Abstract
This paper reports the application of near‐infrared Raman spectroscopy to detect ephedrine in biological medium. At present time, the doping control for ephedrine in athletes uses the urinalysis by the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, with main disadvantage the need of collecting urine and the time delay to obtain results. This work aims to develop a noninvasive technique that will allow to evaluate the concentration of the ephedrine in a real time diagnosis. A Raman system composed by a Ti:Saphire laser pumped by an Argon laser was used, operating at the wavelength of 785 nm, with a laser power of 70 mW at sample position. Raman scattered photons were collected by a f/l.8 spectrometer and a N2‐cooled CCD detector. Ephedrine Raman peaks at 1002 and 1603 cm−1 were studied, opening possibility for the identification and quantification of ephedrine. Raman spectra of ephedrine with different concentrations in human urine were taken, and the intensity of the ephedrine peak at 1002 cm−1 was measured as a function of its concentration. It was also studied the Raman spectrum of an urine sample from a Wistar rat, after a subcutaneous inoculation of an ephedrine solution in physiologic serum, at the concentration of 5 mg/ml. It was found that Raman spectroscopy could detect ephedrine in urine at concentrations lower than the doping limit legally permitted by the International Olympic Committee.
Highlights
The ephedra alkaloids have received recently more attention because of their widespread use by athletes and their potentially severe side effects
The doping control for ephedrine is based on the urinalysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry test [2,3,4,5]
The aim of this work is to demonstrate that near-infrared Raman spectroscopy (NIRS) technique can detect, in vitro, the presence of ephedrine in human urine, as well in rat urine, even for concentrations lower than the doping limit legally permitted by the IOC (International Olympic Committee)
Summary
The ephedra alkaloids have received recently more attention because of their widespread use by athletes and their potentially severe side effects. They are being used despite of lack of evidence regarding any ergogenic or performance benefit. The urinalysis technique is a very important technique for doping control in sports, mainly because of the longer time decay. Most of the abused drugs, including their metabolites, decay to low levels after a few hours from drug uptake, while urine samples generally have a longer surveillance time of about 1–3 days [4,5]. The routine urinalysis examination presents as disadvantages the need of material collection and the time delay to obtain the assay results, estimated to be as long as 24 hours
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
