title: Analytical aspects in doping control: challenges and perspectives.
abstract: Since the first anti-doping tests in the 1960s, the analytical aspects of the testing remain challenging. The evolution of the analytical process in doping control is discussed in this paper with a particular emphasis on separation techniques, such as gas chromatography and liquid chromatography. These approaches are improving in parallel with the requirements of increasing sensitivity and selectivity for detecting prohibited substances in biological samples from athletes. Moreover, fast analyses are mandatory to deal with the growing number of doping control samples and the short response time required during particular sport events. Recent developments in mass spectrometry and the expansion of accurate mass determination has improved anti-doping strategies with the possibility of using elemental composition and isotope patterns for structural identification. These techniques must be able to distinguish equivocally between negative and suspicious samples with no false-negative or false-positive results. Therefore, high degree of reliability must be reached for the identification of major metabolites corresponding to suspected analytes. Along with current trends in pharmaceutical industry the analysis of proteins and peptides remains an important issue in doping control. Sophisticated analytical tools are still mandatory to improve their distinction from endogenous analogs. Finally, indirect approaches will be discussed in the context of anti-doping, in which recent advances are aimed to examine the biological response of a doping agent in a holistic way.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva and Lausanne, 20 Bd d'Yvoy, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Badoud
authors.forename: Davy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guillarme
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boccard
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grata
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saugy
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rudaz
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Veuthey
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004300:Doping in Sports; D004586:Electrophoresis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances / Q000032:analysis; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D020543:Proteome; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D010455:Peptides; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances; D011506:Proteins; D020543:Proteome