A role for metabolomics in the antidoping toolbox?

Abstract

Evidence of the continuous rise of novel doping agents and novel doping strategies calls for the development of more accurate multi‐target screening methods. Direct multi‐target screening approaches are restricted to the targeted substances and their turnover. The development of effective “indirect” screening methods requires a priori a deep understanding of the metabolism of the substance. The biological passport has been demonstrated to be very effective, but it is limited to about 20 indirect parameters. The standard antidoping analytical methods are hence targeted and do not aim directly to identify unknown substances. Also, the detection of doping agents is limited by the excretion of the substance. This study considers metabolomics for the screening of performance enhancing hormone abuse by athletes, based on the following pieces of evidence: (1) hormones have a strong influence on human metabolism, changing several parameters in many tissues, organs, and bio‐fluids; (2) metabolomics has been demonstrated to be a very accurate tool to depict the metabolic status of several organisms, tissues, and for several human diseases, including hormone deficiencies; (3) metabolomics has been demonstrated to be able to distinguish hormone‐treated animals from controls in many species, without the need for a priori knowledge of the metabolism for the specific substance. The literature shows that metabolomics could be an appropriate tool to detect hormone abuse, keeping in mind the strength and the limitation of such an approach.

Applying metabolomics to detect growth hormone administration in athletes: Proof of concept

“…If the validation studies demonstrate a high specificity of the biomarkers for the recGH, metabolomics could be used in a similar manner to the athlete biological passport, to build a metabolomics passport. If the results are rather unspecific, it could be a valuable (and costless) preliminary screening to target “suspect” athletes with more specific tests 20 …”

Applying metabolomics to detect growth hormone administration in athletes: Proof of concept

“…If the validation studies demonstrate a high specificity of the biomarkers for the recGH, metabolomics could be used in a similar manner to the athlete biological passport, to build a metabolomics passport. If the results are rather unspecific, it could be a valuable (and costless) preliminary screening to target “suspect” athletes with more specific tests 20 …”

Integrating Advanced Metabolomics and Machine Learning for Anti-Doping in Human Athletes

“…Targeted metabolomics involves quantitative analysis focused on a predefined set of known metabolites, providing high sensitivity and specificity [ 25 ]. Due to its highly focused approach, targeted metabolomics allows for precise quantification of metabolites even at very low concentrations, making it particularly effective for detecting subtle biochemical changes associated with doping practices [ 26 , 27 ]. In contrast, untargeted metabolomics involves a qualitative, exploratory analysis aimed at identifying as many metabolites as possible without prior knowledge of their chemical identities [ 28 ].…”

“…Omics enable precise and reproducible profiling of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites. Genomics and transcriptomics have been explored for gene doping detection, while proteomics has shown promise in identifying hormone doping [ 27 ].…”

“…Among the most promising applications is the fusion of metabolomic, biometric, and behavioral data using AI. Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ].…”

“…Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ]. Within this field, steroidomics—a specialized branch focusing on the comprehensive analysis of steroidal metabolites—has already demonstrated utility in characterizing steroidal signatures and detecting anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) misuse [ 27 ].…”

Applying metabolomics to detect growth hormone administration in athletes: Proof of concept

“…If the validation studies demonstrate a high specificity of the biomarkers for the recGH, metabolomics could be used in a similar manner to the athlete biological passport, to build a metabolomics passport. If the results are rather unspecific, it could be a valuable (and costless) preliminary screening to target “suspect” athletes with more specific tests 20 …”

Integrating Advanced Metabolomics and Machine Learning for Anti-Doping in Human Athletes

“…Targeted metabolomics involves quantitative analysis focused on a predefined set of known metabolites, providing high sensitivity and specificity [ 25 ]. Due to its highly focused approach, targeted metabolomics allows for precise quantification of metabolites even at very low concentrations, making it particularly effective for detecting subtle biochemical changes associated with doping practices [ 26 , 27 ]. In contrast, untargeted metabolomics involves a qualitative, exploratory analysis aimed at identifying as many metabolites as possible without prior knowledge of their chemical identities [ 28 ].…”

“…Omics enable precise and reproducible profiling of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites. Genomics and transcriptomics have been explored for gene doping detection, while proteomics has shown promise in identifying hormone doping [ 27 ].…”

“…Among the most promising applications is the fusion of metabolomic, biometric, and behavioral data using AI. Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ].…”

“…Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ]. Within this field, steroidomics—a specialized branch focusing on the comprehensive analysis of steroidal metabolites—has already demonstrated utility in characterizing steroidal signatures and detecting anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) misuse [ 27 ].…”

Applying metabolomics to detect growth hormone administration in athletes: Proof of concept

“…If the validation studies demonstrate a high specificity of the biomarkers for the recGH, metabolomics could be used in a similar manner to the athlete biological passport, to build a metabolomics passport. If the results are rather unspecific, it could be a valuable (and costless) preliminary screening to target “suspect” athletes with more specific tests 20 …”

Integrating Advanced Metabolomics and Machine Learning for Anti-Doping in Human Athletes

“…Targeted metabolomics involves quantitative analysis focused on a predefined set of known metabolites, providing high sensitivity and specificity [ 25 ]. Due to its highly focused approach, targeted metabolomics allows for precise quantification of metabolites even at very low concentrations, making it particularly effective for detecting subtle biochemical changes associated with doping practices [ 26 , 27 ]. In contrast, untargeted metabolomics involves a qualitative, exploratory analysis aimed at identifying as many metabolites as possible without prior knowledge of their chemical identities [ 28 ].…”

“…Omics enable precise and reproducible profiling of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites. Genomics and transcriptomics have been explored for gene doping detection, while proteomics has shown promise in identifying hormone doping [ 27 ].…”

“…Among the most promising applications is the fusion of metabolomic, biometric, and behavioral data using AI. Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ].…”

“…Metabolomics has emerged as a promising tool in anti-doping efforts, enabling the identification of metabolic perturbations in athletes that may indicate the use of prohibited substances [ 27 ]. By serving as a high-throughput screening approach, metabolomics can highlight individuals exhibiting atypical metabolic profiles, potentially resulting from doping practices [ 27 ]. Within this field, steroidomics—a specialized branch focusing on the comprehensive analysis of steroidal metabolites—has already demonstrated utility in characterizing steroidal signatures and detecting anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) misuse [ 27 ].…”