Drug Testing: New Test Recognizes Sample Contamination

Equine forensic scientists from Pennsylvania have developed a novel assay for equine blood and urine samples to identify racehorses and ensure that the samples destined for drug testing were handled appropriately.

Blood and urine sam

Share
Favorite
Please login to bookmarkClose
Please login

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Equine forensic scientists from Pennsylvania have developed a novel assay for equine blood and urine samples to identify racehorses and ensure that the samples destined for drug testing were handled appropriately.

Blood and urine samples collected from racehorses by Commission employees (witnessed by the horse trainer or representative,) are sometimes challenged for breaches in the chain of custody. For example, contamination of equine samples with human samples has been reported. To confirm the source of a blood or urine sample and to minimize disputes over sample handling, a novel genetic test called the "24-plex STR" was developed.

The technique involves analyzing pieces of genetic material called short tandem repeats (STRs). These sections of DNA are amplified and analyzed to either match or exclude a match from a single blood or urine sample using 24 different STRs, including three human STRs.

Researchers tested the technique in 90 Thoroughbred and 171 Standardbred horses. According to the scientists, "the method was highly discriminating and reproducible with a probability of false identification of 1 in 1011 in Thoroughbreds and 1 in 1013 in Standardbreds

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share
Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

What types of blankets does your horse wear during the winter?
0 votes · 0 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!