Detecting Drugs

Image by ©Ann Johansson/Corbis Dr. Donald H. Catlin, director of the Olympic Analytical Laboratory, sits in front of a LC/MS/MS system, one of the instruments used in analyzing extracts from urine samples.

Many of the banned drugs can be detected in samples of urine. For some substances, blood samples are required. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry are the most common methods of analysis. These chemical tests can be done on both urine and blood samples. There are other testing methods in place and in development. Although there is little statistical evidence on how widespread doping is, athletes and coaches stress that most competitors do not take drugs. No matter how high or low the numbers, doping does exist so drug testing has become an integral part of sports competitions. As new performance-enhancing drugs are created, new tests are developed to detect these drugs. The struggle to keep sports clean will continue indefinitely.

New tests on the horizon...
In the not-so-distant future, biology-based testing may be just the thing to detect designer steroids and other substances that elude current testing mechanisms. In order to find a substance, scientists usually have to know what substance they're looking for. However, Xiaohui Yuan and Barry Forman of the Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope National Medical Center have developed a method of testing that may be able to identify unknown substances.

Scientists have learned that anabolic steroids work by interacting with a certain receptor (think of it a little like a teeny electrical switch inside your body). This switch -- the androgen receptor -- is one among many. Reportedly, there are about 50 known receptors. The key to the new method of testing is that it is able to detect any substance that turns on the androgen receptor. Different substances interact with different receptors in the body. For example, human growth hormone doesn't react with the androgen receptor, but it does react with another. So, the new method could eventually be used to detect other substances.