Identification of New Serum Markers for Detection of Abuse With Erythropoietin

July 31, 2012 updated by: Birgitte Nellemann, University of Aarhus

Epo increases red blood cell production and hence the amount of oxygen that can be transported around the body. It is shown that prolonged use of synthetic Epo (rHuEpo) leads to an increase in the period of time a given physical work can be performed, therefore it will continue to be abused by athletes, especially in endurance sports.

The existing method for measuring the abuse of rHuEpo approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is based on differences in the sugar groups bound to rHuEpo and Epo produced in the body, respectively.

Proteomics is a method by which one can look at all the proteins in blood at the same time. Even proteins that have changed very little can be distinguished. The main objective of this project is to investigate the effect of prolonged treatment with rHuEpo on changes in blood proteins in healthy young men.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

35

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Denmark
      • Aarhus, Denmark, 8000
        • Aarhus University Hospital
      • Aarhus, Denmark, 8000
        • Department of Endocrinology, Research Laboratories

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • healthy men
  • age 18-35
  • untrained
  • BMI: 20-25

Exclusion Criteria:

  • smokers
  • chronic diseases
  • malignancy (former or present)
  • alcohol, drug or EPO abuse

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: No training + placebo
10 young men being investigated with 10 weeks apart. The will receive placebo injections twice a week. Blood samples, blood pressures as well as VO2-max tests will be obtained during the 10 weeks.
Other: Placebo
placebo (saline) is administered using a small syringe under the skin every other day for the first 2 weeks, on 3 consecutive days during week 3, and once a week from week 4-12.
Active Comparator: No training + EPO
10 young men being investigated with 10 weeks apart. During the 10 weeks participants will receive EPO injections twice a week. Blood samples, blood pressures as well as VO2-mas tests will be obtained during the 10 weeks.
Drug: recombinant human erythropoietin
rHuEpo (5000 IU)is administered using a small syringe under the skin every other day for the first 2 weeks, on 3 consecutive days during week 3, and once a week from week 4-10.
Active Comparator: Training + placebo
10 young men will be trained for 10 weeks and investigated before and after. They will receive placebo injections twice a week. Blood samples, blood pressures as well as VO2-max tests will be obtained during the 10 weeks.
Other: Placebo
placebo (saline) is administered using a small syringe under the skin every other day for the first 2 weeks, on 3 consecutive days during week 3, and once a week from week 4-12.
Behavioral: Training
For ten weeks participants will receive supervised endurance training on a bike three times a week. Physical effect will be examined with VO2-max tests before during and after the training period.
Active Comparator: Training + EPO
10 young men will be investigated with 10 weeks apart. During the ten weeks they will train 3 times a week and receive EPO injections twice a week. Blood samples, blood pressures as well as VO2-max tests will be obtained during the 10 weeks.
Drug: recombinant human erythropoietin
rHuEpo (5000 IU)is administered using a small syringe under the skin every other day for the first 2 weeks, on 3 consecutive days during week 3, and once a week from week 4-10.
Behavioral: Training
For ten weeks participants will receive supervised endurance training on a bike three times a week. Physical effect will be examined with VO2-max tests before during and after the training period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in serum protein isoforms measured by proteomics
Time Frame: 10 months
We wish to identify proteins or isoforms hereof that change with rHuEpo treatment, in order to identify new biomarkers in the blood that can be used to detect rHuEpo abuse.
10 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in substrate metabolism in relation to rHuEpo treatment and endurance training
Time Frame: 10 months
Metabolic and mechanistic effects of 10 weeks of training and use of EPO on fat and skeletal muscle tissue as well as on a whole body level. A variety of different tracers and indirect calorimetry will be used.
10 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Aarhus

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Britt Christensen, M.Sc., PhD, Aarhus University Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 18, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 21, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

March 22, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 1, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 31, 2012

Last Verified

July 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • M-20110035

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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