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Analysis of Equine Doping
Using TurboFlow Technology
and Multiplexing with
LC-MS/MS
Singapore Turf Club Case Study
Part of Thermo Fisher Scientific
m a s s s p e c t r o m e t r y
The Challenge
Screening for performance-enhancing drugs
in horses is an incredibly challenging problem
because race officials are usually looking for
illegal steroids that have similar molecular
structure as naturally occurring steroids in
animals. Further complicating the testing
process is the fact that horse urine and
blood are both complex, dirty matrices –
making the separation especially challenging.
Dr. Stanley previously used a mass
spectrometry system that required liquid-liquid
extraction, but said he needed a system that
was both faster and more reliable. Dr. Stanley
adopted the Thermo Scientific Transcend
TLX-4 system – the only truly independent,
parallel, multichannel U-HPLC system. The
Transcend
™
system, powered by Thermo
Scientific TurboFlow technology, provides
advanced capability compared to traditional
LC separation front-end systems, offering
high throughput, online sample extraction,
superior data quality and ease-of-use.
Sample Preparation
Sample preparation was the biggest bottle-
neck in Dr. Stanley’s lab and a major reason
he became interested in the TLX-4 system.
Transcend systems save time because
they allow the user to inject an untreated
sample, like plasma or urine, directly into the
system, eliminating time-consuming sample
prep processes such as liquid-liquid extrac-
tion, solid-phase extraction and protein
precipitation. No preparation is necessary
because Transcend uses an innovative
TurboFlow
™
method to separate analytes from
biological fluids prior to MS/MS analysis.
“What we liked about the Transcend
system is that it offered an opportunity to
reduce our sample preparation down to
a limited few steps,” Dr. Stanley said. “We
didn’t have to wait for a sample to dry down;
we could even put the sample on directly,
although for robustness we do a little sample
preparation in the pre-race analysis.”
“
What we liked about the Transcend
system is that it offered an opportunity
to reduce our sample preparation
down to a limited few steps.
”
Dr. Shawn Stanley,
Chief Analyst, Singapore Turf Club
Case Study
Introduction
The Singapore Turf Club ran its first race in 1842, for the then-sizable
purse of $150. Today hundreds of millions of dollars are won and
lost at the track every year. With that kind of money at stake, the
fair outcome of a race must be beyond question. As chief analyst at
the Singapore Turf Club’s testing lab, Dr. Shawn Stanley is tasked
with making sure there is never a doubt. Dr. Stanley uses some of
the most advanced mass spectrometry technology in the world to
test more than 15,000 horse blood and urine
samples each year.
“There’s a lot of money in
horse racing, and the legal
environment is such that
we have to ensure
whatever calls
we make from
the lab are
defensible,”
Dr. Stanley
said. “Our methods, our technology
and our results all have to be solid.
We don’t want a situation where we
pull a horse out of a race based on a
test result and then later on it turns out
the result can’t be confirmed.”
Dr. Stanley’s team works under intense
pressure on race days. They have just two
hours before each race – during which
they must test 12 to 13 samples,
confirm any sample finding that is
suspicious, and, if necessary, notify
officials to pull a horse from a race. For
Dr. Stanley’s lab to succeed, he requires
not just the highest accuracy, but also speed
and ease-of-use from his testing system.