High throughput identification and quantification of anabolic steroid esters by atmospheric solids analysis probe mass spectrometry for efficient screening of drug preparations.

Recent developments in ambient mass spectrometry (AMS), such as atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP) mass spectrometry, open a whole new range of possibilities to screen for drug preparations. In this study, the potential of ASAP for the rapid identification and quantification of anabolic steroid esters has been evaluated. These compounds are known to be used both in human and in food producing animals to enhance performances and to improve the rate of growth, respectively. Using a triple quadrupole (QqQ) MS instrument, mechanism of ionization and fragmentation in both positive and negative mode were studied for a range of 21 selected steroid esters (based on testosterone, estradiol, nandrolone, and boldenone) which highlighted common neutral mass loss of 96.1, thus allowing rapid screening in minutes to reveal steroid ester presence with minimal sample preparation. Ester identification is further achieved through an efficient 2 min workflow on a QqQ MS instrument. Moreover, the use of isotope labeled internal standards permitted the quantification of the corresponding steroid esters in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode, for the first time in ASAP. This approach was successfully applied for characterization of oily commercial preparations. These results open new perspectives in hormone (and drug) rapid analysis by ASAP-MS in the near future.