Dr Scollay
May 11, 2021 18:17:53 GMT -5
Post by 1hooper on May 11, 2021 18:17:53 GMT -5
Head of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium. READ last two paragraphs below.
TDN full article. www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/qa-mary-scollay-on-drug-testing-protocols-latest-baffert-explanation/
Twenty-one picograms of betamethasone is described by some as insignificant. Can what appears such a relatively small amount of betamethasone be a performance enhancer?
You sort of ask two questions there, and so, I need to answer them separately.
First of all, we're not talking about the sum total of 21 picograms in the entire horse's body, it's 21 picograms per milliliter of blood. The horse has an awful amount of blood, probably in excess of 50,000 milliliters. That also doesn't measure the medication that has left the blood stream and entered the tissue. So, it's not 21 picograms in the entire horse–it's 21 picograms in one milliliter of blood. That's a different math problem right there.
Secondly, picogram is a measurement of weight and not potency. And so, my best way to explain this is to compare a pound of celery to a pound of Godiva chocolate. They both weigh a pound, so they have the same weight measurement, but in terms of potency–and let's say that's caloric content–they are hugely different, right? So, when you talk about a picogram of something, all you're really talking about is a measurement of weight.
Betamethasone is a potent corticosteroid administered at fairly low doses–nine milligrams or less in a single joint. Compare that to phenylbutazone which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. It's not a particularly potent drug–it's administered in gram doses. And so, we don't worry about picogram doses of phenylbutazone. We regulate phenylbutazone at the microgram level, which is one-millionth of a gram, and that's again because the drug disperses throughout the entire body.
So, you have to consider the potency of the drug, and because betamethasone is administered in low milligram doses, picogram concentrations are highly relevant.
Now, do I know what effect 21 picograms has on a horse? No, I do not. But I do know that, based on the administration studies that were funded by the RMTC, 21 picograms is consistent with the intra-articular administration of nine milligrams into a single fetlock joint at less than 72 hours prior to sampling.
Now, I'm not saying the horse in question received an intra-articular injection of betamethasone. It's clear that at the moment, no one knows how it got into the horse, and I'm not suggesting otherwise. I'm just saying that drug at that dose by that route of administration would result in that concentration within administration at less than 72 hours to a race.
TDN full article. www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/qa-mary-scollay-on-drug-testing-protocols-latest-baffert-explanation/
Twenty-one picograms of betamethasone is described by some as insignificant. Can what appears such a relatively small amount of betamethasone be a performance enhancer?
You sort of ask two questions there, and so, I need to answer them separately.
First of all, we're not talking about the sum total of 21 picograms in the entire horse's body, it's 21 picograms per milliliter of blood. The horse has an awful amount of blood, probably in excess of 50,000 milliliters. That also doesn't measure the medication that has left the blood stream and entered the tissue. So, it's not 21 picograms in the entire horse–it's 21 picograms in one milliliter of blood. That's a different math problem right there.
Secondly, picogram is a measurement of weight and not potency. And so, my best way to explain this is to compare a pound of celery to a pound of Godiva chocolate. They both weigh a pound, so they have the same weight measurement, but in terms of potency–and let's say that's caloric content–they are hugely different, right? So, when you talk about a picogram of something, all you're really talking about is a measurement of weight.
Betamethasone is a potent corticosteroid administered at fairly low doses–nine milligrams or less in a single joint. Compare that to phenylbutazone which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. It's not a particularly potent drug–it's administered in gram doses. And so, we don't worry about picogram doses of phenylbutazone. We regulate phenylbutazone at the microgram level, which is one-millionth of a gram, and that's again because the drug disperses throughout the entire body.
So, you have to consider the potency of the drug, and because betamethasone is administered in low milligram doses, picogram concentrations are highly relevant.
Now, do I know what effect 21 picograms has on a horse? No, I do not. But I do know that, based on the administration studies that were funded by the RMTC, 21 picograms is consistent with the intra-articular administration of nine milligrams into a single fetlock joint at less than 72 hours prior to sampling.
Now, I'm not saying the horse in question received an intra-articular injection of betamethasone. It's clear that at the moment, no one knows how it got into the horse, and I'm not suggesting otherwise. I'm just saying that drug at that dose by that route of administration would result in that concentration within administration at less than 72 hours to a race.
