Performance-enhancing substances in sport: A scientometric review of 75 years of research

The use of performance-enhancing substances not only undermines the core values of sports but also poses significant health risks to athletes. In a fast-evolving doping environment, where sport professionals are constantly seeking novel and illegal means to bypass doping tests, and new substances are regularly detected on the drug market, it is crucial to inform authorities with updated evidence emerging from scientific research. The current study aims to (i) outline the structure of knowledge in the literature on performance enhancers in sports (i.e., most active countries, main sources, most productive authors, and most frequently used keywords); (ii) identify the most impactful documents in the field; and (iii) uncover the main domains of research in the literature. To do so, we conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis of the literature on doping, sourcing our data from Scopus. Our research involved a document co-citation analysis of 193,076 references, leading to the identification of the 51 most influential documents and seven key thematic areas within the doping literature. Our results indicate that the scientific community has extensively studied the most prevalent doping classes, such as anabolic agents and peptide hormones, and little is still known about the use of contaminated supplements or other types of enhancers identified as emergent trends. Concurrently, technological advancements contributed to the development of more sophisticated doping detection techniques, using blood or urine samples. More recently, the focus has shifted towards the athlete biological passport, with research efforts aimed at identifying biomarkers indicative of doping. The dynamic nature of doping methods underlines the necessity for more robust educational campaigns, aiming at raising awareness among sports professionals and their entourage about the dangers of doping and the intricacies of its control mechanisms.

Adolescent Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use in Association with Other Drug Use, Injection Drug Use, and Team Sport Participation

Introduction

The majority of epidemiologic research on adolescent non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use was conducted in the 1990s and early 2000s, indicating a need to update evidence for the modern era. We aim to understand the prevalence of AAS use among US adolescents and assess associations between AAS use, sports participation, other drug use, and injection drug use (IDU).

Methods

Using data from the 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, we estimated the prevalence of AAS use and tested for associations between AAS use, sports participation, and drug use, overall and by sex.

Results

The prevalence of AAS use was 2.98%. The prevalence among boys (3.46%) was higher than among girls (2.41%). AAS use was high among youth with lifetime heroin use (64.41%) and IDU (64.42%). There was no association between AAS and team sport participation (p=0.61).

Conclusions

Our results indicate that adolescent AAS use is an aspect of polysubstance use rather than a substance used solely for performance enhancement in sports. Research with adolescents should be mindful of the overlap of heroin and AAS use among youth with IDU.

Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Adolescence

Despite inconclusive efficacy data and concerning safety data, the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the adolescent population is on the rise. Anabolic-androgenic steroids, growth hormones, stimulants, and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are among the most widely known and studied prescription PEDs in the adolescent population. The purpose of this article is to describe the proposed mechanism of action, efficacy and adverse effects of these agents as well as discuss prevention measures and treatment considerations for those patients at risk for, considering, or currently using PEDs.

Contaminação de suplementos dietéticos usados para prática esportiva: uma revisão de literatura

O objetivo do presente estudo foi revisar a literatura que trata da contaminação dos suplementos alimentares por substâncias consideradas nocivas à saúde ou doping para os atletas. Para tanto, foram revisados artigos científicos indexados nas bases de dados Medline e Scielo. Foi possível observar que algumas investigações detectaram doses excessivas de ingredientes potencialmente tóxicos, não indicados no rótulo e considerados doping. Entre as substâncias proibidas encontradas em alguns suplementos estão os esteróides anabólico-androgênicos e os psicoestimulantes. Neste sentido, é possível alegar que o uso de suplementos dietéticos por praticantes de atividades físico-esportivas, competitivas ou não, carece de maior segurança e deve ser realizado com muito critério.

Abuso de esteróides anabolizantes e seu impacto sobre a função tireóidea

A utilização de esteróides anabolizantes por indivíduos que desejam aumentar sua performance física, ou simplesmente para fins estéticos, tem atingido índices alarmantes nas últimas três décadas. Além dos efeitos desejados, uma infinidade de efeitos colaterais já foi bem descrita na literatura, como vários tipos de câncer, ginecomastia, peliosis hepatis, insuficiência renal, virilização, dentre outros. Sobre a função tireóidea, o efeito mais pronunciado em seres humanos é a diminuição da TBG, com conseqüente diminuição sérica de T3 e T4 totais, dependendo, porém, da susceptibilidade da molécula à aromatização e conseqüente transformação em estrógeno. Em ratos, o tratamento com esteróides anabolizantes altera a metabolização periférica dos hormônios tireóideos e também parece causar importante efeito proliferativo sobre as células tireóideas. Assim, o presente artigo visa rever os dados publicados acerca dos efeitos de doses suprafisiológicas de esteróides anabolizantes sobre a função tireóidea, reforçando o perigo que a utilização indiscriminada dessas drogas pode causar à saúde.

Chronic administration of anabolic androgenic steroid alters murine thyroid function

PURPOSE

The administration of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) to improve athletic performance has increased notably during the past three decades, even among nonathletes. Thyroid function is affected by AAS use in humans, although the mechanisms of the effects of AAS are unclear. We evaluated the effects on thyroid function of supraphysiologic doses of nandrolone decanoate (DECA), which is one of the most anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) used.

METHODS

Male Wistar rats were treated with vehicle or 1 mg.100 g(-1) body weight (b.w.) of DECA, once a week for 8 wk, intramuscularly. We analyzed thyroperoxidase (TPO) activity, type 1 iodothyronine deiodinase (D1) activities in liver, kidney, pituitary, and thyroid, and serum levels of total T3, total T4, free T4, and TSH. Parametric and nonparametric t-tests were employed for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

Treated animals showed a significant increase in the weight of kidneys and heart, and a decrease in the relative testis weight. Retroperitoneal adipose tissue was only slightly decreased. DECA treatment induced a significant increase in the absolute and relative thyroid gland weight. The concentrations of total serum T3, free T4, and TSH decreased significantly with treatment, but total serum T4 levels were unchanged. Thyroperoxidase activity was unaltered, whereas liver and kidney D1 activities were significantly increased, but pituitary and thyroid D1 did not change.

CONCLUSION

Our data indicate that DECA exerts direct actions on the thyroid gland and in the peripheral metabolism of thyroid hormones and might lead to thyroid dysfunction.