Anabolic Steroids Blog - iSteroids . com » Research says, Currrent Steroid Doping Tests Overlook Ethnic Differences

Research says, Currrent Steroid Doping Tests Overlook Ethnic Differences A new research report suggested that current steroid doping tests should be abandoned from international sport as they ignored important ethnic differences in hormone activity.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, drugs and hormones, such as growth hormone, that increase testosterone levels are among the most widely abused performance enhancers used by sports players. 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).

To check the adequacy of the current doping test, the researchers tested more than 50 football players, aged between 18 and 36, of various origins after they deliberately added steroids to their urine samples. Then they used chemical analysis test and took a variation report in the UGT2B17 gene.

Results revealed occurrence of 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 these results, 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.

The researchers concluded that a solo indiscriminate threshold to check steroid abuse in international sport was “not fit for purpose.” Instead, the reference should be customized to an athlete’s individual endocrinological (hormonal) passport, they suggest. The researching team also concluded that such a passport might not only detect modifications made by testosterone abuse and its precursors, but could also spot alterations in the steroid profile caused by use of indirect androgen doping products.

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