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Doping control in equine sports is important for a fair competition, but also to ensure the integrity of the betting system, as well as for animal welfare reasons. To detect the use of illicit compounds, screening for the parent compound is common. However, by using a metabolite as the analytical target instead, the detection time can be prolonged. For some compounds, the use of a metabolite is a necessity since the parent drug may not be detected at all.

The metabolites of the selective androgen receptor modulators (SARM) S1, S4 and S22 were investigated in horse urine and plasma. The unchanged parent compounds had the longest detection time in plasma, but were not detected at all in urine. Instead, the longest detection time was measured for the metabolites 2-amino-5-nitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl hydrogen sulfate (SARMs S1 and S4) and 2-amino-5-cyano-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl hydrogen sulfate (SARM S22). These metabolites were thus suggested as analytical targets for doping control in urine while the parent compounds were suggested for plasma samples. 2-amino-5-nitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl hydrogen sulfate could also be produced in large quantities by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans to potentially be used as reference compound.

The horse metabolites of the SARM LGD-4033 were also studied in urine and plasma. The formate adduct of LGD-4033 had the longest detection time in plasma and in urine after hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase. In non-hydrolyzed urine, the glucuronidated LGD-4033 was detected instead.

Different in vitro models were used to predict in vivo metabolites of roxadustat, a hypoxia-inducible factor stabilizer. Cunninghamella elegans was successful in producing more metabolites compared to human and equine liver microsomes and human hepatocytes.

The metabolite detection and identification in all experiments were accomplished using a UHPLC-Q-TOF MS instrument, where the high-resolution MS data was vital in determining which metabolites were formed.

The thesis shows the benefits of investigating the metabolites of doping substances to allow for a successful doping control method in horse urine and plasma by prolonging the detection time. It also highlights the usefulness of Cunninghamella elegans as an alternative to the more commonly used in vitro models for both predicting and producing metabolites.