285
Views
16
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Detection of endogenous steroid abuse in cattle: results from population studies in the UK

, , , , &
Pages 44-61 | Received 13 Aug 2010, Accepted 07 Nov 2010, Published online: 15 Jan 2011
 

Abstract

The use of steroids as growth-promoting agents in food production is banned under European Union legislation. Detecting the abuse of testosterone, nandrolone, boldenone, oestradiol and progesterone is complicated by the fact that these steroids are known to be endogenous in certain situations. In this study, the concentrations of characteristic metabolites of each of these steroids were quantified in populations of untreated steers and heifers. Steroid concentration population data were then used by a statistical model (the Chebyshev inequality) to produce threshold concentrations for screening and confirming the abuse of these steroids in steer and non-pregnant heifer urine. In addition to thresholds based on testing one animal (a ‘1 out of 1’ approach), new methods based on testing multiple animals from a herd (a ‘y out of n’ approach) allowed threshold concentrations to be significantly reduced and hence false compliances to be minimised. In the majority of cases, the suggested thresholds were found to be capable of confirming the abuse of endogenous steroids in steers and heifers. In the case of oestradiol abuse in the female, however, confirmation based on a threshold is not possible and alternative methods such as gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry are required. In addition to the steer and heifer populations, a small number of pregnant animals were also tested, yielding insights into the biosynthetic pathways of some of the steroids.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 799.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.