May 1, 1999
Volume 2, Number 9
Research Update
by Bryan Haycock MSc., CSCS
bryan@thinkmuscle.com
Please send us your feedback
on this article.
As we approach the new millennium we find the science of building
muscle progressing faster than ever before. Long gone are the days of
simple trial and error when it comes to building muscle. The modern
bodybuilder demands more than just "hear say" if they are to
adopt a new training routine or nutritional supplement. This column was
created to keep today’s bodybuilder on the cutting edge of scientific
research that might benefit them in their quest for body perfection.
Is Blood Testing the Next Step in
Doping Control?
Title: The ethics of blood testing as an element of doping
control in sport.
Researchers/Authors: Alister Browne, Victor Lachance, and Andrew
Pipe
Division of Health Care Ethics, The University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, British Columbia; and the Canadian Center for Ethics in
Sport, Ottawa, Ontario; Division of Cardiac Surgery, University of
Ottawa Heart Institute & Department of Family Medicine, The Ottawa
Hospital, Ontario, CANADA
Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (1999) Vol.
31, No. 4, pp. 497-501
Summary/Discussion: This isn’t exactly a "study" per
se. It is a commentary that appeared in the April 99 issue of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise. I felt it was relevant to this
column because it represents the current state of affairs with respect
to blood testing for doping control in sports.
The following is the abstract of the article as it appeared in Med.
Sci. Sports Exerc. 31(4): 497-501, 1999.
"Sport authorities continue to confront a variety of
perplexing issues as they attempt to address effectively and efficiently
the problems posed by doping. The emergence of the phenomena of blood
doping and the administration of erythropoietin have added to the
challenges faced by doping control authorities. Some sport organizations
have introduced blood tests in an attempt to deal with these issues
despite the absence of any effective test for the detection of the
administration of homologous blood products or erythropoietin. A number
of ethical issues are raised by such developments. Even in the presence
of an effective test it is suggested that the decision to implement a
specific testing approach can be reached by considering the wishes of a
hypothetical "Fair Competitor" and an analysis of the costs
involved. In this respect the Fair Competitor assumes in the sport
community the role that the "reasonable person" occupies in
law, permitting an analysis of a proposed course of action. In making
any decision regarding the implementation of any test, a Fair Competitor
would be guided by considerations of the postulated advantage and
incidence of a doping technique, the likelihood of false positive and
negative results, the risk of unwanted consequences of a testing
process, and a concern that a specific test not accelerate the
likelihood of the use of other doping methods. This approach is applied
to a consideration of the appropriateness of blood testing in sport. It
is concluded, using such an analysis, that in their present state of
development, blood tests should not be implemented. It is recognized
that certain sport authorities currently use blood tests to exclude
competitors whose blood values exceed certain predetermined levels on
the grounds of concerns regarding health and safety. Screening of this
kind is beyond the purview of this discussion."
Blood sampling has been conducted by several prominent sporting
organizations to date including the International Ski Federation which
took samples and performed analysis at the Cross-Country Ski World
Championships in 1989 as well as at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994.
The International Olympic Committee did not conduct this testing at the
Lillehammer games. The International Amateur Athletic Federation also
conducted blood testing at a number of Europian Grand Prix meets in 1993
and 1994. Most all other sporting organizations including the IOC refuse
to adopt blood testing for doping control until ethical and legal issues
are fully explored.
The authors present several advantages of using blood as the matrix
for testing procedures. These advantages are as follows:
- The procedure for collecting a sample is relatively rapid.
- It is a minimal requirement for the detection of homologous
(infusion of whole blood or blood products from another person)
blood doping.
- It provides the best medium for detecting autologous blood
doping (i.e. the use of erythropoietin "EPO" or ones own
blood that was previously withdrawn and stored).
- Blood may be useful to confirm the presence of exogenous
testosterone detected in the athletes urine.
- Blood plasma provides advantages in identifying the presence of
certain peptide hormones such as rHGH or rIGF-1.
- There are existing population based reference guides for clinical
hematological tests.
- It reduces the possibility of manipulation of samples.
The authors also provided the disadvantages to testing blood in
sports:
The authors approach the issue of whether we are ready for blood
testing or not from the standpoint of a hypothetical "Fair
Competitor". They propose that this fair competitor would need to
consider six issues when weighing the cost and benefit of blood testing.
Remember that this is from the viewpoint of someone not using any
illegal substances.
- Is the doping strategy used by other competitors all that
effective? In other words, are the people winning mostly because
they are doping? If the doping strategies being used by other
competitors makes it virtually impossible for the "fair
competitor" to win, blood testing would be desirable even with
the risk of false positives.
- How rampant is doping in a particular sport? If doping is
relatively rare, the risk of getting a false positive would not be
worth a fair competitor submitting to blood tests.
- What is the likelihood of false positives? In and of itself
a fair competitor would not care about "why" false
positives occur but would be very interested in whether other
athletes can use various doping techniques and still pass the tests.
- What is the likelihood of false positives? As with false
negatives, the fair competitor would not care why they occur but
would be concerned about the chances of he/she getting a false
positive. This would ruin a career in most sports as well as
tag you as one to avoid when it comes to lucrative endorsement
contracts.
- How easily can Unfair Competitors adopt other methods of doping
that are effective yet undetectable by current testing technologies.
This issue is futile for the Fair Competitor to worry about
especially if you are not a drug user or not willing to use other
doping techniques.
- The risk to the Fair Competitor that he/she will suffer unfair
or unwanted consequences as a result of participating in the testing
process (e.g., the risk of public or semi-public revelation that
he/she is a carrier of Hepatitis B or C, HIV, or other communicable
disease; the potential for the blood sample to be frozen, stored,
and used for other purposes without the express permission of the
athlete).
One other issue that comes into play is the cost of the tests.
If the financial cost of the test makes it impossible to be widely
practiced, what good is it to the Fair Competitor? How much a sporting
organization is willing to invest in an expensive testing procedure
depends not only on the cost in dollars, but also on the benefit to the
Fair Competitor.
Finally the authors offer three recommendations.
- They recommend That Blood Testing Not Be Conducted as Part
of the Protocols for Doping Control Procedures in Sport.
- They recommend That A Vigorous Educational Program to Articulate
and Inculcate the Advantages or Drug-Free Sport Should Go Forward.
- They recommend That Scientific Research Designed to Facilitate the
Development of Valid, Reliable Methods of Detection of Prohibited
Performance-Enhancing Substances and Techniques Should Continue and
Be Appropriately Supported.
At this point I am tempted to ramble about the improbability of drug
testing policies in other athletic organizations to effect professional
bodybuilding. After all, pro-bodybuilding is all about who’s body
looks best with heavy sustained use of anabolics. On the other hand, we
can’t forget those of you who are not bodybuilders but are competitive
athletes. This article has everything to do with you and your fellow
competitors. Because of the risks, both to reputation and privacy, it is
not only the hypothetical cheater that need worry about the future
developments in doping control efforts in organized sports.
Not by the Hair of My Chinny Chin, Chin!
Look for the "Bald Look" to be more than a
fashion statement in the near future!
Title: Detection of anabolic steroids in head hair.
Researchers: Deng XS, Kurosu A, Pounder DJ
Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Dundee, Royal
Infirmary, Scotland.
Source: J Forensic Sci 1999 Mar;44(2):343-6
Summary/Abstract: Scientists in Scotland have
developed a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method for detection
and quantification of anabolic steroids in head hair. Following alkaline
digestion and solid-phase extraction, the MO-TMS derivatives gave a
specific fragmentation pattern with EI ionization. For stanozolol, the
TMS-HFBA derivative showed several diagnostic ions. For androstanolone,
mestanolone (methylandrostanolone), and oxymetholone two chromatographic
peaks for cis and trans isomers of derivatives were seen. Recoveries
were 35 to 45% for androstanolone, oxymetholone,
chlorotestosterone-acetate, dehydromethyltestosterone,
dehydrotestosterone, fluoxymesterone, mestanolone, methyltestosterone,
and nandrolone; 52% for mesterolone, trenbolone; 65% for bolasterone;
24% for methenolone and 17% for stanozolol. Limits of detection were
0.002 to 0.05 ng/mg and of quantitation were 0.02 to 0.1 ng/mg. Seven
white male steroid abusers provided head hair samples (10 to 63 mg) and
urine. In the hair samples, methyltestosterone was detected in two
(confirmed in urine); nandrolone in two (also confirmed in urine);
dehydromethyltestosterone in four (but not found in urine); and
clenbuterol in one (but not in urine). Oxymethalone was found in urine
in one, but not in the hair. One abuser had high levels of testosterone:
0.15 ng/mg hair, and 1190 ng/mL urine. These researchers conclude that
head hair analysis has considerable potential for the detection and
monitoring of steroid abuse.
Discussion: When seeking to find out what
chemicals are present in a sample (e.g., hair), you have to be able to
effectively separate all the different substances it is made of. Usually
this is done on the basis of differences in solubility, using fractional
crystallization, or by differences in volatility, using distillation, of
the different substances it contains.
Chromatography is the most widely used technique used in chemistry to
separate substances. It can be used on liquid or gas solutions. It was
originally used about 90 years ago to separate different color pigments
in plants, hence the root "chroma" which is Greek for
"color". Once a solution or gas is produced of the desired
sample, the different chemicals in the sample will have different
absorption characteristics in a solid or liquid phase medium. You may
have heard or read the term "HPLC" when talking about testing
the purity of supplements. HPLC refers to high-pressure liquid
chromatography. With HPLC solutions are pumped through a column under
very high pressure (3000/in2 or more). In this case researchers are
using gas chromatography (GC). It is the same method used to test
emissions on cars.
Mass spectrometry is another commonly used method of
separating atomic sized particles in a gas based on weight. In mass
spectrometry, a beam of gaseous ions is deflected in a magnetic field
toward a collector plate. Lighter ions are deflected more than heavy
ones. By comparing the accelerating voltages required to deflect the two
ions to the same point on the collector plate, it is possible to
determine the relative masses of the ions.
I’m sure most of you aren’t as interested in the technology as
you are in the consequences of using it in drug testing. In this case
researchers are using hair to determine what anabolics are or were
taken.
Each hair on your body consists of a shaft and a root. The shaft
consists of three principle parts. The inner medulla is composed of
polyhedral cells containing granules of eleidin and air spaces. The
middle cortex forms the major part of the shaft and consists of
elongated cells that contain pigment granules in dark hair but mostly
air in white hair. The cuticle of the hair, the outermost layer,
consists of a single layer of thin, flat, scalelike cells that are most
heavily keratinized.
It is these cells that contain metabolites of whatever anabolics you
have been taking. The thing about hair is that it provides the
investigator with a rather long history of the subjects drug use. Much
longer than urine or blood. This is not the kind of test that can be
fooled with masking agents. The only real way to beat this test at
present is to remove all traces of hair from your body. Right now this
study is only an indication of what can be done. It will be some time
before this kind of testing would be adopted by major sporting
organizations, if ever.
Koala Bear Delicacy Shows
Promise as New Insulinotropic Agent!
Title: Antihyperglycemic Actions of
Eucalyptus globulus (Eucalyptus) are Associated with Pancreatic and
Extra-Pancreatic Effects in Mice
Researchers: Gray AM, Flatt PR
Source: The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 12
December 1998, pp. 2319-2323
Summary: Eucalyptus
globulus (eucalyptus) is used as a traditional treatment for diabetes.
In this study, incorporation of eucalyptus in the diet (62.5 g/kg) and
drinking water (2.5 g/L) reduced the hyperglycemia and associated weight
loss of streptozotocin-treated mice. An aqueous extract of eucalyptus
(AEE) (0.5 g/L) enhanced 2-deoxy-glucose transport by 50%, glucose
oxidation by 60% and incorporation of glucose into glycogen by 90% in
mouse abdominal muscle. In acute, 20 min incubations, 0.25-0.5 g AEE/L
evoked a stepwise 70-160% enhancement of insulin secretion from the
clonal pancreatic beta-cell line (BRIN-BD11). The stimulatory effect of
0.5 g/L AEE was unaltered by the presence of 400 µmol diazoxide/L and
prior exposure to AEE did not alter subsequent insulin secretory
response to L-alanine, thereby negating adetrimental effect on cell
viability. The effect of AEE was not potentiated by glucose or
demonstrable in cells exposed to a depolarizing concentration of KCl.
Further study of the insulin-releasing effects of AEE revealed the
activity to be heat stable, acetone insoluble, stable to acid, but
abolished by exposure to alkali. Sequential extraction with solvents
revealed activity in both methanol and water fractions, indicating the
presence of more than one biologically active extract constituent. These
data indicate that Eucalyptus globulus represents an effective
antihyperglycemic dietary adjunct for the treatment of diabetes and a
potential source for discovery of new orally active agent(s) for future
therapy.
Discussion: Eucalyptus seems to be acting both on
the pancreas as well as on peripheral tissues. When muscle tissue was
isolated and then bathed in an aqueous solution of eucalyptus, both
glucose uptake and utilization was enhanced. This was evidenced by a 50%
increase in glucose transport, a 60% increase in glucose oxidation, and
a 90% increase in glucose incorporation into glycogen. The researchers
point out that there may have been residual insulin bound to receptors
of the isolated muscle which may have influenced this observation.
However, previous studies confirm that eucalyptus decreases blood
glucose levels and is acting via the insulin signaling pathway. This is
unlike Metformin (Glucophage) wich requires insulin to first bind with
it’s receptor to exert its effects.
In addition to its effects on muscle tissue, eucalyptus stimulates
insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells. After a meal, blood
glucose begins to rise. Beta cells in the pancreas begin to release
stored insulin and produce new insulin in response to increased blood
glucose levels. Eucalyptus stimulates insulin release from these beta
cells. It does this in a dose-dependant manner with maximal stimulation
with a solution of about 0.5 grams eucalyptus per liter of solution. It
should be noted that eucalyptus has an insulin stimulatory effect
without the presents of glucose. Eucalyptus appears to act by a
mechanism different from insulin stimulating drugs known as
sulphonylureas. Sulphonylureas exert there effects by way of
sulphonylurea receptors which then alter potassium-ATP channels,
depolarization of membranes, opening of voltage dependant calcium
channels and elevate intracellular Ca2+ levels. When using a drug
(Diazoxide) that blocks the effects of sulphonylureas, eucalyptus was
still effective. The exact mechanism by which eucalyptus stimulates
insulin release is yet to be understood.
The exact constituents of eucalyptus with anti-hyperglycaemic
properties have yet to be isolated. There appears to be at least two
separate active compounds. This is demonstrated by separate solutions of
methanol and water both showing anti-hyperglycaemic properties.
The researchers in this study showed great enthusiasm for the
potential use of eucalyptus in the treatment of diabetes. Personally I
don’t see this happening unless it is released in prescription form.
The system that is currently in place for the treatment of diabetes
fails to recognize the effectiveness of several currently and readily
available compounds (vanadyl compounds for one example) which have been
shown to be effective at lowering blood sugar and increasing
non-oxidation glucose metabolism (i.e. glycogen formation). Eucalyptus
has great potential for bodybuilders looking for an alternative to both
sulphonylureas and peripherally active oral drugs like Glucotrol and
Rezulin or Metformin respectively. Look for commercially available forms
of eucalyptus as this research comes to the attention of raw material
manufacturers and distributors.
by Bryan Haycock MSc., CSCS
bryan@thinkmuscle.com
Please send us your feedback
on this article.
