Bioanalytical methods in doping controls: a review

The analytical and technological approaches employed in doping analysis are constantly reviewed and updated to allow for keeping pace with progresses in pharmaceutical and medicinal research and the therein inherent options of misuse as performance enhancing drugs or methods. Enormous changes, improvements, and developments have been achieved in recent years, particularly, but not exclusively, in the bioanalytical sector. Several of these new strategies are examined systematically in this review using examples from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances and methods. The review includes, among others, the application of sophisticated new in-vitro models mimicking multi compartment models, investigation into new long-term metabolites for anabolic agents, the impact of a distinct gene mutation on the analysis of erythropoietin, studies on the development of new therapeutic protein-based drugs with myostatin inhibiting properties, methods applying the new molecular biological section used to uncover gene doping, and finally new approaches uncovering the prohibited use of autologous blood transfusion. All of these challenges and investigations support the ongoing progress in modern doping controls in the future and will help to fill the gap between the advance of cheating athletes and sport drug testing.