NCJ Number
225897
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 122-127
Date Published
January 2009
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the analysis of human growth hormone (HGH) using a proteolytic approach via digestion with porcine trypsin.
Abstract
Whole protein analysis was conducted using a two-step approach. The first step used liquid chromatography with ultraviolet (UV) detection in order to screen the sample for the presence of multiple proteins. A comparison of retention times to a known standard can be used for presumptive testing. This screening technique can be coupled to a whole protein analysis by using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) in order to provide a simple method for testing multiple exemplars before compositing a sample. Preliminary study of porcine growth hormone indicates that the whole protein mass and the trypsin digest profiles are dissimilar to HGH and are easily distinguished from one another. Future work will investigate the identification of HGH in the presence of other proteins, as well as the development of a facile method for the quantitation of mixtures. The procedure described complies with the recommendations for the identification of unknown substances developed by the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs. 2 tables, 7 figures, and 8 references