No variation of physical performance and perceived exertion after adrenal gland stimulation by synthetic ACTH (Synacthen®) in cyclists

There is anecdotal evidence that athletes use the banned substance Synacthen® because of its perceived benefit with its associated rise in cortisol. To test the performance-enhancing effects of Synacthen®, eight trained cyclists completed two, 2-day exercise sessions separated by 7-10days. On the first day of each 2-day exercise session, subjects received either Synacthen® (0.25mg, TX) or placebo (PLA) injection. Performance was assessed by a 20-km time trial (TT) after a 90-min fatigue period on day 1 and without the fatiguing protocol on day 2. Plasma androgens and ACTH concentrations were measured during the exercise bouts as well as the rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Spot urines were analyzed for androgens and glucocorticoids quantification. Basal plasma hormones did not differ significantly between PLA and TX groups before and 24h after the IM injection (P>0.05). After TX injection, ACTH peaked at 30min and hormone profiles were significantly different compared to the PLA trial (P<0.001). RPE increased significantly in both groups as the exercise sessions progressed (P<0.001) but was not influenced by treatment. The time to completion of the TT was not affected on both days by Synacthen® treatment. In the present study, a single IM injection of synthetic ACTH did not improve either acute or subsequent cycling performance and did not influence perceived exertion. The investigated urinary hormones did not vary after treatment, reinforcing the difficulty for ACTH abuse detectio

Data Analytics for Uncovering Fraudulent Behaviour in Elite Sports

Sports officials around the world are facing societal challenges due to the unfair nature of fraudulent practices performed by unscrupulous athletes. Recently, sample swapping has been raised as a potential practice where some athletes exchange their doped sample with a clean one to evade a positive test. The current detection method for such cases includes laboratory testing like DNA analysis. However, these methods are costly and time-consuming, which goes beyond the budgetary limits of anti-doping organisations. Therefore, there is a need to explore alternative methods to improve decision-making. We presented a data analytical methodology that supports anti-doping decision-makers on the task of athlete disambiguation. Our proposed model helps identify the swapped sample, which outperforms the current state-of-the-art method and different baseline models. The evaluation on real-world sample swapping cases shows promising results that help advance the research on the application of data analytics in the context of anti-doping analysis

Circulating microRNA-122 as Potential Biomarker for Detection of Testosterone Abuse.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and thus influence many cellular and physiological processes. miRNAs are also present in cell-free body fluids such as plasma or serum, and these circulating miRNAs are very stable, sensitive, and specific biomarkers of pathophysiological states. In this study, we investigated whether circulating miRNAs could serve as biomarkers of exogenous testosterone administration. Misuse of testosterone as a performance-enhancing drug is thought to be widespread in sports. Detection of testosterone through the urinary steroid profile of the Athlete Biological Passport faces several obstacles, indicating that new biomarkers are required. To this end, we analyzed plasma miRNA levels by high-throughput quantitative real-time PCR. Plasma samples were obtained before and at several time points after transdermal and oral testosterone administration. Screening identified three potential candidate miRNAs that were altered by both routes of testosterone administration. Longitudinal monitoring of these candidates revealed that variation in two of them (miR-150 and miR-342), relative to the corresponding levels in control samples, was testosterone-independent. However, levels of the liver-specific miR-122 increased 3.5-fold 1 day after drug intake. Given that testosterone is metabolized by the liver, this observation suggests that miR-122 in cell-free fluids may be used as a sensitive biomarker of testosterone misuse via multiple dosing routes and could therefore be integrated into a blood-based multiparametric follow-up

Analytical challenges in sports drug testing

Analytical chemistry represents a central aspect of doping controls. Routine sports drug testing approaches are primarily designed to address the question whether a prohibited substance is present in a doping control sample and whether prohibited methods (for example, blood transfusion or sample manipulation) have been conducted by an athlete. As some athletes have availed themselves of the substantial breadth of research and development in the pharmaceutical arena, proactive and preventive measures are required such as the early implementation of new drug candidates and corresponding metabolites into routine doping control assays, even though these drug candidates are to date not approved for human use. Beyond this, analytical data are also cornerstones of investigations into atypical or adverse analytical findings, where the overall picture provides ample reason for follow-up studies. Such studies have been of most diverse nature, and tailored approaches have been required to probe hypotheses and scenarios reported by the involved parties concerning the plausibility and consistency of statements and (analytical) facts. In order to outline the variety of challenges that doping control laboratories are facing besides providing optimal detection capabilities and analytical comprehensiveness, selected case vignettes involving the follow-up of unconventional adverse analytical findings, urine sample manipulation, drug/food contamination issues, and unexpected biotransformation reactions are thematized

Stratégies analytiques pour les contrôles antidopage : besoins, challenges et perspectives

Cette revue décrit les nouveaux développements analytiques dans le domaine du contrôle antidopage et se concentre plus particulièrement sur la détection des petites molécules présentes sur la Liste des substances et méthodes interdites de l'AMA. Les techniques de préparation de l'échantillon biologique, ainsi que les séparations chromatographiques en phases gazeuse, liquide et supercritique sont décrites ainsi que leur couplage avec la spectrométrie de masse. Les avantages et inconvénients des différentes approches appliquées lors des étapes de criblage et d'analyse confirmatoire sont également discutés

Circulating miR-122 levels after oral or transdermal T administration and during the control period.

<p>Level of plasma miR-122 after ingestion of two TU tablets (gray line) and application of two Testopatches (dashed line) or in the control period (black line). Data were normalized against the corresponding levels of endogenous miR-486-5p Collection time points are indicated on the x-axis. Values are expressed as means (±SE) of 19 independent samples. (*) indicates statistically significant difference relative to time = 0 h and the control.</p

Examples of individual follow-up of miR-122 with personalized threshold.

<p><b>(A and B)</b> Two examples of longitudinal monitoring of plasma miR-122 with personalized threshold (indicated by continuous black line) for two volunteers with different <i>UGT2B17</i> genotypes (ins/del and ins/ins) after oral and transdermal intake of T. Thresholds are calculated as the mean of the control phase results + 3 × SD. In these examples, longitudinal monitoring of plasma miR-122 levels after oral T administration is more sensitive than of transdermal T administration. Data were normalized against the corresponding levels of endogenous miR-486-5p.</p