High-throughput screening of corticosteroids and basic drugs in horse urine by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
This paper describes two high-throughput liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) methods for the screening of two important classes of drugs in equine sports, namely corticosteroids and basic drugs, at low ppb levels in horse urine. The method utilized a high efficiency reversed-phase LC column (3.3 cm L x 2.1 mm i.d. with 3 microm particles) to provide fast turnaround times. The overall turnaround time for the corticosteroid screen was 5 min and that for the basic drug screen was 8 min, inclusive of post-run and equilibration times. Method specificity was assessed by analysing a total of 35 negative post-race horse urine samples. No interference from the matrices at the expected retention times of the targeted masses was observed. Inter-day precision for the screening of 19 corticosteroids and 48 basic drugs were evaluated by replicate analyses (n = 10) of a spiked sample on 4 consecutive days. The results demonstrated that both methods have acceptable precision to be used on a routine basis. The performance of these two methods on real samples was demonstrated by their applications to drug administration and positive post-race urine samples.
Leung
Gary N W
GN
Racing Laboratory, The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Sha Tin Racecourse, Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong, China. gary.nw.leung@hkjc.org.hk
Chung
Evonne W
EW
Ho
Emmie N M
EN
Kwok
W H
WH
Leung
David K K
DK
Tang
Francis P W
FP
Wan
Terence S M
TS
Yu
Nola H
NH
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000652:urine*; D000818:Animals; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004300:Doping in Sports; D006736:Horses; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000652:urine*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations