Validation of whole-blood transcriptome signature during microdose recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) administration / Guan Wang, Jérôme Durussel, Jonathan Shurlock, Martin Mooses, Noriyuki Fuku, Georgie Bruinvels, Charles Pedlar, Richard Burden, Andrew Murray, Brendan Yee, Anne Keenan, John D. McClure, Pierre-Edouard Sottas, Yannis P. Pitsiladis. - (BMC Genomics 18 (2017) Supplement 8 (17 November); p. 67-113)

• PMID: 29143667
• PMCID: PMC5688496
• DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-4191-7

Abstract

Background: Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) can improve human performance and is therefore frequently abused by athletes. As a result, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) introduced the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) as an indirect method to detect blood doping. Despite this progress, challenges remain to detect blood manipulations such as the use of microdoses of rHuEpo.

Methods: Forty-five whole-blood transcriptional markers of rHuEpo previously derived from a high-dose rHuEpo administration trial were used to assess whether microdoses of rHuEpo could be detected in 14 trained subjects and whether these markers may be confounded by exercise (n = 14 trained subjects) and altitude training (n = 21 elite runners and n = 4 elite rowers, respectively). Differential gene expression analysis was carried out following normalisation and significance declared following application of a 5% false discovery rate (FDR) and a 1.5 fold-change. Adaptive model analysis was also applied to incorporate these markers for the detection of rHuEpo.

Results: ALAS2, BCL2L1, DCAF12, EPB42, GMPR, SELENBP1, SLC4A1, TMOD1 and TRIM58 were differentially expressed during and throughout the post phase of microdose rHuEpo administration. The CD247 and TRIM58 genes were significantly up- and down-regulated, respectively, immediately following exercise when compared with the baseline both before and after rHuEpo/placebo. No significant gene expression changes were found 30 min after exercise in either rHuEpo or placebo groups. ALAS2, BCL2L1, DCAF12, SLC4A1, TMOD1 and TRIM58 tended to be significantly expressed in the elite runners ten days after arriving at altitude and one week after returning from altitude (FDR > 0.059, fold-change varying from 1.39 to 1.63). Following application of the adaptive model, 15 genes showed a high sensitivity (≥ 93%) and specificity (≥ 71%), with BCL2L1 and CSDA having the highest sensitivity (93%) and specificity (93%).

Conclusions: Current results provide further evidence that transcriptional biomarkers can strengthen the ABP approach by significantly prolonging the detection window and improving the sensitivity and specificity of blood doping detection. Further studies are required to confirm, and if necessary, integrate the confounding effects of altitude training on blood doping.

Value of measuring muscle performance to assess changes in lean mass with testosterone and growth hormone supplementation / E. Todd Schroeder, Jiaxiu He, Kevin E. Yarasheski, Ellen F. Binder, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Shalender Bhasin, Christina M Dieli-Conwright, Miwa Kawakubo, Ronenn Roubenoff, Stanley P. Azen, Fred R. Sattler. - (European Journal of Applied Physiology 112 (2012) 3 (March); p. 1123-1131)

• PMID: 21748366
• PMCID: PMC3448487
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-2077-y

Abstract

We hypothesized that treatment with testosterone (T) and recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) would increase lean mass (LM) and muscle strength proportionally and an in a linear manner over 16 weeks. This was a multicenter, randomized, controlled, double-masked investigation of T and rhGH supplementation in older (71 ± 4 years) community-dwelling men. Participants received transdermal T at either 5 or 10 g/day as well as rhGH at 0, 3.0 or 5.0 μg/kg/day for 16 weeks. Body composition was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and muscle performance by composite one-repetition maximum (1-RM) strength and strength per unit of lean mass (muscle quality, MQ) for five major muscle groups (upper and lower body) at baseline, week 8 and 17. The average change in total LM at study week 8 compared with baseline was 1.50 ± 1.54 kg (P < 0.0001) in the T only group and 2.64 ± 1.7 (P < 0.0001) in the T + rhGH group and at week 17 was 1.46 ± 1.48 kg (P < 0.0001) in the T only group and 2.14 ± 1.96 kg (P < 0.0001) in the T + rhGH group. 1-RM strength improved modestly in both groups combined (12.0 ± 23.9%, P < 0.0001) at week 8 but at week 17 these changes were twofold greater (24.7 ± 31.0%, P < 0.0001). MQ did not significantly change from baseline to week 8 but increased for the entire cohort, T only, and T + rhGH groups by week 17 (P < 0.001). Despite sizeable increases in LM measurements at week 8, tests of muscle performance did not show substantive improvements at this time point.

Variability and dilemmas in harm reduction for anabolic steroid users in the UK: a multi-area interview study / Andreas Kimergård, Jim McVeigh. - (Harm Reduction Journal 11 (2014) 19 (2 July); p. 1-13)

• PMID: 24986546
• PMCID: PMC4098923
• DOI: 10.1186/1477-7517-11-19

Abstract

Background: The UK continues to experience a rise in the number of anabolic steroid-using clients attending harm reduction services such as needle and syringe programmes.

Methods: The present study uses interviews conducted with harm reduction service providers as well as illicit users of anabolic steroids from different areas of England and Wales to explore harm reduction for this group of drug users, focussing on needle distribution policies and harm reduction interventions developed specifically for this population of drug users.

Results: The article addresses the complexity of harm reduction service delivery, highlighting different models of needle distribution, such as peer-led distribution networks, as well as interventions available in steroid clinics, including liver function testing of anabolic steroid users. Aside from providing insights into the function of interventions available to steroid users, along with principles adopted by service providers, the study found significant tensions and dilemmas in policy implementation due to differing perspectives between service providers and service users relating to practices, risks and effective interventions.

Conclusion: The overarching finding of the study was the tremendous variability across harm reduction delivery sites in terms of available measures and mode of operation. Further research into the effectiveness of different policies directed towards people who use anabolic steroids is critical to the development of harm reduction.

Hein Verbruggen - Circ / Hein Verbruggen. - 2014

Hein Verbruggen (1941-2017), former International Cycling Union (UCI), states what in his opinion has occurred:

1.) The UCI has been – since the outstart some 50 years ago – and still is one of the forerunners of anti-doping;

2.) As regards my period as President from 1992 to 2005, I guarantee that there has never been a positive doping case that has not been treated according to the rules, nor has there been a policy of favouring riders or teams. The antidoping activities of the UCI were in the hands of persons of the highest ethical standards (professionals as well as volunteers);

3.) The poor image of cycling in terms of anti-doping is based on a wrong perception rather than on facts (by which I do not mean to play down the doping problem in cycling as shown by scandals such as Festina and Puerto and the many riders found positive by the UCI). The WADA and in particular its previous President Mr R. Pound have largely contributed to shaping that negative perception by means of an ongoing smear campaign often based upon sheer lies and false allegations. It is my conviction (and not only mine!) that Mr Pound has personal reasons of revenge;

4.) Mr Pound is to a large extent personally responsible for the fact that the WADA is a poorly performing anti-doping agency with a very low success record. The WADA’s performance has come under heavy criticism within the Olympic Movement. Mr Pound and the WADA’s management follow since years a mostly unreasonable and unjustified “naming and shaming” policy to keep away the attention of the WADA’s own failures. Especially the UCI and Cycling, also in the Lance Armstrong case (!), were used as scapegoats.

These items are treated and documented in this report.

Violent Behaviors, Violent Victimization, and Doping Agents : A Normal Population Study of Adolescents / Willy Pedersen, Lars Wichstrøm, Morten Blekesaune. - (Journal of Interpersonal Violence 16 (2001) 8 (August); p. 808-832)

• DOI: 10.1177%2F088626001016008005

Abstract

The authors investigated the association between doping agents (mostly anabolic-androgenic steroids) and involvement in violence and experience of violent victimization in Oslo, Norway. The sample consisted of 10,828 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years. Of the adolescents, 11.5% had been offered doping agents and 1.8% had used doping agents. When confounding variables were controlled for, there was an association between exposure to doping agents and own violence for both genders, but use of doping agents had no additional effect. The same pattern was found with regard to victimization. However, when only the most serious victimization episodes were considered, increased risk for users of doping among boys but not girls was found. Doping agents may serve as a marker of a violent subculture more than being a causal factor in the etiology of violence. However, use of doping agents may also result in a big appearance in male users, which may make them a target for youth violence.

Monaghan LF
Soc Sci Med. 2002 Sep;55(5):695-708.
Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. monaghanlf1@cf.ac.uk

Illicit steroid use, for purposes of performance and physique enhancement, is widely deemed unnecessary, wrong and dangerous. Such activity would appear especially foolhardy when
engaged in by non-professional athletes who otherwise adhere to 'healthy' exercise regimens. Here a gap exists between many illicit steroid users' actions and societal expectations.

Using qualitative data generated in South Wales, this paper explores bodybuilders' vocabularies of motive for illicit steroid use. These accounts which justified, rather than excused, steroid use
were predominant during question situations between the participant observer and the researched. In supporting the fundamental tenets of their drug subculture, and as part of the
underlying negotiation of self-identity, respondents espoused three main justifications for their own and/or other bodybuilders' illicit steroid use; namely: self-fulfilment accounts, condemnation of condemners and a denial of injury. Here steroid use was rationalised as a legitimate means to an end, observers passing negative judgements were rejected and it was claimed steroids do not (seriously) harm the user's health or threaten society more generally.

These vocabularies of motive, acquired and honoured within bodybuilding settings, comprise a complex of subjective meanings which seem to the actor to be an adequate ground for the
conduct in question. Similar to other sociological studies, this paper states that it is imperative to explore the social meanings which illicit drug users attach to their 'risk' practices. Without these understandings, researchers and health promoters may struggle to appreciate fully why illicit drug users behave as they do.

PMID:
12190264
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Voedingssupplementen en doping - verschillen en overeenkomsten / Olivier de Hon. - (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Klinische Chemie en Laboratoriumgeneeskunde 31 (2006) 1 : p. 248-252)

Het gebruik van sportvoedingssupplementen door sporters is gemeengoed geworden. Deze zijn niet alleen bedoeld om het normale dieet aan te vullen maar ook om de sportprestatie te ondersteunen en/of te verbeteren. In de sportvoedingssupplementen kunnen onbedoeld dopinggeduide stoffen voorkomen, zonder dat dit gemeld staat op het etiket. Voor de sporters die deze vervuilde supplementen gebruiken kan dit bij een dopingcontrole tot grote problemen leiden. Teneinde zekerheid te verschaffen aan de sporter en aan de voedingssupplementenbranche over de zuiverheid van de supplementen is het Nederlands Zekerheidssysteem Voedingssupplementen Topsport (NZVT) opgezet. De NVZT is opgezet vanuit het oogpunt van dopingcontrole en niet voor controle op gezondheidsaspecten. De NVZT is gericht op de productie van supplementen, de ingrediëntendeclaratie, geborgde laboratoriumanalyses en een duidelijke communicatie naar de sportwereld.

Een lijst van goedgekeurde product-batchcombinaties is te vinden op http://www.dopingautoriteit.nl/nzvt.

Voetbal en doping / Herman Ram. - (Voetbal- & Sportjuridische Zaken (2021) 1; p. 10-16)

• doi: 10.5553/VSZ/277267382021001001003

Samenvatting:

Anders dan veel anekdotiek doet vermoeden worden in het voetbal relatief veel dopingcontroles uitgevoerd, maar worden daarbij betrekkelijk weinig dopingovertredingen vastgesteld. De wel vastgestelde overtredingen worden op dezelfde basis afgehandeld als in andere sporten gebeurt. Tuchtrechtelijke uitspraken worden echter zelden gepubliceerd, wat het verzamelen van objectieve data bemoeilijkt.

Voorlichting over doping en medicijngebruik in de topsport : enquête onder top sporters / samenst. P.L.S. van Steed; red. C. Vervoorn, E. van Kernebeek, E.N. Vrijman. - i.o.v. Nederlands Centrum voor Dopingvraagstukken (NeCeDo) ; i.s.m. Nederlands Instituut voor Sport en Gezondheid (NISG) ; Nederlands Olympisch Comité*Nederlandse Sport Federatie (NOC*NSF). - Arnhem : NeCeDo, 1993

Education about doping and medication use in elite sports : survey of elite athletes / ed. P.L.S. van Steen, C. Vervoorn, E. van Kernebeek, E.N. Vrijman. - National Institute for Sports Health care ; Netherlands Centre for Doping Affairs ; Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederation. - Arnhem : NeCeDo, 1993

Vermeld worden de opzet en de resultaten van een enquête onder 1246 Nederlandse topsporters. Deze enquête werd in 1993, in opdracht van NeCeDo, door het NISG uitgevoerd. Uit de enquête komt naar voren dat de voorlichting over doping en medicijngebruik in de topsport door de Nederlandse topsporters zelf noodzakelijk wordt geacht.

Voorlichting over doping en medicijngebruik in de topsport : hoe trainers en coaches bij kunnen dragen aan de voorlichting / samenst. P.L.S. van Steed; red. C. Vervoorn, E. van Kernebeek, E.N. Vrijman. - i.o.v. Nederlands Centrum voor Dopingvraagstukken (NeCeDo) ; i.s.m. Nederlands Instituut voor Sport en Gezondheid (NISG) ; Nederlands Olympisch Comité*Nederlandse Sport Federatie (NOC*NSF). - Arnhem : NeCeDo, 1993

Education about doping and medication use in elite sports : how trainers and coaches can contribute to education / ed. P.L.S. van Steen, C. Vervoorn, E. van Kernebeek, E.N. Vrijman. - National Institute for Sports Health care ; Netherlands Centre for Doping Affairs ; Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederation. - Arnhem : NeCeDo, 1993

In een inleiding wordt ingegaan over de rol die trainers en coaches kunnen spelen in de voorlichting over doping en medicijngebruik de de topsport. Het is de bedoeling dat in de komende jaren het NeCeDo, in samenwerking met de Nederlandse Federatie van Werkers in de Sport (NFWS), een aantal artikelen gaat publiceren waarmee trainers en coaches geholpen worden bij het leveren van een bijdrage aan voorlichting over doping en medicijngebruik in de topsport. Naast een eerste artikel in deze serie zijn een aantal artikelen opgenomen over het onderwerp doping dat reeds eerder in het blad 'Coach'van de NFWS werd gepubliceerd.