DRUG CONTROL IN RACING

Challenges for the Racing Analyst

David BattyLaboratory Director

Racing Analytical Services Limited

Racing Analytical Services Ltd

Why Test For Drugs?

Integrity of racing

Protection of the breed

Welfare and safety

Samples Collected and Analysed 2015/16

RASL is responsible for drug testing for all three racing codes in VIC, SA & TAS, greyhound racing in ACT, NT & NSW and thoroughbred and greyhound racing in Macau plus clients for shows, pony clubs, endurance etc.

• Racing Samples• Post-race blood/urine 26,050• Out of competition blood/urines 3,030• Blood for TCO2 testing 14,230• Racing human samples 996

• Human samples• Workplace testing (urine) 13,373• Workplace testing (oral fluid) 2,407

• Human hair 944• Sports Supplements 65

Urine/Blood/Saliva/Hair

• Urine – More difficult to collect, non-invasive, plenty of it (maybe not for dogs!), concentrations of drugs & metabolites is high.

• Blood – Collection is invasive but quick, and difficult to collect in large quantities from dogs. Concentrations of drugs are lower and do not persist for very long.

• Saliva – Difficult to collect large quantities and drug levels are low. Can be used when drug metabolism is quick, picking up residual drug in the oral cavity.

• Hair – Not used routinely, but can be used as an additional tool when a positive is detected in other fluids. Drugs can be detected in hair for longer periods of time. Hair testing may become routine from an out of competition testing perspective.

Drug Testing Categories Human Sports

Go-fast drugs Strength and endurance drugs Weight control drugs Illicit drugs

Racing (Horses and Greyhounds) Go-fast drugs Go-slow drugs (stoppers) Therapeutic drugs (medicines) Weight control drugs (riders) Illicit drugs (riders and drivers)

Workplace and Medico-legal Illicit drugs Prescription drugs Drugs and driving

Combined Chemical Dictionary 500,000 compounds 30,000 pharmacologically active

compounds 120,000 natural products

ChemSpider > 7,000,000 compounds ? pharmacologically active

(> 500,000?)

“Prohibited Substance”

"prohibited substance" means a substance defined by the following criteria or which falls within any of the groups of substances declared herein unless it is an exempted substance.

(a) any substance capable of affecting a greyhound by its action on the central or peripheral nervous system or any part of that system such as the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, alimentary digestive system, musculoskeletal system, genitourinary or endocrine system and includes without limitation analgesics, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory agents, blood coagulants, diuretics, hormones and their synthetic counterparts, stimulants, corticosteroids, anabolic steroids, local anaesthetics, muscle relaxants and tranquillisers;

(b) any substance administered to disguise or make undetectable, or attempt to disguise or make undetectable, the administration of any of the substance(s) referred to in paragraph (a);

(c) a metabolite, isomer or artefact of any of the substance(s) referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (e) irrespective of whether or not such metabolite, isomer or artefact has any pharmacological effect; (amended – 01.01.11)

(d) unusual or abnormal amounts of endogenous substance(s) including but not limited to cortisol and testosterone;

(e) any substance(s) specified in Schedules 1 to 9 inclusive of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons (Commonwealth) as amended from time to time.

Sample Collection

Drug Testing Strategy

Immunoassay

EMIT

ELISA

Chromatography

GCMS

LCMS

Sample

Drug Screening

Negative- Report

PositiveConfirmationGCMS/LCMS

Routine drug screening methodsBase acetylated GCMS

Acids & Diuretics by LCHRMS

Bases by LCHRMS

Corticosteriods by LCHRMS

Quaternary compounds by LCMS

Acids, bases & neutrals in plasma by LCHRMS

Anabolic Steroids in equine urine PFPA derivatives by GCMS

Peptides in equine plasma and urine by LCMS

Inorganic metals in urine and plasma by ICP-MS

ELISA screens

Confirmed Equine Racing Positives 2015/16DiclofenacCathinoneAcepromazine, Hydroxyethylpromazine Sulphoxide – U & BPhenylbutazone & Oxyphenbutazone – BPhenylbutazone, Oxyphenbutazone & Heptaminol – B3-HydroxylignocaineMethandriol & metabolitesTheobromine (2)Oripavine (7)DesmethylchlopheniramineTestosteroneTestosterone Propionate – Hair (2)Ibuprofen (x9)Arsenic (25)Cobalt (13)Dexamethasone (5)

Thresholds• There are a number of thresholds in the current equine rules which

were developed to tackle particular issues with respect to endogenous substances, environmental contamination or dietary supplements – ie testosterone, hydrocortisone, DMSO, arsenic, cobalt etc

• Extensive population and administration studies are required to establish thresholds.

• In the equine field, laboratories from all over the world have contributed data from administration studies for a range of therapeutic substances to develop a list of screening thresholds.

Feeding & associated risks• Many unregulated supplements on the market may contain

prohibited substances. Ingredient information is not always accurate.

• Be sure to avoid inadvertent contamination of feeds when on medication

Analytical Challenges – The Biological Era Existing drug screening methods cover most if not all of the

standard small molecules found in pharmaceutical preparations.

The current challenge is to develop methods to cover the natural and bioengineered compounds such as peptides and proteins.

Genetic methods of doping will be the next frontier to tackle

Biological Research Unit (BRU)

Established in RASL in 2012 with funding from the State Government of Victoria to target the use of biological doping agents.

The laboratory is equipped with a range of cutting edge technologies to perform all aspects of protein and peptide analysis.

The BRU is unique in its integration of protein and peptide analytical expertise within a larger drug testing facility.

The BRU boasts four experienced protein chemists, who have been given the task of pioneering this type of analysis for samples from the racing industry.

Genetic Methods

Gene Doping

Gene doping is a method of altering an animal’s genes so their cells do things differently from the way they were programmed at birth

Altering genes for the purpose of illegitimateperformance enhancement in athletes

How Do Tackle the Problem? Better analytical methodologies

Research More sensitivity Wider range screening Problem of therapeutic drugs

Alternative analytical strategies Random testing Target testing Pre-race testing Out of competition testing Stable raids Retrospective testing

Better use of intelligence More and better information

Thank You