Evolving concepts and techniques for anti-doping

Ultra-fast retroactive processing of liquid chromatography high-resolution full-scan Orbitrap mass spectrometry data in anti-doping screening of human urine

RATIONALE

Retroactive analysis of previously tested urine samples has become an important sports anti-doping tool. Retroactive reprocessing of old data files acquired from a generic screening procedure can reveal detection of initially unknown substances, like illegal drugs and newly identified metabolites.

METHODS

To be able to efficiently search through hundreds to thousands of liquid chromatography high-resolution full-scan Orbitrap mass spectrometry data files of anti-doping samples, a combination of MetAlign and HR_MS_Search software has been developed. MetAlign reduced the data size ca 100-fold making possible local storage of a massive volume of data.

RESULTS

The newly developed HR_MS_Search module can search through the reduced data files for new compounds (mass or isotope pattern) defined by mass windows and retention time windows. A search for 33 analytes in 940 reduced data files lasted 10 s. The output of the automatic search was compared to the standard manual routine evaluation. The results of searching were evaluated in terms of false negatives and false positives. The newly banned b2-agonist higenamine and its metabolite coclaurine were successfully searched in reduced data files originating from a testing period for which these substances were not banned, as an example of retroactive analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The freeware MetAlign software and its automatic searching module HR_MS_Search facilitated the retroactive reprocessing of reduced full-scan high-resolution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry screening data files and created a new tool in anti-doping laboratories' network.

Comparison of gas chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight and quadrupole Orbitrap mass spectrometry in anti-doping analysis: I. Detection of anabolic-androgenic steroids

RATIONALE

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) encourages drug-testing laboratories to develop screening methods that can detect as many doping substances as possible in urine. The use of full-scan high-resolution acquisition (FS/HR) with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the detection of known and unknown trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) provides anti-doping testing bodies with a new analytical tool.

METHODS

The AAS were extracted from urine samples by generic liquid-liquid extraction, after enzymatic hydrolysis, and TMS derivatization. The extracted urine was analyzed by GC/Q-TOF and GC/Q-Orbitrap to compare the performance of the two instrument types for the detection of 46 AAS in human urine. The quantitation of endogenous anabolic steroids and the ability of the two analytical platforms to comply with the requirements for testing as part of the WADA Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) were also assessed.

RESULTS

The data presented show that the analytical performance for both instruments complies with the WADA specifications. The limits of detection (LODs) for both instruments are well below the WADA 50% Minimum Required Performance Levels. The mass errors in the current study for the GC/Q-Orbitrap platform are lower than those obtained for the GC/Q-TOF instrument.

CONCLUSIONS

The data presented herein proved that both molecular profiling platforms can be used for antidoping screening. The mass accuracies are excellent in both instruments; however, the GC/Q-Orbitrap performs better as it provides higher resolution than the GC/Q-TOF platform.

Current trends in mass spectrometry of peptides and proteins: Application to veterinary and sports-doping control

Detection of misuse of peptides and proteins as growth promoters is a major issue for sport and food regulatory agencies. The limitations of current analytical detection strategies for this class of compounds, in combination with their efficacy in growth-promoting effects, make peptide and protein drugs highly susceptible to abuse by either athletes or farmers who seek for products to illicitly enhance muscle growth. Mass spectrometry (MS) for qualitative analysis of peptides and proteins is well-established, particularly due to tremendous efforts in the proteomics community. Similarly, due to advancements in targeted proteomic strategies and the rapid growth of protein-based biopharmaceuticals, MS for quantitative analysis of peptides and proteins is becoming more widely accepted. These continuous advances in MS instrumentation and MS-based methodologies offer enormous opportunities for detection and confirmation of peptides and proteins. Therefore, MS seems to be the method of choice to improve the qualitative and quantitative analysis of peptide and proteins with growth-promoting properties. This review aims to address the opportunities of MS for peptide and protein analysis in veterinary control and sports-doping control with a particular focus on detection of illicit growth promotion. An overview of potential peptide and protein targets, including their amino acid sequence characteristics and current MS-based detection strategies is, therefore, provided. Furthermore, improvements of current and new detection strategies with state-of-the-art MS instrumentation are discussed for qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Advances in the detection of designer steroids in anti-doping

The abuse of unknown designer androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) is considered to be an issue of significant importance, as AAS are the choice of doping preference according to World Anti-doping Agency statistics. In addition, unknown designer AAS are preferred since the World Anti-doping Agency mass spectrometric identification criteria cannot be applied to unknown molecules. Consequently, cheating athletes have a strong motive to use designer AAS in order to both achieve performance enhancement and to escape from testing positive in anti-doping tests. To face the problem, a synergy is required between the anti-doping analytical science and sports anti-doping regulations. This Review examines various aspects of the designer AAS. First, the structural modifications of the already known AAS to create new designer molecules are explained. A list of the designer synthetic and endogenous AAS is then presented. Second, we discuss progress in the detection of designer AAS using: mass spectrometry and bioassays; analytical data processing of the unknown designer AAS; metabolite synthesis; and, long-term storage of urine and blood samples. Finally, the introduction of regulations from sports authorities as preventive measures for long-term storage and reprocessing of samples, initially reported as negatives, is discussed.

A synopsis of the adverse analytical and atypical findings between 2005 and 2011 from the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens in Greece

This article concerns the analysis of the Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) and the appropriate alterations made during the period 2005-2011, so that the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens (DCLA) obeys the updated World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) List of Prohibited Substances. The % AAFs of the DCLA was compared with those of WADA-Accredited Laboratories. In 2008, the term Atypical Finding was introduced by the WADA representing a reported but inconclusive result. A characteristic example is when a testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio is >4 followed by a negative gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry result. In a total of about 30,000 athlete samples, 136 athletes were found with an increased testosterone/epitestosterone ratio and 43 with tetrahydrocannabinol metabolite (THCCOOH) of 427 reported AAFs. Twenty-one athletes in total were found positive with methylhexaneamine, the 11 found after a batch of 1000 samples was reprocessed. Besides, there were AAFs below their Minimum Required Performance Level (MRPL). The increasing need for higher detectability imposed new apparatus, e.g., liquid chromatography/quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry, whereas that for lowering the capital costs and reporting times led to the unification of the screening method which includes stimulants, diuretics, anabolics and other substances.