LAUSR

The use of anabolic androgenic steroids and other performance enhancing substances can change over time, so there is a need to constantly update what substances that are used and can be detected. We recruited 36 anabolic androgenic steroid users (women n=6, men n=30) who filled out an anonymous questionnaire about their use of performance enhancing substances during the past year. Sampling took place on a single occasion and included blood and urine collection. Our aim was to identify what doping agents that can be detected in men and women self-reporting AAS-use. The first choice of substances differed between men (testosterone) and women (oxandrolone). Use of growth hormones was reported among men (10 %) and women (50 %). Growth hormone releasing factors/secretagogues were reported by about ~ 20 % in both genders. Nandrolone was the most frequently detected anabolic androgenic steroid even in those who did not report use in the past year. Of the current male testosterone users, 82 % exhibited T/E ratios > 4. Men with current testosterone use displayed 4-fold and 6-fold higher median T/E, respectively, when compared with recent and previous testosterone users, (p= 0.0001). Dermal testosterone use in women (n=2) was not associated with T/E >4, but with supra-physiological total serum testosterone concentrations. Changes in gonadotropins and hematological parameters were associated with time of last anabolic androgenic steroid intake in men, whereas in women these biomarkers were within the normal range. This highlights gender specific differences and indicates a need for additional biomarkers in female athletes.