New urinary EPO drug testing method using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Unlabelled: We present a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) method for the detection of the drug, recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in urine and its separation from endogenous erythropoietin (HuEPO). This method involves a one-step acetonitrile precipitation of the proteins in urine, addition of an internal standard, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D PAGE), a single Western blot and chemiluminescent immunodetection.

Results: The 2DE method separates HuEPO and rHuEPO isoforms by both iso-electric point and molecular mass.