Forensic detection of steroid abuse - Online hydrotreatment as an elegant preparative step - Resubmission

检测滥用药物对体育运动的安全和公平至关重要。类固醇激素是田径运动中最常见的滥用药物，但确认类固醇滥用可能很困难。一种高精度的方法是观察类固醇中的碳原子，以测量其非放射性同位素(碳-12与碳-13)的比率。天然人类类固醇和毒品骗子使用的类固醇的碳同位素比率明显不同。然而，测量碳同位素比率需要良好的样品准备步骤，而类固醇对所使用的仪器可能是有问题的。现有的制备技术落后于现代质谱仪探测器的强大能力。STFC的研究已经产生了一种快速的在线方法，可以用氢气处理类固醇，只保留碳骨架完整-这是碳同位素比率分析的完美准备步骤。这笔赠款将使该方法商业化，方法是展示其相对于现有技术的优势，并生产一个原型系统，使世界各地的法医实验室的技术人员能够使用该方法。商业化将受益于与英国一家主要的药物测试服务提供商的合作。

Detection of drug abuse is essential for safety and fairness in sport. Steroid hormones are the most commonly abused drugs in athletics but confirming steroid abuse can be difficult. One highly accurate method is to look inside the carbon atoms of steroid to measure the ratio of their non-radioactive isotopes (carbon-12 to carbon-13). The carbon isotope ratios of natural human steroids and those used by drug cheats are recognizably different. However, measuring carbon isotope ratios requires good sample preparation steps and steroids can be problematic for the instruments used. Existing preparation techniques lag behind the powerful capabilities of modern mass spectrometer detectors. STFC research has produced a rapid on-line method that can be used to treats steroids with hydrogen to leave only the carbon skeleton intact - the perfect preparation step for carbon isotope ratio analysis. This grant will commercialize the method by demonstrating its advantages relative to existing techniques and by producing a prototype system that will allow the method to be used by technical staff in forensic laboratories world-wide. The commercialization will benefit from partnership with a major UK provider of drug testing services.