Unit 8: Sport: Drug Testing -1

Chemistry and sport

Performance enhancing drugs.
Although the phrase performance-enhancing drugs is often used in reference to anabolic steroids or their precursors, world anti-doping organizations apply the term broadly. The phrase more broadly refers to several distinct classes of drugs:

Lean mass builders are used to drive or amplify the growth of muscle and lean body mass, and sometimes to reduce body fat. This class of drugs includes anabolic steroids, beta-2 agonists, selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), and various human hormones, most notably human growth hormone, as well as some of their precursors.
Stimulants are used to stimulate the athlete's body and mind to perform at optimal level by increasing focus, energy and aggression. Examples include caffeine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine.
Painkillers mask athletes' pain so they can continue to compete and perform beyond their usual pain thresholds. Blood pressure is increased causing the cells in the muscles to be better supplied with vital oxygen. Painkillers used by athletes range from common over-the-counter medicines such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (such as ibuprofen) to powerful prescription narcotics.
Sedatives are sometimes used by athletes in sports like archery which require steady hands and accurate aim, and by athletes attempting to overcome excessive nervousness or discomfort. Alcohol, valium and marijuana are examples.
Diuretics expel water from athletes' bodies. They are often used by athletes such as wrestlers, who need to meet weight restrictions. Many stimulants have secondary diuretic effects.
Masking drugs are used to prevent the detection of other classes of drugs. These evolve as quickly as do testing methods - which is very quickly indeed - although a time-tested classic example is the use of epitestosterone, a drug with no performance-enhancing effects, to restore the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio (a common criterion in steroid testing) to normal levels after anabolic steroid supplementation.

Testing of athletes/animals for drugs of abuse in major sporting events is routine. Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) and Liquid Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) have been used for drug testing of urine and blood samples and this provides short-term information. In addition, the detection of doping agents in hair by mass spectrometry is being developed, since hair testing has the potential to provide a wider surveillance window thus the long-term history.

The latest Prohibited List is available from the World Anti-Doping Agency web site (came into effect January 2014) .

According to the WADA list for 2011 of Adverse Analytical Findings and Atypical Findings reported by accredited laboratories there were 243,193 samples analysed of which 2885 resulted in adverse findings, 1971 resulted in atypical findings or a total of 4856 possible violations.

WADA archives of Adverse Findings and Atypical Findings

Table compiled from WADA findings for 2010
S1.1. Anabolic Agents - AAF	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Stanozolol	337	10.0%
Nandrolone	250	7.4%
Methandienone	156	4.6%
Elevated TE ratio	128	3.8%
Boldenone	81	2.4%
Drostanolone	49	1.5%
Metenolone	40	1.2%
S1.1. Anabolic Agents - ATF	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Testosterone (TE ratio)	1,884	55.8%
Prasterone (DHEA)	79	2.3%
Boldenone	16	0.5%
S.1.2 Other Anabolic Agents	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Clenbuterol	116	3.4%
Total of all S1 Anabolic Agents	3374 occurrences
S2. Hormones and Related Substances	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Erythropoetin (EPO)	36	41.9%
Gonadotrophins (hCG)	33	38.4%
Erythropoetin (Darbepoetin)	8	9.3%
Gonadotrophins (LH)	5	5.8%
Growth Hormone (hGH)	3	3.5%
S3. Beta-2 Agonists	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Terbutaline	111	53.1%
Formoterol	78	37.3%
S4. Hormone Antagonists and Modulators	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Tamoxifen	22	29.3%
Clomiphene	15	20.0%
S5. Diuretics and Masking Agents	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Furosemide (Lasix)	152	38.4%
Hydrochlorothiazide	120	30.3%
S6. Stimulants	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Methylhexaneamine (dimethylpentylamine)	123	21.4%
Amphetamine	112	19.5%
Methylphenidate	73	12.7%
Cocaine	65	11.3%
S7. Narcotics	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Morphine	6	30.0%
S8. Cannabinoids	occurrences	percent within that drug class
THC (11-nor-9-carboxy-delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol)	532	99.8%
S9. Glucocorticosteroids	occurrences	percent within that drug class
Budesonide	111	47.4%
Prednisolone + Prednisone	39	16.7%
Total from S2-S9-drug classes	2127 occurrences

The Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) and Atypical Findings (ATF) in this table are not to be confused with adjudicated or sanctioned Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV), as the figures given in this table may contain findings that underwent the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) approval process or multiple findings on the same Athlete. In addition, Atypical Findings may correspond to multiple measurements performed on the same Athlete, such as in the case of longitudinal studies on testosterone.

Acknowledgements.
Much of the information in these course notes has been sourced from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons License. Students taking this course will be expected to contribute to Wikipedia as a part of their course assignments.
Continue to Drug Testing -2 or the CHEM2402 course outline.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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Created September 2011. Links checked and/or last modified 21st February 2014.
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