Rapid screening of anabolic steroids in urine by MALDI-Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (LITMS)

ANYL 321

P. K. Sai Prakash, sumakosanam@yahoo.com and Suma Ramagiri. Department of Chemistry, Osmania University, Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad, 500007, India
The control of anabolic steroid abuse in sports is traditionally performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), requiring chemical derivatization steps and lacks sensitivity in detecting certain steroids. A novel approach for rapid screening of anabolic steroids in urine using MALDI-LIT MS is described. Urine was fortified individually and with a complex mixture of testosterone, betamethasone, nandrolone, stanozolol, cyclofenil, clenbuterol and diclofenac. Ionization efficiency and sensitivity were compared between meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin and three other commonly used MALDI matrices. Porphyrin (MW 974.57) was the preferred matrix due to lack of interfering matrix peaks in the lower mass range (m/z 100-700). This is the first time MALDI-LIT MS has been reported for detecting anabolic steroids in urine samples. This novel MALDI-LIT MS method improved the sensitivity, speed and throughput for complex mixture analysis of anabolic steroids in human urine and is therefore a complementary method to GC/MS for doping control.