In vivo Administration of Testosterone Propionate in Cattle Analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry: An Enzymatic Hydrolysis Study and Drug Abuse Issues

• Published in: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 392 - 400
• Main Authors: Rocha, Diego, Lana, Mary Ane, Faria, Adriana, Augusti, Rodinei, de Assis, Débora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 01-04-2022
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; animal experimentation; testosterone; Box-Behnken design; livestock
• ISSN: 0103-5053; 1678-4790
• DOI: 10.21577/0103-5053.20210159

This study involved an animal experiment in which testosterone propionate was intramuscularly injected into four steers, and the ensuing urine samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and response surface methodology employing a 33 Box-Behnken design. A survey study was performed in which 48 urine samples were collected from eight untreated steers to estimate the endogenous levels of testosterone metabolites, and it was found that 17β-testosterone was not detected in the majority of the samples, whereas 17α-testosterone was present in 43 of the 48. Drug abuse was identified within 11 days of 17β-testosterone administration. The ratio between both isomers was also assessed; however, a cut-off limit based on an untreated population could not be estimated due to the absence of the beta isomer. Therefore, there may be a correlation between the exogenous use of testosterone in castrate animals and high levels of 17β-testosterone, although confirmation through further investigation would be required.