Trends in the Detection of Erythropoietin Receptor Agonists (ERAs) in Anti-Doping: An Analysis of Recent Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs).

Anti-doping efforts aim to reduce the prevalence of doping through a combination of education, deterrence, and detection. Detection of doping practices, for example through testing and/or investigations, aims both to catch committed dopers and deter potential dopers. To date, little empirical evidence is available examining the ability of detection strategies to deter athletes from doping.

Longitudinal Profiling of Endogenous Steroids in Blood Using the Athlete Biological Passport Approach.

Context: Detection of endogenous anabolic androgenic steroids (EAAS), like testosterone (T), as doping agents has been improved with the launch of the Steroidal Module of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) in urine samples.

Objective: To target doping practices with EAAS, particularly in individuals with low level of biomarkers excreted in urine, by including new target compounds measured in blood.

Design: T and T/androstenedione (T/A4) distributions were obtained from 4 years of anti-doping data and applied as priors to analyze individual profiles from 2 T administration studies in female and male subjects.

Application of the Athlete Biological Passport Approach to the Detection of Growth Hormone Doping.

Context: Because of its anabolic and lipolytic properties, growth hormone (GH) use is prohibited in sport. Two methods based on population-derived decision limits are currently used to detect human GH (hGH) abuse: the hGH Biomarkers Test and the Isoforms Differential Immunoassay.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that longitudinal profiling of hGH biomarkers through application of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) has the potential to flag hGH abuse.

Standardization of reticulocyte counts in the athlete biological passport: A practical update.

Introduction: The athlete biological passport monitors blood variables over time to uncover blood doping. With the phasing in of a new series of blood analyzers, the Sysmex XN series, it was necessary to examine the comparability of results with the previously employed XT/XE series. A previous comparison between XN and XT/XE series suggested a small but significant bias between the two instruments in the measurements of RET%.

Biomarkers of doping: uses, discovery and validation.

A biomarker of doping indicates the biological response to the use of a prohibited substance or method. Uncovering novel biomarkers of doping is a key objective in order to improve antidoping outcomes such as the detection of doping and changing athlete behavior toward doping practices. While the antidoping field has been successful in validating novel metabolites of prohibited substances, there has been less success in developing new biomarkers of doping.