Oxygen transport enhancing agents: methods and strategies of detection

Aims. – Draw up the inventory of various methods able to increase the oxygen transport by the blood and present methods and strategy of detection.Current knowledge. – Maximal oxygen uptake is the major performance limiting factor in endurance sports. Sophisticated training methods have been developed to increase this variable. On the other hand, attempts have been made to improve maximal oxygen uptake by artificial means: blood doping, administration of human recombinant erythropoietin (rhu-Epo) and, probably, by the use of a new class of therapeutic agents: the artificial oxygen carriers. All these substances and methods are prohibited by the International Olympic Committee. But, until now, the detection of the misuse of these compounds is a problem: there is no detection method for blood doping, the current test method for rhu-Epo can do false negative cases and no screening methods are performed for oxygen carriers.Points of views and plans. – Despite the emergence of the oxygen carriers, in fact easy to detect, the use of r-HuEpo seems the most efficient practice. Today there is a test to detect abuse of r-HuEpo, that’s why the cheats should have recourse to red blood cells transfusion. However concomitant injections of r-HuEpo and GH or IL-3 should use least doses and so to make the detection more difficult. Although indirect methods will be refined, this approach will likely insufficient by itself. A careful definition of an individual’s hematologic profile, the so-called “hematologic passport”, should form the basis for a more successful application of any indirect method and should disturb recourse to doping. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]