Abstract
This study involved an animal experiment in which testosterone propionate was intramuscularly injected into four steers, and the ensuing urine samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and response surface methodology employing a 33 Box-Behnken design. A survey study was performed in which 48 urine samples were collected from eight untreated steers to estimate the endogenous levels of testosterone metabolites, and it was found that 17β-testosterone was not detected in the majority of the samples, whereas 17α-testosterone was present in 43 of the 48. Drug abuse was identified within 11 days of 17β-testosterone administration. The ratio between both isomers was also assessed; however, a cut-off limit based on an untreated population could not be estimated due to the absence of the beta isomer. Therefore, there may be a correlation between the exogenous use of testosterone in castrate animals and high levels of 17β-testosterone, although confirmation through further investigation would be required.
Highlights
The use of steroids as growth promoters in foodstuffs is prohibited in the European Union and commercial partners, other countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States allow their usage for these purposes
The frequently performed hydrolysis conditions reported in the literature were initially used to assess its influence on the deconjugation reaction in urine (i.e., 16 h, 37 °C, 50 μL for urine).[12,16,21]
Naturally incurred urine samples containing testosterone propionate metabolites were obtained for an animal experiment involving castrate cattle, which is a condition common in livestock
Summary
The use of steroids as growth promoters in foodstuffs is prohibited in the European Union and commercial partners, other countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States allow their usage for these purposes. To monitor these substances from a surveillance perspective, a range of matrices must be included in regulatory plans, and urine is generally the matrix of choice.[1,2,3]. The steroid 17α-testosterone (αTE) is the main metabolite of 17β-testosterone (βTE) in human and bovine urine and the βTE/αTE ratio (T/E ratio), is widely used in human doping analysis.[13,14] Exogenous administration of commercial
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