Drug testing for GH

Here's a couple of methods for detecting recombinant HGH

This review examines some interesting ‘new’ history of insulin and reviews our current understanding of its physiological actions and synergy with growth hormone in the regulation of metabolism and body composition. It reviews the history of growth hormone abuse that antedates by many years the awareness of endocrinologists to its potent anabolic actions. Promising methods for detection of growth hormone abuse have been developed but have yet to be sufficiently well validated to be ready for introduction into competitive sport. So far there are two promising avenues for detecting growth hormone abuse. The first uses immunoassays that can distinguish the isomers of pituitary derived growth hormone from the monomer of recombinant human growth hormone. The second works through demonstrating circulating concentrations of one or more growth hormone sensitive substances that exceed the extremes of normal physiological variability. Both methods require blood rather than urine samples. The first method has a window of opportunity lasting about 24 h after an injection and is most suitable for ‘out of competition’ testing. The second method has reasonable sensitivity for as long as two weeks after the last injection of growth hormone and is uninfluenced by extreme exercise and suitable for post- competition samples. This method has a greater sensitivity in men than in women. The specificity of both methods seems acceptably high but lawyers need to decide what level of scientific probability is needed to obtain a conviction. Both methods need further validation before implementation. Research work carried out as part of the fight against doping in sport has opened up a new and exciting area of endocrinology.

Growth hormone (GH), one of the most frequently abused drugs in sports, is listed as a prohibited class E substance by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Still, no official test exists for detecting GH abuse for two reasons: 1)the similarity between the amino acid sequences of biosynthetic and naturally produced GH and 2) the pulsatile nature of GH secretion. Now, researchers in Germany have developed a test that can detect the differences between synthetic and natural GH.

"The human pituitary gland produces a form of GH that has identical amino acid sequences to the synthetic GH," said Dr. Zida Wu, the lead investigator on the study. "We immunized mice with synthetic GH and GH produced by the pituitary gland. We then selected monoclonal antibodies with a high affinity to synthetic GH, but with low affinity to pituitary-derived human GH."

The investigators also selected monoclonal antibodies with a high affinity to pituitary-derived human GH, but low affinity to the synthetic human GH. Through the use of the specific antibodies, the researchers established immunoassays with more sensitive detection limits and better discriminatory potency. When comparing the results of serum samples from untreated subjects with those from subjects treated with synthetic GH, the test detected three to twenty times difference in the tested subjects.

The Hormone Foundation, which is the patient education affiliate of The Endocrine Society, created a hormone abuse advisory council to develop a national prevention program to address the rise in adolescents steroid abuse. The panel is currently working with The Endocrine Society and the American Medical Association to develop a White Paper on adolescents and steroid abuse. In the future, the council will hold a health summit to identify issues, stakeholders, and develop broad recommendations on the issue of steroid abuse. Additionally, down the road, the council plans to hold a national conference of experts, coaches, teachers, government officials and others will be brought together to develop a coalition and an action plan for a national steroid abuse prevention program. Dr. Alan Rogol, a pediatric endocrinologist at The University of Virginia and a member of the Foundation's hormone abuse advisory council, also participated in the press conference.

"We know that athletes, including adolescents, are using various substances, including steroids and growth hormone, to attempt to improve their performance. However, we do not have sufficient research to understand how these substances will effect a person's body on a long-term basis," explained Dr. Rogol. "This new research highlights another problem in athletics--to able to detect different substances in a person's body. Currently it is not possible to detect when an athlete uses synthetic growth hormone to illegally (and unethically) attempt to improve their sport performance. The research presented here today may help us to eliminate this problem in the future."