title: Growth hormone abuse: methods of detection.
abstract: In the past two decades, growth hormone (GH) has been considered as a performance-enhancing drug in the sport world, certainly favoured by the awareness that there is not yet an approved method for detecting its abuse. Because resting or random measurements of plasma GH concentrations per se are meaningless, new methods have been devised to evaluate plasma levels of GH-sensitive substances that are more stable, and hence detectable, than the hormone itself. This review discusses some of the most recently proposed approaches, including a diagnostic algorithm, based on the timed application of different tests, which, collectively, would have a high diagnostic capability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Pharmacology, University of Milan, via Vanvitelli 32, 20129 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonello E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rigamonti
authors.forename: Silvano G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Cella
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marazzi
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Luigi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sartorio
authors.forename: Eugenio E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000639:trends*; D054439:Ghrelin; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone; D003094:Collagen