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Current steroid doping tests ignore vital ethnic differences in hormone activity, reveals a new study done by the Swiss reserachers. The research suggested that doping test policy should be scrapped from international sport as it overlooked ethnic differences.

The researchers, in order to find inadequacy of current doping test, conducted a research on 57 football players, aged between 18 and 36, of various origins. During the analysis, players deliberately add steroids to their urine samples and then chemical analysis test was done and a variation report in the UGT2B17 gene was studied.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, testosterone and other hormones that boost testosterone levels, such as growth hormone, are among the most commonly used performance enhancers in sports. Evidence of steroid abuse is determined by the testosterone and epitestosterone ratio (T: E ratio) in urine and is confirmed through chemical analysis (gas chromatography).

The study’s results showed genetic variation in almost one in four (22%) of the African footballers; in eight out 10 (81%) of the Asian players; one in 10 of the white men and in 7% of the Hispanic players. Based on this new finding, the Swiss researchers “recalibrated” the thresholds for each ethnic group.

From Science Daily:

Current steroid (testosterone) doping tests should be scrapped for international sport, because they ignore vital ethnic differences in hormone activity, suggests research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Testosterone and other hormones that boost testosterone levels, such as growth hormone, are among the most widely abused performance enhancers used in sport, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Evidence of abuse is determined by the testosterone: epitestosterone ratio, or T:E ratio for short, in the urine. The threshold is set at above four for everyone, and confirmed by chemical analysis (gas chromatography).

To highlight the inadequacy of the current test, the researchers tested the steroid profiles of football players of different ethnicities, after they had deliberately added steroid to their urine samples.

They used gas chromatography, and took account of a variation (polymorphism) in the UGT2B17 gene.

A single indiscriminate threshold to check steroid abuse in international sport was “not fit for purpose, said researchers. Instead, the reference should be customized to an athlete’s individual endocrinological (hormonal) passport. The researchers suggested that such a passport might detect modifications made by testosterone abuse and its precursors and could also identify steroid profile alterations caused by the use of indirect androgen doping products.

Category: Anabolic Steroids | Tags: androgen doping products, epitestosterone, gas chromatography, growth hormone, steroid abuse, steroid doping test, testosterone, World Anti-Doping Agency