Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Hemoglobin01:24

Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is a globular protein made up of four subunits. Two of these subunits are alpha chains, and the other two are beta chains. Each subunit contains a molecule of heme, which has an iron atom and can bind to oxygen. When an oxygen molecule binds to one heme group, it changes the shape of hemoglobin, making it easier for the other heme groups to bind oxygen as well.
When all four heme groups are bound to oxygen, the resulting molecule is called oxyhemoglobin. As a result, arterial blood...
Oxygen Transport in the Blood01:27

Oxygen Transport in the Blood

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a crucial molecule in the human body, consisting of four polypeptide chains, each bound to an iron-containing heme group. This unique structure enables hemoglobin to bind to oxygen, with each molecule capable of combining with four molecules of oxygen, leading to rapid and reversible oxygen loading. When fully loaded with oxygen, it is called oxyhemoglobin, while hemoglobin that has released oxygen is called reduced hemoglobin or deoxyhemoglobin. As hemoglobin binds oxygen,...
Blood Transfusion01:15

Blood Transfusion

Blood transfusion is a critical medical procedure that saves lives and treats various medical conditions. It involves transferring blood from a donor to a recipient. This process requires a thorough understanding of the ABO blood group system and its associated antigens and antibodies.
Blood Transfusion Overview
A blood transfusion is a medical procedure used to replace blood lost due to injury, surgery, or to treat conditions such as anemia or cancer. During a transfusion, donor blood is...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Sleep quality and nocturnal pain in patients with elbow disorders: a prospective multicenter study.

Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology·2026
Same author

A multi-modal longevity protocol integrating lifestyle, supplements, and autologous pro-regenerative cell-conditioned media: a pilot study.

Frontiers in aging·2026
Same author

From plan to practice: Development, awareness, and implementation of sports injury and illness risk management plans in a professional male football setting.

Journal of science and medicine in sport·2026
Same author

Effects of Altitude Descent: Hemodilution in Young Cyclists.

International journal of sports medicine·2026
Same author

American College of Sports Medicine Expert Consensus Statement: Blood Doping in Sport.

Medicine and science in sports and exercise·2026
Same author

Long-term clinical and radiological outcomes of a stemless reverse shoulder implant that is fallen out of favor - stemless nano-reverse shoulder arthroplasty.

BMC musculoskeletal disorders·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 28, 2026

A Rapid and Chemical-free Hemoglobin Assay with Photothermal Angular Light Scattering
05:18

A Rapid and Chemical-free Hemoglobin Assay with Photothermal Angular Light Scattering

Published on: December 7, 2016

Total hemoglobin mass--a new parameter to detect blood doping?

Nicole Prommer1, Pierre-Edouard Sottas, Christian Schoch

  • 1Department of Sports Medicine and Sports Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany. Nicole.Prommer@uni-bayreuth.de

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|November 5, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Total hemoglobin mass (tHb-mass) in elite athletes shows minimal variation (<6%) throughout a training year. This stability supports its use in athlete biological passports for detecting blood doping, as changes are below doping thresholds.

More Related Videos

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level
05:35

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

Published on: January 19, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 28, 2026

A Rapid and Chemical-free Hemoglobin Assay with Photothermal Angular Light Scattering
05:18

A Rapid and Chemical-free Hemoglobin Assay with Photothermal Angular Light Scattering

Published on: December 7, 2016

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level
05:35

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

Published on: January 19, 2024

Area of Science:

  • Sports Science
  • Anti-Doping Research
  • Physiology

Background:

  • Blood manipulations aim to increase total hemoglobin mass (tHb-mass).
  • Establishing tHb-mass as a reliable screening parameter for blood doping requires understanding its normal intraindividual variation.
  • Elite athletes undergo distinct training phases (off, training, race) influencing physiological parameters.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the intraindividual variance of tHb-mass in elite endurance athletes over a full training year.
  • To assess the influence of training phases, volume, and other factors on tHb-mass stability.
  • To evaluate tHb-mass as a potential biomarker for blood doping detection.

Main Methods:

  • Measured tHb-mass and hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) in 24 endurance athletes five times over one year.
  • Compared athlete data with a control group (n=6).
  • Utilized analysis of covariance and three error models to assess variance sources (analytical vs. biological).

Main Results:

  • Training volume and phases did not significantly affect tHb-mass (P=0.20 and P=0.81, respectively).
  • Intraindividual variations in tHb-mass were primarily analytical (typical error ~1.4%) with minimal biological origin (SD 7.5 g).
  • Observed oscillations were less than 6% over the year.

Conclusions:

  • tHb-mass exhibits high stability in elite athletes throughout a training year.
  • The low intraindividual variation (<6%) is significantly less than changes induced by doping (e.g., EPO, ~10%).
  • tHb-mass is a suitable candidate for inclusion in athlete biological passports, analyzed using probabilistic methods for subject-based reference ranges.