Urine and blood samples are the primary matrices for the detection of exogenous substances in doping control and toxicology. Although these matrices are, in general, very suitable for a wide range of substances, they do show some issues in particular cases. Here, alternative matrices may provide an answer. In this work, a quantitative method for steroid profiling (5 endogenous steroids and their ratios) in oral fluid was developed and validated. In total, 826 saliva samples were analyzed, and inter-individual reference population thresholds for saliva steroid profile parameters were set up. Alterations of this steroid profile after administration of naturally occurring anabolic androgenic steroids (e.g. testosterone (T) or dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) were investigated. In addition, intra-individual short and long-term natural fluctuations were investigated. For longitudinal monitoring in oral fluid, steroid profile ratios (e.g., T/DHEA) were superior to absolute concentrations due to lower susceptibility towards the diurnal pattern. For the detection of a transdermal application of T, the salivary parameter T/DHEA proved to have the highest sensitivity. In contrast with the current screening procedures in urine, there is no need for an additional expensive and time-consuming isotope ratio mass spectrometry confirmation procedure to unequivocally attribute the elevated parameter to an exogenous origin.

中文翻译：

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唾液类固醇分析检测内源性类固醇滥用的潜力：口腔液类固醇浓度和比率的参考阈值

尿液和血液样本是兴奋剂控制和毒理学中检测外源性物质的主要基质。虽然这些矩阵一般来说非常适用于范围广泛的物质，但它们在特定情况下确实会出现一些问题。在这里，替代矩阵可以提供答案。在这项工作中，开发并验证了一种用于口腔液中类固醇分析（5 种内源性类固醇及其比率）的定量方法。总共分析了 826 个唾液样本，并设置了唾液类固醇谱参数的个体间参考人群阈值。研究了在施用天然合成代谢雄激素类固醇（例如睾酮 (T) 或脱氢表雄酮 (DHEA)）后该类固醇谱的变化。此外，研究了个体内部短期和长期的自然波动。对于口腔液中的纵向监测，由于对昼夜模式的敏感性较低，类固醇分布比（例如，T/DHEA）优于绝对浓度。对于检测 T 的透皮应用，唾液参数 T/DHEA 被证明具有最高的灵敏度。与目前的尿液筛查程序相比，不需要额外的昂贵且耗时的同位素比质谱确认程序来明确地将升高的参数归因于外源性来源。对于检测 T 的透皮应用，唾液参数 T/DHEA 被证明具有最高的灵敏度。与目前的尿液筛查程序相比，不需要额外的昂贵且耗时的同位素比质谱确认程序来明确地将升高的参数归因于外源性来源。对于检测 T 的透皮应用，唾液参数 T/DHEA 被证明具有最高的灵敏度。与目前的尿液筛查程序相比，不需要额外的昂贵且耗时的同位素比质谱确认程序来明确地将升高的参数归因于外源性来源。