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US Products Main Culprit in Sports Doping: Expert
Tue Mar 18, 5:55 PM ET
By Hannah Cleaver
BERLIN (Reuters Health) - In the continuing battle against the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, or "doping," experts say they are gaining ground against some of the more specialized doping products, but warn that the use of nutritional supplements containing enormous doses of anabolic steroids is still extraordinarily difficult to control.
As the 21st International Cologne Workshop for Doping Analysis started this week, medics displayed confidence that they would soon update their analytical procedures to catch up with the use of genetically engineered products.
Three major doping agents are genetically engineered versions of the natural hormones insulin, the red-blood-cell booster erythropoietin (EPO), and growth hormone, according to Dr. Hans Geyer, deputy head of the Institute of Biochemistry at the German Sports University in Cologne, which hosted the workshop.
"But we are on the right track as far as developing the methods to detect these," he told Reuters Health.
According to Geyer, analysis experts can now "largely tell the difference" between the engineered hormones and the natural ones.
"We have a solution for EPO which works," he said, "and with growth hormone we also have a good solution, but it still needs to be validated."
The institute is also confident it will be able to start using a test it has developed to detect the presence of bovine haemoglobin before the end of the year. Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells.
"We don't know how often (bovine haemoglobin) is used," said Geyer. "We know that it could increase oxygen transport in the body, and it may be used as a method by some athletes."
But nutritional supplements are a more immediate threat to athletes' health, Geyer said.
"The worst supplier for these things is the USA," he said. "(The supplements) are a big problem. We estimate that about 15 percent of them contain anabolic steroids. We found some which have prescription drugs in them in such high levels that people taking them could suffer serious health consequences.
"We found one company on the Isle of Man which was supplying a supplement produced in the US which was full of metandienone, an anabolic steroid. It is connected with severe health problems such as liver toxicity, women developing deeper voices and hair on the face, and heart problems as well as mood swings and aggression."
He said two laboratories had confirmed the results last July, which were also confirmed by German authorities. The company concerned can't be named, Geyer said, as it is still under investigation.
The supplements were advertised for athletes' use and as containing anabolic products, Geyer added.
"It's terrible. It's a criminal act. We were very shocked by it," he said. "These nutritional supplements are really traps for athletes. The situation is catastrophic. And the most contaminated and falsely labeled products are from the USA."
The investigation took place after an International Olympic Committee (news - web sites)-accredited lab produced a positive test for metandienone. A follow-up study found the athlete concerned had unwittingly imbibed the substance in a nutrition supplement.
"We bought it via a telephone order," Geyer said. "Anyone could get hold of it without a prescription. We made contact after looking at an Internet page and when we called, got a German-speaking voice. And they sent it within two or three days to my home without any customs restrictions. This could have gone anywhere within Europe with no problem."
"If you took the recommended dose of the supplement you would have taken up to four times the maximum therapeutic dose of this prescription drug."
Tue Mar 18, 5:55 PM ET
By Hannah Cleaver
BERLIN (Reuters Health) - In the continuing battle against the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, or "doping," experts say they are gaining ground against some of the more specialized doping products, but warn that the use of nutritional supplements containing enormous doses of anabolic steroids is still extraordinarily difficult to control.
As the 21st International Cologne Workshop for Doping Analysis started this week, medics displayed confidence that they would soon update their analytical procedures to catch up with the use of genetically engineered products.
Three major doping agents are genetically engineered versions of the natural hormones insulin, the red-blood-cell booster erythropoietin (EPO), and growth hormone, according to Dr. Hans Geyer, deputy head of the Institute of Biochemistry at the German Sports University in Cologne, which hosted the workshop.
"But we are on the right track as far as developing the methods to detect these," he told Reuters Health.
According to Geyer, analysis experts can now "largely tell the difference" between the engineered hormones and the natural ones.
"We have a solution for EPO which works," he said, "and with growth hormone we also have a good solution, but it still needs to be validated."
The institute is also confident it will be able to start using a test it has developed to detect the presence of bovine haemoglobin before the end of the year. Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells.
"We don't know how often (bovine haemoglobin) is used," said Geyer. "We know that it could increase oxygen transport in the body, and it may be used as a method by some athletes."
But nutritional supplements are a more immediate threat to athletes' health, Geyer said.
"The worst supplier for these things is the USA," he said. "(The supplements) are a big problem. We estimate that about 15 percent of them contain anabolic steroids. We found some which have prescription drugs in them in such high levels that people taking them could suffer serious health consequences.
"We found one company on the Isle of Man which was supplying a supplement produced in the US which was full of metandienone, an anabolic steroid. It is connected with severe health problems such as liver toxicity, women developing deeper voices and hair on the face, and heart problems as well as mood swings and aggression."
He said two laboratories had confirmed the results last July, which were also confirmed by German authorities. The company concerned can't be named, Geyer said, as it is still under investigation.
The supplements were advertised for athletes' use and as containing anabolic products, Geyer added.
"It's terrible. It's a criminal act. We were very shocked by it," he said. "These nutritional supplements are really traps for athletes. The situation is catastrophic. And the most contaminated and falsely labeled products are from the USA."
The investigation took place after an International Olympic Committee (news - web sites)-accredited lab produced a positive test for metandienone. A follow-up study found the athlete concerned had unwittingly imbibed the substance in a nutrition supplement.
"We bought it via a telephone order," Geyer said. "Anyone could get hold of it without a prescription. We made contact after looking at an Internet page and when we called, got a German-speaking voice. And they sent it within two or three days to my home without any customs restrictions. This could have gone anywhere within Europe with no problem."
"If you took the recommended dose of the supplement you would have taken up to four times the maximum therapeutic dose of this prescription drug."
