title: Indirect androgen doping by oestrogen blockade in sports.
abstract: Androgens can increase muscular mass and strength and remain the most frequently abused and widely available drugs used in sports doping. Banning the administration of natural or synthetic androgens has led to a variety of strategies to circumvent the ban of the most effective ergogenic agents for power sports. Among these, a variety of indirect androgen doping strategies aiming to produce a sustained rise in endogenous testosterone have been utilized. These include oestrogen blockade by drugs that act as oestrogen receptor antagonists (antioestrogen) or aromatase inhibitors. The physiological and pharmacological basis for the effects of oestrogen blockade in men, but not women, are reviewed.
authors.affiliation: ANZAC Research Institute & Department of Andrology, Concord Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. djh@anzac.edu.au
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Handelsman
mesh_terms: D000728:Androgens / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004300:Doping in Sports; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012737:Sex Factors; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D013739:Testosterone