Annual banned-substance review: Analytical approaches in human sports drug testing 2019/2020.

Abstract

Analytical chemistry-based research in sports drug testing has been a dynamic endeavor for several decades, with technology-driven innovations continuously contributing to significant improvements in various regards including analytical sensitivity, comprehensiveness of target analytes, differentiation of natural/endogenous substances from structurally identical but synthetically derived compounds, assessment of alternative matrices for doping control purposes, and so forth. The resulting breadth of tools being investigated and developed by anti-doping researchers has allowed to substantially improve anti-doping programs and data interpretation in general. Additionally, these outcomes have been an extremely valuable pledge for routine doping controls during the unprecedented global health crisis that severely affected established sports drug testing strategies. In this edition of the annual banned-substance review, literature on recent developments in anti-doping published between October 2019 and September 2020 is summarized and discussed, particularly focusing on human doping controls and potential applications of new testing strategies to substances and methods of doping specified the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2020 Prohibited List.