title: Genetic and protein biomarkers in blood for the improved detection of GH abuse.
abstract: Human Growth Hormone (hGH, somatotropin) is one of the relevant forbidden substances to be detected in sport drug testing. Since the appearance of recombinant hGH (rhGH) in the 80's, its expansion and availability through the black market have increased, so the detection of its abuse continues to be a challenge at present. New techniques or biomarkers that are robust, reliable, sensitive and allowing a large detection time window are welcome. rhGH produces an increase of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). FN1 (fibronectin 1) and RAB31 (member of RAS oncogene family) genes have been suggested as two potential biomarkers for IGF-1 abuse. Following this line, in the present study some genetic and proteomic approaches have been performed with fourteen healthy male subjects treated with rhGH (which produces increase of IGF-1 concentrations) to study FN1 gene, FN1 protein, RAB31 gene and RAB31 protein as potential biomarkers for rhGH abuse. The results showed that both, RAB31 and FN1 genes and FN1 protein could be potential biomarkers for rhGH administration. Preliminary assessments of gender, age, acute sport activities and GHRP-2 (pralmorelin, a rhGH releasing peptide) influence suggest they are not relevant confounding factors. Thus, the selected markers present high sensitivity and a larger detection window for rhGH detection than IGF-1 itself.
authors.affiliation: Bioanalysis Research Group, Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.affiliation: Bioanalysis Research Group, Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Cerdanyola del Vallés (Bellaterra), Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Mañá
authors.affiliation: Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Research Group, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Cerdanyola del Vallés (Bellaterra), Spain; Clinical Pharmacology Unit. Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol-IGTP, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farré
authors.affiliation: Bioanalysis Research Group, Neuroscience Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jsegura@imim.es.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Segura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000097:blood; D013177:Sports; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
keywords: Doping abuse; Doping substances; FN1; Fibronectin; Growth hormone; RAB31