Growth hormone isoform testing in capillary dried blood spots: Results from single and multiple dose administration studies and large-scale field collections
Miller et al.
The finding, in our words
Capillary dried blood spots self-collected with the Tasso M20 device enabled detection of somatropin use using the growth hormone isoforms test for 12 to 24 hours post-administration, with 85% to 86% sensitivity within 12 hours on Kit 1. In a large field study of 1213 athlete and staff samples, no false-positive results were observed, supporting remote dried blood spot sampling for anti-doping testing programmes.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.
Home DBS sampling gave testosterone results that agreed well with venous blood in men on intramuscular testosterone undecanoate, but showed falsely high values in those using topical gel, likely from skin contamination. Patients preferred home collection for its convenience, suggesting DBS is viable for decentralised monitoring of injectable testosterone if patients are taught proper technique.
Olthof et al., Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
Blood-based matrices such as serum and dried blood spots offer direct access to circulating analytes, overcoming key detection limitations of traditional urine testing for agents like erythropoiesis-stimulating drugs and peptide hormones. Capillary microsampling technologies provide simplified collection workflows that support the expansion of multi-matrix anti-doping and biological passport programmes.
The authors validated a mass spectrometry method that simultaneously detects fifteen anabolic steroid esters and approximately eighty-five other prohibited substances from a single dried blood spot. Using a Tasso-M20 device, they detected testosterone undecanoate in authentic samples after oral administration, meeting World Anti-Doping Agency requirements. This reduces sample volume and simplifies workflows for decentralised anti-doping screening.
Sakellariou et al., Drug testing and analysis (paywalled) · source ↗
The authors found that a single microdose of recombinant EPO was detectable up to 72 hours using ITP and CP methods, though the Tasso microsampling device showed lower sensitivity than Mitra and Capitainer. Additionally, isotope ratio mass spectrometry successfully detected testosterone micro-dosing in all analysed samples, supported by serum testosterone levels.
Heiland et al., Drug testing and analysis · source ↗