Detection of Illicit Use of Growth Hormone

Abstract

Illicit use of performance-enhancing drugs is a major problem in sports. Since 1967, the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)1 have issued continuously updated lists of prohibited substances. In 1989, the first polypeptide hormones, human growth hormone (hGH), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and adrenocorticotropin, were included in the list (1)(2). Presently, substances increasing the release of hGH and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which mediates the action of hGH, are also banned (3). WADA has approved test methods for detection of most prohibited substances, but although hGH is widely used for doping, methods for detecting it are not available (3)(4). In this issue of Clinical Chemistry , Bidlingmaier et al. (5) describe an approach that is potentially useful for this purpose. It is based on the use of immunoassays that preferentially recognize pituitary (phGH) and recombinant (rhGH) hGH, the latter being the form most probably used for doping (5). hGH exerts its effects both directly on end organs and by inducing expression of IGF-1 (3). The combined effect of these is reflected by changes in markers of bone and soft tissue metabolism. Methods for detection of GH administration based on increased serum concentrations of procollagen III peptide and IGF-1 have also been developed (6), but standardizing these methods is demanding and they have not yet been applied to doping control (3). Use of hGH for doping started to increase when rhGH became available around 1990, but …