There is a potential need for the official criterion of testosterone abuse in sport
(the urinary concentration ratio of testosterone glucuronide/epitestosterone glucuronide,
TG/EG > 6) to be backed-up by some complementary markers, more particularly in cases
of physiologically high TG/EC and when there is suspicion of joint administration
of testosterone and epitestosterone. Testosterone, epitestosterone, their glucuro-
and sulfoconju-gates, 5-androstene-3β, 17α-diol glucuronide and 17-hytdroxypro-gesterone
have been analysed by isotope dilution-gas chroma-tography-mass spectrometry in plasma
and urine of seven subjects supplemented with a single oral dose of undecanoates of
testosterone and epitestosterone (respectively 40 mg and 1.5 mg). Adequate plasma
criteria for testosterone abuse were the ratios of testosterone glucuronide/ 17-hydroxyprogesterone
and testosterone glucuronide/testosterone which increased significantly above basal
values for up to 10 h. The same trend was observed for the ratio of urinary glucuronides
of testosterone/5-androstene-3β, 17α-diol, while TG/EG was not affected by simultaneous
administration of epitestosterone. One subject with low basal TG/EG failed to respond
to testosterone administration by any significant increase of analysed parameters.
Key words
Testosterone - epitestosterone - doping - plasma - urine
