Detection of prohibited substances in equestrian sport through direct injection of equine serum using micellar LC

Abstract

Background: Detection of prohibited substances in equestrian sports typically involves time-consuming and tedious sample-preparation methods. Micellar LC (MLC) allows for direct injection of equine serum to detect prohibited NSAIDs. Results: The method was linear over the range of standards examined, with recoveries of 94.2–95.1% for phenylbutazone (12–18 µg/ml), and 83.9–88.7% and 87.9–105.0% for diclofenac and flunixin, respectively (0.1–1.2 µg/ml). The limit of detection was 0.1 µg/ml for all compounds and the limit of quantitation was 0.2 µg/ml for phenylbutazone and 0.3 µg/ml for diclofenac and flunixin. Conclusion: The MLC method of direct equine serum injection was shown to be valid and simple for the quantitation of banned NSAIDs in equine serum.