DETECTION OF ANABOLIC STEROID ADMINISTRATION TO ATHLETES

Abstract

The main synthetic anabolic steroids used in athletics can be detected by a radioimmunoassay screening technique applied to methylene chloride extracts of unhydrolysed urine. The 17α-methylsteroids, which are active on oral administration, can all be detected with an antiserum prepared against 17α-methyltestosterone-3-carboxymethyloxime-HSA. The preparations active by intramuscular injection, 19-nortestosterone phenylpropionate or decanoate and also the orally active 17α-ethyl steroids, norethandrolone and ethylestrenol, can be detected using an antiserum directed against 19-nortestosterone-17β-hemisuccinate-HSA. The possibility of detecting administration of the natural androgen testosterone by its effect on the suppression of endogenous luteinizing hormone (LH) has been investigated. Ten male volunteers (aged 18-23 years) given two injections of Primotestone (250 mg) either 7 days or 14 days apart, all showed dramatic increases in the ratio of testosterone to LH. The mean ratio of testosterone (nmol/l) to LH (u/l) in the plasma rose from 4.8 ± 0.2 (S.E.) before injection to 72 ± 6 after injection. The mean ratio of free testosterone (nmol/24 h) to LH (u/24 h) excreted in the urine increased from 0.4 ± 0.03 to 2.3 ± 0.18 and that of total testosterone to LH from 41 ± 2.6 to 298 ± 26.