LAUSANNE, Switzerland, January 3. RECENTLY, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released the 2008 Prohibited Substance List. For the full list, please follow the link found at the end of this article.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), however, has helped the education process by distilling the key changes found within the 2008 list. One change is that anti-doping agencies will change how they report abnormal changes to the urine profile of each athlete.
SUBSTANCES AND METHODS PROHIBITED AT ALL TIMES (IN- AND OUT-OF-COMPETITION)
S1. Anabolic Agents
Anabolic Steroids: An athlete will have a signature pattern of steroids that occur in the urine and that will be fairly consistent over time. WADA, International Federations and National Anti-Doping Organizations are now starting to monitor the pattern (or profile) of steroids in the urine of individual athletes. These profiles will change in an athlete with use of anabolic steroids and certain other performance-enhancing substances and the changes can be used to create a suspicion of doping. The 2008 Prohibited List requires that any unusual pattern in a steroid screen be reported as an "atypical" result rather than as an "adverse analytical finding." The changes to allow this type of reporting have been made under the Anabolic Agents section of the 2008 Prohibited List. A laboratory will still report an adverse analytical finding for an anabolic agent when the presence of an anabolic agent is proven by laboratory testing.
Other Anabolic Agents: The Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) are prohibited under this section. Members of this new family of non-steroidal substances can be designed to be anabolic and have the potential to be used in doping.
S4. Hormone Antagonists and Modulators
The title of the S4 category, formerly "Agents with Anti-Estrogenic Activity" has been changed to "Hormone Antagonists and Modulators."
Myostatin is a hormone normally produced by the body that controls (limits) muscle size – blocking the myostatin allows increased muscle size. Agents that will block (or reduce) the effect of the myostatin and thus allow additional muscle development have been added to the 2008 Prohibited List as substances in this category.
M2. Chemical and Physical Manipulation
The use of intravenous (IV) infusions continues to be prohibited; according to the 2008 Prohibited List an IV infusion may be administered only in "an acute medical situation" and must be followed immediately by the submission of a retroactive Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to document the need for the infusion. This means that IV infusions may only be used for emergency medical situations and must be followed by the TUE submission to the proper authority.