroid esters and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs). During the validation process:

• The team of researchers were able to achieve limits of detection as low as 0.1 pg/mg for most compounds, with all compounds detected at 2 pg/mg or below.
• They successfully tested the method using actual equine hair samples, identifying prohibited substances like stanozolol, boldenone undecylenate, clenbuterol, and GW-501516.
• The estimated concentrations of these prohibited substances ranged from 0.27 to 8.6 pg/mg.

Application of the Detection Method

Following the successful development and validation of the method, the paper illustrates its practical use. It was stated that the method has been applied to routine screening of over 400 real equine hair samples, proving it to be fit for this purpose. By doing so, this method can provide an effective tool for combating doping in the equine sports industry, contributing to fair play and animal welfare.