Development and validation of a simple online-SPE method coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry for the analysis of stanozolol-N-glucuronides in urine samples

Abstract

Stanozolol is still the most commonly used illicit anabolic‐androgenic steroid (AAS) in professional sports. Therefore, accurate and fast analysis and long detection windows are of great interest in the field of antidoping analysis. In this work, a very simple, fast, and highly sensitive online solid‐phase extraction method coupled with liquid chromatography–high‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐HRMSMS) for the analysis of stanozolol‐N‐glucuronides was developed. This fully validated procedure is characterized by only a few manual steps (dilution and addition of internal standard) in the sample preparation. A limit of identification (LOI) of 75 pg/mL, high accuracy (87.1%–102.1%), precision (3.1%–7.8%), and sensitivity was achieved. Furthermore, good linearity (> 0.99) and robustness, as well as no carry‐over effects, could be observed. In addition to excellent confirmation analysis performance, this method shows sufficient potential for the identification and characterization of unknown metabolites. Using this method, it was possible to unambiguously confirm the presence of 1′N‐ and 2′N‐stanozolol‐glucuronide in human urine for the first time due to the access to reference material.