Blood doping : infusions, erythropoietin and artificial blood / E. Randy Eichner. - (Sports Medicine 37 (2007) 4-5 (April); p. 389-391)

• PMID: 17465616
• DOI: 10.2165/00007256-200737040-00030

Abstract

As science marches on, athletes and coaches march close behind. Researchers have long been interested in how red cell mass and blood volume affect exercise capacity. Interest in blood doping soared after the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Studies in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that transfusing red cells could speed endurance performance. Diverse athletes of the time were accused of blood doping. In the late 1980s, recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) began to supplant transfusion for doping. EPO use is a suspect in nearly 20 deaths in 4 years in European cyclists. In the 1998 Tour de France, a team was ejected for using EPO and six other teams quit the race. The beat goes on; in recent years, diverse endurance and sprint athletes have been caught or accused of using EPO. Tests to detect EPO are improving but are not yet foolproof. As EPO tests improve, blood transfusion is back in vogue and some athletes may have infused artificial blood. Tests for detecting artificial blood also exist, but it seems it will take widespread, year-round, unannounced, out-of-competition testing and stern penalties to deter blood doping.

Factors influencing the steroid profile in doping control analysis / Ute Mareck, Hans Geyer, Georg Opfermann, Mario Thevis, Wilhelm Schänzer. - (Journal of Mass Spectrometry 43 (2008) 7 (July); p. 877-891)

• PMID: 18570179
• DOI: 10.1002/jms.1457

Abstract

Steroid profiling is one of the most versatile and informative screening tools for the detection of steroid abuse in sports drug testing. Concentrations and ratios of various endogenously produced steroidal hormones, their precursors and metabolites including testosterone (T), epitestosterone (E), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androsterone (And), etiocholanolone (Etio), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol (Adiol), and 5beta-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol (Bdiol) as well as androstenedione, 6alpha-OH-androstenedione, 5beta-androstane-3alpha,17alpha-diol (17-epi-Bdiol), 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17alpha-diol (17-epi-Adiol), 3alpha,5-cyclo-5alpha-androstan-6beta-ol-17-one (3alpha,5-cyclo), 5alpha-androstanedione (Adion), and 5beta-androstanedione (Bdion) add up to a steroid profile that is highly sensitive to applications of endogenous as well as synthetic anabolic steroids, masking agents, and bacterial activity. Hence, the knowledge of factors that do influence the steroid profile pattern is a central aspect, and pharmaceutical (application of endogenous steroids and various pharmaceutical preparations), technical (hydrolysis, derivatization, matrix), and biological (bacterial activities, enzyme side activities) issues are reviewed.

Exploring the potential ergogenic effects of glycerol hyperhydration / Jeff L. Nelson, Robert A. Robergs. - (Sports Medicine 37 (2007) 11; p. 981-1000)

• PMID: 17953468
• DOI: 10.2165/00007256-200737110-00005

Abstract

During athletic competition or recreational pursuits, a body's hydration level can become compromised, resulting in a decrement in performance. Glycerol (1,2,3-propanetriol) has been used to induce hyperhydration in an attempt to offset the deleterious effects of dehydration. When glycerol is consumed orally, it is rapidly absorbed primarily in the small intestine. It is reported to be evenly distributed among all fluid compartments, with the exception of the cerebral spinal fluid and aqueous humour, and promotes hyperhydration by inducing an osmotic gradient. Through an increase in the kidney's medullary concentration gradient, water absorption in the nephron is enhanced. When glycerol is consumed, the plasma glycerol concentration increases in proportion to the dose ingested, which easily exceeds the glycerol saturation point resulting in urinary glycerol excretion. Thus, without supplemental glycerol ingestion, there will be a decrease in the osmotic gradient resulting in a loss of hyperhydration. The ergogenic nature of glycerol has been investigated as to its effect on fluid retention, thermoregulation, cardiovascular responses and performance. While many studies provide evidence of hyperhydration, others do not. Only two studies reviewed showed a thermoregulatory advantage. Furthermore, the preponderance of evidence neither weighed for or against cardiovascular or performance advantages. What makes one study provide favourable results while another study does not is unclear. Possible explanations may include subject characteristics, environmental factors, research design, whether fluids with or without glycerol were given during exercise, the rate at which fluids are initially given to induce hyperhydration, the time between peak hyperhydration/peak plasma glycerol concentration and the trial (i.e. exercise), the glycerol dose (i.e. 1.0 g/kg body mass) and what it is based upon, the percentage glycerol solution (i.e. 5%, 20%), the variation of time between the end of the hydration protocol and the beginning of exercise, or perhaps the intensity of exercise (fixed, variable, percentage maximum oxygen uptake). What is clear is that glycerol has the capacity to enhance fluid retention. In so doing, glycerol hyperhydration may be a logistically preferred method due to concomitant decrease in urine output and free-water clearance, which may give a performance advantage by offsetting dehydration. Future research should focus on maintaining plasma glycerol concentrations at levels necessary to maintain osmotic forces required to support continued hyperhydration. Potential benefits of glycerol should be further explored to identify the circumstances or factors that may contribute to an ergogenic effect.

Narkar VA, Downes M, Yu RT, Embler E, Wang YX, Banayo E, Mihaylova MM, Nelson MC, Zou Y, Juguilon H, Kang H, Shaw RJ, Evans RM. AMPK and PPARdelta agonists are exercise mimetics. Cell. 2008 Aug 8;134(3):405-15. Epub 2008 Jul 31.

Magkos F, Kavouras SA. Caffeine and ephedrine: physiological, metabolic and performance-enhancing effects. Sports Med. 2004;34(13):871-89.

Jacobs I, Bell DG. Effects of acute modafinil ingestion on exercise time to exhaustion. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Jun;36(6):1078-82.

Huestis MA, Mazzoni I, Rabin O. Cannabis in sport: anti-doping perspective. Sports Med. 2011 Nov 1;41(11):949-66. doi: 10.2165/11591430-000000000-00000.

Campos DR, Yonamine M, de Moraes Moreau RL. Marijuana as doping in sports. Sports Med. 2003;33(6):395-9.

Indirect androgen doping by oestrogen blockade in sports / D.J. Handelsman

• British Journal of Pharmacology 154 (2008) 3 (June), p. 598-605
• PMID: 18500381
• PMCID: PMC2439522
• DOI: 10.1038/bjp.2008.150

Abstract

Androgens can increase muscular mass and strength and remain the most frequently abused and widely available drugs used in sports doping. Banning the administration of natural or synthetic androgens has led to a variety of strategies to circumvent the ban of the most effective ergogenic agents for power sports. Among these, a variety of indirect androgen doping strategies aiming to produce a sustained rise in endogenous testosterone have been utilized. These include oestrogen blockade by drugs that act as oestrogen receptor antagonists (antioestrogen) or aromatase inhibitors. The physiological and pharmacological basis for the effects of oestrogen blockade in men, but not women, are reviewed.

Ftaiti F, Dantin MP, Nicol C, Brunet C, Grélot L. The effect of desmopressin, a vasopressin analog, on endurance performance during a prolonged run in simulated heat conditions. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2006 Apr;31(2):135-43.