Androgens, sports, and detection strategies for anabolic drug use

For decades, anabolic androgenic agents have represented the substance class most frequently observed in doping control sam-ples. They comprise synthetic and pseudoendogenous anabolic androgenic steroids and other, mostly non-steroidal compounds with (presumed) positive effects on muscle mass and function. While exogenous substances can easily be detected by gas/liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, significantly more com-plex methodologies including the longitudinal monitoring of in-dividual urinary steroid concentrations/ratios and isotope ratio mass spectrometry are required to provide evidence for the exogenous administration of endogenous compounds. This narrative review summarizes the efforts made within the last 5 years to further improve the detection of anabolic agents in doping control samples. Different approaches such as the identi-fication of novel metabolites and biomarkers, the acquisition of complementary mass spectrometric data, and the development of new analytical strategies were employed to increase method sensitivity and retrospectivity while simultaneously reducing method complexity to facilitate a higher and faster sample throughput.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This article reviews the efforts made in the past 5 years to improve the detection of anabolic agents in doping control samples. Various approaches, such as the identification of novel metabolites and biomarkers, the acquisition of complementary mass spectrometric data, and the development of new analytical strategies, have been employed to increase method sensitivity and retrospectivity while reducing method complexity, with the aim of achieving higher and faster sample throughput.