World Anti-Doping Code 2021 / World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). - Montreal : WADA, 2020

The purposes of the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Program which supports it are:

1.) To protect the Athletes’ fundamental right to participate in doping-free sport and thus promote health, fairness and equality for Athletes worldwide, and

2.) To ensure harmonized, coordinated and effective anti-doping programs at the international and national level with regard to the prevention of doping, including:

- Education — to raise awareness, inform, communicate, to instill values, develop life skills and decision-making capability to prevent intentional and unintentional anti-doping rule violations.

- Deterrence — to divert potential dopers, through ensuring that robust rules and sanctions are in place and salient for all stakeholders.

- Detection — an effective Testing and investigations system not only enhances a deterrent effect, but also is effective in protecting clean Athletes and the spirit of sport by catching those committing anti-doping rule violations, while also helping to disrupt anyone engaged in doping behavior.

- Enforcement — to adjudicate and sanction those found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation.

- Rule of law — to ensure that all relevant stakeholders have agreed to submit to the Code and the International Standards, and that all measures taken in application of their anti-doping programs respect the Code, the International Standards, and the principles of proportionality and human rights.

2021 World Anti-Doping Code : Changes from November 2019 to June 2020 / World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). - Montreal : WADA, 2020

Summary document outlines the limited changes from the 26 November 2019 versions to the final version of the World Anti-Doping Code 2021 published 15 June 2020

Application of Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Methods to the Control of Sport Nutrition and Medicines Marketed via Internet / A.Z. Temerdasheva,  A.A. Azaryana, A.V. Labutinb, M.A. Dikunetsc, I.O. Zverevac, I.I. Podol’skiic, G.T. Berodzed, I.A. Balabaeve. - (Journal of Analytical Chemistry 72 (2017) 11 (November); p. 1184-1192)

• DOI: 10.1134/S1061934817110090

Abstract

Several sport nutrition products and doping drugs sold in the period from 2014 to 2016 were studied using gas and liquid chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry. In the study, WADA-banned substances were detected in the composition of pre-workout supplements, fat burners, and prohormones. A series of selective androgen receptor modulators and peptide doping drugs were also studied. It was shown that, in some cases, preparations can be adulterated.

Validation of a GC/MS method for the detection
of two quinolinone-derived selective androgen receptor
modulators in doping control analysis / E. Gerace, A. Salomone, F. Fasano, Régis Afonso Costa, D. Boschi, A. Di Stilo, Marco Vincenti. - (Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry (2011) 400; p. 137–144)

• PMID: 21165606
• DOI: 10.1007/s00216-010-4569-8

Abstract

Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) represent an emerging class of drugs likely to be abused in sport. For clinical applications, these substances provide a promising alternative to testosterone-replacement therapies and their advantages include oral bioavailability, androgen receptor specificity, tissue selectivity, and the absence of steroid-related side effects. Although not yet commercially available, since January 2008 SARMs have been included on the prohibited list issued yearly by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), so control laboratories need to update their procedures to detect either the parent drugs or their metabolites. Within this context, two quinolinone SARM models were synthesized and automatically characterized to update the existing routine screening procedures. The conditions for the new target analytes are compatible with the existing laboratory protocols used for both in-competition and out-of-competition controls and can be included in them. Validation parameters according to ISO 17025 and WADA guidelines were successfully determined. For analytical determinations, spiked urine samples were hydrolyzed and extracted at pH 9.6 with 10 mL of tert-butyl methyl ether. Then, the analytes were subsequently converted into trimethylsilyl derivatives and detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The absence of interferents, together with excellent repeatability of both retention times and the relative abundances of diagnostic ions, allowed proper identification of all SARM analytes. The analytes' quantification was linear up to 500 ng/mL and precision criteria were satisfied (coefficient of variation less than 25% at 10 ng/mL). The limits of detection were 1 ng/mL for both SARMs, whereas recovery values were between 95.5 and 99.3%. The validated method can be efficiently used for urine screening of the 2-quinolinone-derived SARMs tested.

Considering Harm Reduction as the Future of Doping Control Policy in International Sport / Ken Kirkwood. - (Quest 61 (2012) 2 (14 February); p. 180-190)

• DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2009.10483609

Abstract

Since the 1960s, major international sporting organizations enforced a prohibition on performance-enhancing drugs. The scope of this enforcement expanded to the current system regulated by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Although the sophistication of the detective sciences and the comprehensive enforcement of these prohibitions have improved over time, supporters of the ban on drug use in sport still struggle with 3 issues: Doping is still quite common; the ability to detect established drugs have driven users to newer, more experimental substances; and the prohibition policy lacks sufficient moral justifications. This article suggests that the debate over doping has bifurcated between those who continue to support antidoping measures with insufficient ethical grounds and those who would potentially permit the unregulated use of performance-enhancement technologies in sport because of insufficient justifications for prohibition. A third way, posed herein, suggests the most ethically defensible policy is a harm-reduction approach.

Does the Existence of Steroid Addiction Alter the View That Steroid Use in Sport is Cheating? / Ken Kirkwood. - (Quest 66 (2014) 4 (14 October); p. 485-494)

• DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2014.950758

Abstract:

It is widely accepted that doping in sports is, by definition, cheating. If we allow that cheating is advantage-seeking behavior utilized by one party in an agreement-defined activity that disallows that behavior, then taking drugs when others do not is cheating. The focus of this definition is on the intentions and purpose of the actor, which is primarily about advantage seeking. This article will argue that the effect of anabolic steroid addiction on the volition of the actor caeteris paribus invalidates the adequacy of cheating to describe this behavior.

Selling androgenic anabolic steroids by the pound : identification and analysis of popular websites on the Internet
/ F.G. Cordaro, S. Lombardo, M. Cosentino. - (Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 21 (2011) 6 (December); p. 247-259)

• PMID: 21210860
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01263.x

Abstract

Internet websites offering androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) were identified and available products were examined. Keywords for the website search were: "anabolic steroids," "anabolic steroids buy," "anabolic steroid purchase." The first 10 websites offering AAS in the first 10 pages of results were considered. At least two AAS-containing products per website were selected. Thirty AAS-selling websites were identified, mainly located in the United States (46.7%) and Europe (30%). Most websites sold other anabolic/ergogenic products (clenbuterol, 76.7%; GH/IGF, 60.0%; thyroid hormones, 46.7%; erythropoietin, 30.0%; insulin, 20.0%) or products for AAS-related adverse effects (mainly: estrogen antagonists, 63.3%; products for erectile dysfunction, 56.7%; 5α-reductase inhibitors, 33.3%; anti-acne products, 33.3%). AAS were sold as medicines (69.6%) or as dietary supplements (30.4%). AAS in medicines were mainly: nandronole (20.4%), methandrostenolone (18.4%), and testosterone (12.2%). Dietary supplements contained mainly DHEA and included several fake compounds. Manufacturers were declared for 97.9% of medicines and 66.7% of dietary supplements; however, several manufacturers were not found on the Internet. Described benefits were usually few adverse effects and no estrogenicity. Toxicity was seldom reported and presented as mild. Recommended doses were two-fourfold higher than current medical recommendations. In conclusion, misleading information and deceiving practices were common findings on AAS-selling websites, indicating their deleterious potential for public health.

Short-term rhGH increases PIIINP, a biomarker of endothelial dysfunction / Michael R. Graham, Yaodong Gu, P.J. Evans, S.M. Cooper, Bruce Davies, Julien S. Baker. - (International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science 4 (2017) 7 (July); p. 164-173)

• DOI: 10.22161/ijaers.4.7.26

Abstract:

Objectives: In arterial hypertension, amino-terminal pIII procollagen ropeptide of type (PIIINP) is elevated in arterial aneurysm tissue and associated with a poor prognosis following acute myocardial infarction (MI). Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) administration attenuates endothelial dysfunction but increases PIIINP. This study was conducted to establish if short-term rhGH administration affects PIIINP, endothelial function and selected cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, in healthy males.

Design: Method: Male subjects (n=48) were randomly assigned into two groups: (1): control group (C) n=24, mean ± SD, age 32 ± 11 years; height 1.8 ± 0.06 metres; (2): rhGH administration group (rhGH) n=24, mean ± SD, age 32 ± 9 years; height 1.8 ± 0.07 metres. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), arterial pulse wave velocity (APWV), and biochemical indices were investigated.

Results: PIIINP (0.28±0.1 vs. 0.42±0.2, U/ml); Insulin like growth factor-I (159±54 vs. 323±93, ng.mL-1); resting HR (72±14 vs. 78±11, b.p.m.) and rate pressure product (RPP) (90±18 vs. 97±14, bpm x mm.Hg x 10-2) all significantly increased (P<0.05). Total cholesterol (4.7±0.9 vs. 4.4±0.7, mmol.L-1); high sensitivity C-reactive protein (1.77±2.1 vs. 1.29±1.6, mg.L-1); serum homocysteine (13.2±4.0 vs. 11.7±3.1, μmol.L-1) and APWV (9.97±1.38 vs. 9.18±1.6, m.s-1) all significantly decreased (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Paradoxically, there was an improvement in CVD inflammatory markers and APWV; but PIIINP and resting RPP increased. Elevated PIIINP may have a confounding adverse effect on the endothelium, but may also provide clinical prognostic information in monitoring arterial hypertension, left ventricular function in the sub-acute phase following MI and endothelial function in aortic aneurysms. 

Exercise, Science and Designer Doping: Traditional and Emerging Trends / Michael R. Graham, Bruce Davies, Fergal M. Grace, Julien S. Baker. - (Journal of Sports Medicine & Doping Studies 3 (2012) 3 (January); p.1-9)

• DOI:10.4172/2157-7536.1000108

Abstract:

The list of doping agents is enormous, and for the majority, any beneficial sporting effect is contentious. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and United Kingdom (UK) Anti-Doping have difficulty detecting the peptide hormones, growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I), insulin and erythropoietin (Epo), because they require blood analysis. Only in the last two years has an athlete been convicted of taking GH, which is still being used as a doping agent because the window for detection is so brief. This positive test was not contested, which suggests that science may be winning the war on drugs. Athletes appear to have ceased taking insulin, because of its life-threatening acute effects, and in recent years no adverse analytical findings have been reported for this drug. “Older” doping agents, which are known to enhance performance in sport, include testosterone and their derivatives, anabolic steroids. The pharmaceutical industry continues to manufacture new medicines, pushing back the boundaries in combating wasting disease states and the ageing process, but is inadvertently producing the latest generation of doping agents. This will challenge anti-doping scientists. WADA’s banned list also includes fibroblast growth factors, hepatocyte growth factor, mechano growth factors, platelet-derived growth factor, vascular-endothelial growth factor which may promote muscle, tendon or ligament development, vascularisation, energy utilisation, regenerative capacity and fibre type. Athletes will use whatever they believe works, but can only use what is available. Internet companies offer these anabolic products, but their veracity cannot be proven. There are questions that need to be answered? Are these products available to athletes, do they enhance performance, are athletes really taking them and are they so difficult to detect. The internet has made them available to anyone with a credit card and it appears that if they are cycled correctly, unless an athlete is caught in possession of them, the opportunity of proving a case of doping is almost impossible.

Potential benefits of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) to athletes / Michael R. Graham, Julien S. Baker, Peter Evans, David Hullin, Non-Eleri Thomas, Bruce Davies. - (Growth Hormone & IGF Research 19 (2009) 4 (August); p. 300-307)

• PMID: 19539505
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ghir.2009.04.008

Abstract

Athletes have enjoyed almost a thirty year amnesty of rhGH abuse, which they consider has contributed to the winning of medals and the breaking of world records. Such a reprieve is almost at an end, since WADA have identified a method to detect rhGH abuse. Or have they? The anecdotal word "on the street" is that rhGH is still undetectable and athletes believe that the benefits, at the dosages they administer, far outweigh the risks! Scientists are aware that in a hormone deficiency condition, replacement can halt and in certain situations reverse some of the adverse effects. Growth hormone deficiency can lead to a loss of skeletal muscle mass and an increase in abdomino-visceral obesity, which is reversed on replacement with rhGH. Since the availability of GH, athletes have been trying to extrapolate these effects from the deficiency state to the healthy corpus and increase their sporting prowess. Past confessions from athletes, such as Ben Johnson, Kelly White, Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones and currently Dwain Chambers have demonstrated that they are prepared to tread the very fine lines that separate the "men from the boys". Rewards are so great, that anonymous surveys have identified that athletes will risk ill health, if they believe they can cheat, win and not get caught. The question that still needs to be answered is, "does growth hormone enhance performance"? Recent research suggests that it could. There is also a suspicion that in "cycled" low supraphysiological doses, it is no where near as harmful as WADA claim it to be.