Researchers Validate New Equine Drug-Testing Method

With so many doping agents out there and new substances constantly coming into play, it can be challenging for laboratories to keep up with doping control. When timing and pricing come into play, it can be even more difficult. But researchers in Hong Kong have recently validated a new, easy, “dilute-and-shoot” method that can check for more than 40 of the most difficult-to-detect drugs simultaneously. The test is quick, easy, effective, and cost-efficient.

“By employing high-resolution mass spectrometry in the full-scan mode, we can detect, theoretically, an unlimited number of targeted drugs in a single run, provided that all these drug targets can be ionized and detected in the instrument,” said Terence S.M. Wan, PhD, EurChem, CSci, CChem, FRSC, FAORC, FCSFS, head of the racing laboratory and chief racing chemist at The Hong Kong Jockey Club. “That means new dru