Sports drug testing and the athletes' exposome

Abstract

Similar to the general population, elite athletes are exposed to a complex set of environmental factors including chemicals and radiation and also biological and physical stressors, which constitute an exposome that is, unlike for the general population, subjected to specific scrutiny for athletes due to applicable antidoping regulations and associated (frequent) routine doping controls. Hence, investigations into the athlete's exposome and how to distinguish between deliberate drug use and different contamination scenarios has become a central topic of antidoping research, as a delicate balance is to be managed between the vital and continually evolving developments of sensitive analytical techniques on the one hand, and the risk of the athletes' exposome potentially causing adverse analytical findings on the other.

Human In Vivo Metabolism and Elimination Behavior of Micro-Dosed Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator RAD140 for Doping Control Purposes

“…In addition to deliberate doping with SARMs, a problem that has garnered increasing attention is athletes’ exposome, and especially the risk contaminated supplements pose to athletes [ 13 , 14 ]. As dietary supplements, in contrast to pharmaceuticals, are not extensively monitored, they may contain undeclared prohibited ingredients [ 15 ].…”

Determination and enantioselective separation of zilpaterol in human urine after mimicking consumption of contaminated meat using high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry techniques

“…With the increasing complexity and extent of the human exposome and the advances in analytical chemistry, the challenges in anti-doping have been complemented with another factor, namely the fact that "doping scenarios" but also "contamination" or "exposure scenarios" necessitate consideration in sports drug testing. 17,34,35 The aim of the present study was to obtain information on the excretion of microdosed zilpaterol, simulating a contamination scenario and providing insights into elimination characteristics in support of result management concerning doping controls. The elimination profiles observed in four different settings showed high inter-individual variances.…”

“…With the continuous optimization of doping control analytical assays, even minute amounts of prohibited substances can be detected in urine, offering the required analytical retrospectivity in support of anti‐doping programs. If not otherwise specified, the presence of a prohibited substance (or its metabolite) constitutes an adverse analytical finding (AAF) in doping controls, and whether the detection of trace amounts of banned substances originates from deliberate doping has been argued in various cases in the past 17 . Contaminated food or food additives were shown to be a potential source of unintentional doping, 18–21 with the illegal use of clenbuterol in farming being presumably the most notorious example for this scenario 22,23 …”

“…If not otherwise specified, the presence of a prohibited substance (or its metabolite) constitutes an adverse analytical finding (AAF) in doping controls, and whether the detection of trace amounts of banned substances originates from deliberate doping has been argued in various cases in the past. 17 Contaminated food or food additives were shown to be a potential source of unintentional doping, [18][19][20][21] with the illegal use of clenbuterol in farming being presumably the most notorious example for this scenario. 22,23 Due to the risk of zilpaterol residues in meat, a minimum reporting level (MRL) of 5 ng/mL in urine was established by WADA in 2021, 24 and the detection of the drug at concentrations above this level is to be reported by anti-doping laboratories as AAFs.…”

Adverse analytical finding due to red blood cells transfusion: A rare case involving the diuretic dorzolamide

“…An interesting concept referred to as the athlete exposome was recently introduced. 16 It summarizes the overall issue of drug residue exposure and the consequences for athletes in particular. As it is the case for the general population, athletes can be exposed to environmental factors, including chemicals and drugs.…”