Measurement Journal Issue 6

Examining EPO doping Before examining the ongoing research into testing for EPO doping, it is important to ﬁrst answer two critical questions: • Why are top athletes using EPO to improve their performance? • Why it is so hard to detect EPO doping? E Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone, produced by the kidneys, which stimulates the formation of red blood cells by stem cells in bone marrow. Because of its ability to boost endurance, illegal EPO doping by athletes in endurance sports such as cycling has become more prevalent through the years — likely starting in the late 1980s when the ﬁrst synthetic version of EPO, recombinant human EPO (rhEPO), became commercially available. No ofﬁcial test method for EPO doping existed until the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and even today the search for better tests continues. During sporting events, ofﬁcials have relied on a blood test to analyze any given athlete’s red blood-cell (RBC) count and the quantity of RBC precursors. An increase in the EPO level triggers the bone marrow to overproduce the precursors, some of which may leak into the main circulatory system. A high ratio of precursors versus the RBC count indicates a recent spike in the athlete’s EPO level.1 Knowing these factors, researchers at Peking University, in collaboration with Agilent Technologies and the Agilent Technologies Foundation, have undertaken a research project to discover the biomarkers associated with an EPO injection.* Biomarkers are compounds that serve as an indicator for a certain disease or body condition. Essentially, researchers are looking for the proverbial “needle in a haystack,” which, in this case, is the biomarkers present in blood and urine samples. Their tools are high-performance liquid chromatography coupled directly to mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) and data-mining software. This article highlights some of the ongoing efforts to create an effective test for EPO doping. The answer to both questions lies with oxygen. Since the human body releases energy through oxidation processes, oxygen is a critical component in this discussion. In many endurance sports, the amount of available oxygen carried by red blood cells to the muscle’s cells often limits the amount of energy that can be released. Increasing the RBC count generally means the availability of more oxygen to the muscle’s cells. Consequently, more energy can be released at a faster rate, just like a turbo-charged car engine. There are two ways to artiﬁcially boost the RBC count in a human. One is typically called “blood doping” or “blood packing.” An athlete can draw and store a certain amount of his or her blood in the offseason and then re-inject it via transfusion prior to an important sporting event. Nowadays, though, athletes looking for a way to boost their RBC counts might prefer an alternate option to a messy blood transfusion — an injection of EPO. T20 (163-166) HOOC T2 (5-10)S-S(155-162) T3 (11-14) T4 (15-20) S-S T19 (153-154) T18 (151-152) T17 (144-150) T16 (141-143) T15 (140) T14 (132-129 T13 (117-131) T1 (1-4) S-S NH2 24 T5 (21-45) 126 T12 (111-116) T11 (104-110) T10 (98-103) 38 T6 (46-52) T7 (53) T9 (77-97) 83 T8 (54-76) * The research is funded by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Agilent Technologies Foundation. Figure 1. This graphic shows the predicted structure of rhEPO. Here, T1 through T20 are peptides generated by tryptic. The amino acid residue numbers are indicated in parentheses. Agilent Measurement Journal 62

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Measurement Journal Issue 6

Measurement Journal Issue 6 Using a Few Words to Convey a Deeply-Held Spirit Charting a Unique Path to Technology Innovation Contents Announcing First Commercial GC/MS Metabolites Library Assessing Nonlinear Behavior Testing Combines Form and Function Testing Multiplay Networks Higher Sensitivity LC/MS Easing Military Radio Test Stepping Up Calibration Accuracy Increasing Spectrum Analyzer Bandwidth 3GPP Tool Supports TS 36 Standards The Olympic Story Spotlights Agilent's Continuing Contribution to Technology Innovation Ensuring a Level Playing Field in Competitive Sports GPS: Coming of Age Resolving Design Issues in HSPA Mobile Devices Achieving Accurate Results with Oscilloscope-Based Jitter-Analysis Software RF Handheld Testers Guarantee Traffic Stability Under Olympic-Sized Stress Conditions Utilizing LAN-Based Instrumentation to Measure Total Harmonic Distortion in Remote Facilities IMT-Advanced: 4G Wireless Takes Shape in an Olympic Year EPO Doping: A Speed Engine, Turbo-Charged by Chemistry

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