Detection and characterization of anabolic steroids in doping analysis by LC-MS

The detection of target anabolic steroids in doping analysis has generally been performed by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS2) is gradually becoming more important for this purpose. Also, since non-commercially available anabolic steroids have been found in some doping-control samples, detection and structural determination of unknown steroids has become a challenge for doping-control laboratories.We discuss the potential of different LC-MS and LC-MS2 scan modes for detection of both target and unknown anabolic steroids. Several modes (e.g., selected reaction monitoring, full scan and product-ion scan) can be successfully used for the detection of target analytes. In order to detect and to characterize unknown steroids and metabolites, the most powerful approach seems to be to combine several scan modes. We use a practical case to illustrate the potential of LC-MS and LC-MS2 for this purpose.