May 17, 1996. Copyright, 1996, Graphic News. All rights reserved

BLOOD TEST COULD DETECT SPORTING CHEATS
By Laura Spinney, Science Editor

LONDON, May 17, Graphic News- A test that distinguishes between athletes who boost the oxygen-carrying capacity of their blood by training at high altitudes and those who achieve the same effect using illicit substances could soon be available � but not in time for this year�s Olympics.

Erythropoietin is a naturally occurring hormone that stimulates the body to produce red blood cells. A synthetic and commercially available form of the substance is used to treat kidney failure patients suffering from anaemia, and it has also been used by athletes to improve their stamina artificially. But because erythropoietin disappears quickly from the blood once an athlete stops taking it, it cannot be detected. So until now, it has been impossible to enforce the ban that has been imposed on the substance by the medical commission of the International Olympic Committee.

But a team of researchers led by Dr Raynald Gareau of the University of Qu�bec at Trois-Rivi�res, Canada, claim they have found a way to detect cheats. In a letter to the scientific journal �Nature�, they describe how injecting athletes with erythropoietin causes �striking changes� in levels of a substance called soluble transferrin receptor in their blood. Gareau and his team found no such changes in athletes who had boosted their red blood cell count through physical exercise alone.

But it could be a long time before a test based on soluble transferrin receptor is put into practice, says one of the researchers, Dr Roy Baynes of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City. According to him, approval of such a test would require a change in mindset among those responsible for drug testing at the Olympics and other sporting events, because it would involve a shift from testing athletes� urine to testing their blood. �Our findings suggest that a shift to blood testing is necessary if we are to crack down on the abusers,� says Baynes.

Sources: Nature, University of Kansas Medical Center