Effect of administration of human chorionic gonadotrophin on criteria used to assess testosterone administration in athletes

Abstract

Abnormal ratios of testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) and testosterone to LH (T/LH) in the urine of male athletes are indicative of testosterone administration. The T/E ratio has been adopted by the International Olympic Committee as the sole criterion used in the detection of testosterone administration. An athlete is usually considered to have failed a drug test if the urinary T/E ratio is greater than 6. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) has been used by some male athletes to stimulate testicular secretion of testosterone. The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether the urinary T/E ratio can remain unaffected by administration of hCG to normal adult males. Administration of hCG resulted in large increases in serum testosterone concentrations and urinary T/LH ratios but small changes in urinary T/E ratios of two subjects (maximum T/E values observed were 0·8 and 1·2 respectively). These observations suggest that the urinary T/LH ratio is a valuable indicator of hCG as well as of testosterone administration. This study is the first to measure urinary T/LH ratios using the technique of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for quantification of testosterone, and highly specific monoclonal antibodies for the measurement of LH. An ultrafiltration method is proposed as part of a confirmatory procedure to be adopted in the measurement of urinary gonadotrophins for drug control in sport. Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 131, 147–154