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Articles |
1
Institut Municipal dInvestigació Mèdica, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain.
2
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
3
Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona,
Spain.
a Address correspondence to this author at: Drug Research Unit, Institut Municipal dInvestigació Mèdica (IMIM), Doctor Aiguader 80, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain. Fax 34-93-2213237; e-mail jsegura{at}imim.es
Background: Blood sampling is not a common practice for sports drug testing. Our aim was to investigate whether dried blood spots on filter paper could be an alternative to plasma samples for monitoring steroid profiles in dope testing.
Methods: We collected dried blood spots and plasma from six
healthy Caucasian subjects after an oral 120-mg dose of testosterone
undecanoate (TU). Nonconjugated testosterone, testosterone
glucuronide (TG), androsterone glucuronide (AG), and etiocholanolone
glucuronide (EtG) were measured by gas chromatographymass
spectrometry in both matrices. 17
-Hydroxyprogesterone (17
OHP) and
luteinizing hormone (LH) also were measured in the plasma samples. For
comparison, similar measurements were done on samples obtained from the
same subjects given 25 mg of testosterone propionate (TP) plus 110 mg
of testosterone enanthate (TE) intramuscularly after a wash-out
period.
Results: After oral TU intake, TG, AG, and EtG increased sharply,
whereas nonconjugated testosterone did not change significantly.
Results on dried blood spots correlated well with those on plasma. The
TG/testosterone ratio in blood or plasma was verified to be a
sensitive and specific marker (significantly increased for up to 8
h after intake; P <0.05) for oral TU intake but
not for intramuscular administration of TP plus TE. Little suppression
of plasma LH and 17
OHP was observed after a single oral dose of TU.
One subject did not show a significant increase of blood TG after oral
TU intake.
Conclusions: The measurement of glucuronide conjugates in blood and plasma samples is relevant for sports drug testing when analyzing the steroid profile. Dried blood spots collected on filter paper are a suitable alternative to plasma for detecting testosterone abuse.
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