An interlaboratory study of the pharmacokinetics of testosterone following intramuscular administration to Thoroughbred horses

Testosterone is an anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) that is endogenously produced by both male and female horses that also has the potential for abuse when administered exogenously to race horses. To recommend appropriate withdrawal guidelines so that veterinarians can discontinue therapeutic use prior to competition, the pharmacokinetics and elimination of testosterone were investigated. An aqueous testosterone suspension was administered intramuscularly in the neck of Thoroughbred horses (n=20). The disposition of testosterone from this formulation was characterized by an initial, rapid absorption phase followed by a much more variable secondary absorption phase. The median terminal half-life was 39h. A second focus of this study was to compare the testosterone concentrations determined by two different laboratories using a percentage similarity model with a coefficient of variation of 16.5% showing good agreement between the two laboratories results. Based on the results of this study, a withdrawal period of 30days for aqueous testosterone administered IM is recommended.