Role of Mass Spectrometry
and Olympic Drug Testing
Anabolic steroids
such as testosterone are used to build
muscle, analgesics (including narcotics
such as morphine) allow injured athletes
to continue training, diuretics increase
urine production and thus decrease a
drug's concentration in the analyzed urine
sample, peptide hormones such as human
growth hormone stimulate tissue growth,
and stimulants (including high levels of
caffeine) enhance endurance.
An athlete fails testing if a banned
substance not produced naturally by the
body is identified. An example would be
the presence of cocaine or amphetamine, or
their metabolites. Testosterone is a
naturally occuring hormone and acts as an
anabolic agent. To limit testosterone
abuse, Olympic officials have set the
allowable urinary ratio of testosterone to
epitestosterone (a normally occurring
hormone that is not an anabolic steroid)
at 6 to 1. Most men have a 1 to 1 ratio,
but some athletes have a naturally higher
testosterone level. This, of course,
permits (male) athletes with a lower ratio
to bulk up on testosterone until they
reach the 6 to 1 limit. Another recourse
available to athletes is to use a
performance-enhancing drug not yet on the
list of banned substances.
Anabolic steroids, analgesics, diuretics,
and stimulants are analyzed by a gas
chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS).
This analysis allows for the detection of
anabolic steroids at the part per billion
level even when present in a complicated
matrix such as urine. Corticosteroids,
either given as is or induced in situ by
the peptide hormone corticotrophin, are
resolved by high-performance liquid
chromatography mass spectrometers
(HPLC-MS). Banned peptide hormones are
further identified by immunoassays.
The testing for
performance enhancing drugs faces an
additional hurdle. Tests must be robust
and accurate enough in order to be backed
by world scientists and the IOC before
they can be introduced at the Olympic
Games. The Sydney Games hope to catch
athletes using the drug erythropoietin
(EPO) which increases the number of
stamina-boosting red cells. SOCOG
officials, however, are wary of the
mistake made during the 1996 Atlanta Games
when a new test for the banned stimulant
bromantan failed to prove reliable and
appeals by many athletes against positive
tests were overturned. The SOCOG sees EPO
as dangerous to athletes because it
thickens the blood.
All of the mass spectrometry techniques
help to achieve athletic performances that
represent true human endurance and not
drug induced accomplishments. MS
approaches enable accurate results to be
made available in just a few hours. Still
the pressure for improved performances,
where a tiny fraction of a second can mean
the difference between a gold and silver
medal, will lead some athletes to use
drugs during competition no matter the
risks involved.