Dried blood spots (DBSs) sampling is gaining support by the antidoping community because of simplicity and cost‐effective characteristics, especially in collection, transport, and storage. Nevertheless, DBS applicability demands specific studies for each of the analytes proposed for testing. Here, GHRP‐2 has been selected as a representing member of the growth hormone‐releasing peptides (GHRPs) family to provide further evidence of DBS suitability for GHRPs abuse detection in sport testing. An analytical procedure to extract GHRP‐2 and its main metabolite (AA‐3) from DBS and to detect them by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) has been developed. The method has been validated for the detection of GHRP‐2. Specificity and identification capabilities have been assessed in agreement with antidoping guidelines. The low AA‐3 levels found in DBS samples prevented its effective application for the determination of this metabolite. The limit of detection (LoD) for GHRP‐2 has been established at 50 pg/ml. Long‐term stability (>2 years) has been confirmed. The procedure has been successfully applied to actual DBS samples from an administration study with a single intravenous dose of GHRP‐2 (100 μg) being detected up to 4 h after drug injection. GHRP‐2 concentrations have been higher in venous blood DBS than in capillary blood DBS. Despite the observed differences, a similar detection window has been achieved independently of the type of blood used.

中文翻译：

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反兴奋剂检测干血斑采样之路：GHRP-2滥用检测

干血斑 (DBS) 采样因其简单和具有成本效益的特点而得到反兴奋剂团体的支持，尤其是在收集、运输和储存方面。然而，DBS 的适用性需要对提议用于测试的每种分析物进行具体研究。在这里，GHRP-2 已被选为生长激素释放肽 (GHRPs) 家族的代表成员，以提供 DBS 适用于运动测试中 GHRPs 滥用检测的进一步证据。开发了一种从 DBS 中提取 GHRP-2 及其主要代谢物 (AA-3) 并通过液相色谱-串联质谱 (LC-MS/MS) 进行检测的分析程序。该方法已被验证可用于检测 GHRP-2。已根据反兴奋剂指南评估了特异性和识别能力。DBS 样品中发现的低 AA-3 水平阻碍了其在测定该代谢物方面的有效应用。GHRP-2 的检测限 (LoD) 已确定为 50 pg/ml。已确认长期稳定性（> 2 年）。该程序已成功应用于来自给药研究的实际 DBS 样品，在药物注射后 4 小时内检测到单次静脉内剂量的 GHRP-2（100 μg）。静脉血 DBS 中的 GHRP-2 浓度高于毛细血管血 DBS。尽管观察到差异，但独立于使用的血液类型实现了类似的检测窗口。2 年）已得到确认。该程序已成功应用于来自给药研究的实际 DBS 样品，在药物注射后 4 小时内检测到单次静脉内剂量的 GHRP-2（100 μg）。静脉血 DBS 中的 GHRP-2 浓度高于毛细血管血 DBS。尽管观察到差异，但独立于使用的血液类型实现了类似的检测窗口。2 年）已得到确认。该程序已成功应用于来自给药研究的实际 DBS 样品，在药物注射后 4 小时内检测到单次静脉内剂量的 GHRP-2（100 μg）。静脉血 DBS 中的 GHRP-2 浓度高于毛细血管血 DBS。尽管观察到差异，但独立于使用的血液类型实现了类似的检测窗口。