Pseudoendogenous presence of β-boldenone sulphate and glucuronide in untreated young bulls from the food chain

The administration of boldenone (bold) to bovines, either for growth promotion or therapeutic purposes, has been banned in the EU since 1981. It is, however, a pseudoendogenous hormone, thus its detection in bovine urine, in the form of α-boldenone conjugates, is considered fully compliant up to 2 ng ml(-1). Greater attention has been placed on β-boldenone, the anabolic active epimer, whose conjugated form must be absent in urine. Recently, the identification of a biomarker representing unquestionable evidence of illicit treatment with bold or its precursor androstadienedione has been a major topic in the literature regarding the detection of residues in bovine urine, and β-boldenone sulphate is a candidate molecule. In this study, we used a method previously validated according to the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC for the determination of sulphate and glucuronide conjugates of β-boldenone. We assessed the occurrence of these molecules in young bull urine, with the aim of understanding whether they could be of endogenous origin, and to check for a possible relationship with particular environmental and stress conditions. Urine samples from 56 young bulls were collected after transport stress, under non-stressful conditions and after transport and slaughter stress. Histopathological investigation of the hormone target organs, i.e. the bulbourethral and prostate glands, was also performed. The results indicate an inverse relationship between the presence and concentration of β-boldenone sulpho- and gluco-conjugates in urine, and stress conditions, expressed by the absence of detection at the slaughterhouse. No significant macroscopic and histologic lesions were detected. Our study indicates that β-boldenone sulphate could be a biomarker of treatment only at the slaughterhouse, while at the farm, in untreated animals (i.e. after a five-month period under the control of Official Veterinarians), sulphate and glucuronide metabolites were found with a frequency of 78% and 46%, respectively, showing the endogenous origin of boldenone.