Doping in sport—2. Quantification of the impurity 19-norandrostenedione in pharmaceutical preparations of norethisterone

The finding of measurable amounts of 19-norandrostenedione in norethisterone tablets prompted us to develop an assay to quantify this steroid. 19-Norandrostenedione is an anabolic steroid whose use in sport is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The assay was developed using isotope dilution and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the quantification of 19-norandrostenedione in norethisterone formulations, with [3,4-¹³C₂]-19-norandrostenedione as the internal standard. The results showed amounts up to 1.01 ± 0.01 μg (mean ± S.E.M.) per tablet in those containing 5 mg of norethisterone or norethisterone acetate (0.02%, w/w) and up to 0.5 ± 0.01 μg (mean ± S.E.M.) per tablet (0.05%, w/w) in oral contraceptive tablets containing 0.35-1.5 mg of norethisterone or norethisterone acetate. No tablet tested exceeded the British Pharmacopoeia limit of 0.1% for this impurity.