Analytical approaches applied to the analysis of apprehended formulations of anabolic androgenic steroids

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) comprise a class of synthetic androgens resulting from chemical modifications of testosterone, known for their illicit consumption, which can result inextensive side effects. Extraction procedures applied to the analysis of their formulations are still limited to a few methodologies, despite the increasing numbers of confiscations of AASs. In this sense, the aims of this work were to evaluate the extraction of active ingredients from formulations of anabolic agents using solid‐liquid or liquid‐iquid, ultrasonic bath, ultrasonicprobe, and microwave‐assisted extraction. The results indicated that the extraction procedures influenced the detected concentration of AASs, as the use of ultrasonic probe and microwave irradiation increased the overall extraction of anabolic agents compared with solid‐liquid, liquid‐liquid, and ultrasonic bath. Regarding oxymetholone, for instance, the microwave‐assisted extraction and ultrasonic probe extracted, respectively, 37.46 ± 1.36 and 35.69 ± 0.98 mg/tablet, while solid‐liquid extracted 29.63 ± 0.40 mg/tablet of the activeingredient. Therefore, alternative methods such as microwave‐assisted extraction or theultrasonic probe could be used for the analysis of formulations of AASs assisting with the identification of illicit and toxic components. Anabolic agents were evaluated by several methods of extraction and analytical techniques. The results showed that the use of microwave irradiation and ultrasonic probe enhanced the extraction process. Moreover, chemical evaluation showed that the oily excipient could be used as a possible marker to detect falsifications.