Presence and detection of endogenous steroids in the horse-A review.
- Journal Article
- Review
Summary
This research article presents a detailed review of the challenges in detecting doping with endogenous steroids (those naturally occurring) in horses, and the various strategies used and proposed for their detection.
Detection of Endogenous Steroids
The detection of doping with steroids that are also naturally occurring in horses can be challenging because any trace of the steroid in a horse’s system could be a result of either doping or natural biological processes. As such, researchers employ various methods to determine whether the presence of these steroids is due to exogenous administration (doping) or their natural presence.
- The primary methods currently used internationally include setting thresholds for steroid concentrations in urine and plasma (the liquid part of blood), comparing ratios of different steroids in urine, and targeting the administered intact steroid esters (a type of compound that results from the reaction between an acid and an alcohol) in plasma and hair.
- The understanding of the natural (endogenous) levels of various steroids in different genders of horses and factors that could naturally affect them is critical in establishing the methods used to detect their unnatural use.
Limitations in Current Detection Methods and Proposed Strategies
There are limitations in the methods currently in use for the detection of steroid use in horses.
- Potential variations in the natural steroid concentrations in horses due to factors such as age, diet, and health condition can complicate the threshold and ratio methods.
- Though the targeting of intact steroid esters in plasma and hair can provide evidence of exogenous steroid administration, this method also has its challenges, as the administered steroids could have degraded, making them difficult to detect.
To address these limitations, other strategies have been explored:
- Additional biomarkers (substances used as indicators of a particular biological state) have been investigated as potential tools for detection.
- The profiling of steroids based on longitudinal testing (monitoring changes over a long period of time) and multivariate analysis (a statistical technique used to analyze data with more than one variable) has also been examined as a possible improvement to the current detection methods.
Overview of Endogenous Steroids in Horses
The paper provides a comprehensive review of the different types of steroids – androgens, oestrogens, and progestogens – that naturally occur in horses. It looks at their concentration ranges in different genders and factors that could potentially affect these levels. With this information, researchers may be more equipped to distinguish between natural and unnatural steroid presence, thus improving the detection and prevention of steroid use in horses.
Cite This Article
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- LGC, Cambridgeshire, UK.
- LGC, Cambridgeshire, UK.
- LGC, Cambridgeshire, UK.
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