Triptorelin and leuprorelin are synthetic gonadotrophin-releasing hormones (GnRH) that are on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of prohibited substances. To investigate the possible in vivo metabolites of triptorelin and leuprorelin in humans compared to previously reported in vitro metabolites, excreted urine from five patients treated with either triptorelin or leuprorelin was analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/MS-IT-TOF). The addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to the mobile phase was found to enhance the detection sensitivity of certain GnRH analogs. The method was validated, and the limit of detection (LOD) was found at 0.02-0.08 ng/mL. Using this method, a novel new metabolite of triptorelin was discovered in the urine of all subjects up to 1 month after triptorelin administration, but it was not observed in the urine of subjects before drug administration. The limit of detection was estimated to be 0.05 ng/mL. The structure of the metabolite, triptorelin (5-10), is proposed from bottom-up mass spectrometry analysis. The discovery of in vivo triptorelin (5-10) can possibly be used as supporting evidence of triptorelin misuse in athletes.
Keywords: GnRH analogs; LC/MS-IT-TOF; doping; leuprorelin detection; triptorelin detection; triptorelin metabolite.