Screening for exogenous erythropoietin

r-HuEPO: Ever since it was first produced, illicit use recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO), a human polypeptide which accelerates production and maturation of red cells and consequently improves aerobic potential, has been observed in athletic competitions. IMPORTANCE OF SCREENING: Unfortunat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLa Presse médicale (1983) Vol. 28; no. 18; p. 992
Main Authors Cayla, J L, Duvallet, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageFrench
Published France 15.05.1999
Subjects
Erythropoietin - administration & dosage
Erythropoietin - analysis
Female
Humans
Male
Mass Screening
Recombinant Proteins
Sports
Substance-Related Disorders
Transferrin
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Summary:r-HuEPO: Ever since it was first produced, illicit use recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO), a human polypeptide which accelerates production and maturation of red cells and consequently improves aerobic potential, has been observed in athletic competitions. IMPORTANCE OF SCREENING: Unfortunately, abuse of r-HuEPO can have severe adverse effects, particularly on the cardiovascular system. Screening methods capable of detecting exogenous erythropoietin were thus developed not only to detect illicit drug use in sports competition, but also to preserve athletesí health. THEORETICAL POSSIBILITIES: Several methods have been explored. Direct methods using electrophoresis or indirect methods measuring different biological parameters (fibrin degradation products, number of soluble transferrin receptors) as well specific hematology tests (red cell morphology, hematocrit...) can theoretically detect exogenous erythropoietin. METHODS TO VALIDATE: It would be advisable to examine all of the available work on the proposed methods to develop a reliable diagnostic method for detecting r-HuEPO. Soluble transferrin receptor counts appear to be the most promising method, but specificity is not totally satisfactory.
ISSN:0755-4982