There is more bad news for the anti-doping and steroid testing industry as the testosterone:epitestosterone ratio (T:E ratio) comes under attack once again. Researchers now believe that green and white tea can serve as a masking agent for testosterone use.
The T:E ratio test is commonly used as a screen to catch athletes who use the anabolic steroid testosterone. The T:E ratio is the most common steroid screen in use at all levels of sport. The T:E ratio test examines the ratio of the concentration of testosterone glucuronide to the concentration of epitestosterone glucoronide in an athlete’s urine. If the ratio exceeds 4:1 – or 6:1 in some sporting leagues – then a positive steroid test result is recorded.
Researchers at the Kingston University in London have reported that chemical compounds contained in green and white tea inhibit an enzyme called UGT2B17. The enzyme attaches glucoronic acid to testosterone before it is excreted in the urine. Green and white tea block the action of UGT2B17. This prevents testosterone glucoronide metabolites from appearing in the urine. Theoretically, this would help an athlete use exogenous testosterone and still pass the T:E ratio test.
“Levels from a strong cup of green tea match those we used in our experiments,” according to lead researcher Declan Naughton.
The T:E ratio test is commonly used as a screen to catch athletes who use the anabolic steroid testosterone. The T:E ratio is the most common steroid screen in use at all levels of sport. The T:E ratio test examines the ratio of the concentration of testosterone glucuronide to the concentration of epitestosterone glucoronide in an athlete’s urine. If the ratio exceeds 4:1 – or 6:1 in some sporting leagues – then a positive steroid test result is recorded.
Several shortcomings of the T:E ratio steroid test have been common knowledge among drug tested athletes for some time. The original steroid guru Dan Duchaine first alerted athletes decades to an easy way to trick the T:E ratio test. He suggested athletes simply inject a certain amount of epitestosterone such that their urinary excretion of testosterone and epitestosterone metabolites would appear normal.
Victor Conte infamously created “the Cream” for baseball and track athletes who were clients of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO). “The Cream” contained a combination of testosterone and epitestosterone in a custom ratio that helped BALCO athletes avoid detection while using steroids.
Anti-doping experts such as epidemiologist Charles Yesalis and famed “steroid chaser” Don Catlin have reluctantly acknowledged the shortcomings of the steroid test.
However, Oliver Rabin, the science director of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), minimized the significance of the finding. While Rabin did not deny that green and white tea could be used as a masking agent, he suggested the effect would only be modest.
Source:
Aldous, P. (March 24, 2012). Green tea could mask testosterone doping. Retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328574.700-green-tea-could-mask-testosterone-doping.html
