title: Investigation of urinary steroid metabolites in calf urine after oral and intramuscular administration of DHEA.
abstract: DHEA (3beta-hydroxy-androst-5-en-17-one) is a natural steroid prohormone. Despite a lack of information on the effect, DHEA and other prohormones are frequently used as a food supplement by body-builders. DHEA is suspected for growth promoting abuse in cattle as well. Considering the latter, urine samples from a previous exposure study in which calves were exposed to 1 g DHEA per day for 7 days, were used. The calves were divided in three groups: one orally treated, one intramuscularly injected, and a control group. The effect of this treatment on the urinary profile of several precursors and metabolites of DHEA was investigated. Urine samples were collected several days before and during the 7 days of administration and were submitted to a clean-up procedure consisting of a separation of the different conjugates (free, glucuronidated, and sulfated forms) of each compound on a SAX column (Varian). An LC-MS/MS method was developed for the detection and quantification of several metabolites of the pathway of DHEA including 17alpha- and 17beta-testosterone, 4-androstenedione, 5-androstenediol, pregnenolone, and hydroxypregnenolone. Elevated levels of DHEA, 5-androstenediol, and 17alpha-testosterone were observed in the free and sulfated fraction of the urine of the treated calves, thus indicating that the administered DHEA is metabolized mainly by the Delta(5)-pathway with 5-androstenediol as the intermediate. Sulfoconjugates of DHEA and its metabolites were found to constitute the largest proportion of the urinary metabolites. The free form was also present, but in a lesser extent than the sulfated form, while glucuronides were negligible.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Analysis, Ghent University, Harelbekestraat 72, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. I.Becue@UGent.be
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Becue
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Poucke
authors.forename: Jeroen C W
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rijk
authors.forename: Toine F H
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Bovee
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nielen
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Peteghem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine; D004333:Drug Administration Routes; D013256:Steroids / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D013256:Steroids; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone