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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: clinchem.2008.110106v1 54/12/1945    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Starcevic, B. Articles by Butch, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Starcevic, B. Articles by Butch, A. W.

Genetic Variations in UDP-Glucuronosyl Transferase 2B17: Implications for Testosterone Excretion Profiling and Doping Control Programs

¹ UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

^aAddress correspondence to this author at: UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 2122 Granville Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025-6106. Fax 310-206-9077; e-mail abutch@mednet.ucla.edu.

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The use of drugs and ergogenic substances to augment athletic performance, commonly referred to as doping, has evolved along with sporting events. Ancient Olympic athletes consumed mushrooms, plants, and herbs in an attempt to gain a competitive edge. The modern Olympic Games made their debut in 1896, and mixtures of cocaine, ephedrine, and strychnine were used to enhance performance. Anabolic androgenic steroids (substances similar to the hormone testosterone) were used after World War II by Soviet athletes to increase muscle mass and power in weightlifting and bodybuilding events. Anabolic androgenic steroids rapidly spread to athletes in other sporting events and are still a problem in today’s sports world. To deal with the problem of doping in sports, the International Olympic Committee established a Medical Commission. The first list of prohibited substances was created in 1967; drug testing was implemented at Olympic Games the following year. In 1999, an independent international organization, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), was created to combat doping in sports and provide unified standards for doping control.

The T/E Ratio to Screen for Testosterone Use

Anabolic androgenic steroids are the most abused class of prohibited substances, with testosterone accounting for many positive cases. Testosterone abuse is problematic because synthetic testosterone is indistinguishable from endogenous testosterone by routine screening methods such as gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. In the 1980s, it was discovered that testosterone use alters the ratio of testosterone glucuronide to epitestosterone glucuronide (T/E ratio)¹ in urine. Epitestosterone is a naturally occurring biologically inactive epimer of testosterone that remains relatively constant in urine. A population-based T/E ratio cutoff of 6.0 was initially used to indicate synthetic testosterone use; the T/E ratio cutoff was lowered to 4.0 in 2005. Based on data from several laboratories, the average T/E ratio ranges from 0.9 to 1.6 for healthy male adolescents and men. At the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, we . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Confirmation Testing for Testosterone Use

The Influence of Genetic Polymorphisms on the T/E Ratio

Longitudinal Steroid Profiling

Concluding Remarks