Development and validation of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for screening six selective androgen receptor modulators in dietary supplements

Assessing limits of detection in qualitative methods: A simple implementation of logistic regression in a web-based R Shiny application environment and its potential in toxicology and doping control

The estimation of limits of detection (LOD) for solely qualitative methods in analytical chemistry may prove challenging because all the approaches with which chemists are familiar require some type of numeric data input. The best model to describe the binary response in these methods (detected/not detected) is a logistic model; however, these models are not easily handled by most of the laboratories and generally demand expensive statistical software packages. In this work, the advantages of applying this approach are discussed and its implementation using commercial spreadsheet software is demonstrated. A free online application based on the R environment using shinyapps was developed and its application was validated and discussed with a dataset of 57 different target compounds analyzed in urine according to the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This tool allows free, extremely quick, and easy determinations of LOD in qualitative analyses as well as the determination of the probabilities of detection in any given concentration.

The forensic response after an adverse analytical finding (doping) involving a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) in human athlete

Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are a class of drugs presenting identical anabolic properties to anabolic steroids in addition to marked reduced androgenic effects. These drugs have emerged in the doping area within the early 2000's. Ligandrol, ostarine, RAD-140 and andarine are the most popular agents belonging to this class. According to the world anti-doping agency (WADA) prohibited list, SARMs are prohibited at all times (i.e. in and out-of-competition) and are listed under the section S1.2 (other anabolic agents). The compilation of the WADA testing figures reports from 2015 to 2019 has indicated a regular increase of adverse analytical findings (AAF) due to SARMs, particularly with ostarine and ligandrol. The implementation of highly sensitive chromatographic anti-doping analyses has induced high-profile challenges of anti-doping rules violations as athletes have claimed in numerous occasions that contamination was the reason for their AAF. Since the early 2000's, it has been accepted by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne (Switzerland) that, under some specific circumstances, unusual explanations can be provided to the Panel to explain an AAF. This was the open door for forensic investigations, as it is done in criminal Courts. A forensic approach can include testing for SARMs in food, drinks, but mostly in dietary supplements. As most anti-doping rules violations are only known several weeks after urine collection, this biological matrix is seldom use for further tests, despite the fact that most SARMs can be detected for several weeks in urine. Luckily, hair or nail testing can be a complement to document the claim of the athlete but of course, it cannot be considered as an alternative to urinalysis. This is because a negative hair or nail result cannot exclude the use of the detected drug and cannot overrule the urine result. To date, all methods for SARMs identification in various matrices involve liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry or high-resolution mass spectrometry. The aim of this paper is to review the scientific literature on the analytical possibilities of testing SARMs in dietary supplements, urine and hair or nail clippings after an AAF to document the claims of an athlete or his/her legal team.