The National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa is using the Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex Q TRAP LC/MS/MS system to screen racehorse urine and blood for prohibited substances used to influence the outcome of races.
Applied Biosystems is odds-on favourite
Prohibited substances include an ever-changing variety of agents, from small drug molecules to large protein hormones, all of which can differ significantly in their extraction and detection requirements. Dr Schalk de Kock explained: "The Q TRAP system is an excellent technique for drug screening because of the complex sample matrices being analysed. It makes the extraction methodologies less time consuming and more cost effective, and is sufficiently sensitive and specific to identify very low levels of substances accurately. Another advantageous feature is the systemÆs ability to screen for large numbers of drugs in a single analysis, even when those drugs are closely related compounds. Overall, the Q TRAP System is a highly versatile instrument that is ideal for sensitive qualitative screening, qualitative and quantitative drug confirmation and research into new drug metabolism."