title: Identification of fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF-1) in a black market product.
abstract: The use of growth factors for accelerated healing of sports injuries is restricted under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) anti-doping code. Cheating athletes have used the black market as a source of performance-enhancing substances. Drugs that currently undergo clinical trials are frequently offered--despite the unknown health risks associated with the administration of unapproved pharmaceuticals. Recently, a new growth factor (referred to as fibroblast growth factor 1/FGF-1) with known effects on the repair and regeneration of damaged tissue was detected in an unlabelled black market product confiscated by the German customs. The identification of the protein was achieved by one- and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE and 2D-PAGE), different proteolytic digestions, immunological methods and nano-liquid chromatography high-resolution/high-accuracy Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed slight differences concerning the molecular weight of recombinant human and black market FGF-1. Using in-gel proteolysis, a truncation or modification located at the N-terminus of the protein was suggested. These findings demonstrate that drug candidates without clinical approval can be readily obtained from the black market, regardless of potential dangerous consequences for the consumer, which corroborates the necessity of proactive and preventive doping control approaches. In that regard, physiological concentrations of blood and urine specimens collected from healthy individuals were analyzed and were found to range below 28 pg/ml in urine, while there was no detectable FGF-1 in plasma.
authors: Centre for Preventive Doping Research/Institute of Biochemistry, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors: Katja
authors: K
authors: Walpurgis
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Thomas
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Laussmann
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Horta
authors: Sabine
authors: S
authors: Metzger
authors: Wilhelm
authors: W
authors: Schänzer
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Thevis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004300:Doping in Sports; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1