Search is Powered by Google
Follow us on:
Follow our health news on Twitter
Follow Our News on Facebook
Personalization
login | register
Sports Medicine / Fitness News

New Test Will Catch Sports Cheats On New Endurance Drugs

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs;  Biology / Biochemistry;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 08 Jan 2009 - 5:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Avoiding detection just got harder for drug cheats who try to use a particular range of untested, but potentially enhancing, compounds. In the past, tests have been developed once a drug is known to be in circulation. Now a German research team has developed tests for a class of drugs that they believe could be used in the near future.

On the face of it, the Beijing Olympics were remarkably drug free with only six athletes being caught during the games and three further suspect cases identified after the games closed. Rumours suggest that many athletes were in fact using performance-enhancing drugs that could not be detected using standard tests. One possibility is that some athletes were using compounds that have not yet been tested in humans, but have shown performance enhancing properties in animal trials. Because these compounds are in the early stage of development no test has been developed, so their use will go undetected.

A new test, announced in the launch issue of the new journal, Drug Testing and Analysis, will help sports officials stay one step ahead of the game by allowing them to screen for some of these emerging drugs, as well as others in the same class that have not yet reached the market.

The test detects a core chemical structure belonging to a class of compounds called benzothiazepines. These compounds stabilise protein channels that would otherwise "leak" calcium from muscle cells during strenuous exercise. Calcium is needed for muscle contraction and this "leaking" effect weakens the contractions and is a causal factor in muscle fatigue.

JTV-519 and S-107, benzothiazepines currently in development for the treatment of heart abnormalities, are known to increase endurance in mice. Although they have not yet entered human clinical trials, both can be detected using the test.

"As soon as these drugs enter human clinical trials, there is a huge potential for them to be misused in sports. This preventive research lets us prepare before these compounds are officially launched," says Mario Thevis, Director of the Center for Preventive Doping Research at the German Sport University of Cologne, Germany, who led the research.

The researchers think the simple nature of the compounds means they are easy to make and sell to drug cheats as endurance boosters on the black market.

The study characterises the compounds according to their weight and molecular structure. This gives the researchers a molecular "fingerprint" by which to identify the compounds. Thevis and colleagues show that, using high resolution mass spectrometry, JTV-519 and S-107 can be detected in spiked urine at concentrations as low as 0.1 nanograms per millilitre.

"We used the common approaches that are employed for detecting anabolic agents. Our work showed that we could identify the right compounds and that we have a sensitive test," says Thevis.

The next step is to look for the molecules created by the metabolic breakdown of the compounds once they have entered the human body. This will give researchers a wider scope of compounds by which to identify cheats when screening samples. However, the compounds can't be given to humans until they have been approved for clinical trials, so the researchers must focus on bench studies using human microsomes. These are tiny vesicles that mimic cell metabolism and so can be used to predict how the drugs might be broken down.

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

Source: Jennifer Beal
Wiley-Blackwell




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Hemophilia Opioid Induced Constipation Pneumococcal Disease ADHD Anxiety Asthma Atrial Fibrillation Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Please fill in our survey

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
What Is My Ideal Weight? How Much Should I Weigh?
11 Aug 2009
A person's ideal body weight is determined by several factors, such as age, muscle-fat ratio, height, sex, and bone density. Some say your Body Mass Index (BMI) is the ideal way to calculate whether your body weight is ideal...


Stress and Sports image Stress and Sports

Many people turn to sports to unwind, but the pressure of competition can turn otherwise relaxing pursuits into sources of stress (and affect your game, too). Our panel of experts will discuss what you can do to make sure your sports life helps, rather than hurts, your state of mind...

The Role of Weight Loss Surgery image The Role of Weight Loss Surgery

For obese people who meet specific qualifications, surgery can provide a solution to weight loss troubles. Learn what role these procedures can play in improving your health...

View more videos...