title: Screening for anabolic steroids in urine of forensic cases using fully automated solid phase extraction and LC-MS-MS.
abstract: A screening method for 18 frequently measured exogenous anabolic steroids and the testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio in forensic cases has been developed and validated. The method involves a fully automated sample preparation including enzyme treatment, addition of internal standards and solid phase extraction followed by analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) using electrospray ionization with adduct formation for two compounds. Urine samples from 580 forensic cases were analyzed to determine the T/E ratio and occurrence of exogenous anabolic steroids. Extraction recoveries ranged from 77 to 95%, matrix effects from 48 to 78%, overall process efficiencies from 40 to 54% and the lower limit of identification ranged from 2 to 40 ng/mL. In the 580 urine samples analyzed from routine forensic cases, 17 (2.9%) were found positive for one or more anabolic steroids. Only seven different steroids including testosterone were found in the material, suggesting that only a small number of common steroids are likely to occur in a forensic context. The steroids were often in high concentrations (>100 ng/mL), and a combination of steroids and/or other drugs of abuse were seen in the majority of cases. The method presented serves as a fast and automated screening procedure, proving the suitability of LC-MS-MS for analyzing anabolic steroids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Frederik Femte vej 11, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark David.wederkinck@sund.ku.dk.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Frederik Femte vej 11, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Linnet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000652:urine*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D013256:Steroids / Q000652:urine*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D045930:Anabolic Agents; D013256:Steroids