Evaluation of the reporting level to detect triamcinolone acetonide misuse in sports

• Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) concentrations were studied in urine samples.
• Intramuscular (IM), intranasal (IN) and topical (TOP) administrations were tested.
• The current reporting level of 30 ng/mL of TA is not able to detect IM misuse.
• A lower concentration of TA could discriminate IM from TOP or IN administrations.

Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) is prohibited in sport competitions using systemic administrations (e.g., intramuscular, IM), and it is allowed by other routes (e.g., intranasal, IN, or topical, TOP). A reporting level of 30 ng/mL is used to discriminate between forbidden and allowed administrations. We examined urinary profiles of TA metabolites after TOP, IN and IM administrations to evaluate the suitability of the current reporting level and to define the best criteria to discriminate between these administrations. TA was administered to healthy volunteers by different routes: a single IM dose (n = 2), IN doses for three days (n = 6), and TOP doses for five days followed by a single IM dose (n = 8). Urine samples were collected at different time intervals and they were analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry to measure TA and eight metabolites. After TOP and IN administrations, concentrations of the metabolites were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than after IM administrations. Concentrations of TA after IM administration were lower than 30 ng/mL for all volunteers (range 0.7–29.7 ng/mL), and they were lower than 5 ng/mL after multiple IN or TOP doses (0.1–3.6 ng/mL and 0–1.7 ng/mL, respectively). For 6β-hydroxy-TA, the main TA metabolite, greater concentrations were obtained: 10.7–469.1 ng/mL, 2.2–90.6 ng/mL and 0–57.2 ng/mL after IM, IN and TOP administrations, respectively. These results suggest that the current reporting level is not suitable to detect forbidden IM administration of TA. A lower concentration of the parent drug or the use of specific metabolites could discriminate IM from TOP or IN administrations.