Screening for Anabolic Steroids in Urine of Forensic Cases Using Fully Automated Solid Phase Extraction and LC–MS-MS. (7th August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Andersen, David W.; Linnet, Kristian
• Is Part Of: Journal of analytical toxicology. Volume 38:Number 9(2014)
• Page Start: 637
• Page End: 644
• Publication Date: 2014-08-07
• Subjects: Drugs -- Analysis -- Periodicals; Drugs -- Toxicity testing -- Periodicals; 615.907
• DOI: 10.1093/jat/bku098
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0146-4760

Abstract

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.