  This work reports the potential use of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
(SERS) in rapid, label-free assaying of testosterone (TE) and growth hormone
(GH) in whole blood. Biomarker SERS spectral bands from the two hormones (TE
and GH) in intentionally spiked water for injection and in male Sprague-Dawley
(SD) rat blood are reported. Abuse of the two hormones (TE and GH) singly or
simultaneously is widespread and not only has prolonged side effects such as
hypertension and liver failure, but their illegal use by athletes is against
clean competition. Currently used highly label-dependent doping detection
methods involve complex and time-consuming procedures, rendering them
unsuitable for rapid analysis. In blood, the most concentration-sensitive bands
(in both TE and GH), as deduced through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), were around 684 cm-1 (assigned to C-C stretching)
and 1614 cm-1 (assigned to C-C stretching) in GH; and 786 cm-1 (assigned to N-H
wagging), 856 cm-1 (assigned to C-C stretching), and 1490 cm-1 (assigned to CH2
bending) in TE. In addition, a characteristic variance was noted in the bands
around 1510 cm-1 (attributable to CH2 stretching) in GH and 1636 cm-1 (C-C
stretching) in TE, which could be used as biomarker bands for the respective
hormones in the blood. This work has shown the capability of SERS for potential
hormone concentration level determination when concentration-sensitive or
biomarker bands are employed. This discovery opens new possibilities for the
use of SERS in fields such as sports science, clinical diagnostics, and
biomedical research.
