Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Peter Bond, Diederik L. Smit, Willem de Ronde
Summary: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the working mechanism and potential side effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). It discusses the absorption and transportation of AAS in the body and highlights the importance of understanding treatment options and self-medication practices for AAS users.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Marie Lindvik Jorstad, Morgan Scarth, Svenn Torgersen, Harrison Graham Pope, Astrid Bjornebekk
Summary: This study found that personality disorders and clinical psychiatric syndromes are common among users of anabolic-androgenic steroids. The study identified four distinct psychopathology subgroups among AAS users, highlighting the importance of considering individual psychiatric profiles when providing treatment to this population.
BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Katja Walpurgis, Thomas Piper, Mario Thevis
Summary: This article reviews the efforts made in the past 5 years to improve the detection of anabolic agents in doping control samples. Various approaches, such as the identification of novel metabolites and biomarkers, the acquisition of complementary mass spectrometric data, and the development of new analytical strategies, have been employed to increase method sensitivity and retrospectivity while reducing method complexity, with the aim of achieving higher and faster sample throughput.
BEST PRACTICE & RESEARCH CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
J. A. Garcia-Arnes, N. Garcia-Casares
Summary: The use of anabolic steroids has an impact on both professional athletes and the general population. It is prohibited and punished in professional sports, but its prevalence and use among non-professional users are difficult to determine. This review provides a comprehensive overview of anabolic steroids, including their historical background, classification, forms of use, physiological effects, adverse effects, treatment, and detection methods.
REVISTA CLINICA ESPANOLA
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Legal
Pascal Kintz, Laurie Gheddar, Jean-Sebastien Raul
Summary: Anabolic steroids, synthetic derivatives of testosterone, can have serious health consequences when abused. Their identification has applications in forensic toxicology, clinical settings, psychiatric disorders, and anti-doping violations. Nail clippings, despite lacking standard specimens, can serve as a unique alternative for testing, with a longer window of drug detection compared to head hair. A new method involving pulverization, sonication, extraction, and chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was developed to detect steroids in nail clippings, as demonstrated with authentic abuse cases showing low concentrations. The use of tandem mass spectrometry is essential for accurate testing.
JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Sen He, Xinchao Liu, Huifang Song, Xinmiao Zhou
Summary: The issue of misjudgment caused by the variant c.577del in human EPO gene has been found in rEPO detection. The analysis of de-N-glycosylated EPO can not only directly recognize the variant carriers, but also detect rEPO abuse in the blood samples from the variant carriers with higher efficiency than the analysis of intact EPO.
DRUG TESTING AND ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
C. Cloteau, G. Dervilly, B. Loup, V. Delcourt, Z. Kaabia, F. Bagilet, G. Groseille, K. Dauriac, S. Fisher, MA. Popot, P. Garcia, B. Le Bizec, L. Bailly-Chouriberry
Summary: Despite their ban, Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are still considered the biggest threat in equine doping. Metabolomics has emerged as a promising strategy to study the effect of substances on metabolism and discover biomarkers. This study assessed the robustness of a urine-based prediction model for detecting testosterone esters abuse and determined its application scope.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Aoalheiour Dora Albertsdottir, Wim Van Gansbeke, Peter Van Eenoo, Michael Polet
Summary: Sulfated metabolites have the potential to serve as long-term markers of anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is compatible with trimethylsilyl (TMS)-derivatives of non-hydrolysed sulfated steroids. However, sulfated reference standards are limited, and the GC-MS behavior of these compounds is mainly based on analyzing available standard reference material. In order to investigate this, in-house sulfated reference materials resembling known sulfated long-term markers were analyzed on GC-MS, and the gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric behavior was mapped and linked to the corresponding steroid structures.
DRUG TESTING AND ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Adalheidur Dora Albertsdottir, Wim Van Gansbeke, Peter Van Eenoo, Michael Polet
Summary: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) sets strict requirements for anti doping laboratories to comply with, including using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography MS (LC-MS) for initial testing procedure (ITP) to improve detection time. However, a LC-MS ITP combining sulfated AAS with other mandatory targets has not been developed yet, which is crucial for economical purposes.
JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY A
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Lenka Honesova, Peter Van Eenoo, Michael Polet
Summary: Androgenic anabolic steroids are misused in sports for their performance-enhancing effects. Gas Chromatography Combustion Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) is used to determine their origin. The clean-up of compounds for analysis is challenging due to low concentrations and matrix effects.
ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Patrizia Leogrande, Francesco Botre, Xavier de la Torre, Daniel Jardines, Maria Kristina Parr, Federico Marini
Summary: Predictive models have been developed to early identify novel anabolic androgenic steroids and obtain information on their molecular structure, using a combination of gas-chromatographic and mass spectrometric characteristic parameters. The chemometric methods applied allowed for the classification and clustering of steroids, providing a spectral and structural characterization for each subclass. Through mass spectrometric data analysis, class-specific common fragments and spectral trends were identified, enabling the detection of novel designer anabolic steroids.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Josefine Windfeld-Mathiasen, Thea Christoffersen, Niels August Willer Strand, Kim Dalhoff, Jon Traerup Andersen, Henrik Horwitz
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between psychiatric morbidity and the abuse of anabolic steroids among men. The results showed that individuals who used anabolic steroids had a higher incidence of anxiety, psychosis, and depression compared to the control group. This association remained significant even after controlling for socioeconomic factors.
DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
(2022)
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Kristyna Skoupa, Kamil St'astny, Zbysek Sladek
Summary: Anabolic steroids have significant effects on animal tissues and can cause irreversible morphological and histological changes. The use of these steroids in animal fattening raises concerns about consumer health and there is a need for new detection methods. The abuse of anabolic steroids can result in various side effects, including organ damage, brain atrophy, and behavioral changes. While the use of steroids is permitted in many countries, it is strictly banned in all European Union countries. Serum analysis and tissue structure changes may serve as potential new methods for detecting steroid misuse.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Pascal Kintz, Laurie Gheddar, Jean-Sebastien Raul
Summary: Hair testing for anabolic steroids in body hair has advantages of higher concentration and longer detection window compared to head hair. This is demonstrated in eight authentic cases where body hair concentrations were consistently higher than head hair concentrations.
DRUG TESTING AND ANALYSIS
(2021)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Raphael Magnolini, Luis Falcato, Alessio Cremonesi, Dominique Schori, Philip Bruggmann
Summary: With this systematic review and meta-analysis, we demonstrate that a substantial proportion of black-market AAS are counterfeit and of substandard quality, posing a significant threat to individual and public health.
