Stimulants and doping in sport

Stimulants have been frequently detected in doping control samples and represent a structurally diverse class of compounds. Comprehensive sports drug-testing procedures have been developed using gas or liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometric detection, and they have revealed various adverse analytical findings, as demonstrated with 2 examples, 4-methylhexan-2-amine and methoxyphenamine. Moreover, the necessity of controlling the use or misuse of stimulating agents is outlined by means of pseudoephedrine, a compound that was prohibited in sports until the end of 2003. Since the ban was lifted, monitoring programs proved a significant increase in pseudoephedrine applications as determined from urine samples collected in competition. As a consequence, a reimplementation of this drug in future doping controls was decided.