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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Anti-doping Sciences & Integrity in Sport
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1452079
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Advances in Anti-doping View all 9 articles

Comparison between standard hematological parameters and blood doping biomarkers in dried blood spots within the athlete population of Swiss Sport Integrity (SSI)

Provisionally accepted
Jessica Almeida Jessica Almeida 1Francesco Loria Francesco Loria 1Céline Schobinger Céline Schobinger 1Tiia Kuuranne Tiia Kuuranne 1Claudia Mumenthaler Claudia Mumenthaler 2Nicolas Leuenberger Nicolas Leuenberger 1*
  • 1 Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses, University Centre of Legal Medicine, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 2 Swiss Sport Integrity, Bern, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The study demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating RNA biomarkers, specifically 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS2) and carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1), to improve the hematological module of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) in routine antidoping context.The aim was to investigate the implementation of reticulocyte (RET) related biomarkers, specifically ALAS2 and CA1, using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) on dried blood spots (DBS) from elite athletes. Hemoglobin changes over time in DBS samples was measured as well. Combining hemoglobin and messenger RNA (mRNA) analyses allowed to monitor alterations of the established marker, "DBS OFF-score".Methodology: Ten athletes were selected for sampling by the Swiss national antidoping organization, Swiss Sports Integrity (SSI). Samples were collected, transported and analyzed for ABP following the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) procedures and spotted onto Protein Saver DBS cards.Results: Most athletes exhibited stable biomarker levels, except for one individual involved in ski mountaineering, who demonstrated a sustained increase in ALAS2 compared to the individual baseline. This elevation could be due to blood withdrawal or other factors, such as doping with substances outside the targeted test menu.In this study, RNA-biomarkers were successfully analyzed in routine blood samples, and the project demonstrated promising results for the implementation of ALAS2 and CA1 in routine analysis to complement the ABP.

    Keywords: RNA biomarkers, Dried blood spots (DBS), hematological module, Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), blood doping

    Received: 20 Jun 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Almeida, Loria, Schobinger, Kuuranne, Mumenthaler and Leuenberger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nicolas Leuenberger, Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses, University Centre of Legal Medicine, Lausanne, Switzerland

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