Annual Banned-Substance Review 17th Edition-Analytical Approaches in Human Sports Drug Testing 2023/2024

Abstract

The 17th edition of the annual banned-substance review on analytical approaches in human sports drug testing is dedicated to literature published between October 2023 and September 2024. As in previous years, focus is put particularly on new or enhanced analytical options in human doping controls as well as investigations into the metabolism and elimination of compounds of interest, which represent central (while not exclusive) cornerstones of the global anti-doping mission. New information published within the past 12 months on established doping agents as well as new potentially relevant substances are reviewed and discussed in the context of the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2024 Prohibited List. Thereby, analytical challenges, especially with regard to the continuously growing number of target compounds and potentially relevant drug classes as well as the exigency (and consequences) of utmost analytical retrospectivity, are thematized and contextualized. Investigations especially into anabolic agents, peptide hormones, and strategies for the detection of gene doping were identified as core areas of anti-doping research in the reviewed period.

Keywords: doping |; exposure |; gene doping |; semaglutide |; sport.

FIGURE 1

Product ion mass spectrum of [M+H]⁺ of a urinary metabolite of semaglutide referred to as “U7”.

FIGURE 2

Structure formulae of the established main LGD‐4033 metabolite (4R,5R)‐4‐((4‐cyano‐3‐(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)amino)‐6,6,6‐trifluoro‐5‐hydroxyhexanoic acid (a, mol wt = 370.08 u), a new LGD‐4033 metabolite 4‐((R)‐2‐oxo‐5‐((R)‐2,2,2‐trifluoro‐1‐hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidin‐1‐yl)‐2‐(trifluoromethyl)benzonitrile (b, mol wt = 352.06 u), the SARMs ACP‐105 (c, mol wt = 290.12 u), YK‐11 (d, mol wt = 430.24 u), and S42 (e, mol wt = 296.21 u), and the testosterone‐stimulating peptide kisspeptin (f, mol wt = 1301.63 u).

FIGURE 3

Info box on particularly relevant observations.