PLASMA AND URINARY MARKERS OF ORAL TESTOSTERONE MISUSE BY HEALTHY-MENIN PRESENCE OF MASKING EPITESTOSTERONE ADMINISTRATION

There is a potential need for the official criterion of testosterone a buse in sport (the urinary concentration ratio of testosterone glucuro nide/epitestosterone glucuronide, TG/EG > 6) to be backed-up by some c omplementary markers, more particularly in cases of physiologically hi gh TG/EG and when there is suspicion of joint administration of testos terone and epitestosterone. Testosterone, epitestosterone, their glucu ro- and sulfoconjugates, 5-androstene-3 beta,17 alpha-diol glucuronide and 17-hydroxyprogesterone have been analysed by isotope dilution-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in plasma and urine of seven subject s supplemented with a single oral dose of undecanoates of testosterone and epitestosterone (respectively 40 mg and 1.5 mg). Adequate plasma criteria for testosterone abuse were the ratios of testosterone glucur onide/17-hydroxyprogesterone and testosterone glucuronide/testosterone which increased significantly above basal values for up to 10 h, The same trend was observed for the ratio of urinary glucuronides of testo sterone/5-androstene-3 beta,17 alpha-diol, while TG/EG was not affecte d by simultaneous administration of epitestosterone. One subject with low basal TG/EG failed to respond to testosterone administration by an y significant increase of analysed parameters.