Quantitative analysis of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs in dried blood spot from mountain ultra‐trail runners. Contribution of pharmacokinetic models for the interpretation of the results

Abstract

Monitoring of drug use in athletes is of interest both for health and competition‐related issues. Considering the advantages of Dried Blood Sampling (low invasiveness, easy sampling, long term storage), we have validated a quantitative LC–MS/HRMS method for the screening of 16 nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. For all drugs, accuracy and imprecision were within 15% for the 3 levels of quality control and lower than 20% for the lower limit of quantification. Application was performed from samples obtained for Ultra‐Trail du Mont‐Blanc® 2021 and 2022. A focus on ibuprofen and its metabolites (hydroxyibuprofen, carboxyibuprofen, ibuprofen glucuronide and hydroxyibuprofen glucuronide) was made because the results showed that it was the most detected nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug. Further, an interpretation of the ibuprofen concentrations was proposed either from experimental data obtained after an intake of ibuprofen by 10 control subjects, or from a pharmacokinetic modelling and simulations. Depending on the analytical performances of the method, we proposed possible detection windows for ibuprofen in runners. The pharmacokinetic model made it possible to consider two scenarios with and without modification of the total clearance of ibuprofen linked to a modification of the pharmacokinetics of the drugs due to the practice of a long and intense physical activity.